I have to thank my 10-year-old daughter for introducing me to this viral series of videos by parent Matthew Clarke about life with his two-year-old daughter.
Clarke, an actor and writer, appears as himself in the videos, while the part of his toddler is played – with a completely straight face – by his actor friend David Milchard. Yes, it’s funny, but it’s also surreal. Any parent will recognise the power battles in the relationship and laugh. But you can’t help noticing that a toddler’s words in the mouth of an adult are more than a trifle scary.
Huffington Post interviewed Clarke last year about the videos, when there were only two produced. Today there are a dozen to choose from, with millions of views apiece. Great concept, well written and acted, and sleekly produced. All the ingredients for a YouTube video hit. But I suspect the real key to their success is Clare’s wonder and appreciation of the mysteries of parenting, which he explains very beautifully in this post:
” …the love I felt for this baby went completely against a central tenet of modern life: Convenience. This baby was the opposite of an iPad. It made everything more complicated, made me more vulnerable, made me late for every appointment.
“We all deeply want to be inconvenienced, woken up, bothered, shaken from our natural resting state. We want our lives to be intruded upon.”
Yep. That’s parenting for you.
Follow the series on Twitter @convos2yrold
