Hilarious Dads Who Tried Their Best but Missed the Mark

Funny

| LAST UPDATE 03/12/2023

By Tabitha Woodcock

We all love a good parenting moment, especially a dad fail. Dads are good at pretty much everything… except the basics, and sometimes, they don't know how to deal with certain situations. Here are some of their best moments.

Dog Meets Doll

When it comes to dads and their daughters, there are simple rules to follow. First things first, always know they will need you whenever possible. Unfortunately, this dad failed on the first attempt at trust.

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@Anchorpete29 via Twitter

This dad tweeted a pic of his daughter's Barbie doll whose face got mauled by the family dog. While this was clearly one of his daughter's prized possessions, dad missed the point of having to watch over and protect. So, the dog gave Barbie a little makeover… and things got ugly real quick. If only dad was on Barbie patrol.

Easy Mac, Right?

Meal time. We can all wish for a father who can chef up any meal we want during any time of the day, especially if the moms are away - no stereotypes intended! However, when it comes to Easy Mac, we truly thought we could count on dad to follow one simple step; Just add water.

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@emzlou422 via Instagram

Even the box has steps to follow, but while fathers think they can do anything in God's power, they thought the instructions were no good use. So, while they wanted to get lunchtime out of the way, he threw the mac and cheese into the pan, letting it fry to death. However, we all learn from our mistakes, and we just hope this dad did.

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Evil Eggs

Making fun-shaped food is always a great way to bond with the kids, so when this dad saw eggs labeled "Bunnyside Up," he thought, what could go wrong? So, he put them in the grocery cart and was itching to get creative in the kitchen, waiting to make his kids smile first thing in the morning. Sadly, it didn't turn out as planned.

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@toddwestern via Instagram

The shape was almost there… although these eggs looked a little eviler than expected. Talk about the Sunday scaries; we don't think we would want to dig into these bunny ears bright and early. "ChefBoyarNo," he teased to his followers. But the main thing is that he tried! Right?

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Not the Brightest Idea

Dads know that it's safety first. Once they bring a child into this world, they are aware it is in their power to protect them, at all costs, from anything at any time. So it's always good to prep them with the correct tools from a young-ish age. While this dad thought about the likely event of a power cut, he bought flashlights.

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@alyssamurdock via Instagram

While this father clearly had a rushed moment thinking of the worst, he grabbed the first thing he thought was a flashlight. Unfortunately, instead of keeping his kids safe, he nearly put them in danger as these 'flashlights' turned out to be tasers. This husband informed his wife over message, and we can imagine she was not impressed.

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Boozy Bake Sale

Okay, it's that time of the year when the parents are assigned one job - to bring in a baked good for classmates. This is the ultimate job, and the pressures are on for the dads as they try to make their kids shine with the best cupcake known to man. However, one father got a little carried away with his idea of fun.

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@b.franklin03 via Instagram

This parent was assigned to feed 30 third-graders and rushed to the grocery store to find the most appealing-looking cupcakes. But instead, he was blinded by the pretty pink treats, which turned out to be infused with some fine Rosé. As his wife wrote on Insta, "he had one job." That bake sale would have turned into quite the party.

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No Jumping on the Bed

This is yet another example of dads just trying to do their job, but sadly, this exchange ends in failure… or broken furniture. When this cool and super fun dad decided to bond with his kids by jumping around on the bed, he soon learned that there's a reason why some beds are made just for children…

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@motheringmayhem via Instagram

Sunday's are for relaxing, but for these parents, they spent their day off at the DIY store trying to prepare their kid's bed when playtime resulted in the bed frame completely shattering. This was really an 'oh no' moment, but we're sure this father was humbled after all the blame was put on him. At least the kid got a new bed!

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Easter Egg Explosion

Another great role for dads to take on is the infamous Easter Egg hunt that rolls around manually. For any child, hunting for the plotted Easter eggs is more than thrilling, so this dad happily wanted to take credit for his kid's happiness! He gathered some eggs, put them to boil, and got to work. But, once again, he had one job.

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@ailedgsaavedra via Instagram

There's nothing wrong with setting a good old-fashioned timer. Even with our advanced technology, a timer is at our fingertips. In fact, this dad thought, 'I got this.' We're unsure what was so distracting in the space of 8-10 minutes, but the above happened. His wife joked on Instagram using the hashtag, #HeCantBePerfect.

