Whitney Kittrell said she didn't think twice about painting on facial hair and tucking her hair in a baseball cap to make her son happy.
A Utah mom went above and beyond to make sure her son enjoyed a school event geared toward students’ fathers, donning a goatee and dressing like a “dad” to attend the special day.
When Whitney Kittrell’s 5-year-old son, Lucas, came home with a paper saying that they were having a “Dads and Doughnuts” day on Wednesday, the single mom said she was ready to let her father take the little boy to the event.
“I sat him down and said ‘you’re going to have a day at school, you’re supposed to go have breakfast with your dad … if you want to take your [grandfather] you can.’ He said, ‘I want to take you, you’re my dad, too,’” Kittrell told InsideEdition.com.
Preparing for the big day, the St. George woman said she didn’t think twice about painting on facial hair and tucking her hair in a baseball cap, knowing the gesture would make the little boy happy.
“I just dressed up because I know my son, and we have a goofy relationship with each other … knew it would make him laugh,” she recalled. “I came out of the bathroom and he just started dying laughing, saying, 'You look like a daddy!'”
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No one batted an eye when Kittrell and Lucas arrived at the breakfast, where the little boy proudly introduced his “dad” to his kindergarten class.
“I was so embarrassed but I couldn't help but smile when he introduced me to his little friends saying ‘this is my mom... she's my dad too so I brought her!’” she wrote in a Facebook post.
“I've tried my best to let them know they are loved but I wonder a lot if I'm actually succeeding at it,” Kittrell wrote of her son and her 3-year-old daughter Malia. “When I went to leave he ran after me and hugged me tight around my neck and whispered ‘mom... I know that you'll always be there and do anything for me. Thank you. I love you’ kissed my cheek and ran off. I hope he remembers this day cause I'll never forget it or his sweet words.”
The social media post has been shared more than 61,000 times and been liked more than 100,000 times.
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Countless parents have reached out to Kittrell to thank her for the post and to thank their own single parents for their selflessness, leaving the mother-of-two at a loss for words.
“That gratitude … it blows my mind,” she told InsideEdition.com. “So many people … get stuck on what the world thinks you should do, and you really feel like you’re letting your kids down—and in all reality, you just have to do your best.
“I think as parents in general, we need to stop being so hard on ourselves– do your best and that’s all you can ask,” she continued, saying your children are “going to love you no matter what.”
Still, Kittrell said she would don the dad gear again in a heartbeat if that was what her son wanted.
“If he wants me too, sure,” she said. “The beard’s a little itchy after it dries, but I’ll do whatever makes him happy.”
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