We read a lot of stories about conflict between girlfriend and boyfriend, husband and wife. And, yeah, those are interesting, but I don’t think it gives us the full picture. Girlfriends and boyfriends are biased – but families…well, families are just far enough outside the drama to see pretty clearly what’s really going on.

Check out these 19 dads who tell us just how great their daughters catches were. In some cases, they really wish their daughters had thought so too.

1. Good call

My daughter is currently living with her boyfriend, and he’s the nicest guy she’s ever dated. He’s five years older than her, and works for a bank as a programmer and software analyst. He’s 27, and makes slightly more than I do at 55. He studies philosophy, and wants to teach. He’s unfailingly polite, and clearly adores my daughter. He stuck with her through a health crisis that lasted months.

We just got back from a week in Orlando with the whole family and the boyfriend, and he was good company the whole time. He shares my terror of heights and wild rollercoasters, so he and I spent some time talking while the rest of the family rode coasters at Universal. The day we went to SeaWorld, he stayed behind and cleaned the condo, washed dishes, and did laundry. We have decided he’s definitely son-in-law material.

2. No, he can’t

Her current one, but they’ve been dating for years. He’s just a quiet, hard working guy that keeps to his own. He likes comics, too, so he can’t be all bad.

3. “The Jerk Whisperer”

My daughter’s current boyfriend. They have been together for a few years and he seems to be turning into a good man. My daughter, while I love her more than life itself, has a bit of an attitude issue. She can be a real jerk sometimes. He has a way of calming her down when she gets riled up, hence he has earned the title of “The Jerk Whisperer”.

4. Don’t judge

Parents, make sure you get to know the boy rather than judging him on superficial impressions.

My parents loved my football-player boyfriend who was gregarious and outgoing. They were chilly toward a later boyfriend who was socially awkward and reserved. Turns out the football player talked trash about me on the school bus. The quiet guy married me and twenty years later we have two beautiful children and a wonderful life together.

5. No, definitely not okay

My daughter is still a teen and her boyfriends have not been serious yet. I don’t have a favorite, but my least favorite is the one who was too intimidated to speak to me or my wife. It bothered my daughter too, so it wasn’t just us old parents being weird.

6. That’s a weird convo

My daughter had just turned 18 and came to me asking for help in getting birth control pills. She’s had the same boyfriend since she was 14. He’s a great kid who holds down a job, manages his money well, respectful and a bit shy, just an all round decent type. Also has very strict parents.

So one day I get a call that his first car has broken down on a highway nearby, and he could use some help getting his car towed to the shop and a ride home. He’s unusually quiet on the ride home, and suddenly he speaks up and asks me if I could stop somewhere and buy him some condoms. Cue two minutes of dead silence and embarrassment.

I pull into a Lawton’s and spend a good 15 minutes looking for condoms I could only guess as appropriate, and return to the car to give them to him. More blushing and awkwardness. Surprise! When we arrive at his place he earnestly asks if he could leave them in my truck! So I store them in the bin, still in that brown paper bag they came in. A month later they went missing.

He’s finishing college soon, she’s an educator, and they’re still very committed to each other. I see bouquets and babies in the future. I’m good with that.

7. With sugar on top

After my boyfriend met my dad for the first time, we drove him home and on the way there we stopped at a McDonald’s. Both my dad and I are coffee drinkers, and my dad likes his exceptionally sweet.

I always get a bit embarrassed when others see him pouring literally 15 sachets into a small cappuccino cup, so I apologised to my boyfriend out of habit. My boyfriend responds with “he needs all that sugar because he’s a sweet man!”.

Needless to say, my dad is very fond of him!

8. Long con

One daughter. She’s 7. She had a “boyfriend” that gave her Pokemon cards at school for free.

She said she didn’t like him, she just wanted cards.

That’s how papa raised you. Good going. The long con.

9. Makes a Connection

I’m the daughter in question, but it is obvious that my current significant is my dad’s favorite, and the reason why is very clear: he brought a BB-8 robot when he first met my family at my college graduation, so that he could better connect with my autistic brother. Now, whenever we visit my family, my brother will talk to him for hours about interests he usually only shares with family. Most recently, my significant sat with him for 2 hours at a wedding reception just talking about Pokemon.

He’s obviously an introvert, and can get overwhelmed by social situations, but at every turn he has made it clear that he cares about me, and that he sees caring for and being kind to my family as a natural extension of that. Also, he’s a programmer, and my dad is a programmer, that helps.

10. So will they stay together?

Not a father, but elder brother. He’s polite, well mannered, well read. Makes my sister learn about things and they do very interesting things together. He’s moving away now and I feel bad cause it’s hard coming across guys like this.

11. Us too

Older brother here.

The little sister has had two “boyfriends” that I’m aware of. The first one currently works about 15 hours a week while volunteering at open mic nights in the hopes that “when they make it big, they will take me with” as a sound tech.

The other is a college student who is applying for real jobs, and bought her flowers for her high school graduation. He got a haircut when he started applying for jobs and has had a conversation with me in regards to how I work in the professional field with my tattoos and how to cover them if need be (nothing on face, neck, or hands).

I’m cheering for dude #2 and he isn’t winning.

12. The Greatest Gift

My oldest daughter is a heroin addict. It really took hold of her in her late teens and early twenties, and as an extra “bonus” the boys she took to dating downgraded from basic loser to world class drug using loser. I met more guys that were going nowhere in the fast lane than anyone ever should. Somehow, she eventually found the strength to get clean (almost 8 years now). She got a job, went to meetings, and by some miracle found a guy that understood who she was and helped her stay on track.

They moved in together, and it was such a a pleasure to see her being productive, getting herself financially ahead of things – it was so obvious how much he loved her and was invested in her. This was “the guy” any father dreams of his daughter finding.

