What's more important?

And are you backing that up with action?

Last night my daughter asked me if work was more important, or if she was.

She asked me this while I was getting her ready for bed, because the next day was her kindergarten celebration (basically a little graduation ceremony).

I told her I had already taken the day off of work, so I would definitely be there, and that’s when she asked me that question.

What’s more important?

Of course I told her working is just something I have to do, but I love being her dad.

But it was a really interesting thing for her to ask.

Because although I’m not like this, I’ve met many parents who prioritized their work over their family. They were obsessed with career, and promotion, and being at the top of the game.

Maybe I’m a slacker, but I made myself a rule a long time ago that I would never choose work over family.

As far back as when I was a teenager, and promised my little sister I’d run her school 5k with her.

She was ecstatic, and I remember I requested that Friday off, but when I came in to work the week of the race, they made a mistake on the schedule and had given me Thursday off.

I tried to talk to my manager and get it moved, but he couldn’t (more likely wouldn’t), so I told him I wouldn’t be there that day.

For some reason he was still surprised when I didn’t show up to work, but I had already made a much more important commitment.

Now I’m not necessarily recommending skipping work, but I wasn’t going to miss a once in a lifetime event, to go flip burgers and cook fries.

And that brings me back to the current day. I’m lucky enough to have a job that is flexible with my days off, but I often wonder what if I didn’t.

How many once in a lifetime opportunities would I miss, just to go be a cog in the machine?

Someone can replace your role in a company, even if you’re the CEO. But no one can replace your role as a parent.

And I frequently remind myself, that if I died tomorrow, my family would remember me forever, always looking back on photos and memories.

But if I died tomorrow, my job might (at most) have a meeting to explain why I’m missing from work, make a tribute post on LinkedIn, and then replace me in a week and forget about me.

But your family will never forget.

My daughter walks toward the stage, she sees my face in the crowd, and she smiles.

I hug her afterwards, and she’s beaming.

No title, or promotion, or raise could ever equal that feeling.

We don’t always have the ability to be at every event. But the big ones, the ones that mean a lot to our kids… I think we should make every effort to be there.

Because it’s not enough to tell our kids they’re more important than our work. We have to show them.