Keenan Watkins of North Vernon, Indiana doesn’t make promises to his daughter that he can’t keep. Even if that requires him to run errands around town carrying an anatomically correct “ugly” baby boy doll. Which it did.
Love What Matters gave Watkins’ first-hand account of exactly how his “fun” day out with Davey the doll occurred.
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I am the proud parent of two amazing and complex young children. Ash (10) and Aayla (9). A few nights ago, while cooking dinner for them, Aayla asks me ‘Daddy Poo, will you take Davey with you tomorrow, everywhere you go?’ Now, as I was cooking and was doing my best not to burn the rice dish, I absent mindedly replied ‘Yes, Baby Poo, of course I will.’
After hearing a shriek of awe in his daughter’s voice, he realized what he just agreed to and that he would have to keep his word.
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I then hear her become noticeably excited as she retorts ‘REALLY?!!!?’ It was at this point that I realized exactly what I had just agreed to, and there was no going back. I do not purposely lie to my daughter, and I do not purposely let her down. ‘You know it, Squirrel! Me and my grandson are gonna do it all!’ You’ve probably noticed that in our family, little nicknames run rampant. I call her Baby Poo, Baby Girl, Baby Squirrel, Princess, Pony Princess…it goes on and on. Just a small way of letting her know that she is special, to me. So, she now knows that I’m locked into this adventure, and decides to up the anti. ‘Daaaaaddy? Can you buy Davey some clothes while you’re out? He doesn’t have any that fit him right. And will you take pictures for me?’
As a good father, Watkins surely kept his word and documented his day on the town with Davey in a series of photos which have now gone viral.
Oh hell, now I’m in the deep end of the pool, but without hesitation, I agree to this new added detail. See, Davey is her favorite doll. A yard sale doll that my wife had picked up for a dollar. Davey is a vintage ’80’s, anatomically correct, baby boy that many describe as being ugly, and not without merit, if you get my drift. But, Aayla (my daughter) absolutely adores Davey, calls him her son, and my grandson, treats him as if he is actually alive, etc. Cut to the next morning – I help the kids get ready for school – normal morning routine – all is good. As she walks down the driveway towards the bus, she turns and says ‘Don’t forget to go get Davey’s clothes, Daddy!’ Dang, lol, time to see what I’m really made of.
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I retrieve Davey from his little sleeping area, and go searching the garage for a car seat. I should probably mention that at some point during dinner, she had interjected the fact that Davey will need to be strapped in, everywhere we go. Because, you know… safety.
Watkins scooped his “grandson” up and set off to take the baby to get new clothes at Goodwill. He even brought drinks for the baby’s car ride.
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And some snacks because no parent would leave their house without at least one snack for their kid.
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So this tough-looking bearded fellow with a “Punisher” name patch on his shirt walks into Goodwill with a baby doll strapped into a shopping cart. It caught the attention of a few people, to say the least. Including Goodwill employee Sadie Jessica Marie Collins who snapped some photos of him and posted them on Facebook.
“This man sucked up all of his pride and went out of his way to clothing shop for a baby doll just to make his little girl happy and if that’s not love I don’t know what is,” she wrote in her post.
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He was a bit lost. Watkins never shopped for baby boy doll clothes before, so he was grateful when a sales associate pointed him in the right direction.
Davey and I go in, I grab a cart, strap him in (Daddy promised) and begin looking around, completely lost. I approach a young woman who appears to work there. She is smiling, going about her duties, looking like maybe, just maybe, she wouldn’t bite my head off if I were to ask my dumb question. ‘Miss, where are your clothes for little babies?’ Still smiling, but possibly a bit confused as she just saw the 250 pound, six foot two, tattooed man wearing a shirt that says “Punisher” who has what is clearly a doll strapped into his cart. She kindly directs me to the back wall, where the newborn clothes are, doing her job without pause.
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Watkins finally found something suitable for Davey to wear and tried to make his way out of the store without making a spectacle of himself.
Now, I’m a bit fuzzy on the detail of which happened next, exactly – but either I explained first before going to pick out the clothes, or she asked and I explained – but the situation was explained, and smiles were exchanged. Good, she didn’t think I was a freak. I pick out a few outfits, try them on him to make sure they fit, but only two did, so I made my way to the cash register. I go to check out in the line of my favorite cashier, because she knows me, and definitely doesn’t judge me. Not for doing things for my kids, anyway. Lol.
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However, he didn’t escape without catching the attention of one little girl in the store who couldn’t figure out why a grown man was taking a doll shopping.
I proceed to absolutely shock this beautiful little girl standing in line in front of me. She just can’t wrap her mind around why this big dummy has a perfectly good doll that she could be playing with! It was so cute and funny. Her momma exchanged happy, nonjudgmental words with me about Davey, the cashier innocently poked fun at me (a friend, I didn’t mind), we got Davey a sticker, I took some more pics for Aayla, and we left.
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Though it may have been one of Watkins’ weirder days, he didn’t mind as long as his little girl knows that she can count on her dad.
I’m just a Daddy that wants his kids to truly understand that I love them. I want them to be happy, and would gladly take on a potentially embarrassing situation, in order to keep my promise to them. Father of the year? Hardly. Father? You bet.”
Watkins’ love for his daughter touched the hearts of more than 47,000 likes people on Facebook where the post was shared 11,669 times.
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