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Dad breaks down in joyous tears after finding out daughter won four awards at school

"I've never been an academic student. I've never reached those highs before."

Dad breaks down in tears after daughter won four school awards

Kids are constantly surprising us. It's one of the perks of being a parent, watching your child learn new things as they grow all while making us proud. This can be especially true for parents who may not have had the best childhood or may not have been the best student. One dad attended his daughter's awards ceremony at her elementary school and left in tears after being overwhelmed with pride.

In a video uploaded to social media, Ralmon McAfee is seen with tears streaming down his face and we soon find out why. It's not just because his daughter was the recipient of four awards but because he didn't expect a child he created to be smart enough to receive academic awards.

Photo credit: Canva

While parents often do their best to raise their children with more resources and opportunity than they had, it can be hard to overcome the negative thoughts left over from childhood. Clearly this emotional dad was still holding on to the belief that he wasn't intelligent as a child and therefore unintentionally expected his child to experience what he had in his childhood educational settings. This makes the emotional response all the more intense for the man.

The video was originally uploaded at the end of the school year to TikTok but has recently been reshared on Reddit where it has gone viral again.

@mr.review832 PROUD FATHER NEVER HAVE I EVER RECEIVED ANY OF THOSE AWARDS .....BUT FOR MY SEED MY FLESH BLOOD TO DO IT !!!!!...I COULDNT BE ANYMORE HAPPIER!!!! #fypシ #GRADUATION ♬ original sound - RAMBO

"Call me soft. Call me what y'all want. But I never expected my child to receive four awards. And I've never, and I've never been a academic student. I've never reached those heights before. Call me weak, call me lame but I'm crying because I never thought that could come from me and I'm proud of my daughter," the dad says.

Photo credit: Canva

He wasn't the only one exuding excitement. People who viewed the video were happy the dad got to experience seeing his daughter succeed in a way he didn't achieve as a child and didn't know that his children could. As the video was ending the proud father told viewers he was headed back to work to continue to provide for his daughter. Viewers hope he told everyone at work all about his daughter's awards so he had others to share in his joy.

One person says, "I hope he told everyone at work, gotta share the excitement he has for his girl!" before another responds, "You kidding?! He's probably told all his colleagues, his boss, AND EVERY client or customer he's served that day! And rightly so. Every parent is or should be proud of their kids' achievements, no matter how small or big. I was and still am when my kids achieve things. And mine are in their 20's and 30's."

Photo credit: Canva

The video made another dad cry right along with him, "I’m a 6’4 275 lb semi jacked dad bod dude that cries during Disney movies. This dude is the FURTHEST from lame and weak of “soft” (imagine thinking kindness towards others is a bad thing).A real man isn’t afraid to show their emotions, communicates, and has empathy and love for others and their accomplishments. He has it in spades. F-ck anyone else who says otherwise. I’m so happy for him and his daughter. F-ck now I’m tearing up lol."

"This is the opposite of weak in my books. This is a father who is so secure in his masculinity that he is not ashamed of crying over his daughter’s achievements. This is strength I’m so happy for this guy and his little star," another writes.

Photo credit: Canva

"'I never thought that could come from me.' Man that's so deep and heartbreaking. He thought that his makeup, his DNA, was 'bad' and wouldn't allow for someone to be academically inclined. He's having a revelation about humanity and it's beautiful. I hope he knows now that he always had, and likely still has, the potential to be whatever kind of person he wants," someone says.

Another tears up at the dad's thought about himself saying, "The thought that in his mind she accomplished something that he feels or was made to feel like he couldn’t. Now he knows that he does have it in him. Also that he’s nurturing something beautiful in his daughter.As a minority we buy into these narratives that tear us down. I’m so happy to see in this day not only that he got to experience that with his child but that he is able to show emotion for it. Some much going on in this video


Parenting

Husband says men should spend 9 months achieving peak physical condition before trying for a baby

Sperm health plays a huge role in pregnancy, and no one's talking about it.

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When a woman becomes pregnant, her whole life gets turned upside down. She can't drink alcohol or use THC or, in some cases, even have caffeinated coffee anymore. Her body changes size and shape rapidly. She'll feel exhausted and nauseous much of the time. And she has to eat enough food to feed an extra person, take vitamins every day, and be poked and prodded by her OB around 20-some odd times over the span of her pregnancy. It's a lot to go through, all to make sure the baby is as healthy as possible.

Dads, by comparison, get off pretty easy. After the whole conception part, their main job is just to support mom and make sure she has everything she needs. It can be a lot of late night Taco Bell runs, but otherwise, it's a pretty chill job until the baby arrives.

