Parenting

Jimmy Fallon Wants to Help New Dads Trick Their Kids

by Laurie Ulster
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Jimmy’s is coming out on June 9, and is called Your Baby’s First Word Will Be DADA. I remember being warned by our pediatrician that our baby’s first word WOULD be “Dada” because it’s a lot easier to say than “Mama,” but Jimmy got burned by his own baby. Ha! He even tried tricking her by calling everything around them “Dada”—her bottle, diapers, strawberries—but it didn’t work. So he wrote a book about it, hoping to help other dads trick their kids.

Fallon, a father of two girls, talked to Parents online about being a father, and it turns out that despite his fame, he’s kind of a regular sort of dad, except for the part where he makes his own baby food. (Beet and Swiss chard pudding is his specialty.)

© Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group

Here are some of his parental insights:

‘They vomit a lot. For a second I thought I needed to rename my first Linda Blair and hire a priest, because she was spitting up so much.’

I’m just happy that vomiting isn’t just for the non-famous.

He was surprised by the fact that people find out he’s a parent and then talk about poop all the time.

“‘Oh, you have a new baby? Is she sleeping? Is she pooping?’ Normally I’d be blushing, but as a parent you just get used to it, and pooping is just another verb in your vocabulary.”

For some reason, I always pictured Jimmy Fallon as a guy who could already talk about poop. You learn something new every day.

‘I thought I’d never be that annoying person, but as soon as Winnie was born I was showing iPhone snaps to a cab driver.’

This one didn’t surprise me at all; a love of social media plus a new baby is a pretty potent combination.

They asked him which ‘Tonight Show’ guest he’d trust to babysit his kids.

“Probably Will Ferrell. He’s a good dad with great kids and he’d be a super-fun babysitter.”

Me, I’d take Tina Fey. Or maybe Carol Burnett.

They asked him if his kids wear hand-me-downs, and this one surprised me.

“I have all of my nieces and nephews’ clothes. And all the gifts we get from celebrities we’re giving to different charities like Baby Buggy and Toys for Tots. So it’s kind of hilarious because we’re giving away things like Hermès booties. So not only is your baby going to be dressed, but she’s going to be dressed like a Kardashian!”

Yikes! I can’t wait to see all those babies dressed in Jimmy Fallon’s designer castoffs on Instagram.

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