For as many advancements as women have made in the workplace and being regarded as equal to men, study after study and anecdote after anecdote have proven that women are still taking on much of the labor that goes on in the home. That includes scheduling, managing, cleaning and most of all, child-rearing.
While men are doing more than ever before, moms are still the primary caretakers — by a lot. The idea of seeing a father taking on the bulk of raising and nurturing children is such a foreign concept that one TikTok dad had to address it when people actually started to question why his wife doesn't help out more.
The father showcases his many adventures with his daughter Ella on TikTok.
The father, Cliff, has a toddler daughter named Ella and together, the pair have 1 million followers on TikTok.
In his videos, Cliff does things like show how to create a makeshift playpen, how he waits until has Ella's eaten her food before he can eat his, and how he handles fun days at the park with his little one.
It’s all adorable and even refreshing to see a father take such a hands-on approach to parenting.
Someone suggested that Cliff needs his wife to help him 'babysit' his daughter.
But even this most wholesome content managed to attract some criticism. In a comment for one of their videos, someone wrote: “You’re always babysitting your daughter, you should have your wife help you.”
Whoa. I know this person wasn’t talking to me, but I could write an entire essay of my own in response. Thankfully, I don’t have to because Cliff handled it perfectly.
'Please stop judging people,' Cliff said in response.
“Hold on…it’s just a 15 second video,” Cliff wrote in a video response. “It’s also called parenting,” he added. In the caption, Cliff wrote: “Please stop judging people based on what you see on here.”
A good reminder for all of us as we increasingly consume more and more heavily curated content online.
'I bet no one says that to the moms,' one user wrote.
Cliff’s followers were all for his message.
“Good for you for acknowledging this!!” one user wrote. "I bet no one says that to the moms who make videos with their children."
Someone else commented: "He is not babysitting his CHILD. Y’all sound dumb!!! Carry on king!! You and baby girl are everything."
Ella and Cliff are adorable. And there’s nothing wrong with a little daddy-daughter content. Honestly, we could use a lot more of it.