One husband recently went viral when he advocated for a more hands-on, and some say extreme, approach from dads well before they even start trying for a baby with their partner.

"Men should have to spend nine months getting in the best physical shape of their lives before having a baby," Hunter Leppard tells his wife Maya in a TikTok video.

He goes on to note that several elements of pregnancy, and potential complications, are tied to the father's sperm health.The science backs him up on most of this. Pre-eclampsia, for example, may be tied to faulty sperm. The father's sperm also play a role in the development of a healthy placenta that can deliver oxygen and nutrients to the developing baby. Who knew!

"So if you're going to spend nine months following all of these rules while building a baby inside of you, then I can spend the nine months prior to that not drinking alcohol, limiting caffeine. I'll get blood work, I'll have three healthy meals a day. I will be in the best physical shape of my life prior to you getting pregnant, for the betterment of you and your pregnancy and our baby. It's common sense."

Watch Hunter's full passionate plea here:


@maya.and.hunter

it’s common sense he fears

I have two kids and I don't think anyone has ever talked to me once about sperm health and how it affects pregnancy.

Why are we not having a bigger conversation about this? Why is the onus of maintaining a "healthy" pregnancy completely laid at women's feet? They have enough to deal with!

Commenters on the now viral video had the same thought:

"Why aren’t we TAUGHT THIS! It’s so obvious I should know but never heard it said until Tik Tok of all things!" one user wrote.

"Why is nobody talking about this?" asked another.

Some women chimed in to say that their own partners did this already, and they were grateful for it:

"My husband quit smoking, limited caffeine, and drank more water then also abstained during the entirety of my pregnancy, it's empathy, and compassion."

"Yes! 👏 Some men actually do the work. My husband lost 30lbs, and prioritized eating healthy and specific fruits to ensure I’d have a healthy pregnancy after we had a miscarriage before our daughter."

"My husband stopped smoking, drinking, and started eating really healthy before we started trying. My pregnancy has been pretty dang smooth!"

"My husband actually cut out caffeine, beer, and ate healthier in order for us to get pregnant this last time.. I’m now 4 months pregnant with the boy we’ve been wanting and my pregnancy is much easier than the first two!"

It's truly amazing that sperm health can impact "embryo development and implantation, the risk of miscarriage, the likelihood of pregnancy complications, birth weight and overall fetal health, and the inheritance of certain genetic mutations," according to a Yahoo Life article. And all it took for us to learn about it was a viral TikTok.


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Knowing, as GI Joe says, is half the battle. The other half is actually getting guys to follow through on this knowledge. Sadly, it's not a given that they will. Men are notoriously cranky about wearing condoms and, as a group, prefer women to be the ones responsible for birth control. There might be a male birth control pill one day, and surveys show guys would be up for it, but... we'll see. Likewise, pregnancy has always been viewed as something that women do and go through, so adjusting that programming could take a little work.

Hopefully we can get to the point where men taking a proactive approach to pre-pregnancy is a standard practice. And no, you don't need to spend nine whole months becoming an ultra-marathoner with chiseled abs. But regular exercise, reducing caffeine and alcohol, and eating a diet with plenty of fruits, vegetables, and whole grains, will go a long way toward healthier sperm and a healthier pregnancy. That's not so bad, am I right guys?

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Unrealistic ideals are everywhere.

When guys want to start working on self-improvement, they're told that Step 1 is always, every time, without fail, going to the gym. For better or worse, this is where men are repeatedly told to go to begin turning their life around. Whether it's gaining confidence, becoming stronger, looking better, or of course, the classic, attracting more women, guys have all sorts of expectations of what fitness can do for them. We're constantly told that lifting weights is the key to solving almost all of our problems. But is it really?

Real men who work out regularly are sounding off on social media about gym expectations vs reality and the responses are incredibly illuminating. If you're thinking about getting started on your own fitness journey, it might help to know exactly what you are, and aren't, in for.

Expectation: Wanting compliments from women. Reality: Getting them from men.

gif of two men lifting weights togetherSometimes gym bros are the best bros.Giphy

Studies, and some common sense, show that women are more attracted to men who appear strong. This inspires a lot of men to hit the gym hard in order to improve their chances, but the reality is they tend to vastly overestimate the impact lifting weights will have. In fact, most guys who work out quickly find that it's actually other men who are more likely to notice their hard work and throw them compliments.

