Dad Dresses Like a Troll in a Tutu to Help Daughter Conquer Her Fears

Gordon Hurd
This dad went the extra mile for his little girl.
This dad went the extra mile for his little girl. (Photo: Getty Images)

Things are definitely getting different for dads these days. The days of strong, silent, or, sadly, absent dads are hopefully far behind us if social media has anything to say about it. More and more dads are coming together to chat, connect, share their worries and joys, and celebrate how much they love being fathers. Life of Dad is one such place, and one father, Shaun Bradley, is a rather unmistakable example of a proud daddy in action.

Earlier this week, Shaun found himself in a dilemma. His 4-year-old daughter, Aleigha, was due to appear in a parade in their hometown of Broadmeadows, just outside of Melbourne, Australia. But Aleigha was nervous and scared. She had to appear in costume and was getting cold feet about walking in a parade in front of people, so her quick-thinking dad came up with a solution. “After a bit of talking,” Bradley told Yahoo Beauty, “we came to the agreement of daddy dressing up with her. She could pick the costume. A blue boy troll with a tutu.”

After nearly two and a half hours of prepping, Bradley and his daughter were ready to rock and roll. He decided to share the photo of their getups with his fellow fathers on Life of Dad on Facebook, and the post quickly started generating buzz throughout the community.

“I know a lot of dads get stuff like that,” Bradley said, explaining why he decided to share it with the Facebook group. ”You do what you can for your daughters, that’s all.”

Bradley’s not alone in wanting to seek connections and share inspiration in communities like Life of Dad. David Guest, who started the site with a group of friends in 2011, explained: “The adventure of fatherhood is the most fun, exciting thing a man can go through in his life. Fatherhood links men together who may not have other things in common. Some are having a great time, some are having struggles. And when guys like Shaun share their joy, it’s inspiring. Other guys can say, ‘I can do it too.’”

After sharing his photo on Facebook, it seems many of the group followers indeed found inspiration, and not just dads. As Heather Lawrence, a fellow member of Life of Dad commented: “YOU are an amazing daddy! How awesome! I follow this page because I was a single mom for a long time and wanted ‘daddy inputs’ on certain topics with my kids.” Others chimed in as well.


“Blue Boy Troll in a Tutu” isn’t the only example of fatherhood gone viral thanks to Life of Dad. About a year ago, Patrick Quinn, one of the site’s founding fathers, shared a photo of himself with his newborn, attempting to see how many Cheerios he could stack on the sleeping infant. The so-called Cheerio Challenge quickly sparked online, with none other than President Obama taking part with his own version of the game.

It’s this kind of enthusiasm about being dads that will make places like Life of Dad essential sources of connections for fathers around the world. We can’t wait to see “Blue Boy Troll in a Tutu: The Sequel.”

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