4 Lessons We Can Learn From BatDad

I have become a BatDad addict.  If you aren’t aware of this Internet phenomenon then you are missing out.  Basically a normal guy does short videos of himself pretending to be Batman, but married and with four kids.  He doesn’t even dress up he just uses a cheap Batman mask.  BatDad has done a ton of videos that were originally published on Vine and are now available in compilations on Youtube.

The great thing about these videos is they are exactly what you could see any goofy dad coming up with to have fun with his family.  Even his brother gets in on the videos appearing as the lovable “Uncle Rob”.  After watching probably 100 of these videos I have come up with four lessons we can learn from watching BatDad.

It Doesn’t Take A Lot of Money To Have Fun

One thing I try to beat into people is that having fun does not require spending ridiculous money.  While there are some activities that will require a substantial financial investment (Disney World comes to mind), there are tons of ways to have fun without spending a lot of money.  BatDad spends almost no money having fun making these ridiculous videos.

My family recently went up to an apple orchard and spent most of the day enjoying their playground, eating apple cider donuts and picking 10 lbs. of apples.  With gasoline it all cost us less than $30.  Another example is we frequently will hit up small town festivals.  The total cost for a few hours of fun is frequently less than $20, depending on how far we have to drive and how much the festival charges for kid rides (many have free kid rides these days btw).  No matter what stage of life you are in you can have fun experiences without breaking the bank.

Sometimes Your Kids Need to Work it out Themselves

When I was four years old I was allowed to ride my bike, by myself, around our neighborhood.  These days that might get reported as child abuse. Parents seem to be so focused on providing a safe environment we forget to teach our kids how to live and solve their own problems.  While I have no idea how the BatDad family functions, I do know that once you get to three kids you just don’t have enough eyes to keep track of the little buggers all the time.  This means they have to work out their differences on their own sometimes and not rely on parents to work out all their problems.  It’s good for them so let them do it when possible.

No Matter How Stupid You Are Acting, Your Spouse Likes The Attention

BatDad’s wife, Jen, is frequently the target of his videos.  I would describe her as an unwilling target.  She is a good sport though and only provides him with a vulgar gesture after she seems to have been the butt of one too many BatDad “attacks”.
Through all the angry looks and gestures, you can still tell that Jen is amused by her husbands silly antics.  I know in my house, even when I am acting a little silly (only a little), paying attention to my spouse always pays dividends.

Your Kids Will Enjoy Experiences More than Things

Kids love doing things with their dad.  Many times it doesn’t even matter if it ends up being the most fun thing ever.  BatDad’s kids are still pretty young so the stuff they do together is pretty simple, like making this video together.  When I was young, my dad used to take me out to the flea market to buy sports cards, I have a collection of about 20,000 now.  He gave me five dollars each time to spend on cards.  Those are some of my fondest memories and all it took was time with my dad and $5 of sports cards.

My (much older) brother took each of his kids on an extended back packing trip right before they finished high school.  Let me tell you that any type of camping with my brother is sheer misery, but both of his kids talk about the experience with pride as a sort of right of passage into adulthood.

So while BatDad is mostly just a lot of fun watching a guy make fun of normal family life, we can all take a little something from this social media phenomenon.