Father Of 4 Daughters Refuses To Sugarcoat His Instagram Pics, Has A Massive Following Online (New Pics)

"It's the little things that make being a parent so worthwhile. Perhaps this is something only dad's of daughters will get, but at random points over the last 2 days, a smile has grown across my face when I suddenly remember that beneath my boring standard issue dad socks, my toes nails are painted luminous colours thanks to a child-led make over /spa evening on the weekend. Having 4 little women in my life is a privilege and I'm lucky I get to say I'm their daddy.
I think we can all safely say I'm not going to be scouted as the next top toe model anytime soon (is that even a professions?!) But what they lack in beauty, they now make up for in colour!"

"14 years ago, while in a nightclub with floors so sticky, they could have been used as industrial fly paper, I stumbled across this girl that literally took my breath away. She'd been dancing frantically & was now bare foot, rubbing her tired soles. My chat up line was taken straight out of that best seller - 'Things not to say to girls you want to impress' and makes me cringe to this day - "Hi. got tired feet? You know what you need - Some scholls party feet..." After a long pause & despite coming across creepy orthotics salesman or someone with a foot fetish, she laughed & from that moment, our lives entwined. A year later we moved in together. 12 months later we had first daughter and a year after that, she did me the honour of marrying me.  11 years on and with 4 daughters in tow, she's still taking my breath away. @mother_of_daughters , thanks for not telling me to sod off back in that club and thanks for having all the kids. I Definitely couldn't have done it without you."

"I like to talk but sometimes photos do enough to encapsulate what watching your child grow up is all about. She used to need me to reach the leaves, now I'm just an obverver. Where did the last decade go?"

"On the list of things I dislike, clothes shopping is right up there. In fact, I would rather have my nipples removed by rabid ferrets during a world wide shortage of anesthetic than set foot in a clothes shop. Yet my girls love nothing more than browsing for garms, so I usually find myself assuming my position on 'the man chair' outside the girls changing rooms with a vacant look across my face, waiting for a fashion show comprised solely of my daughter's. Today however, I made the mistake. I picked up a top & said I might buy it. Within seconds, the 5 women in my life sensed a might actually purchase clothes from this decade & instantly transformed into a hive personal shoppers. Fashion advice was bellowed across the shop & clothes were thrust into my arms accompanied with cries of 'you'd look great in this' as I mental totted up the expense on showing an interest in a £15 top. I'd become a human mannequin. 15 minutes later, I was paying for clothes i hadn't seen and was drenched in a stress related flash sweat that Niagara falls would have been jealous of. I'll just put all the clothes straight in the plastic box under my bed and give them to charity in 5 years time when I next see them."

"I'm not sure if this is down to the clock changes or @mother_of_daughters leaving for work at 4.30am, but this morning illustrated perfectly the difference between a 3 year old waking up & me, someone 12 times their age (god, that's painful to say). A 3 year old wakes up naturally with a smile across their face & with batteries so full, the energiser bunny has considered lodging a formal compliant with the IOC, accusing them of taking performance enhancing drugs. Then they bound in for a game bedroom monopoly where they consume all the real estate & I end up instantly bankrupt & in jail (on the cold 6 inches at the edge of the bed). I on the hand, wake up aching, blinding hitting my alarm that goes off 10 minutes after I wake up (I have no idea why I set one) and hiding from the light like a vampire with overly sensitive retina all while having a soft toy forced down my throat. Sound familiar? I'm thinking a lock on the door may be a good option."

"She'll hate me saying this, but I'm proud to be able to call this on my daughter. It's easy to assume that the young teens have coped ok with the last year, but they have been somewhat over looked in the media. uni students, nursery schools and those preparing for exams all shared their stories, but there, in the middle, are the other kids - the kids in limbo. The ones who have missed out on a year of social interaction at a time when they're transitioning for children to young adults, whilst juggling a growing workload at school all with limited opportunities to vent and that has no doubt been tough (not that you'd necessarily be told by them as getting a blood donation from a boulder is easier than having a conversation sometimes). Being in your room alone with a screen for 8 hours a day sounds like a teenagers dream, but when it's every day for a year, the novelty soon wears thin and it ends up taking its toll. That's why I'm so proud of Anya - after school, she proactively found new friends online from around the country who had shared a passion for acting, they created a working group to develop a short film to highlight the emotional & mental impact that this last year has had on kids their age, scripted everything, edited it all and put themselves out there so that adults could see a different perspective and other kids could have something to relate to. I never would have done this at 13. Thank you for all those that watched and commented on their @nextgenshortfilms post. It put alot of smiles on some teens face and made the effort all worthwhile."

"How do you make a complete dog's breakfast out of the making the dog's breakfast? The answer is by saying 'yes' to those 3 little words that have many parents recoil in terror - "can I help?" When a 3 year old offers you assistance, I find it's usually followed by a sharp intake of breath & a slow acceptance that I'm about to lose several minutes of my life, as the simple task I was about to perform without bothering my grey matter, is transformed into an over engineered, glacially paced project where time stands still but the aging process accelerates. Add twins to the mix, and your 1 man, 30 second job has to be subdivided into 28 micro tasks which can be allocated out, which is rapidly followed up by agruments, me redoing the whole thing & a chuckle brothers style 'to me, to you' carrying of an item that doesn't need 4 hands. Sorry Pablo, breakfast is now lunch."