In fact, bodybuilding as we know it—oiled up dudes with massive muscles in tiny speedos—owes its roots to the queer community. So, you could say that a lot of the things guys chase in the gym today, like big shoulders and biceps, were initially designed to attract other men.

"I thought women would compliment me on my muscles, but in reality I only get compliments from other gym bros 😅....and that's cool too!" a commenter wrote in a Reddit thread on the subject of gym expectations vs reality.

"I thought girls would be into me... Sadly, it's men that seem to give me more attention now," said another.

Not ideal for guys hoping to score more dates, but hey, a compliment is a compliment.

"Buddy I haven't seen in a while just told me my legs look juicy. Feels good bro," admitted one user.

Expectation: Getting stronger and looking better. Reality: It takes a long, long time.

Guys start working out with visions of looking like Mr. Olympia, but few realize how long it takes and how much consistency and mental grit are required to start seeing results. Social media bombards us with quick transformations in order to sell us supplements and workout programs, but the reality for most guys is that it will take years of consistent hard work to feel like you're really getting somewhere. Oh, and you'll probably never look like Mr. Olympia.

"I just didn’t realize how long it would take. At 2-3 sessions per week, it took a year before I saw anything in the mirror," one user noted, adding that it took over three years of consistency to see major changes.

Expectation: More self-confidence. Reality: Body dysmorphia.

When men start working out, they often believe that if they lose weight or look more fit, they'll gain confidence. And often times, that's true! But in some cases, hyper focusing on the size of your pecs or the visibility of your abs can have the opposite effect. You can lose sight of the progress you've made and end up feeling even worse about your body.

"Unfortunately once you see improvement, sometimes you are always trying to up the improvement," a man wrote.

"I've even had other people comment on the weight loss and I have tangible evidence in a reduced waist size, yet when I look at myself I still feel big as ever," said another.

"Not really new, its a pretty common occurrence that once you get bigger you'll feel too small and as if you dont train hard enough to grow faster," noted one commenter, referencing a phenomenon sometimes called bigorexia.

Expectation: Less pain. Reality: Being sore all the time.

gif of man running up the stairs while another walks downstairs slowly and painfullyThis is how you move when you're in shapeGiphy

"[I expected] Less daily pain. Result: different daily pain," wrote one commenter.

My wife and I joke about this all the time. We both workout to be strong, fit, and healthy. Half the time, though, our legs are sore from squats and lunges and cycling and we're both waddling around the house. It kind of feels like it defeats the purpose at times.

Exercise is one of the best ways to relieve pain in your knees, back, hips, and more. But if you overdo it, your muscles will pay the price for days afterwards, or worse, you'll wind up injuring yourself.

Expectation: Six pack abs. Reality: It's not worth it.

gif of singer Usher lifting his shirt to show off his absWe can't all have abs like UsherGiphy

Ah yes, the Holy Grail of fitness for men: The elusive six pack. You could easily argue that men care more about abs than women (let's just not restart the dadbod discourse again, please), but whether the pursuit is misguided or not, almost every man who steps foot in a gym has at least dared to dream that one day they might acquire rock hard abs.

Guys in the thread showed up to tell us that, sadly, it probably won't happen just because you work out hard.

"[The reality is] I’m just sorta in shape bc I don’t watch my diet… you can tell I have a physique, I can lift heavy, and have endurance, but there’s some chub," one commenter admitted.

Six pack abs require either terrific genes, extreme discipline, or a combination of both. And the guys who have put in extraordinary effort in the gym and the kitchen to get there are here to tell us it's probably not worth the hassle.

"As someone who's gone down to about 10% to get abs. Don't. It's genuinely not worth it. I sit at around 15% which for me doesn't show ab definition, and I'm so much happier than I was with abs," one guy says.

Expectation: Feeling better physically. Reality: Feeling better mentally.

By now, we've learned that expectations of working out don't always match reality. It's not likely that you'll completely transform your body (at least not quickly), become perfectly happy with how you look in the mirror, and have women throwing themselves at you. But that's not to say that fitness isn't a goal worth pursuing. Sometimes, the most positive effects aren't the ones you see, but the ones you feel.

"One of the things I did not expect was being able to deal with my mental health, but it was a pleasant surprise to find out how much it helped me counter my depression," one man commented.

"Regular, strenuous physical activity is the thing that made the most dramatic difference in my mental wellbeing. My new girlfriend has these motivational memes everywhere, and one of them says 'Sweat is magic. Cover yourself in it daily and watch your dreams come true.' Dammit if that isn't the most truth I've learned in the last few years," added another.

