Young Dad Praised For Taking His Son On A Father-Son Date To The Nail Salon For Mani-Pedis
He's determined to show his son that pampering yourself doesn't have to be reserved for one specific gender.
PeopleImages.com - Yuri A | Shutterstock The most vital part of raising a child is making sure that you create memorable and loving memories with them that they can carry throughout their lives.
Some parents even find it healing to be the type of parent they didn't have growing up, which was the case for a father named De'Brence McClain, who has dedicated his social media account to documenting his parenting journey, including getting his nails done with his son.
He was praised for taking his son on a trip to the nail salon to get mani-pedis.
In McClain's video, posted to Instagram, the 30-year-old father filmed himself taking his son, Boris, 4, to the nail salon for their routine maintenance appointment. Sitting in nail salon chairs side-by-side, De'Brence and Boris spent the day getting pampered.
He explained that both he and his son are fighters, taking classes like Muy Thai and jiu-jitsu, which means that every now and again, they need to prioritize pampering their hands and feet so that they don't injure any of the other fighters or themselves.
While De'Brence was getting his nails cut and filed down, his 4-year-old son sat beside him, playing games on his phone with a nail tech.
It's refreshing to see a young dad instill the importance of self-care into his son because taking care of your physical appearance is just as important for men as it is for women.
A lot of this mindset has to do with toxic masculinity, and too many men believe that if they make an appointment at a nail salon, that means their masculinity should be called into question when that isn't the case at all.
It's a father's job to teach his boys that gender is not associated with things like getting your nails done, wearing makeup, or even the clothes that they wear.
True masculinity is being comfortable and confident in yourself and investing in a good self-care routine. There's nothing more attractive than a man who is actively taking care of himself to improve every aspect of his life.
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Not only do De'Brence and his son go on annual nail salon trips, but the young dad also makes sure that he takes his son to buy flowers every once in a while too.
"Took my son to the flower shop to pick his own bouquet because he deserves his flowers," he captioned an Instagram video of another father-son date that the two of them went on.
Beaming from ear to ear, De'Brence's son was visibly happy about the bouquet of flowers that he was able to pick out for himself.
Again, flowers aren't just something specifically for women to enjoy, and it's heartwarming to know that De'Brence is teaching his son the value of investing in your own happiness.
You don't need to be in a relationship to want flowers, and you shouldn't have to depend on someone else to buy you a bouquet, either.
De'Brence admitted that he wanted to give his son a different experience from the one he had growing up.
In an interview with Good Morning America, De'Brence explained that once he became a father, he knew he wanted to be as present as he could in his son's life. He recalled growing up and not having a father who was 100% in his life and didn't want his son to ever experience that same feeling.
He told the news outlet that he and his son do "everything" together, from everyday tasks like grocery shopping to activities like shopping for flowers and getting their nails and toes done.
"[People on social media] are enjoying the fact that we do a lot of different things outside of the norm of just being a father and son," De'Brence said. "Some things are just probably normal to people, and then some things are like, 'Oh, wait, I never thought to do that. Maybe I should do that with my child now, whether [they're] a boy or girl.'"
He pointed out that his son thoroughly enjoys getting his nails done and hopes that by actively posting about these little father-son dates, he can break the stigma that it's something only reserved for a certain gender. "A lot of men probably don't know that they have to do certain things to keep up their hygiene, so I just want to introduce him to that stuff, just to make sure that he [knows] before he goes out there into the real world."
At the end of the day, it's apparent from the way De'Brence talks about his son and fatherhood that he truly wants to mold his little boy into a loving, compassionate, and open-minded adult who might one day see these mani-pedi dates with his dad as a tradition that he'll pass down to his own children one day.
Nia Tipton is a Chicago-based entertainment, news, and lifestyle writer whose work delves into modern-day issues and experiences.