Dad 'Cried Laughing' At What He Found In Four-Year-Old Daughter's Backpack

A doting dad found himself both crying and laughing after making an unexpected discovery in his four-year-old's backpack.

Parenting is stressful at the best of times, but moms and dads can struggle the most during those early infant years.

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In a survey of 800 U.S. adults conducted by Care.com, more than half of the parents polled said they viewed the ages of 0 to 4 as the most stressful. By contrast, just 30 percent of parents quizzed said they considered the teenage years more intense.

Jesse Bolender, from Marion, New York, might disagree with that poll somewhat after the heartwarming experience he had while getting his four-year-old daughter Josephine, or Josie for short, ready one morning.

"I was getting her ready for daycare and I always send extra clothes and snacks in her backpack, so I will clean out whatever comes home—artwork mainly but more often than not spilled cereal too," Bolender told Newsweek.

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However, when he dipped his hand inside the bag this time, he was shocked to discover something slightly different waiting for him. It was a sheet of paper, titled "All About My Dad" and evidently filled in by one of Josie's carers on her strict instruction.

The document certainly made for interesting reading. According to the sheet, Bolender is four years old, his favorite food is broccoli and he likes to drink Kool-Aid.

Bolender was immediately amused at what he read. "I cried laughing when I read that I was only four," he said.

Josie went on to name Bolender's favorite thing as being when he gets to play with her while she also told her teacher he was "good at cooking breakfast" and always says to her "clean up your mess."

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"I love him so much," she writes as her answer to the sheet's final question.

It might have only been a fun activity she did at daycare but the response had Bolender feeling a range of emotions.

"I love broccoli but definitely not my favorite," he joked. "But then I also felt happy to see that she thinks my favorite thing to do is to play with her and that I'm 'really good at' making her breakfast."

Ultimately, Bolender said the whole thing made him feel "proud and accomplished as a father." So much so that he decided to share it to Reddit under the handle u/Hungdismembered.

At the time of writing it's earned over 46,000 upvotes with readers online full of praise for her efforts.

"Your kid thinks your favorite thing to do is to play with her," one user said. "Good job, dad!" Another said: "That's awesome! It means Dad is spending quality time with his daughter."

While the fact Josie thought her dad was four years old was a source of amusement, one woman leaping into the comments section appeared to have experienced far worse, writing: "My daughter said I was 99 years old."

Bolender hopes his post inspires other dads out there to soak up every minute with their little ones. "You can't take any of it for granted," he said.

Correction 07/03/24, 11:16 a.m. ET: An earlier version of this story incorrectly identified Jessie Bolender as Jessie Bolender Marion.