Daddy, will you play with me?

A bright eyed girl walks up to her daddy who is engrossed in the glow of his laptop screen, typing away frantically at the keyboard.

“Daddy, will you play with me?” the girl asks.

“I’m sorry” daddy replied without looking up, “But I have to work right now.”

The girl thought for a moment, and then replied with a thoughtful gaze, “Why do you have to work daddy?”

“Well sweetie, daddy needs to work so that we will have money.”

The girl listened to her daddy’s answer, and then thought for a moment. Then she replied “But daddy, why do we need more money?”

This time the man paused from his work, and thought for a moment. “Well, we need more money so that one day I won’t have to work anymore.”

The girl paused again, coming over to her daddy’s side and grabbing his forearm. She thought for another moment and then asked, “Daddy, what would you do if you didn’t have to work anymore?”

This time the man paused suddenly and looked up from his screen. He turned his head and locked eyes with his daughter who was now hanging off his arm gazing up at him, eyes sparkling in the light of the laptop screen. After a few moments, the man reached up and closed his laptop. “Well sweetie, if daddy didn’t have to work then he would be playing with you.”

“Silly daddy” the girl replied, as she grabbed his hand and led him down the hallway to her playroom.

Let’s never forget the reason why we work so hard in the first place.