Having a ball during virus lockdown
A FATHER from the UK may be in the running for the “coolest dad in the world” award after transforming his home into an enormous ball pit.
Joel Conder, 34, is known for surprising daughters Kaci, Grace, Sophie and Chloe — aged 14, 12, 8 and 2, respectively — with quirky stunts and practical jokes around the house, whether or not his wife Sarah, 33, is involved. The pranks are so outlandish that the father with a background in cinematography shares videos on social media through his Dad V Girls channel, which now boasts nearly 930,000 subscribers on YouTube.
“Some of the videos we want to do, I almost sometimes think, ‘what would have been my childhood fantasy?’,” the vlogger father told SWNS.
But when the family from Surbiton, Surrey, was forced indoors indefinitely during the coronavirus outbreak, Joel knew he would have to be both creative and cautious to protect himself, an asthma patient, and daughter Sophie, who “has special needs … and a low immune system”. That’s when he came up with the ultimate “childhood fantasy” that would take place in a safely isolated and enclosed space: “Imagine coming home to your house being a giant ball pit.”
“I was working on the idea with my friend and I was like, ‘It can’t just be like a few balls round your ankles; you’ve got to jump in and get lost in it.’ ”
So, in ways he did not disclose to the public, the stuntman obtained a rainbow of 250,000 plastic balls.
“Everything was worth it just for that reaction,” Joel said of his daughters.