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St. Patty's Disaster

Whatever occasion comes around the corner, it's always fun when the parents hype up their kids to get them in the spirit. Specifically, this father wanted his children to start St. Patrick's day the right way, straight away. So, why not put a twist on breakfast and turn the eggs green for the Irish holiday? Right?

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@jroseltd via Instagram

Dad Jeremy Rose posted on Instagram the lengths he went to make his children smile first thing in the morning, but it was all frowns. He wrote, "Green eggs this morning, and these d*** kids are telling me they are gross without tasting them." They say don't judge a book by its cover, but these green eggs might have pushed the limit?

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Make a wish!

Move over, mom! This dad really wanted to make his daughter's birthday special and got her the perfect white-iced cake to make everything more worthwhile. Plus, he only wanted some candles to blow out to make all her wishes come true. However, he was cutting things a bit close with the cake.

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u/vab0618 via Reddit

Dad placed the candles too close, and his princess's birthday nearly went up in flames. As shown in the image, his daughter was putting on a brave face, but she wasn't making any birthday wishes at that moment. We can only hope there was a mini fire extinguisher nearby. Better luck next year!

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Burning Up

Dads are really burning the house down one item at a time! This next funny fail was a classic mishap. After trying to heat up a bottle sterilizer, he placed the 'safety' over it so things wouldn't heat up too fast. Ironically, things took a turn for the worst when dad realized this plastic cover wasn't fit for the microwave oven.

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@bart_dewandeleer via Instagram

To his surprise, and after smelly something funky after a few seconds, he opened the door to find his plastic cover melting away. He captioned the photo, "Microwave oven. I repeat OVEN. #microwaveproblems #daddyfail." Hey, we all make mistakes. But maybe it's a good idea to check whether a product is oven-safe next time.

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"She Said They Were Shorts"

This mom stayed at home for five years before she decided to start working part-time. This meant she put all her trust in her hands-on husband, and dad was in charge of the morning routine before school. Unfortunately, she was slowly starting to regret her decision after her daughter was sent to school in a questionable outfit.

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@alizafriedlander via Instagram

While mom was having a calm morning at work, she was quickly informed by her daughter's school that she had turned up wearing a sweater... and underwear. After a few enraged exchanged texts between her and her husband, dad revealed that their daughter "said they were shorts," to which mom responded, "Those are training underwear."

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Stinky School Lunch

Lunchtime should be a fun time! This dad was super excited to take on the role of packing his kid's lunchbox for school. He had it all planned out with balance. A delicious sandwich, perhaps accompanied by some chips, and of course, a piece of fresh fruit for fiber! However, he was clearly too excited with the rush of things.

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@bexlington via Instagram

So, as his child was making their way through the meal, they noticed something wasn't quite right. At the end of the day, dad couldn't wait to hear how much his child enjoyed their lunch. Sadly, he was a little embarrassed to discover that he failed at the fiber part, and instead of packing a juicy apple, it was half an onion.

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Diaper Disaster

We love watching our kids grow. Although bittersweet, babies grow fast right before our eyes. They grow so quickly, especially when it comes to onesies and diapers. When dad was left in charge of changing the diaper, his wife informed him that they were upgrading in size! But he didn't quite understand the assignment…

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@donttellbonny via Instagram

Mom gave a simple instruction, "Start using four diapers now. Xoxo." So her husband really took these steps on board and decided to pack on four diapers, one after another, on their baby. Mom couldn't quite type out her disappointment in his lack of understanding. Give him a break, though she meant size four, it wasn't that clear!

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A Morning Kick

Picture this. It's super early, and you can't quite bring yourself to turn on the blinding lights to make breakfast. But this dad is clearly not a morning person and wasn't able to function fully. As he woke up to make the kids a filling pancake stack for breakfast, he wasn't exactly paying attention to the ingredients.

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@thevitaming via Instagram

Instead of adding a cinnamon swirl twist to the morning bundle, he accidentally grabbed some organic curry powder. He posted to Insta, "probably a lesson in here about not making pancakes in the dark. Thought for sure it was cinnamon. Gonna feed it to the kiddos anyway." Well, that's one way to wake the kids up fast.

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Always Read the Label

While these fails have been nothing but light humor and minor mishaps, this one might be a little more on the serious side. Unfortunately, this milk bottle is practically identical to the laundry detergent packaging. The Silk Almond beverage was placed next to the sensitive skin detergent - and the results were scarily similar.

