11 Stories That Show Us What It Really Means to Be a Dad

There’s no one quite like a dad. Whether they’re providing strength during hard times or offering a simple smile when we need it most, their love is constant and unconditional. In this collection of heartwarming stories, you’ll see the many ways dads support, protect, and inspire their children, giving them a shoulder to lean on.

• At 6 months pregnant, I found out my husband had a secret bank account and was planning to leave me. Mom said to stay quiet. The day I gave birth, I couldn’t stop crying.
  My dad held my hand and said, “I won’t let anyone hurt you.” I didn’t believe him. But then he gave me a key to the apartment he bought for me and my baby. He sold his car for the down payment on the apartment.

• When I was in elementary school, someone said unpleasant things about my smile, so I stopped smiling and a few days later my dad took me to work and while he was planting plants, he made a joke and I couldn’t stop from laughing, and he said, “You have a smile like sunshine.” He didn’t know someone had said otherwise, but I started smiling again. © polarkats / Reddit

• When I had my first kid, my parents came by a few days later to see the baby. My mom and my husband were over with the baby, and my dad was chatting with me about how everything went.
  At one point, I cut the conversation short and said, “Don’t you want to go see the baby? She is the first granddaughter, after all.” He just shrugged and said, “Right now, I’m checking on my baby.” Did not expect that.
  My dad wasn’t the most emotionally expressive person when I was growing up, so that was unexpected but very appreciated. I’ve heard so many stories from moms over the decades who had everyone come and immediately fawn over the baby with no checking on them whatsoever. It always makes me grateful for my dad. © ZetaWMo4 / Reddit

• When my daughter was born, and I was looking at her in her little bed, my Dad said, “This little girl is going to think you’re Superman. In her eyes, you can do no wrong, so do right by her.” I try to make her proud every day. © ImANephson / Reddit

• Just recently, my husband decided he doesn’t want to be married anymore. We’re in our mid-twenties, and after half a year of marriage, he’s changed his mind because he thinks we need more time to grow and mature.
  My dad picked me up from my friend’s house, took me for coffee & to talk, and told me that I’ll be okay, that I have him and a wonderful support system, and so many people who love me to see me through this. When I mentioned my mom’s lack of support, he said, “That’s okay, that’s why you have a dad, too.” © yellowharlee727 / Reddit

• I was away at college and having a rough time. Midterms were looming, and I was in the middle of trying to get the health center to change my birth control because I couldn’t tolerate the one I was on, but they weren’t handling it well, so I was on my leg-crippling, fatigue-inducing period for two and a half weeks while I waited for them to sort it out.
  Two and a half weeks was when I needed to be at my best, but instead, I constantly felt like I was at my worst. My dad called to see how I was doing, and I just started crying.
  It all came spilling out in a rush, and it was totally the first time I’d ever mentioned my period to my dad. He said, “Baby girl, I’m so sorry that’s happening to you. That sounds like a lot to deal with at once. Is there anything I can do to help?”
  I sat there for a minute and thought about it and said, “Actually, Dad, you just did. That was exactly what I needed.” My dad is the master of the kind of listening that I think women sometimes find lacking in men. He just let me pour it all out and acknowledged that, yes, the situation was indeed lousy.
  Instead of telling me what I needed to do, he asked if I wanted or needed help. And he let me know that he was there to give it. Just knowing that my dad was there for me if I needed him was so comforting.
  I knew then that even if all the other men in my life disappointed me royally, I could count on my dad to be there for me, even just to listen. It made me feel, as a blossoming adult, a kind of safety that I had thought was only a part of childhood. © DrK*********n / Reddit

• When I was diagnosed with Celiac Disease, my Dad made sure the pasta dishes that I loved so much that he made were exactly the same, only with gluten-free pasta. Every Christmas, he makes a separate pan of lasagna or baked ziti with gluten-free pasta for me, crushes Rice Chex for breadcrumbs for the meatballs, etc. He (and my mom) made sure I would never have to eat that food. © IllyriaGodKing / Reddit

• I stayed over in February, the night before driving up to Liverpool from London. I was setting off at half 5 in the morning and expected to be up and out by myself.
  My dad woke up half an hour before me and, while I was getting ready, went out to de-ice my car and drove it around a bit so that it was warm when I got in. It was something he didn’t think twice about (when I thanked him, he was like, “That’s what dads do”), but it meant a lot to me and just sums him up—little things like that make him the best... to me. © Unknown author / Reddit

• I cannot imagine the world where they are not the last thing that I see before I go to sleep and the first thing that I see when they wake up in the morning and call me, “Daddy!”, which means that I have to pick them up from their beds and I carry them to the living room.
  I also cannot imagine not being able to walk with them often and do crazy things that only three boys (that’d be me and the two of them) can do. I’m their buddy, shelter, and protector from harm.
  Their mother—my wife—pretty much doesn’t divorce me because I provide well for the family, and they are all socially secure, and the kids love me. I don’t have warm feelings for her, either. I hang in there because I cannot stand being without them. That’s how much I love them. © strandedship / Reddit

• He cares so much about if his kids are alright. For example, when my sister had to get her thyroid tested for hormone issues, he started, like, a whole research project to see what might be wrong and didn’t sleep at all.
  Also, when I got a blood test back saying that I was deficient in some nutrients, he spent hours making a list of recipes he could make me rich in those nutrients and went to the store and bought a ton of nutrient-rich foods for me. © lolocatlover / Reddit

• My mom has systemic lupus, and every once in a while, when we were kids, she’d have to spend a week or so at the hospital.
  The first time that happened was when I was about 10, my dad ordered us kids outside to play while he made dinner. He came out of the house an hour later and announced we were going to Burger King. When we got back home, he sent us straight to bed.
  Later that night, when I was creeping out of bed to get some water, I found the kitchen destroyed. There was flour everywhere, something unidentifiable burnt in a pan sitting on the stove, the refrigerator door was left open, the sink was loaded with all kinds of bowls and pots, he even managed to get what looked like jelly on the floor with a footprint in it.
  I snuck past his room on my way back to bed, and I heard him crying. That was the night I found out dads could cry. © HeavenlyRose / Reddit

Parenting isn’t always easy. One mom tried to limit her daughter’s screen time, only to regret it later. One day, she got an urgent call from the school. Find out what happened to the daughter here.