# Can I please have one hour of your time?

- Teacher: Ajahn Brahm
- Type: Story
- URL: https://beingmindfulstories.com/stories/brahm-one-hour-of-your-time
- Themes: parenting, time, guilt, work-life
- Life situations: working too much, missing your kids, single parenting

## Synopsis (editorial summary)

A tired father snaps when his six-year-old asks how much he earns per hour, then guiltily answers $20 and lends him $10. The boy adds $10 in coins from under the pillow and hands over $20: 'Daddy, can I please have one hour of your time?' Told at an Indonesian press conference, a Muslim single-mother journalist wept because it was her story.

## The story, as told by Ajahn Brahm (verbatim captions)

ten dollar note and after that the little son smiled, took the ten dollar note said "thank you so much daddy", and then the son opened up the little drawer by the side of his bed and there was coins in there and he had just about enough to count out another ten dollars in coins, and together with the ten dollar note he handed it to his daddy. “Daddy here's twenty dollars, can I now have one hour of your time please

## Teaching point

What children need most is not more money but an hour of you.

## Reflection (in the spirit of Ajahn Brahm's talk)

A tired father told his son he earned twenty dollars an hour. The boy emptied his piggy bank and asked to buy one hour of Daddy's time. Ajahn Brahm also recalls a Singapore teenager's suicide note asking for more time with his parents. Give your children your time. If you're in despair, contact a crisis line today.

## Source

- [Flowing with Uncertainty | Ajahn Brahm | 23 April 2021](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wnl34X-eDE8) (Buddhist Society of Western Australia) — watch from 11:29 to 12:14: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wnl34X-eDE8&t=689s

Other tellings of this story:

- [Bringing Up Children | Ajahn Brahm | 09-12-2011](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ANrqHO24Ttw) (Buddhist Society of Western Australia) — watch from 57:57 to 1:00:07: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ANrqHO24Ttw&t=3477s