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Man Gets ‘Worst Dad in the World’ Note—10 Minutes Later, Everything Changes


Parenting is full of ups and downs—and one dad recently experienced both within the space of 10 minutes.

The dad, who prefers to remain anonymous, shared images of two handwritten notes he received from his 5-year-old son on Reddit’s r/funny subreddit. One called him the “wost dad en the world” (worst dad in the world) and another, just minutes later, offering a simple apology: “Sryye” (sorry) and “I did not men to be men to you” (I did not mean to be mean to you)

“75 percent of the time I’m great (in his eyes), but sometimes, when boundaries are set that he doesn’t agree with, he gives me the ‘that’s not fair’ comment, which drives me insane,” the father told Newsweek.

Images of handwritten notes by 5-year-old that read: “Wost dad en the world” and “Sryye”.

u/nightsaysni

The dad explained that he’ll question his son by asking what he finds unfair and encourage him to express how he’s feeling and why. “He’s getting better at expounding on what he’s feeling,” the dad said.

The emotional rollercoaster started at a family gathering, where his son had been playing with his cousins and younger sister. While the adults watched NFL, the children decided to create their own stories, cutting, folding and stapling pages together before presenting them to the rest of the family.

His son, eager to share his work, asked for help reading a difficult word in his book titled The One-Eyed Creature.

But what started as a simple request quickly turned sour. “Evidently, I was just supposed to slowly sound it out, but I read him the word he was struggling with and tried to point out how it was written over two lines—hence making it difficult for him to read, trying to empathize with him. He got very upset that I helped too much and started getting angry at me,” the OP (original poster) told Newsweek.

Frustrated, his son ran off, only to return with the note a minute later: “Wost dad en the wood”.

The father responded calmly, acknowledging his son’s feelings but setting a boundary. “I told him that I understood that he’s upset, but don’t appreciate the hurtful words and that there’s other ways to let me know what he’s feeling,” he said.

Then, about 10 minutes later, the boy returned with a second note—this time with “Sryye” (Sorry) and “I did not men to be men to you” (I did not mean to be mean to you). According to his dad, his demeanor had changed and later, when it was just the two of them, they had a conversation about healthy ways to express emotions.

For the dad, the notes weren’t just random scribbles, they were signs of his son developing emotional intelligence.

“I’ve learned that him taking space and drawing—and now writing—helps him realize what he’s feeling and process it. I have received similar notes one previous time. That time it was because I was trying to talk him through how to express himself to his younger sister when he gets frustrated with her,” the father explained.

Toddler's storybook
Images of the OP’s 5-year-old’s storybook.

u/nightsaysni

At the time of writing, his post has received 150,000 upvotes and over 4000 comments from other Reddit users who praised the father for his parenting skills.

“That’s some great emotional maturity for your little one to realize he needed space, process his emotions and realize he was wrong. Good stuff man,” one user wrote.

“You are obviously parenting well, gold star,” said another.

“I’ve gotten a lot of compliments and congratulations on allowing him to express himself,” the dad reported.

The OP told Newsweek that some users followed up with advice on how to talk to him about better expressing himself—most of which he’d exercised already.

“A handful have accused me of making the drawing myself, which I find comical. I think those people just don’t have kids,” he said.

The father later said, “I forgot to mention… how extremely proud I am of him, not only for his writing skills but also his introspection and emotional intelligence for his age.”



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