Dad's reaction to son's doll goes viral

Mikki Willis with his son Azai's new toy. Photo / YouTube

When four-year-old Azai chose a doll for himself at the toy store, his dad's excited reaction caused quite the stir online.

After being given two identical gifts for his birthday, Azai's dad Mikki Willis took him out to exchange one for a different toy. He chose a Little Mermaid Doll. In the viral video, Willis asked the camera, "How do you think a dad feels when his son wants to get this?"

In answer to the question, Willis and his son both enthusiastically responded, "Yeah!" and the proud father further explained his position on such matters.

"I let my boys choose their life that's how we are, we just say whatever. We say yeah, choose your expression, choose what you're into, choose your sexuality."

The video has been viewed on Facebook over 15 million times, with an overwhelmingly positive response described as "humbling and awesome" in a follow-up post by Willis.

He went on to say that he and his wife Nadia had "made a commitment to raise our boys outside of traditional rules, and instead, from our natural intuition".

"My job as daddy is to provide a safe playing field for my boys to play whatever game they choose, or better yet, create their own game!"

Earlier this week, American retail giant Target removed gender based signs from its toys and bedding departments, after calls from lobby groups such as Let Toys Be Toys.

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- nzherald.co.nz