Dude Dad, Friends: ‘You Have To Share Your Heart With Your Kids’
By Movieguide® Contributor
Father influencers Taylor Calmus, Kier Gaines, and Rob Kenney recently spoke about their hopes for dads who watch their content.
“Dude Dad” Calmus said he hopes “to reach people where they are, whether it be in their marriage or in their journey as a father, and just show them that they’re not alone in this and there’s ways to laugh through the pain and have fun with all of it.”
Calmus began his YouTube channel after noticing that, while there are many social media accounts and blogs dedicated to motherhood, there weren’t any about being a dad.
“I saw a market and a way to keep my work aligned with my day-to-day life,” he explained, referring to his previous career as an actor and set-builder. “Dude Dad was born.”
Calmus’ videos are everything from humorous skits about parenting to videos of him and his kids working on special projects, like a backyard roller coaster.
“The reality is, we only get a short amount of time with our kids before they’re all grown up. It allows you to just go, ‘You know what? The house is a mess, but let’s go outside and play baseball,’” he shared. “I just want my kids to know that anything they want to do, they can go for and try. They might fail, but that’s okay.”
Gaines, a licensed therapist who posts videos to TikTok, also shared his hopes for his kids.
“I hope that, if nothing else, my girls see the value in kindness,” Gaines said. “I hope that they’re proud of me. I hope that I’m raising them in an environment where they can be good and they can be kind to the world and they can be good and they can be kind to themselves.”
Kenney, who started the “Dad, How Do I?” YouTube channel to show people how to do things like hang pictures, put oil in their car, and tie a necktie, said his channel came about because of his own father’s absence.
“My dad left when I was 14 years old,” Kenney said. “I thought it would be a good idea to just download some information that I had to learn — a lot of it, the hard way.”
He said he doesn’t “dwell on it,” adding “I share [my story] with other people to encourage them to move on. You can’t do anything about the past. I try to encourage people to forgive…it’s not healthy to carry that around.”
Kenney’s videos focus on learning practical skills, but he shared that the most important part of his content is connecting with viewers.
“There’s so much more to being a dad or a mom than just fixing things,” he said. “You have to share your heart with your kids.”
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