[Note from Frolic: We’re so excited to have author A.S. Teague guest post on the site todaY! Take it away, A.S.!]
What is it about seeing a man with his child? The way a daddy dotes on his daughter or plays catch with his son? Is it because in general, the women are supposed to be the more nurturing ones?
Maybe it’s because as a mother, we’ve spent those long pregnant months loving our child, but for a man, he can’t understand the depths of feelings that you have for your offspring until that baby takes its first breath in the world?
Whatever the reason is, I know that there is nothing that I love more than to watch my two kids interact with my husband. My oldest is his step daughter, and yet, he loves her all the same. They watch YouTube videos that I think are stupid and laugh together for hours. My youngest? Well, she is the light of her proud daddy’s life. The man will pretend to be one of her stuffed animals and talk in a high pitched voice for three times as long as I’m willing to, if it makes his little girl happy.
Maybe a man’s willingness to be silly, to shed the masculine role that they are “supposed” to have is part of why we love single dad romance novels and can’t get enough of movies that have a single father in them.
I’m here to tell you about a few of my favorite single dad movies. But, let me warn you in advance: I love the cheesy movies. If you’re hoping that I’ll tell you about how wonderful The Pursuit of Happiness is, well, you’ll be disappointed. I’ve never seen it. If it’s going to make me cry, I try to avoid it like the plague. I learned my lesson a long time ago after I spent an entire night ugly crying over the book, A Dog’s Purpose. But, I digress.
Full House
A man trying to raise his three daughters on his own and his brother in law and best friend come to the rescue. What more could we possibly want to see then a sexy man, (Helllllo Uncle Jesse) playing dress up with a little girl or a funny dude (Lookin’ at you Uncle Joey) making those grieving children smile again?
On a more serious note, why is it that the mother is always tragically missing? Is it to pull at our heart strings a little more? If so, then let me tell you, it works.
Love, Actually
My all-time favorite Christmas movie, Love Actually, has quite a few different story lines (one of the reasons I adore it so) but, one is Liam Neeson’s character, Daniel, learning how to move past the death of his beloved wife while raising her son, Sam.
I mean, talk about a punch in the feels. She was the love of his life and now she’s gone and he’s got this kid that he literally has no clue how to help move on from the death of his mother. But when Sam has a crush, Daniel suddenly realizes that being a good father is nothing more than helping the child that you love, whether biologically yours or not, through the everyday trials of life. Trials like, you know, how to get the girl.
I mean, Daniel is a saint. He manages to ignore the horrible drumming and moody door slams for weeks until Sam is finally ready to win over his crush. If you haven’t seen this movie (shame on you) then skip to the next paragraph because I’m about to spoil it for you: Sam and Daniel end up finding love.
Enough of the heavy, heartbreaking single father movies. Let’s get to the feel good Disney movies.
The Game Plan
My all-time favorite, totally cheesy but in the absolute best way, single dad movie is The Game Plan with none other than Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson as NFL Quarterback Joe Kingman and his adorable eight year old daughter, Peyton Kelly. Except, Joe’s a bachelor living the good life and has no idea that Peyton even exists until she shows up on his doorstep one day.
Ohhhh! See! Full of all the stuff we love… secret baby, single father, sexy bachelor. Once Joe realizes that Peyton really is the child from a past relationship, hilarity ensues as The Rock tries, and fails miserably, at parenting.
But, does he really fail? Of course not. What we, as parents, see as failure is often the complete opposite for our kids. Just the other night, I failed as a mom and let my kid have ice cream for dinner. But, you better believe she didn’t see it as a mom fail. It was a total win in her book.
And in Peyton’s book, her father’s “failures” are nothing more than proving that he loves and cares about her, even if he has no idea what he’s doing.
And, that is why I loved writing Aiden Shaw’s story in The Hardest Hit. Much like Joe up there, Aiden’s a hot shot quarterback at the top of his game and although children didn’t magically appear on his doorstep one day, he had to adjust to life as a single father quickly. But, having three rowdy boys who were happy and healthy was worth all the sacrifices he had to make to take care of them, including letting the woman that he’d met in a smoky casino in Vegas go for eight long years.
I loved getting to know Aiden and Mel, but my favorite part of writing The Hardest Hit was Aiden’s interactions with his boys, Landon, Owen and Hunter. As a mother of girls, it was fun to explore the crazy and somewhat gross antics of school aged boys.
Out of all the stories I’ve written, the single father has to be one of my favorites. Because, there really is something magical about a man with his babies. Something that turns you to mush, and makes you want to gobble up every single romantic minute of the bond between father and child.
And I, for one, can’t get enough.
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About the Author:
A.S. Teague enjoys the warmth of South Carolina with her husband and two daughters.
The stereotypes about peach cobbler and sweet tea are not overstated. After years in
the medical field, she is now enjoying every minute of being a stay-at-home mom. She
loves wine, the beach, wine on the beach, and crying at Disney movies. When she
doesn't have a book in her hand, she can be found pestering her husband with pictures
of animals she wants to rescue, as well as debating whether to exercise or take a nap.
Connect with A.S. Teague:
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The Hardest Hit by A.S. Teague, out now!
My friends used to tell me ‘What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas.’ Clearly they lied, because there was no way the chemistry I had with Mel could ever be left behind.However, my children, her career, and nine hundred miles between us meant that for seven years, Melanie Holstein was the one who got away.I was Aiden Shaw, first-round draft pick turned the best quarterback the league had ever seen. I worked hard to secure my position in football history while balancing life as a single dad. Through it all, my Vegas spitfire was never far from my mind.And considering her best friend was now with my best friend, it was pure and utter torture.When my career took a devastating turn, Mel was the first person at my side. I was broken and defeated, but that stubborn woman was determined to piece me back together.I liked to pretend Mel and I were destined for greatness, but Lady Luck had never been on our side. And the tragedy that followed might have been the hardest hit of all.
