In a video shared on the social media platform earlier this month, a dad was caught propping his daughter’s stuffed elf toy up in the air during her gymnastics performance, presumably so the elf could join in the fun and catch a glimpse of her winter recital before reporting back to Santa. The Dec. 3 clip showed the father seated in the audience, wearing a polo-style t-shirt, jeans and a baseball cap–the unofficial uniform of dads everywhere–holding a clear plastic container with something in it. An overlay of text on the video offered further context: “This dad put his daughter’s elf in a container and brought it to her gymnastics performance so it could watch her perform.” The moment was recorded by another audience member, who also caught dad smiling and waving at his daughter while showcasing the spirited audience member before turning the camera to feature a stage of young gymnasts. While the children’s acrobatics performance was the highlight for many of the guests, the videographer was clearly more impressed by dad, captioning the sweet clip, “Not all heroes wear capes 🥹 #dads #dadgoals #dadsoftiktok #elfontheshelf.” And so were other TikTok users, who immediately rushed to the comments to cheer dad on for his thoughtfulness. “Idk when the elf on the shelf really started picking up in popularity but the way parents go above and beyond with it has my heart 🥹🥹🥹,” one user admitted. “The way he looks so proud and excited 🥲,” another applauded. “Crying and throwing up,” someone else joked. So if you’re the dad in the video, you can rest easy knowing that Santa (and the entire Internet) has your name on the nice list.
