Imagine the situation: a mom has to go to work and leaves a sick child at home with the dad. But the father, at the last minute, also has to go to work. What should he do? With whom can he leave the child when he has no family or support network nearby?
Brazilian reporter and European correspondent Felipe Kieling, from Bandeirantes Group, didn’t think twice: he took the boy to work and appeared live with the toddler in his arms.
Of course, when a company allows parents to take their children to work in specific situations, as was Felipe’s case, everything becomes easier. But it’s not every day that we see a journalist, a teacher, a doctor, or an engineer, for example, working hard to fulfill their professional commitments with a small child on their lap or in their arms.
The unexpected situation
The London correspondent of Jornal BandNews told his colleagues that his son Lucas had a stomach problem and couldn’t go to daycare. “Babysitting here is very expensive, about R$80 an hour,” he said. With no family around to help, the plan was for the little boy to stay with his father in the morning and his mother in the afternoon.
However, the father also had to go out to report live for his employer’s radio, TV and internet programs. The solution was to take the boy with him. At first, the reporter left his son in the stroller, off screen. Then, little Lucas started crying and the journalist had to take him in his arms. Reporting live, Felipe managed to control the child’s antics and, at the same time, give a good news report.
The video of this moment soon went viral.
Real life
In comments to Pais & Filhos (“Parents & Children”), the journalist said: “Many mothers go through this, and other fathers do too. Life is real. We couldn’t leave Lucas with anyone today. We have to talk about it, explain and normalize it. Because not everybody has a support network. We need to work, to live—and these things happen.”
The reporter also added, “Why did the video go viral? First because many people identified with it. Many fathers and mothers go through difficulties like this. They have nowhere to leave their children at the last minute. And there’s also the fact that I was streaming video. There are many people who go through this, but don’t film it, and it doesn’t become viral.”
Felipe also talked about the importance of husband and wife sharing responsibilities when it comes to childcare: “My wife had to work and had this unforeseen event. My work isn’t more important than hers. She couldn’t be absent. So we have to share. Let’s normalize this!”
On social networks, the journalist received many compliments for his initiative.
“That’s right, Kieling. Being a father (like everyone who has children should be, right?),” posted one of the reporter’s followers. Another follower said: “Congratulations. If you hadn’t taken him with you, your wife would have had to miss work, which usually happens. That’s trying to break a pattern. Congratulations!”
Pais & Filhos points out that it’s not the first time that Lucas has appeared on air; his father was holding him a year ago during another live report, wearing matching hats. It’s impossible not to smile looking at the screenshot the reporter shared on Instagram:
And today we celebrate...