"How to you get out of feeling down?
Social media gets a bad rep when it comes to impacting mental health, but I'm not sure that's all that fair. Now you may just see me as 'that dad who makes a joke out of everything' but what you probably haven't realised is that I use instagram as a sort of free open source therapy. I get to openly talk about my challenges, my hopes & my fears, laugh about them & then send them off into the void of cyber space, where I get feedback from others who've dealt with those same challenges whilst making others realise that we all struggle and it's ok to laugh about it. And yet, recently I've haven't been feeling myself. it's not that I'm unhappy, I just feel a bit 'blah', a bit flat...... - like nothing matters. For as long as I can remember, I've been the hype man, the positive one : I see the solutions where my girls see problems. I see opportunities where others may see barriers, I basically keep things moving, but something has changed & I can't put my finger on what it is. perhaps it's my job. Or the summer holidays. or the lack of sleep or exercise. Maybe I need to get back on my bike or find a new hobby. Maybe I'm not fulfillled in some way that I haven't been able to identify. whatever it is, I'm in a funk, so i'm looking to you for advice: how do you lift yourself out of a low point and get back to being you? I'm all ears as I've never experienced this before."

"Have you ever had one of those days when you need to pinch yourself to prove you're not dreaming? Today was one of those days. When I started this journey to share the realities of parenting 4 girls & highlighting the humour in the mundane, I never could have dreamt of the opportunities it would open up and the experiences it would afford me and family. Today we rubbed shoulders with the A list at the European premier of The Lion King and although I didn't get a selfie with Beyonce, I did get to accompany my gorgeous girls down the yellow carpet and feel rather special - and that's all down to you. The million of you that have chosen to click that follow button. So thank you. Thank you for your comments, for your friendships, for the laughs and the tears. Thank you for the community you've created. Thank you for the support you give eachother. And thank you for giving us the privilege of being able to go to events like this that provide my girls memories they can cherish. Thanks a million. Literally. "

"For any parent to have something that resembles a break while on a family holiday, it usually means that someone else has to take the kids away, preferably either into a sound proof booth or into the next county. Today I was that someone else. So what do you do with 2 girls in the middle of the Devon country side while your wife & 2 older daughters induldge in shedding brain cells to "Mama Mia! Here we go again"? Go toddler friendly celebrity spotting of course! Now I'm obviously not talking about seeking out pop stars or watching some love islander from 'the side bar of shame' stumble out of a bar with their anatomy out, as 3 year olds don't give a shit about them. I'm talking about celebrities with 4 legs who live on farms because as we all know, if you're in 'old McDonald', to a toddler you are a triple A list celebrity god. I never thought I see a girl fan girl over a sheep or lose then mind as a cow walked passed, but there you go. Getting the autograph of the horse was taxing but we got there in the end. "

"Let's play a game of guess who. Guess who ate their body weight in sweets that they found wedged down the side of the seat? Who relieved themselves in an empty rocky road container without my knowledge? Who decided to leave at 7pm & arrive late at my parents house which is 4 hours away, instead of setting off at a reasonable time tomorrow? Who slept talked about dinosaurs? Who broke their head phone cable so I had to be audibly assaulted with the same episode of 'the octonauts' for 2 hours? Who thought having 4 kids was a good idea? Who directed me off the motorway and onto water soaked B roads in the pouring rain so that my precision cargo could back seat drive me the whole way? Out of interest - would you have left late and arrived at your destination late but knowing you'd have a full day the next day, or leave early the following day?"

"Up rooting your family & setting up shop in a totally new location where you know literally no one can be daunting. It's also a compromise - not for everyone mind you, but at least one person in the decision making partnership won't be getting exactly what they want and in our case, it was me. I had my heart set on moving back to Bristol, to be close to my family and satisfy the country side of me by having my ears ring with the reassuring tones of that distinctive west country twang. But I swallowed my dreams and gave in for the love of my family and in hindsight, I am so glad I did. Yes, I'm further from my parents but on evenings like this as I strolled down the sandy Kent beaches with my girls & my little furry man, It doesn't feel like I conceded or gave in, it feels like we made the right decision for our family and any initial regrets drifted away with the tide a long time ago - In short, It feels like home. If you're on the fence about a move or nervous about a new start, the only way you'll every know is by jumping in with both feet and seeing if you can make it work - don't live with regrets or what might have beens - life is too short."

"Are you booking one of those things.. you know...Remember when the whole family used to upsticks for a week or 2 and do the same things as they did at home, just in a slightly warmer place with less emails? What did they used to call them? oh, I know - HOLIDAYS. That special time when parents alcohol consumption goes up, screen time goes down, sand gets everywhere (this is Delilah feeding her sister a sandy chip on holiday - I could hear the sound of grit on teeth from a 100ft away) and everyone is just a slightly nicer version of their normal selves. The question is, has anyone actually got the guts to commit and book a holiday this year - at home or abroad - knowing there's a chance it will end up a puddle of childs tears and that familiar stench of disappointment when it gets cancelled? The last time i booked a holiday was in October 2019 - we're still waiting to go on it and I'm not holding my breath."