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@the.teach via Instagram

From the shape of the bottle to the arm of the packaging, this is one of those moments when it is extremely important to not mess up. We can laugh for a second, but it is only funny until someone pours a pungent liquid into their cereal, and all the clothes smell like outdated milk. Please, dads, read the labels!

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Another Milk Mishap

There's nothing worse than getting a stubborn stain out. Whether it's clothes, a couch, a rug, or a carpet, we know that once the damage is done, the hard work has to start fast before it's too late. While this dad was doing the usual milk run, he quickly realized that this was not going to be his day.

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@andrea_murray_21 via Instagram

Just as he was about to set the box with a gallon of milk down on the kitchen counter, it was a race against time. Dad could hear the box slowly tearing apart, and before he knew it, it was cardboard rips and milk stains on the carpet. We can't imagine the smell, especially on the carpet. We hope he fixed things before things got ugly.

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Fly Swatting Fail

Sometimes, when it's dad's fault, they seem to get off easy. However, his teenage daughter was not happy when she discovered he used her phone as a base for a fly-swatting sesh. Regrettably, her phone was in the way when he had a bug smack down and landed directly on her front screen.

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@richellegarner via Instagram

When the fly went down, it took the phone down as well. Now, all that's left is a guilty dad and a smashed phone screen. Still, this dad fail only led to paying to get the screen fixed, so his daughter couldn't be mad for that long. Clearly, the dad went through a lose-lose. They can't win em' all...

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Bubble Baby

Babies aren't just super cute and perfect for cuddles, but they are the best friends to play with! For short years, it's the parents in charge, and they can do pretty much whatever they want with their child. Sometimes, parents like to take advantage of the fact that their babies can't do anything but let the parents have a bit of fun.

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MelissaNas via imgur

When this dad was left in charge of bath time, it was the perfect opportunity to have a good gag. This dad dashed a bit extra bubble bath into the tub only to create the perfect soapy look. This hilarious moment proves dads can be left in charge, and things don't always turn out bad! By the looks of it, this baby is having a time!

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No Hair Tie, No Problem

Dads are heroes for many reasons. Not only are they always there for us, but they're also the perfect quick thinkers and fixers. It's always a 'when in doubt' situation that they seem to come up with a perfect solution. Specifically, when it comes to girl dads, they try their best to adapt to girls' problems.

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u/ednitai via Reddit

The morning school can always be a challenge. From dressing them correctly to putting their hair in the perfect pigtails, dads will find a way to win the no. 1 dad award. This father found the perfect alternative when a scrunchie or hair tie was not in sight. So, he grabbed a cable tie, and bish-bosh, the job was done.

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Ponytail Problemz? Not One

Speaking of getting the hair in tip-top shape, this next dad had another interesting solution for a quick fix. This ponytail screams everything to do with dads, meaning it takes little effort but produces awesome results. While there was no way this dad could figure out the twist and pull to create a ponytail, he tried something else.

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Jason Dunham via YouTube

This dad grabbed the nearest vacuum pipe he could find and thought, 'yeah, this could work.' In an attempt to quickly tie up his daughter's hair, he allows the vacuum to suck up his daughter's hair to push the hair-tie into her hair then. It worked. We can't explain or justify how genius this was, but it's such a dad thing!

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Mwahahaha

What could possibly go wrong in the space of ten minutes? Maybe a spilled glass of milk or a messy plate mishap, but no, instead, this dad decided to have a bit of fun with this newborn baby. While babies can't show pure emotion until a certain age, this dad clearly did not have the patience.

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u/64536453 via Reddit

This wife left her husband with the baby for ten minutes only to come back to her baby looking like an evil infant about to destroy their entire family. With stick-on eyebrows and a mustache, it was far from cute... but terrifying and also a little hilarious. No babies were harmed in the making.

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The Multi-Purpose Baby

Babies are great for so many reasons. While they are just a perfect gift of life, they also offer other incredible values, just like how this dad shows off his newborn and its many talents. These parents found out their baby can fall asleep one way, or no way, and that's by lying flat out on dad's forearm.

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u/2nie via Reddit

While it was all going too well, as the baby stayed fast asleep, dad started to get hungry and got himself into quite the pickle. But that's the great thing about dads, once again, they always know how to adapt! There was no waking this child up, so he stayed put and instead acted like a flat-out table for his plate. Problem solved!

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Milking Father's Day

You know what, dads do a lot for us. But while we can think making them a father was enough of a blessing, it's just not good enough for them! LOL. When it came to this dad, he decided to take things up a notch and play reverse roles for the day - that is, Father's Day. A day where it's all about them, and the kids play parent.

