Donald shown as a good parent

[Matilda]

Just thinking about the published evidence for Donald being a good parent to the boys! Admittedly, there aren't many stories that highlight this, since good parenting is not inherently funny. But I got to wondering about where Donald comes off as a fine & caring parent.

In stories: there are the Rosa stories (especially WHADALOTTAJARGON and Super Snooper Strikes Again) where the boys make their appreciation of Donald's care explicit. Also there's Rosa's Return to Xanadu, where Donald manages a superhuman act of heroism to save the boys. I'd also mention Hedman's Good, Old Friends, where Donald turns out at the end to have done a very thoughtful and caring thing for the boys. One which may count is the Shaws' Role Modeller, where a social worker threatens to have the boys removed from Donald's custody and Donald tries his utmost to establish his parental bona fides, while the boys unwittingly undermine him. The Barks story I first think of is the one-pager called Sleepy Sitters--because I think the fact that he sings a lullaby to the baby and the boys fall asleep indicates that he probably sang the lullaby to them when they were little. You could argue that all the back-to-school stories where Donald is chasing the truant nephews should also count as good parenting on Donald's part, even though the boys do not appreciate it! There are a bunch of Christmas stories, of course, which involve Donald's efforts to get presents for the boys. What other stories come to mind for you?

In thinking about this topic, I realized that some of the strongest evidence for Donald as a loving, caring parent is in cover art. Barks: WDC 166 putting the boys to bed; WDC 171 hiding their Christmas presents; WDC 306 plumbing the bunk bed's pipe/posts with water faucets; and most especially, DD 44 filling the rubber boat with hot water for them during a blizzard. I can also think of a bunch of Strobl covers which show Donald taking care of the kids: WDC 234 kissing them goodnight (this picture bothered me in childhood, because I knew from other covers that HDL had a three-decker bunk bed!); WDC 246 tucking them into their (yes, three-decker!) bunk bed with a single blanket; and WDC 259 pouring milk into their cereal bowls. There's a more recent Midthun/Rodrigues cover which is reminiscent of the Barks rubber boat cover, where Donald brings the boys hot chocolate as they snuggle in with Bolivar. Cover art showing Donald with the boys more often has them pranking him or driving him crazy, but there are these more tender moments! Again, what covers come to mind for you?

[Mesterius]

I think you're overlooking a lot of great (and maybe more subtle) moments in Barks stories. How about in "Luck of the North", when one of the two canoes sink because of Donald and Gladstone's fighting, and Donald tries to get the kids to go back with Gladstone in his canoe but they refuse to leave him on the iceberg? Such a moment demonstrates better than anything the strong family bond between Donald and the kids.

I also like the later moment in the same story when the viking ship is going under, and the kids are asking, "What'll we do? SWIM?" Donald immediately replies, "No! No! Chop up wood! Build a raft!" (paraphrased). Here Donald is being the responsible parent who knows what to do in an emergency. I much prefer this to the later formula in the U$ stories, where the kids - with their JW Guidebook - would always know how to handle any situation, while Scrooge and Donald were increasingly clueless.

Another scene I love is the moment in "Vacation Time" when Donald takes charge of the situation and buries the boys and himself underground to survive the forest fire.

[That Duckfan]

Yeah, Vacation Time is a great showpiece for Donald. Donald also displays an awareness of danger in stories like Dangerous Disguise and Donald Tells about Kites.

I would also count Donald's hard work to make ends meet, and his willingness to take any job no matter how tough, as speaking to his inner responsibility toward his family. What's that Barks story where he tries to overcome a massive line at the employment agency? Land of the Totem Poles?

[LP]

In Thievery Afoot, Donald sacrifices himself to save his nephews, without hesitation.