A father shaves his beard after 8 years and his daughter’s reaction goes viral on social media: “How?”

When we repeatedly see someone with the same physical appearance, we grow used to it. Even a small change can seem strange to those around them. A man’s beard, for example, can dramatically alter his face. In fact, when some men shave, they look like completely different people.

That is exactly what happened to Pat Bolding, who decided to shave off his facial hair after nearly a decade. He shared a video on his TikTok account capturing his young daughter’s reaction. “I haven’t seen my face in eight years. I hope this isn’t a mistake. All right, here we go. It’s time to show the family,” he says at the beginning of the clip.

When his daughter appears on screen, she does not seem to notice at first. Suddenly, she gasps, covers her mouth with her hand, and says, “How? How did you cut your face?” Her father responds, “What do you mean?” Without warning, the little girl screams and runs away in fear.

Bolding explained to Newsweek that he shaved his beard because it bothered him when he played golf. “I was getting tired of it getting messed up every time I swung my club from the shoulder rotating in the backswing,” he said. He also admitted that he tends to be impulsive. “I get an idea and just do it without thinking usually,” he confessed.

“I’ve had it for over eight years. So, it’s kind of been my look,” he told Newsweek. In fact, he noted that his wife had never seen him without it, except long before they started dating, and his three-year-old daughter had never seen him clean-shaven at all.

According to a 2014 study published in the journal Psychology, appearance matters, and that includes facial hair. The research examined how a beard can influence people’s perceptions. Participants were shown two photos alongside various experimental questions: one of a man with a beard and one without. They were asked which person seemed more trustworthy, and most chose the bearded man.

User comments

Viewers could not resist commenting on how funny they found the little girl’s reaction. One person wrote, “She tried not to laugh and had to hide it,” while another said, “She was in shock haha.”

Others pointed out that she probably just needs time to adjust. One user joked, “She was like, ‘Is this stranger dangerous?’”

Speaking from personal experience, one man added, “I just want to say it’s always a mistake. I learned that the hard way too.”

Another shared his own story: “I did the same thing and picked up my daughter from preschool. She ran to her teacher confused and crying.”

Several others recounted similar experiences. “It was really scary when my dad shaved his beard. In a very strange way. I knew it was him, but he seemed like a different version I didn’t know,” one person wrote.

Another commented, “I’ve never seen my dad without a beard. Neither has my mom. They’ve been married for 41 years.”

Finally, someone else added, “Every time my dad did that when I was little, I would cry and tell him to put it back on.”

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