13 fathers you really, really don’t want for your kids

Sometimes he doesn’t pick up the kids’ clothes, and sometimes the same toys sit on the stairs for days, waiting patiently to be transported up or down. He might not spot the mess in the kitchen or the Lego on the floor. But the next time you have an inward eyeroll about your kids’ dad, and especially for Father’s Day, consider these thirteen fathers in comparison, and remind yourself how great he really is:

1. Balloon-boy’s dad

Richard Heene sent a home-made helium balloon into the atmosphere, then raised the alarm saying his six-year-old son Falcon had sneaked inside it just before it took off. Two hours, fifty miles and three counties later, the balloon came to earth but the boy was not inside. A man-hunt followed, and it was later discovered that Falcon was hiding in the attic of the family home. However, the six-year-old revealed during a television interview that his parents had told him to do it, “for a show”. The publicity seeking father was sentenced to 90 days in prison.

 

2. The dad in Hansel and Gretel

He really didn’t want to take his children into the forest so that he and his wife wouldn’t have to feed them anymore, but in the end, she convinced him and he did it. There’s just no defence for this kind of parenting.

image: commons.wikimedia.org
image: commons.wikimedia.org

3. Walter White

The Breaking Bad patriarch is a murderer, he runs a drug lab, and worst of all, he’s extremely patronising. Not a great role-model for his two children.

walter white
Walter White (image: breakingbad.wikia.com)

4. Henry VIII

The medieval king is famed for his six marriages, and in particular for ordering the executions of two of his wives. The real question is what possessed four more women to marry him after he had beheaded Anne Boleyn and ordered that their daughter Elizabeth be declared officially “illegitimate”

Henry VIII
Henry VIII (image: wikipedia.org)

5. John Darwin – who faked his own death in a canoe

Darwin and his wife relocated to Panama to live off the proceeds of his insurance scam, after faking his own death in 2002. Leaving two sons at home, convinced like everyone else, that he had drowned. I wonder what Christmas dinner is like in their house now.

 

6. Don Draper

The Mad Men lead character shares responsibility along with his neurotic wife for the troubled daughter they rear. He’s a womanizer, a liar, he drinks too much; he’s emotionally unavailable to his children. He hides who he really is, in every way, leaving an unavoidable chasm between himself and his daughter. Don’s own background didn’t set him on a great path – the son of a prostitute who died in childbirth; he was raised by his alcoholic father and resentful stepmother. His father died when he was ten, and his step-mother never let him forget where he came from. So really, in TV world at least, he didn’t stand a chance.

 

7. Liam Neeson in Taken

Yes, Liam’s character Bryan Mills risked everything to save his daughter Kim, so in one sense, that makes him a good dad. But surely he bears some responsibility for how annoying Kim turned out to be?

 

8. King Lear

Any dad who promises the larger share of his land to the daughter who tells him she loves him most is asking for trouble.

image: Commons.Wikimedia.org
image: Commons.Wikimedia.org

9. The dad who wore short-shorts

When Scott Mackintosh’s daughter refused to change from her short-shorts into something longer, her dad decided to cut a pair of jeans into his own version of short-shorts, and wear them to a family dinner and mini-golf outing. Actually, I think this dad isn’t so bad – he has a sense of humour.

image: Blog.Triblive.com
image: Blog.Triblive.com

10. Homer Simpson

He’s the lovable idiot with grooming issues, questionable dietary habits and a penchant for getting absolutely everything wrong, all the time. Fun to watch, but not ideal dad material.

 

11. Jack Byrnes in Meet the Parents

Robert de Niro’s character in Meet the Parents subjects his son-in-law to be to a lie-detector test and says things like “I will be watching you and if I find that you are trying to corrupt my first born child, I will bring you down, baby. I will bring you down to Chinatown” As you do.

 

12. Tony Soprano

A little like Walter White above; not the greatest role model for his kids – a crime boss, a murderer and a cheater. Woe betide any potential suitors of his daughter; when one boyfriend wasn’t respecting Meadow’s feelings, rather than ignoring or having a quiet words as most dads would, Tony beat him up. He was never going to make the role-model-dad list.

 

13. Daddy Pig

Because he’s silly. According to Peppa anyway. Although, I’m not sure about taking guidance from a precocious four-year-old pig in a dress.

image: Wikimedia.org
image: Wikimedia.org

That’s my personal list – do you have any to add?

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9 thoughts on “13 fathers you really, really don’t want for your kids”

    1. Oh yes Gwen – were you not at blogging class yesterday when we got our Father’s Day assignments? Go!

      And I’m really glad both you and Emily feel the same as I do about the daughter in Taken – I was a bit worried including that one in case nobody else felt the same. I know my sisters do, but we can be a bit evil sometimes 🙂

  1. Short-shorts dad is fab!!!
    My friends mum used to pull that trick too. Worked every time.
    She told her mum she wanted to get a skinhead and dye it blue and her mum just said “cool!!! Me too! We can get it done together!” 🙂

    1. Yes I do like short-shorts. There is a huge difference between what he did and what lap top dad did – and all the nasty parents who make their kids stand on street corners wearing signs. I your friend’s mum’s style – must keep that one in mind for when the kids get older 🙂

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