Bad Days Are Part of the Deal

“Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.”
— Winston Churchill

You’re going to blow it.

Snap at the kids. Zone out. Forget the game. Burn the toast. Miss bedtime.
It happens. Welcome to the club—we’ve got snacks and regrets.

The bad days are part of the deal.
Not a glitch. Not a flaw. Not a failure of fatherhood.
Just the cost of playing the game with your whole heart.

When you’re a dad, the days don’t come pre-sorted into “good” and “bad.”
They come like a mixed bag of Legos: some smooth, some jagged, all yours.
Step on enough of them, and you start to learn where to tread.

What matters isn’t avoiding the bad days.
What matters is showing up the next one.

Your kid won’t remember the time you forgot to pack their lunch.
They’ll remember the note you added the next day with an apology and a drawing of a sad sandwich.

Real strength is owning your off days.
Not faking perfection. Not blaming the world.
Just saying: “That wasn’t my best. I’ll do better tomorrow.”

Because the bad days teach your kids something powerful:
Resilience. Accountability. Grace.

That’s fatherhood. Not flawless. But full-hearted.