Work life balance for dads is not a 50/50 split. It is deciding, on purpose, what gets less of you this season, so the thing that matters most gets your attention instead of your leftovers. For about six years, I did it the hard way: replaying the day on the drive home, deciding I had fallen short, promising tomorrow would be different, then doing it all again. One evening at work, it hit me that staying later would not finish everything. There would always be more work than

Being a present dad means giving your kids your actual attention inside the hours you already have. It is not a scheduling problem. Twenty minutes, where you are, beats a whole evening where your body is on the couch and your head is still writing an email. For years, I thought my job was the obstacle. If I could just get home earlier, I figured I would become the dad I wanted to be. Then I got what I wanted: 18 months of working from home during the pandemic before returning