All In The Family

The Man and The Monkey

I would like to take a moment and give some kudos to someone who I know will never see this, but has nonetheless began to impact my fatherly journey in a good way. Jesse is a very big fan of Tori Spelling’s reality show, Tori and Dean: Home Sweet Hollywood. Normally I can’t stand reality TV, however tolerant of it I’ve become. This is not your run-of-the-mill reality drama, however. No whiny girls tearning each others’ hair out, no “coalitions”, no immunity idols… just a family. It’s a great look into the life of Tori & Dean and their 1-year-old, Liam (as well as their daughter, Stella, who’s on the way). Seeing them all interact and just be a family is an amazingly refreshing break from the usual.

What I especially like about the show is seeing how Dean is as both a husband and a father. He listens to Tori, he jokes with her, he takes care of her; he just simply loves her, and it shows. He’s constantly talking about how much he loves spending time with Liam, whom he affectionately refers to as “Monkey”. They go shopping together, he falls asleep with the baby on his chest, he even talks to Liam like he’s his best friend. It really does make me feel inspired to see that in spite of the crumbling American family structure there still exists some glimmer of hope. Here’s to you, McDermott-Spelling family; keep up the good work!

~ Soon to be Daddy