A Dad Called To Pick Up His Daughter After She Wet Her Pants At School Comes Up With A Plan So She's Not Alone In Her Embarrassment
He wasn't about to let her go through it alone.
Twitter Most of us had the experience of wetting our pants at school at least once, and the shame and humiliation that can come with can be brutal for a little kid. One dad in Utah wasn't about to let his little girl go through that when he got the call that his daughter wet her pants, and made sure that even if she felt embarrassed, she wouldn't feel alone.
A dad hatched the perfect plan when his daughter wet her pants at school.
Father of 11—yes, 11—and Southern Utah University college professor Ben Sowards said his "heart kind of just broke" when he got the call that his little girl Valerie needed to be picked up after having an accident at school. His wife, Connie, told him Valerie was waiting at school and was sobbing because she was embarrassed. So he leapt into action.
The dad splashed water all over his own pants so his daughter wouldn't feel alone.
And we're not talking just a little spatter—as his daughter Lucinda shared to Twitter, Sowards really went for it, until it looked like his daughter wasn't the only one who'd had a bit of a mishap.
He then went to the school's office and asked for Valerie's backpack to cover up his own "accident," which he said was met with "just the biggest incredulity" from the school's staff. But that was the last thing he was worried about. Far more important was Valerie's response—and it worked like a charm. "She was laughing about it," he said, "it was so funny."
Kids wetting themselves is an incredibly common part of growing up—just ask any parent. But as the mom in the TikTok below reveals, kids are often met with shock when these accidents happen, which can make the embarrassment they feel even worse.
Sowards' clever plan for helping remove some of the sting of humiliation when his daughter wet her pants had people online feeling like he was nothing short of a hero.
People praised the Dad for helping his daughter not to feel alone in her embarrassment.
Sowards' quick thinking inspired an outpouring of support from the internet from people who were deeply touched by his gesture. Even actor Adam Sandler gave him a shout-out after several people mentioned how his character in the 1995 comedy "Billy Madison" pulled the same stunt to keep a kid from a similar embarrassment.
But for Sowards, the gesture was all part of one of his most fundamental parenting philosophies. Sowards and his wife are parents to 11 children—the couple have seven biological children and four adopted children, and have been foster parents for years as well. So he knows a thing or two about fatherhood.
His experiences with welcoming adopted children and making them feel included in his large family has led him to come up with several bits of parenting advice. "Each member of the family is wearing everyone else's jersey," Sowards says, "we are all each other's fans." He also says that in he and Connie's home, "when one of us wins, we all celebrate. When anyone hurts, we all feel that too."
So it all makes sense why he didn't even hesitate to put himself in his own awkward situation to spare little Valerie hers, wet pants and all. No doubt, after he picked her up at school they followed one of his other parenting maxims—"hug often and do not be the first to let go."
John Sundholm is a news and entertainment writer who covers pop culture, social justice and human interest topics.