WATCH: Fathers light up their children’s lives – and ours – in these viral videos

Fathers are an often overlooked necessity in children’s lives, but their presence is vital to the development and well-being of their children. According to Psychology Today, research shows that being raised without a father can have lasting negative impacts on children. Father’s Day is a great opportunity to thank the man you call “Dad” and celebrate the other fathers or father figures and mentors in your life as well.

Here are some viral videos of fathers who light up their children’s lives, and who have given us joy as well.

Hilarious Boxing

A video of Sando Reapa Louis of Florida and his six-month-old daughter Jamila went viral in January when viewers couldn’t get enough of the baby girl’s laugh. As her father practiced his boxing moves, Jamila could not control her laughter.

“She think my hands a joke,” he wrote on Facebook. As Jamila celebrated her first birthday this week, he shared the video a second time because it obviously brings great joy to his life, as does his daughter.

 

The Stop Game

In this next video, a father and his young baby can be seen adorably playing the Stop game. As the father begins to dance, so does the baby. And as the father stops dancing and says, “Stop,” so does the baby — with the added bonus of a giggle.

Shared by The Dad Gang, the video has been viewed over 3.6 million times and shares something the media doesn’t always show. As @_SJPeace_ tweeted, “I love this. Normal Black father things. An image the media doesn’t paint.”

Sweet girl

This viral video is too sweet for words as a father holding his baby girl radiates love for her—and vice versa.

“You make Daddy smile, girl,” he says to her. “You’re the best thing that ever happened to me. Yeah. I love you so much. Yeah. You my best friend. You my best friend, beautiful. I love you so much, honey.”

The baby girl can be heard “talking” in response to her father, making cooing sounds as she smiles at him. At the end of the video, the father sheds tears of joy.

 

The Home Run

Cory Willig’s reaction to his four-year-old son’s first home run was both encouraging and sweet as he jumped up and down and cheered, fist pumping in the air.

Letter Learning

Cute baby Winston and his father Pedro Moore are featured in this viral video as Dad teaches him how to say the letter “W.” Every time his father turns the “W” upside down to an “M” and that back to a “W,” Winston can hardly contain himself, and his giggles are contagious. He also copies his father and flips his own “W” back and forth, saying both “M” and “W.”

Not only is this young boy learning the alphabet, but he’s bonding with his father too—an irreplaceable and valuable moment in the lives of both father and son.

The Conversation

In one of the most popular Dad and baby videos on the internet, comedian DJ Pryor and his son Kingston have a “conversation” about the game on TV. The video, shared by Shanieke Pryor, was so adorable that it was viewed over 65 million times and landed the father and son duo a spot on an ad for Denny’s.

 

Children need their fathers in their lives, even when it’s difficult. Father figures are important, too, if fathers aren’t around, so children can see the importance of fatherhood in everyday life.

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