....or he could have gotten a day off to spend with his family on his daughters birthday. When we're old and dying the only people who will remember how much we worked will be our kids. Do you want them to remember Dad always being away at work or do you want them to remember time with you.

The sad part is that the answer is already given to us, your family is just a source of labor, same as you, unless you take your time back and don't ask permission and accept being unemployed.