It’s amazing how young children can find an older movie that you may have forgotten about, decide they like it, and play it over and over and over again.
My five year old son has done just that with Eddie Murphy’s Daddy Day Care. What’s really interesting is that when I first saw this movie I watched it through the eyes of a man without children. OH BUT NOT THIS TIME.
Now every time I watch this movie with my son, which is at least twice a week as of the time I am writing this. I pick up on the underlying messages of the movie which really motivate me as a Father and Entrepreneur
So I have taken the time to explain The 5 Lessons From Eddy Murphy’s Daddy Day Care That Fathers Can And Should Implement Immediately.
The Falsehood Of Corporate Security
Eddie Murphy’s character in this movie had a very important and time consuming career in product development. He routinely answered the call of his cell phone, and the never ending chimes of e-mail. Most men who have worked in the corporate world can relate to this.
But then IT happens (insert movie horror music). He and his very good buddy get laid off in a way that shocks Charlie (Eddie’s character) and his business partner Phil. Have any of you ever experienced this? (The writer of this post raises his hand).
Charlie has to instantly accept the reality that his employer had the power to discontinue the work that he had found his identity in. And it didn’t matter how much he emotionally invested. It didn’t matter what his financial obligations were. And it didn’t even matter that he had brought the company success in the past. So what’s next?
What Really Matters
All of Charlie’s time was no longer taken up by meetings, presentations, emails, and phone calls. So what does he do now? Well isn’t is obvious by the title? He got back to being Daddy. He got to read to his son at night, and even fell asleep in the bed with him. (And the crowd goes AWWWWW!!)
Now since this wasn’t the end of the movie, the importance of this quality time didn’t really smack him in the head just yet. But it did help him shift his focus towards home.
The Joy Of Being Present
So the Daddy’s Charlie and Phil decide to embark on the hilarious task of starting a Daddy Day Care. In which both of their children are attendees.
With a mixture of plenty of poop humor, costume play, sugar rushes, and sugar crashes, and of course NAP TIME. The Daddy Day Care takes shape. Now remember the scene I talked about earlier where Charlie read to and fell asleep his son. Well because of Charlie’s decision to start this home based business, he and his son got a whole lot more time together.
Side Bar: This is one of those points where the movie really began to talk to my own desires as a Father and entrepreneur.
Charlie went from being an absentee Father due to his career, to being a present and engaged Father because of a business decision. Which leads me to the next and highly valuable point.
True Fullfillment
Since this is a family based comedy, plenty of hilarity ensues, along with the challenges of two very inexperienced men running a daycare, while competing with the big time private academy in town.
Throughout their journey they face surprise inspections, sabotage, and Charlie even faces the very difficult choice of going back to his old job.
Side Bar: To me this represents the struggle that many men go through everyday, when they leave their home and children.
But something amazing happens when he briefly decides to go back to the corporate world and quit his innovative Daddy Day Care. As he was in the board room being prompted to give a presentation by the very man that laid him off not to long ago.
IT finally smacks him in the head. The realization that the quality time he has been able to spend with his son is so priceless, that he abruptly excused himself, and quickly went to go retrieve his son from the dreaded Academy that he had been competing against. And made the BOLD statement that Daddy Day Care was here to stay.
What You Can About Yourself From Your Children
As I watch this movie over and over again. I simultaneously watch my son. I observe what parts of the movie make him laugh, and realize I laugh at the same parts. I observe that he is drawn to this movie more than other more popular animated movies. I then realize that he already has the desire to be a Dad when he grows up, and this movie is speaking to a deep desire on the inside of him.
And guess what… So did I when I was his age. Watching my son learn and grow, highlights my own attributes that I am responsible for developing or correcting within him.
My son has such an amazingly large influence on how I go about my career, and how I have come to understand the value of time. I am so thankful that he’s been tough enough to endure my days of being an absent Father because of career choices. Yet loving enough to forget about my absence at the moments I came home. (Pauses to catch breath and not cry)
I hope that this post motivates another Father to decide that those he is most important too, deserve more of his time than anything else.
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God Bless
Rodney K.
