Philippe Morgese is a single dad with a daughter named Emma. She, like many children, happens to have hair.
Like most parents, Morgese is really hoping to do his part to make sure Emma becomes a fully-functioning and responsible member of society. He wants to make sure she grows up confident and well-adjusted. He also wants her to have a good male role model in her life. Ya know, like most of us dads do.
And he wants to make sure her hair looks nice. He didn’t have any people in his life who knew how to braid hair, so he taught himself.
SCIENCE FACT: Actively involved fathers can have a huge impact on their kids’ school performance.
Morgese got so good at hair braiding that he decided to start a class to help other dads.
SCIENCE FACT: The more a dad is involved in their kid’s life, the more the dad’s self-esteem increases.
The class got pretty popular over time. So much so that he ended up starting a Facebook page called the Daddy Daughter Hair Factory to help dads everywhere learn how to braid hair. He got a kid’s haircare company, SoCozy, to sponsor the class. He even built an incredibly handy website where dads like me, who get horrifically dirty looks from their daughters every time they try to do hair, can learn how to do it correctly.
The class is about more than braiding hair though.
The classes are really about dads and daughters bonding and connecting.
They turn off their screens. They focus on being together. And they just hang out.
SCIENCE FACT: Dads who play with their kids can have a positive impact in their kids ability to have stable relationships later in life.
It’s a win for everyone. Dads and daughters get to spend time with each other and they both get something out of it: new skills for dad and awesome hairstyles for their daughters.
I seriously can’t wait to learn how to do the three-strand braid and the braided elastic coverup.
NON-SCIENCE FACT: I’m looking forward to the day I can make my daughter’s hair look this good while not getting a raging death stare from her.
Watch Morgese and Emma show other dads how to braid hair in this Upworthy Original Video:
And feel free to share this with a dad in need.
This article originally appeared on 04.18.16