The men's self-improvement industry has sold us a lot of fairly toxic ideas. It tells us to chase big muscles, six pack abs, and adoration from women in the gym, and that these things will ultimately bring us peace and happiness. Most guys who have been down this road have found out that that's simply not true.

However, getting and staying active does have a ton of benefits if you get into it for the right reasons. It can improve longevity, boost your mood and confidence, help you sleep better, and more. You may not become a Casanova with the ladies, but the guy spotting you on the bench press or complimenting your shoulders might just become a new best friend, something men desperately need more of.



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It's long been known that women, on average, take longer showers than men. The disparity isn't too large, just a minute or two overall, but it indicates there is a difference between how men and women are approaching their bathing hygiene. Now we know why... even if wish we didn't.

Brit Richards recently asked her husband about his shower routine on a whim of curiosity. After he explained it, she whipped out her phone in disbelief and asked him to tell her again while she recorded. Other people were going to need to see this to believe it.

"I'm just so upset," she says jokingly in the intro to the video. "I found out how my husband washes his body in the shower."

A caption overlaying the video reads: "PLEASE HELP. THIS CAN NOT BE HOW MEN SHOWER."

What's got Brit so freaked out? The pantomimed routine starts off well enough, with John scrubbing his beard and scalp with soap. OK, cool. But then we move onto the body, and, well, you'll just want to watch. Or, actually, maybe you don't.

@britforreal

“Mom, I’m scared. Can you come pick me up?” #men #husband #shower #help

Brit reacts in horror as her husband demonstrates that he washes what he calls "The Triangle" (an area that encompasses the groin and lower belly, basically) and then the "AMEX" (don't make me explain it. You watched the video, right?). And then... that's it.

Sure, we've covered the most important bits. But the thoroughness of John's routine definitely leaves a lot to be desired.

"You don't even wash your pits?" she asks him. "Sometimes," he says.

"You don't round the corners of your cheeks and you sit on public toilets? ... You've never washed your legs or feet?" The answer is extremely unfortunate.

Brit ends the video by telling him, tongue-in-cheek, of course, "You can't live here anymore."

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John takes the criticism in stride and with a laugh, but the viral video's three million viewers are raising important questions.

To put it bluntly, women who saw Brit's video were absolutely horrified:

"Girl you didn't realize his showers were 20 seconds long?" one user asked.

"EVERY INCH NEEDS TO BE WASHED. EVERY INCH."

"You need to take showers together to supervise."

"BRB going to go talk to my teenage boys…I’m not about to raise a man that does this."

The roasts just kept coming, to the point that Brit started to feel a little bad for publicly putting her husband on blast. "POV: You told the Internet that your husband does the triangle wash in the shower and now millions of people are roasting him in your comment section and its actually all your fault," she captioned a follow up video. Woops!

John may be the unwitting face of the 'Triangle Wash' movement, but he's definitely not the only one. Commenters had plenty to say about that, too:

@britforreal

Replying to @Mama I’m sorry babe, but 2025 isn’t gonna be your year. #marriage #shower #help #sos

"You are not alone! I even saved your video to show my husband because apparently washing “parts” is all he does too 🙄🤣.. it’s been an argument for years!"

"My husband takes like THE shortest showers and I’m so nervous to have this conversation with him! My anxiety can not"

"Yup I broke up with a guy after I seen the way he "washed" himself."

My theory on why so many men seem to be lacking in basic hygiene and grooming? It's because they weren't taught anything growing up outside of the bare basics, and then they were conditioned to think anything more than that was 'girly'. There are lot of hygiene and hygiene-related tasks that are considered feminine, like: Washing your face, moisturizing, taming your eyebrows, trimming your nails, exfoliating, wearing chapstick, and more. It stands to reason that putting too much effort into smelling good, being clean, and grooming our most sensitive areas could be interpreted as "unmanly."

A 2022 review of survey data interestingly found that more egalitarian countries, or countries where there was greater social equality between sexes, tended to see a smaller difference between how men and women approached hygiene. Less sex equality was associated with a greater difference in hygiene norms between men and women. So there's plenty of evidence that our gendered hygiene habits are created, at least in part, by our surroundings and not inherently embedded in our DNA.

Guys, I know that our culture has instilled some toxic beliefs in us, but we've just got to do better. We need to wash our pits and feet and, occasionally, wash the grime and oil from our faces properly. It's the least we can do, if not for ourselves, then for our partners. Being a little stinky and rough around the edges might have been cool in the Wild West, but they invented body wash for a reason.