Just Being A Dad Photo: See How One Father Spends Quality Time With Daughters, Comical Photo Sparks Controversy

Last week, Jon Arrigo shared a candid photo of him spending quality time with his two daughters. In the photo, Arrigo can be seen playing video games while his 3-year-old daughter, Emilia, paints his toenails on top of a table full of stickers. His younger daughter, Kylie, can also be seen sitting beside him.

The photo titled “Just Being A Dad” was uploaded to Reddit on December 2 and quickly caught the attention thousands. It immediately skyrocketed to the site’s list of Top Posts, and now has more than 2,000 comments. But surprising, Arrigo received mixed reviews for his parenting style. While some viewers found the picture comical and touching, others viewers were actually outraged. Some people even accused him of not being a good father. Needless to say, some of the comments were quite brash.

Here’s what some users had to say.

“Am I the only one who finds this photo really sad? The daughters are really trying to get their dad engaged, and are clearly looking for attention from him. Meanwhile, he couldn’t be more disinterested in them and only focused on a f—ing video game. This is depressing, really,” one viewer said.

“NO! HES A HORRIBLE FATHER BECAUSE HE ISNT INTERACTING WITH HIS DAUGHTER WHILE SHE PAINTS HIS NAILS. THERE IS NO DOWN TIME FOR FATHERHOOD, AND HE IS RAISING A FUTURE STRIPPER,” another viewer wrote.

“Someday, you’re gonna grow up to be a strong, independent girl… just like your father,” another viewer said.

“As a guy with a little girl, that’s not giving up. That’s swallowing your pride because your daughter wants to play. Seeing her have fun is superior to being socially presentable,” another user argued.

The picture garnered so much attention that Arrigo was contacted by Yahoo! Parenting. The 28-year-old father recently shared his perspective of parenting and the now-viral picture. He revealed the photo captures a typical night in his Erie, Pennsylvania, home.

“I rarely post photos, but I thought this was just a funny picture that showed us all doing what we love to do,” Arrigo said. “It really captured what a typical night looks like at our house. I think the picture shows what being a dad is about. There are no barriers like, ‘Oh I can’t do that because I’m a boy and you’re girls.’ They want to do something, we do it.”

Do you think the picture is a display of bad parenting? Share your thoughts.

[Image via Reddit]