9 Things Han Solo Taught Me About Being a Dad

/ Carter Gaddis

As a child of the ’70s, I considered Han Solo the epitome of manhood.

Fiercely independent, yet secretly sentimental. Skeptical, but willing to believe in magic if he sees it with his own eyes.

Secure enough in his own skin to pursue a princess, but not above taking a wide-eyed farm boy under his wing. Best friends with a Wookiee.

A lovable scoundrel who poses as a mercenary, but who deep down recognizes the best things in life are free.

In short — the ideal dad.

I readily acknowledge that my exposure to Star Wars at a young age shaped the adult I have become. And while Obi Wan was a superb mentor and Vader achieved redemption in the end, it was Han Solo who taught me the most about how to be a good dad.

Here are just a few examples of why I believe General Solo, who had not fathered children with Leia Organa as of the end of Episode VI, still might be the finest father figure in the history of this or any other galaxy:

Nine things Han Solo taught me about fatherhood

1. When the kids get difficult, use redirection.

redirection

(And if you must leave a mess for someone else to clean up, tip well.)

2. Trust your instincts. Even in the face of utter uncertainty.

odds

 

3. If you don’t like what is being said, change the conversation.

changeconversation

(To be fair, Don Draper also teaches us this.)

4. Give praise where it’s due — but don’t overdo it.

5. Make a smile your default expression.

smile

6. Learn to work with your hands.

workwithyourhands

7. When all else fails — bluff.

bluff

(But if the bluff fails, know when it’s time to cut your losses.)

retreat

8. Give the kids room to succeed or fail — but a little help every now and then can’t hurt.

 

9. Never let them forget how much you love them.

iloveyou

 Images/videos: giphy.com; imgur; YouTube

 A slightly different version of this post appeared on the Huffington Post following publication here.

76 thoughts on “9 Things Han Solo Taught Me About Being a Dad”

  2. Nice post. I would add never be afraid to do the dirty jobs, even when they require cutting open your dead-ass tauntaun to keep your buddy alive.

  4. And he shoots first… Oh wait, that’s not helpful here.
    Great list! Also, he is willing to go along with something he doesn’t believe is real. “Let the force be with you.”

  9. Haha nice list, especially number 5. I reckon you should do another article on 9 things you wouldn’t want to learn from Han Solo as a dad. The first one would probably be that he spends too much time playing with his Wookie 🙂 I wrote a Star Wars inspired post on our recent 4D scan which features Han Solo in carbonite if you fancy a read? http://thedadventurer.com/pregnancy/finding-han-solo-4d-scan/

  12. Pingback: Wonderful Team Member Readership Award | Natacha Guyot

  14. I wonder what they’ll have in store for Han and the gang in the new trilogy. He had kids in the Expanded Universe, but apparently the new trilogy will turn a lot of that non-canonical. Will he have kids in the new movie? We’ll just have to wait and see.

  17. I fell in love with Han Solo when I was 16 and saw Star Wars five times – that was all that my pocket money would stretch to at the time. Admittedly I wasn’t thinking of him as a father-figure so much as husband material…

    Great post!

  22. Excellent post. As a Dad of two children, I can appreciate how true a lot of this list really is!!

  26. This is such a great post and you have made an instafan. Had me chuckling from start to finish

  33. His instinctive ability to completely understand Chewy’s indecipherable grunts, groans and cries would, I believe, make it a cinch for him to decipher toddler babble. Or adolescent boys.

  34. That was a fun read. A dad has a important job and the world seems to want to hide this now.

  36. Congratulations on being freshly pressed… This is fantastic and definitely deserves it! 🙂

  44. I saw Star Wars when I was 11 in 1977, the first kid in my class to do so. I have hung onto this claim to fame all my life.
    Of course, I rooted for Luke and Leia, before things got weird. Luke was the hero, but Han was what made the movie cool. I never thought of him as a father figure, though. Fresh perspective. Well done.

  45. Pingback: Inspired! | Musings from 62 Inches Above Sea Level

  51. Pingback: 6 Parenting Lessons I Learned From Indiana Jones | Dorkdaddy.com

  52. Pingback: Fatherhood²: 15 Things Game of Thrones Can Teach You about Parenting

  55. I’d love to see a follow up on how Indiana Jones makes a decent dad too. Harrison Ford is my favorite actor of all time! Great article!

  56. Pingback: 7 Nuggets of Dad Advice from Doctor Who

  57. Pingback: (insert number) Lessons About Fatherhood I Learned from (insert tv show/movie) | Fathers, Work and Family

  60. that was funny absolutly hillarious even from a single mothers perspective (are us mothers allowed in here)? father only zone haaa thats ok, i’m off for coffee to wake up before they wake up for school ventures

  61. super cool, just been looking over the starwars site, found a whole list of those old books from back when i was a kid in the 80’s and 90’s guessing you was to and the wookie-pedia lol, we girls fell in love with the ewoks hehehe

  62. Pingback: Is Introducing Your Kids to Star Wars Really About Them or About You? | modern father online

  64. Pingback: Get Some Good Reading In | Be A Better Man

  65. Pingback: 13 Things Horrible Parents Let Their Kids Do | DadScribe

Comments are closed.