Nate Tilley on why parents have only 18 summers with their kids. About 85% of all time you'll spend with them happens before they turn 18, leaving just 10-15% for the rest of your lives. He argues for maximizing that time through presence and weekend rituals, not just optimizing it away.
18 summers.
About 85%.
About 10–15%.
You only have 18 summers with your children, you will spend 85% of the time that you're going to spend with your children in the first 18 summers. The rest, the 10 to 15% that are in the balance, that will be for the rest of their life. Beyond that, that's something that I'm very present and I'm very conscious of when it comes to the weekend. I get a great relief in knowing that I can just wake up with my daughters and just, like, roll around on the ground and make them pancakes and, like, not do anything. So I don't want to optimize that time. I want to maximize that time. If I'm not with them, spending this time that I will never get back with them, then whatever I'm trading that time for, I better not be squandering.