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u/hafelnuts via Reddit

Father's Day is a time when the kids give back, and this dad made his three offspring cater to his needs while he took the day off. His kids are seen holding a beer, a towel if there's any spillage, and a snack pack of Oreos for those in between game munchies. They don't seem too thrilled about it, but they didn't exactly have a choice.

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Pancake Baby

When mom asked dad to make the kid's breakfast, it's safe to say that dad might have misheard what she was asking. No one can go wrong with a morning stack of pancakes. However, this dad decided it would be more fun to play with breakfast rather than feed his baby at the crack of dawn.

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u/TheIncredibleAtheist via Reddit

Photos create memories, and that being said, this dad took the perfect opportunity to turn his baby into breakfast, creating a pancake monster! "You can tell me I'm a bad dad, but this one is staying in the baby album," the amused father wrote. Well, we don't know how mom reacted, but at least we got a good laugh out of it.

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Relaxation Station

This is yet another great example of dads adapting to situations. We're not saying dads don't love taking care of their kids, but sometimes the expectations are a little too high for their liking. So when it came to pushing his daughter on the swingset, this father had a lightbulb moment - and we have to applaud him.

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u/daedalus_78 via Reddit

With an ice-cold glass of beer and a long type of rope, these two items were all this dad needed for the perfect babysitting day. His hours were spent pulling on the rope that was attached to the swingset about 100 yards away. Both dad and daughter had a splendid day - everyone was happy, no complaints here!

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Naptime for Everybody

Getting the kids to sleep can be tricky, and while we've established the art of letting the kids fall asleep purely in our arms, it can't be this way forever. Growing up, we were used to those lullabies and mom and dad checking for monsters under the bed, so this dad made sure everything was perfect before his child dozed off.

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gmlgp9868 via imgur

We think this dad's lullaby put himself to sleep! When it was his turn for lights-out duty, this dad was there until the last eye was shut… even his own. When his wife walked in, she couldn't help but catch the sweet moment on camera of her husband passed out next to their child's bed. At least we know he was doing his job #dadthings.

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Keeping Things In Check

The firstborn can be a huge wake-up call for new parents. Their lives shift from one to another, now having to raise and take care of another human being. So, these parents did the right thing and decided to get organized, making sure everything was in check. That included diaper bags, baby food, toys... and the baby itself.

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u/cbam via Reddit

Nothing is more thrilling than a label maker. Those machines really do define the concept of organization, and this dad made sure EVERYTHING was in its place, including the baby. So, while all the empty boxes were completed, he printed out the word 'baby' and labeled their child on its forehead. There's nothing wrong with reminders!

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Hand-Me Downs

There's nothing better than a good ol' hand-me-down. Clothes come and go, but that doesn't mean an old item isn't pure gold for an eternity, just like this suit and tie combo. This dad thought it was never too early to try things out before giving it the old boot - who knew how well this suit would come in handy?

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u/Krunchy_Kitten via Reddit

This mom left dad alone for one hour, meaning it took this dad 60 minutes to come up with one wild idea… imagine if she had left him for two hours! All in all, his wife came back to find her baby drowning in one of dads suits, but we have to say, it's definitely a cozy fit! We can't wait to see this little guy grow into it.

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A World Record?

Babies are fun and all, but when they fall asleep, it sometimes hits parents how monotone life can be - as if they can't remember the days before their little one was born. For this dad, as he watched his child doze off right before his eyes, it was time to get creative - and let us tell you, boredom struck hard.

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Aaron Naden - Life of Dad via Facebook

With a baby and a bowl of cheerios (maybe), this dad thought it would be a good idea to set himself a record task in stacking the circular cereal on his baby's cheeks. Those cheeks aren't just for squishing! So, one by one, he started stacking, and things got pretty intense, so he decided to take a picture in case no one believed him.

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Where's the Baby?

Look, they can't do everything. Everyone makes mistakes… or tends to lose track of time. For this dad, he might have got a little too caught up in his gaming device and instead was having fun in his child's playpen! But there was just one issue… where's the baby? He was surrounded by toys but not the child.

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u/mwvc via Reddit

Don't worry, another set of eyes was there - and captured the moment - to make sure the baby hadn't actually disappeared. "My attentive husband playing with our daughter," his wife teased. We're not shaking our heads, you are. While no babies were harmed in the making, can someone tell dad his child made its way to the hardwood floors?

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