Then one day, out of the blue, she broke up with him. Turns out she had been backsliding – not with heroin but other drugs and prescription meds and the more he tried to keep her on track the more she rejected it. So I guess she finally ran out of lies and just walked away from him.

It’s been three years now and while she hasn’t slid back to full drug abuse, she is back to watching her life fall apart and dating losers that could give a crap about her. It’s heartbreaking to watch.

So even though my other daughters have successful lives and are married to wonderful men, that guy that’s no longer in the picture is still my favorite because for what was too brief a time, he helped bring my daughter back to me.

13. The Bodyguard

I’ve suffered with low self esteem for most of my life and would usually just settle on dating whoever I could get because I was convinced I’d be alone forever. I ended up with less-than-great guys, unmotivated guys. Finally, after college, I started to gain some self esteem and decided to no longer settle after a two and a half year abusive relationship.

My current boyfriend is a very large 6’3″ 300 pound, broad-shouldered, metalhead viking, looking guy and my parents adore him because he is very sweet to me and is always always always willing to offer a helping hand around the house or to our neighbours. My mom gave him a hug the other day and told him “You’re a sweetheart”. She’s never done that before. Don’t think she’s ever hugged any of my boyfriends, actually. My dad also adores him and took him to his workplace one day to tell his coworkers “YEAH THIS IS MY NEW BODYGUARD”.

So I’d say that my parents really like this one. Can definitely tell when they don’t.

14. Make her happy

My favorite would be the boy who genuinely loved, cared, prioritized and respected her, was very afraid of hurting her, and made efforts to make her happy.

15. Good listener

Older brother checking in. When my baby sister left for college, she ended up not far from where I was living at the time. Her boyfriend was from the city I was living in, and she wanted to organize a party and have everyone get to know each other.

We had a beach party, drank some beers, played volleyball, and the boyfriend hosted a house party at his parent’s home. The house he grew up in. I met his parents, one of his two brothers, most of his friends, and even some of his neighbours. We drank beers, played drinking games, and I passed out on his floor.

After a couple of days, I realized they were committed. He had the patience of a saint and is probably the best listener I’ve ever met, and she was madly devoted to him and his career, but had all the support she needed to pursue her studies and enter her own field.

Compared to her previous boyfriends, this guy stood head and shoulders above the rest. He was the real deal.

They got married last year. I performed the ceremony, and couldn’t have been prouder.

16. That’s me!

I’m the boyfriend that the girlfriend’s family seem to want to stay in touch with even after we’ve broken up.

So I guess I’m the favourite.

17. Dang

Not a dad but a boyfriend, I had a girl’s dad pull me to the side and gave me $100 and said “You’re the first boy she has brought home that isn’t a piece of crap, good job.” Dude was cool. I’d sleep over and wake up to him putting Rainedx on my car and changing my windshield wipers. It was weird how much he wanted me to marry her.

He kicked her out when he found out she cheated on me.

18. Fish boy

When my daughter was 4 or 5, she was wearing a Pisces shirt with the two fish on it kissing. I scooped her up fork-lift style and she started flopping around like a fish out of water. Her nickname Audrey-fish was born.

Fast-forward 11 years and she started dating a kid who was in her inner circle of friends. He was no looker, but he had a strong moral compass, was active in the school, sports, and scouts. He joined the cheer team for her. They became more and more serious, continuing to date while attending different colleges (2 hour drive). It was beginning to look like they might eventually marry. Then he broke it off.

His last name…Fish.

19. Brotherly love

Older brother here –

I’ve always been protective of my younger sister (no dad in the picture) and so when she brought home Ben, a very good looking guy who worked as a model, I was extremely skeptical.

He was polite and modest but I didn’t trust him – him looking the way he looks and working in the industry that he works in – I figured this relationship wouldn’t last.

But then one year became two and then three, each time my sister brought him around to family events, I’d be surprised but still kept him at an arm’s distance and refused to trust him.

Then about a year ago, my sister told me they had broken up.

I thought to myself, took long enough – not surprised at all. He probably cheated on her or something.

My sister went missing not long after that – she was completely unreachable by social media and phone.

I remember calling Ben in a moment of desperation asking him if he had any idea where she was.

And Ben found her – she had been depressed after learning she had a serious medical condition and had run away to Europe.

Ben flew to Europe and brought her back home and spent every waking moment with her – taking her to her daily medical appointments, helping her eat, helping her bathe, taking walks with her in her weakened state, everything. He would drive to our house and arrive right before she woke up and would drive home after she fell asleep.

About a week in, I asked him why don’t you just stay with us ? You spend all your time with my sister anyway.

He looked at me surprised and told me that he didn’t know that was okay. He mentioned that he noticed that neither my mother nor I were very warm to him and so he figured we hated him but he couldn’t figure out why. He wanted to be with my sister but didn’t want to be in the way of me and my mother since he thought we hated him so he had been driving an hour to our house in the mornings and then an hour back at night, just to stay out of our way and not overstep his welcome.

I felt like such a jerk – this man had brought my sister back and has put his life on hold to wait on her hand and foot, and the only thing he had done wrong in my eyes were all assumptions I had made based on what he looked like.

Happy to say, that my sister is making a full recovery and she and Ben are back together.

My mother and I are much closer to Ben now and I have long since apologized for treating him so coldly for all those years.

When I apologized actually, Ben laughed and said he was actually relieved at the reason. The parents of every girl he had dated treated him rather coldly because of how he looked and he understands why. But this was a superficial problem, he could remedy it over time and prove that he is a decent guy. He had been worried that he had actually done something wrong and that was why we didn’t like him!

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