Dad Brings Daughter To Daycare Early So Her Teacher Can Do Her Hair — His Ex-Wife Claims He's A 'Bad Parent'
He struggles with doing his daughter's hair on his own, so he found a workaround solution.
Kampus Production / Pexels There are plenty of responsibilities that come with being a single parent. That means waking your child or children up for school, clothing them, bathing them, and making sure they are eating a nutritious diet.
But there are some things single parents aren't quite keen on, at least not without a little practice: doing their child's hair. And one man took it into his own hands to get his child's hair done on a regular basis.
A dad explained that he drops his daughter off at daycare early so the teacher can do her hair.
In his Reddit post, the father wrote that he has become a "newly divorced dad" to his three-year-old daughter.
"My daughter has very curly hair that my ex-wife used to take care of. Now that I'm alone with her half the time, I have to figure it out," the father began.
During his marriage, his ex-wife, the mother of their daughter, would mostly do her hair, but now that they are no longer together, on the weeks that he has his daughter, he has been struggling to do her hair. While he does try his best, his daughter's hair ends up coming out "a frizzy, tangled mess."
As a solution, he noticed that a teacher at his daughter's daycare has similar hair to his daughter, and decided to ask if she would be able to help him style the little girl's hair every morning. She happily agreed, telling him that if he dropped her off at daycare early, she would be able to get it done.
Kampus Production / Pexels
"She gave me a list of curly hair products to buy and what to bring to school. She also gave me some tips for washing and caring for it at home," he added.
However, his daughter eventually told her mother that the daycare worker was doing her hair, and she became extremely upset at her ex-husband for allowing that.
His ex-wife accused him of being a 'bad parent' for not doing their daughter's hair himself.
After being informed about the situation by her daughter, his ex-wife immediately called him.
She asked if it was true that he was intentionally dropping off their daughter at daycare early to "avoid doing her hair." He tried to explain that their daughter's teacher was helping him out, and that he had started to learn how to care for the 3-year-old girl's hair.
"She called me a bad parent for 'relying on a teacher to do my job,' and for messing up the morning routine so we could get to school early enough for the teacher to do her hair," he explained.
He added that before, their routine would be waking up, he'd attempt to do her hair, they'd eat breakfast, and then go to school. But now, they just wake up, he gets his daughter ready for school, and they eat breakfast in the car so he can get her to daycare early.
"I thought I was doing right by making sure her hair is cared for on my weeks, but my ex feels very strongly about this so I wanted to know if I was [in the wrong]."
Many people defended the father, calling attention to the fact that the teacher doesn't seem to mind doing the girl's hair, and adding that she has been teaching the dad how to do his daughter's hair. They also said that the dad should be thanking the teacher with a gift card or something else to show his gratitude.
However, others criticized the father for not taking the time to do his daughter's hair himself. They pointed out that although the teacher can guide and instruct him on how to do the hair, it's ultimately his responsibility and he needs to step up.
Being a good parent means acknowledging your limitations and knowing when to ask for help.
Parenting is difficult, there's no doubt about that, and parents will certainly find themselves in a pickle every now and then.
But rather than trying to shoulder the weight of those responsibilities, asking for help can do wonders — not just for the parent, but for the children as well.
Anna Shvets / Pexels
Though his ex-wife has deemed him a "bad parent," for this father, he's taken all the right steps to learn and understand how to do his daughter's hair. He's not only attempted it himself, but he sought out help from someone with experience when he knew he could not style the hair properly.
And now that he has the know-how from his daughter's teacher, he can take things into his own hands and seek further resources. That could be watching videos on YouTube for his child's specific hair type, or even taking a class designed for dads who have this responsibility.
The fact that this father asked for help is not a sign of weakness; if anything, it shows that he's an amazing parent. He went above and beyond to find a solution to the problem.
And that's something all parents can learn from.
Nia Tipton is a Chicago-based entertainment, news, and lifestyle writer whose work delves into modern-day issues and experiences.