Can we say daddy daycare?

Meet 39-year-old Doyin Richards, the father of two kids.

He’s the owner of a blog titled “Daddy Doin’ Work,” which chronicles his adventures of being a first-time father. When his second daughter arrived back in October, the proud dad took a month off of his corporate job so that he could bond with his baby. Sounds like an awesome dad, right!!! He says of his decision to be a stay-at-home parent, “My baby girl smiles at me nonstop these days and I know it’s attributed to the one-on-one time I’m spending with her.”

This week, Doyin became an internet sensation after a photo he took in his bathroom with his babies went viral. In the flick, he’s putting in some serious work as he does one daughter’s hair while holding the other in a baby sack. He says of the photo:

One morning last week, [my wife] was running late for work and was worried that she wouldn’t be able to get [my daughter’s] hair done before I had to take her to school. I told her that she could leave and I’d handle it. She countered by saying that doing her hair requires attention and the baby would get upset if I left her alone while I played the role of stylist. Again, I told her that I’d handle it. On the way out she said, “I’ll believe it when I see it.

That’s when I put [the baby] in the Ergo, stood [my other daughter] on a stool and worked my hair magic. During the process, I thought, “There’s no way my wife will believe me if I don’t take a picture of this.” That’s when I set my camera up, put it on a 10-second timer, and took the photo you’re looking at right now. After 15 minutes of multitasking, the final result was a nice, tight ponytail for big sister and a happily sleeping baby in the carrier. Mission accomplished. I emailed the photo to her with the caption “Boom.” and we both got a good laugh out of it.

Super cute story, right!

This week, Doyin decided to repost the photo to his Facebook page, which quickly went viral, and he was bombarded with both positive and negative messages regarding the heartwarming flick.

He tells Yahoo:

The picture stirs emotion for a few reasons. The media doesn’t portray fathers as caregivers. We’re seen as bumbling fools trying to figure out parenthood, or macho men pushing their kids into the NFL. The other issue is that there’s a stereotype that black fathers are deadbeats.

Doyin also posted on his blog that although it’s a very cute pic, he was only doing what a man is supposed to do:

I have a dream that people will see a picture like this and not think it’s a big deal.

Don’t get me wrong here — it’s a very cute picture, and it’s cool when people say so. However, I start to get a little uncomfortable when people want to start planning parade routes for me because of it. Somewhere there’s a dad doing the exact same thing for his daughters. Somewhere there’s a dad who put his foot down with his boss and refused to attend an ‘urgent staff meeting’ so he could leave work early to attend his daughter’s dance recital. Somewhere there’s a single dad successfully getting his three sons ready for school.

Doyin had one last message to men who were sending him hate mail after his photo went viral:

Why don’t you put big boy shorts on and get in on the revolution of good fathers? It’s not a good look to tear down dads for doing the work your wives wished you were man enough to do on your own. If you don’t believe me, just ask your spouses. They’ll tell you.

But don’t worry. I’ll still be here whenever you’re ready to step your game up and join #TeamGrownAssMan.

What’s very interesting has been the reaction to the photo, especially the negative comments. Instead of saluting him, the comments ranged from racial to sexist… [you know because people believe we are still in the 50’s and women should care for the kids, while men should work.]

Fortunately for him, the overwhelming response has gotten Doyin a spot on The Today Show this morning as well as Katie Couric.

Salute to him for being an example of what a great father should be!

By necolebitchie.com