What Kind of Daddoo Should I Be?

In my last blog post, I left you all on tenterhooks following the excitement and awe of becoming a first time Daddoo. Now most people would get straight into the role of being a parent. I, on the other hand, began pointlessly daydreaming  of what kind of Daddoo I should outwardly portray. The unconditional love I felt for my daughter was undeniable and there for all to see, but how would I parent her? 

When preparing to become a father I came to realise there were many differing types of Daddoos. These father figures were stored in my memory from TV and movies and all of them had one thing in common, a love for their kid. So let’s break this down and look at a few of my personal favourites;

The Bumbling Idiot

Homer Simpson, in my mind is the original douchebag Dad. A stereotypical beer-swigging, clueless buffoon. With three kids and the love of a good woman he actually manages to survive.

Peter Griffin, if anything, has taught me how NOT to be with my daughter (poor Meg!) but at least I do know that “the bird, the bird, the bird is the word.” Thanks for that Peter!

Daddy Pig is constantly laughed at by his family and friends. He never gets anything right and is emasculated on the regular. He takes it in good jest though and rolls around laughing with the kids all day, generally in muddy puddles.

The Protective Dad

Marlin from Finding Nemo just worried his son to the other side of the Ocean. Finding Nemo essentially tells parents to be like a turtle and relax with your parenting. Don’t worry, trust and have faith in your kids. I could certainly learn from that as I’m always telling Ayla to “be careful!” or hovering around her like an annoying midgey.

Bryan Mills from Taken was fiercely protective over his daughter, so much so, he travelled the globe spanning three movies to save her from multiple kidnappings. I mean come on, no-one could be that unlucky!

Big Daddy in Kick Ass went the other way, loving his daughter so much, he taught her the specific set of skills to kill men with one move for when he wasn’t there. After seeing this movie post Ayla, I told my wife we would be enrolling our little princess in self defence classes at the earliest opportunity (she’s already pretty good and has given me a few dry slaps which apparently I ‘encourage’ by throwing myself on the floor like Cristiano Ronaldo, but that’s another blog). 

The Moralist

Uncle Phil. If you didn’t cry when Uncle Phil hugged his crying nephew, Will, when his Dad walked out on him you aren’t human. Uncle Phil also pool sharked Will out of a good hiding once as well. Top bloke.

Furious out of Boyz in the Hood taught his son, and his entire community, about bettering yourself and the value of responsibility. Powerful.

Mufasa from the Lion King commanded respect. Let’s be honest, We’d all love to be Mufasa!

The Unlikely Daddoo

Gru from Despicable Me mothballed his supervillain dreams when being forced to adopt three cookie-selling orphan girls. After some reluctance, he turned out to be a caring, loving Dad, especially for a supervillain. He got top Dad points when he dressed up as the fairy princess at the party, this is something I’d be willing to do, just for Ayla’s benefit obviously!

Mrs Doubtfire went to extreme lengths to get to see his kids. Makes you realise how lucky you are when you get to spend everyday with your little one/s. Shout out to all those Daddoo’s fighting for that.

The widowed Dad out of Love Actually (who looked a lot like the bloke off Taken) is a great example of all those amazing fathers who take on another man’s responsibility, willingly making that child their own. He taught his son how to pull, I WILL NOT be doing this with Ayla!!

Realistically, of all the above mentioned Daddoo’s, the example I was capable of pulling off naturally was probably a hybrid between Homer and Mrs Doubtfire (“I do voices”… minus the witty banter – so basically Homer in a dress!) 

I know a lot of successful grown-up women who adore their fathers, possibly still seeing their Dad’s through rose-tinted glasses, and won’t have a bad word said, so I’m hoping a little of that rubs off on Ayla with me.

Through all of my pondering the one thing that reassured me was the fact that even the Daddoo’s that had the odds stacked against them still managed to find their own way of doing things. They did this by being present in their children’s lives in whatever way they could. Realistically, I’d love to be a kick ass machine like Big Daddy or Bryan Mills or morally sound like Mufasa or Furious but Ayla loves me no less. At the end of the day, what I’ve learnt is that you can only be yourself. Don’t worry about how you’re portrayed or how other fully grown humans see you. Just worry about your little side kick and that will see you through. The most important thing is that they have your love, your time and, no matter what, you build them up to be whoever they want to be.