Who would have thought that a photo of a “daddy doin work” on his daughter’s hair would spiral across the internet with not only positive views, but some disturbed negative feedback. You would think a photo of a dad helping his wife out with getting their daughter’s hair prepped for school would not be a big deal, right? Just cute and as Doyin Richards says, “we both got a good laugh out of it”, speaking of him and his wife.
Well after a 39 year old of two girls, Doyin, posted the above picture on his Facebook page of him combing his eldest daughter’s hair, by surprise, he experienced more than negativity, but out right “hate”. It was so disturbing to him that he was compelled to post a rant on his “Daddy Doin’ Work” blog titled “I Have A Dream”.
In the rant, Doyin gave some background about the photo:
Most of you know this, but I’m taking the month of October off from my corporate job for baby bonding with my 3-month old daughter. It’s a lot of work being a stay at home parent, but it’s so damn rewarding. My baby girl smiles at me nonstop these days and I know it’s attributed to the one-on-one time I’m spending with her. It’s a blast.
One morning last week, MDW was running late for work and was worried that she wouldn’t be able to get DDW1′s hair done before I had to take her to school. I told her that she could leave and I’d handle it. She countered by saying that doing her hair requires attention and the baby would get upset if I left her alone while I played the role of stylist. Again, I told her that I’d handle it. On the way out she said, “I’ll believe it when I see it.”
That’s when I put DDW2 in the Ergo, stood DDW1 on a stool and worked my hair magic. During the process, I thought, “There’s no way my wife will believe me if I don’t take a picture of this.” That’s when I set my camera up, put it on a 10-second timer, and took the photo you’re looking at right now. After 15 minutes of multitasking, the final result was a nice, tight ponytail for big sister and a happily sleeping baby in the carrier. Mission accomplished. I emailed the photo to her with the caption “Boom.” and we both got a good laugh out of it.
The reactions, comments, and emails I received ranged from the overwhelmingly positive to the downright nasty. But as I went through everything, I had a chance to reflect on what I hope for the future. Let’s do this.
– “He probably rented those kids. They don’t even look like him.”
– “I would bet anything that you’re a deadbeat.”
– “OK buddy, cute picture. Now why don’t you hand the children back to their mom so you can go back to selling drugs or your bootleg rap CDs?”
– “So do you do this for all of your illegitimate kids?”
Well, long story short, he began his rant and made some really good points, like how there are men out there who truly embrace fatherhood, and how these typical “behaviors should be expected of moms and dads. No exceptions.”
He made a point that this picture, even though it’s cute, should not be seen as a big deal, because there are plenty of dads out here doing the same thing:
Memo to the small pocket of male haters I have: Why don’t you put big boy shorts on and get in on the revolution of good fathers? It’s not a good look to tear down dads for doing the work your wives wished you were man enough to do on your own. If you don’t believe me, just ask your spouses. They’ll tell you.
But don’t worry. I’ll still be here whenever you’re ready to step your game up and join #TeamGrownAssMan.
Again, to the amazing fathers out there reading this (which happens to be the overwhelming majority) – much love to you guys. I appreciate you. Your spouses appreciate you. And most importantly – your kids appreciate you.
– See more at: http://daddydoinwork.com/dreamin/
He is a sweet baby daddy:)