Instagram Star Shares the Ups and Downs of Fatherhood

By
Anita C
-

Being a parent is the toughest job in the world. One dad decided to share the ups and downs of parenthood on his social media accounts.

Simon Hooper, better known as Father of Daughters, is an Instagram star and the father of four young girls. His hilarious posts, full of humor and real-life situations gained him almost 1 million followers. He made quite a journey from being a “24-year-old man-child with no idea of what being a dad involved.”

Being surrounded by five women, the single man in the household learned valuable lessons about fatherhood, feminism, and equality.

Check out his hilarious posts below.

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One moment I'm method acting the crap out of my role as a granny named Lucy at an exclusive tea party hosted by the twins, the next they've abandoned me quicker than the entourage of a celebrity embroiled in a sex scandal to act out scenes from a budget version of king Kong. In that moment, I transformed from being an engaged parent to a 36 year old man in tent who's been left ponder his life choices whilst talking to himself in strange accents & drinking air from a wooden cup. Isn't parenting wonderful. There's a long list of things I've continued to do when the those with the attention span of an senile goldfish decide to sod off that includes colouring, Lego, playing with dolls & simple puzzles that I time myself to complete because, well, why not! Who else has been dumped mid play & continued on your own? #abandoned #budgetkingkong #thisairislovely #maninatent #fatherofdaughters #dadlife #instadad #fod

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How much do men really know about periods? As a teenager, periods weren't exactly top of my 'must know more things about' list. In fact, all I knew is that we boys used them as dismissive insults when girls were being short tempered – "oh, she's on her period" – said without ever really understanding how they effect the female body. I was basically an ill informed twat. But now that I'm knee deep in females that will all be premenstrual at some point in the future with me stuck in the middle, I feel the need to know more so I can understand & not just lie helplessly on the tracks, ready to be hit by the monthly run away hormone train that calls at Short Temper town, Sexual Desire Spa, Scatter Brain Central, Premenstrual Stress parkway & terminates abruptly in arguments & me making emergency late light runs to the shop for sanitary products I know nothing about (default to heavy flow stuff – standard) painkillers & enough chocolate to put willy Wonker out of business. So men (or women who answer for their male partners), how much do you know? What is a period? What's a cup? Can you get pregnant on your period? How's the vulva different to the vagina? Do women's periods really sync up and most importantly what's missing from the tray in the picture? We can empathise through learning, so let's share some knowledge. #periods #pmssurvival #fatherofdaughters #dadlife #instadad

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Conventional wisdom tells us that the passage of time through space happens at a constant rate forwards, but when you have children, that changes. I can only conclude that there's a rip in the space time continuum right above the girls bedroom as time just vanished this evening, leaving me feeling like I'd be screwed hard by a flux capacitor with anger management issues. One moment it's 6.30pm & I'm rounding them up for a bath, then I blinked & it was 8.15pm the world had fallen apart. Bath time – a tsunami nightmare that would have drowned the entire cast of 'honey I shrunk the kids'. Teeth – a stand off that ended in toothpaste in the eyes. Story time – A jackanory balls up that left me questioning my life choices. Bed time – a yoga session for hyperactive chipmunks that ended with Ottie hiding for 15 minutes in silence & me shouting down the street in the dark because I thought she'd gone (only to be found eating a chocolate egg under Anya's desk covered in a blanket). Of course, as I'd focused all my energy on these 2, the elder ones hadnt even had dinner! It may have only been a total of 1hr 45 minutes but I've aged several years on the process. I'm stongly considering calling Doc Brown to take be back to 2015 so I can get a vasectomy. #doctakemebacktogetavasectomy #ihatetuesday #screwedbyyimetravel #fatherofdaughters #dadlife #instadad #fod

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The days of being able to go to a DIY store to hide from my family with all the other dads who spend hours perusing various selections of counter sunk screws and power tools we don't need have gone. Now I'm accompanied by small people who think that this land of electrical wiring and sharp garden implements is perfect for a high risk game of hide and seek on a collosal scale and bolt off in all directions as soon as we're in the door. Not wanting to being the red faced parent who does the old 'half walk/ half jog' to the customer services centre when they hear the words echo over the tannoy – "could the irresponsible owner of small mad haired child who's crying & covered in snot please come and pick up them up", I resorted to basket rides to keep them in close proximity. Seemed like a good idea at the time, however my spine didn't agree and now I have shooting pains in my legs. And I forgot the screws I went in for in the first place. typical Sunday. #basketcase #thisiswheredadshide #justgettingsomescrews #fatherofdaughters #dadlife #instadad #fod

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Unless you were dead last year, you'd know that 'dad fashion' was a massive hit in 2018, yet many fell short in really pulling the look off. Clothes are all well & good, but to truly rock dad dressing, you need to invest heavily in accessories, so here's the secrets the fashion mags won't tell you. First have some kids, singles are great but multiples will really add to that worn and shattered look we're all after. Then feed them for several years until you're convinced to can go out shopping without a buggy or scooters as they can walk under their own steam. Almost instantly they'll complain so you'll be forced to carry them everywhere like a knock off chanel clutch filled with lead. You could also add staining to your clothes and stuff your pockets with spare knickers, hair clips & wet wipes. Finally, for that added wow factor, subject yourself to a decade of broken sleep – money can't buy that kind of '1000 yard stare'. #maybehesbornwithitmaybeitskids #fashionsecrets #daddressing #fashion #dadlife #fatherofdaughters #twins #fod

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I seriously believe that all parents suffer from some form of mild Stockholm syndrome. Depsite being oppressed & forced to work a servant to our pint sized captures, like a free buffet lunch, we always come back for more. This is especially true when I go away for work. The first day I embrace my freedom & revel in that rarest of commodities – silence. But within 48 hours I strangely miss being yelled at & forced to clear up other people's poo and start to really pine for home. In my mind I would return to 4 perfect children who would greet me with open arms & proclaim their lives were incomplete in my absense. The reality was 50% of my girls acknowledged my return & within 5 minutes my tired jet lagged body had been transformed into fleshy climbing apparatus while i listened to a list of things that broke while I was away & now needed fixing. I don't think Anya even knows I went away as she's now permanently hard wired into Fortnite! I sure they missed me but it still amazes me how quickly normality is resumed! #institutionalised #parentingstockholmsyndrome #givemeachance #likeineverleft #jetlag #Fatherofdaughters #dadlife #instadad #fod

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