Dads are the best. Well, all right, moms still take the cake when it comes to parenting, but dads are certainly no slouches. History is full of amazing dads who come up with fun ways to keep kids entertained.

Bored Panda has already covered hundreds of awesome dads, whether they’re doing everything they can to make their kids happy, or doing everything they shouldn’t according to their wives.

However, here’s another addition to the great list of great dads. This dad used his noggin to create an ingenious way of keeping an eye on the kids while not really putting in much effort.

Meet Michael, the genius dad who came up with a way to take a nap while also watching over the kids

Image credits: Monica Weber

Michael Weber Jr., an operating room nurse from Colorado, had recently returned home from a 12-hour night shift. You can imagine the level of exhaustion that he was carrying on his shoulders at this point. Bored Panda reached out to Weber Jr. who explained the story behind the now-iconic photograph of him “posing” for his kids who are drawing him while he takes a nap.

“My wife and I have been together since middle school and we really love to have fun, are pretty laid back parents, and love having our four kids around,” said Weber Jr. “However, as any parent knows, life with kids—especially four—requires you to be pretty creative in getting any time to yourself. We’ve just recently relocated from the east coast away from our family support, so my wife and I are juggling many hats these days.”

His wife Monica needed to get some grocery shopping done, so someone needed to take care of the kids. Michael volunteered, despite practically falling asleep on his feet. Fast-forward a couple of hours, and Monica returns from her shopping to find an interesting spectacle.

She sees her husband quite literally taking a nap, while his four kids sit on the floor, pen and paper in hand, drawing him. Apparently, he was “posing” for them, and they were practicing “realism art”, competing for the grand prize of a chocolate bar. We all know who ultimately won in the end.

Apparently, the kids were sat down to draw him “posing”, while he was simply taking a nap

Image credits: Monica Weber

“Before this, I worked in an inner-city pediatric hospital, and before that, the military, which really gives me perspective on how fragile life is. I really try to live every day to the fullest, which my wife will argue that I am always trying to be the fun parent, leaving her to be the disciplinary, but I have no regrets,” laughed about it Weber Jr.

Monica quickly snapped a picture of her husband’s nap and posted it on her Facebook, where it now has over 29,000 reactions with 37,000 shares. Talk about a viral nap!

“My wife would kill me for saying I “babysit” the kids,” laughs about it Weber Jr. “When I parent our kids, I try to come up with fun and creative ways to get things done. I’m a hockey player and have always been competitive, so I think it’s fun to make everything a race, game, or contest, and watch the kids compete to see who’s the ‘best cleaner’, ‘can fall asleep the fastest’, ‘read the longest’, and quite honestly my kids will do darn near any chore or task for some candy.”

He continued: “That’s how I got them to sit still and to do these drawings. I promised some candy to the kid with the most complete drawing. I also told them if they were loud or woke me up because they were fighting or complaining, I would move and they would have to start all over again. So, that kept them pretty committed. I’m a really light sleeper and they’re finally at an age I could get away with a stunt like this.”

Monica’s post said this: “‘I’ll keep the kids so you can grocery shop in peace’… then I come home to this. I’m pretty sure he’s the most brilliant man I’ve ever known. He has them doing ‘realism art’ while he ‘poses’ AKA naps. The winner gets a chocolate, but let’s be honest, @michael.w.weberjr is the one winning lmao. Nice one Michael, nice one!”

The Webers received a lot of attention, after which Monica provided an update

Image credits: Monica Weber

It was surely a surprise for the Weber family when this picture went viral online. And why wouldn’t it—genius ideas draw crowds, after all.

“I had no idea this would go viral. I honestly didn’t even know my wife posted it since I don’t really post on Facebook much,” explained Weber Jr. the surprise. “I had just come off a 12-hour overnight shift as an OR nurse. When I got home, the kids were being crazy and my wife was trying to get them to bundle up so she could go to the store for groceries. I could see she was stressed and told her to leave them with me while she ran down the road real quick.”

He continued: “Then, I presented them with this idea and as soon as I said they could do art and win chocolate, they were all over it. It bought me a 20-minute nap while she was at the store. When she got back, the kids told her all about it and she must’ve snapped the picture. Off to bed I went, didn’t think about it again until we started getting tagged in all these posts. It’s crazy

The Weber kids liked the idea so much that they apparently also kept on begging Michael to do it again so that they could win more chocolate. He is seriously considering giving it another go.

“It’s been really cool to see all the positive responses this post has brought. We appreciate all the kind words. Our kids aren’t perfect and we aren’t perfect parents, but we’re perfectly imperfect in our own ways and I wouldn’t change anything,” concluded Weber Jr. “I’m just a dad trying to make as many memories as I can before my kids don’t want to sit and have drawing contests or they become teenagers and don’t want to hang out with their ‘fun’ dad anymore. And, if I can sneak a nap in in the process and keep my wife happy, why not, right?!?”

The internet’s parents and children also jumped in to share their own parent hacks for napping…

Let us know some of your parenting hacks in the comments below!

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