"Day 1 of the holiday: "That sand's very hot to walk on. Who wants a double shoulder ride?!" - twins in unison "MMMEEEEE!!!". With both shoulders filled, I promptly stroll to lunch as all heads turn on the beach - I am a king among mere mortals.
Day 6 of the holiday: twins - "Double shoulder ride now daddy!!!!" - for the 30th time in a week, my verbrate scream as I crouch to let them embark and regret ever thinking that dual human transportation was ever a good idea. Lesson learnt: unless you want to be a holiday Uber service for small people who have forgotten how to walk & think their legs are solely for keeping your feet attached to their body, don't start something that you're no prepared to do for the entire duration of your time away. Oh, who am I kidding, I love it and so do they! I can always get a new back for my 40th."

"many people may celebrate hitting a number of followers but I prefer to celebrate the number of posts and today I reach 1000 posts precisely. 1000 smiles. 1000 arguments with @mother_of_daughters about bedtime routines and who's turn it is to read stories. 1000 hours of lost sleep. 1000 lost hair clips. 1000 snap shots of our attempts into being half decent parents. 1000 rose tinted glimpses into our journey, with an infinite number of memories still to be captured. And if I had to do it all again, there's only one person I'd want by my side through it all because without Clemmie, these 1000 moments would have been so much harder to navigate. Bringing up girls is challenge, I'm just glad I have a partner in all of it. On to the next..."

"Although Christmas is a magical time of the year for the kids, for the backstage crew who pull all the strings to make the 'magic' happen (i.e. parents) it can a never ending list of stressful festive admin that's drives to see how quickly you can drink gin without going blind. That said, after listening to endless renditons of 'christmas pudding' performed by 3 year olds that would be laughed off x factor, the annual muffled swearing marathon that accompanies the unravelling of the tree lights (how, despite being neatly put in a box a year ago and not being touched, do they tangle themselves into a vipers nest of illunimations every time?!) and all the smashed decorations are swept away, there are magical moments that make you proud to be a parent - like lifting your kid to put the star on the tree. Of course we had to do this twice to avoid twin based Armageddon and pretend it was equally amazing both times, but it's finally starting to feel like Christmas. Now where's that gin..."

"Somewhere between the start of the new year (otherwise known as the "Shit Show 2020") and now, the number 'bedtime gang' members has grown from 1 toy and a solitary muzzy, to 2 babies, 2 cats, a dog called buddy, Peter rabbit, buzz f**kin light-year, 2 muzzies and my very own big ted (who is essentially an OAP and just wants to be left alone) . If just one of the group of misfits is missing at bed time, short of giving them a general anesthetic , it is basically impossible to get them to sleep without ransacking the house to find the furry arsehole that's gone MIA . Of course, this is my fault for not having a stricter bedtime bclub membership policy, but does anyone know how to reduce this number down to something less than the size of an American football team? All answers welcome."

"If you had a choice, being locked down with a mirror image of yourself that also happens to be your best friend doesn't seem like a bad option. Yes, 20% of the time they are thinking up ingenious ways annoy eachother, but when together, they are completely self sufficient (apart from asking for squash and endless snacks) which makes parenting just that little bit less stressful in these confined times. Who would have thought having more kids would have made it easier?! Not me, that's for sure. Oh, and the weather helps. Imagine if it was pissing with rain everyday..."

"There is nothing quite like the unbridled joy you feel when a child says that rarest of sentences - "daddy, can I go to bed early tonight?" - you don't have to ask me twice! - in under a minute, I had them in PJs with the lights out! After 1 full week of being back at school, the girls are more shattered than my dreams of retiring before the age of 30. For the first time in forever they actually wanted to go to bed and seeing an opportunity to experience an evening without child based interruptions, I obliged. By 7.10pm we were calmly lying down, listening to the dulcet tones of the guy who reads the audio book of 'Mog the Cat'. 45 minutes later, I woke up in a child's bed in to a cat screeching (Mog), 2 snoring daughters, drool down my cheek and a dead arm. Turns out they're not the only ones who are knackered, the difference is that I don't have an excuse - I'm just becoming an old fart and I'm totally comfortable with that."

"Before you ask, the answers NO. No, there were no mirrors used in this image and no, We haven't got yet another dog because we are not totally insane and I've done enough cleaning up crap in the last decade to last a several lifetimes. But when we got Myrtle, Clemmies sister bought Myrtles sister, Darcy. So human sisters, bought canine sisters that are now being held by twin sisters - That's a whole lot of females! I've always been outnumbered, but man, I really do feel like the sisterhood are trying to (not so subtly) run my solitary Y chromosome is out of town. (FYI - it would easier to remove my own brain using only Bonjela as anaesthetic than is to extract a puppy from a child arms at the end of the day)."