Cape Town - A Cape Town father went old school on Monday and stood with a declaration of love at his twin daughters’ school.
Single dad Santino Davids, 43, from Strandfontein, loves his three children, and because his twin daughters started their high school journey, he wanted to add an extra bit of spark to their first Valentine’s Day at the new school.
Speaking to IOL, Davids said he is always doing these types of things for his children - Samantha and Chante, 14 and Santeego, 11.
“I like stealing their hearts. I watch my happiness to make them happy so they can pay it forward.
“I like embarrassing them, good embarrassment.
“Yesterday (Monday) was their first Valentine’s Day at high school, and I wanted to make it special.
“A few years ago, Samantha got many requests to ‘be my Valentine’ and Chante got none.
“So, since then, I have made it my mission to go all out on Valentine’s Day, roses, supper and just make it memorable for them,” he said.
The single father said he could not have done it without his loving cameraman - Santeego - who managed to capture the event on camera.
In a video, which has since gone viral on social media platforms, the father can be seen standing just inside the gates at Strandfontein High School with a massive banner, and in red paint, it reads: ‘Samantha and Chante you are my Valentine’.
Pupils exiting the school can be heard screaming in excitement and clapping as the girls make their way to their father. He then hugs and kisses the girls as pupils cheer them on.
“The girls were so embarrassed. They don’t like being at the centre of attention, but they loved it. Everyone loved it. There were even boys saying they wish I was their father and asked me to adopt them.
“I don’t mind looking stupid, so my girls can have a laugh. I do this for all the dad’s that cannot do it. Lots of dads want to but can’t. I am privileged to be able to do it,” Davids told IOL.
The girls, who were confused as to what was happening after the school bell rang, said they thought the Valentine’s Day gesture was not going to happen.
Chante said a friend told her: ‘there’s your daddy’, and when she saw him, her heart dropped.
“I thought it would be a tiny poster, but it was ginormous.”
Samantha: “My whole class was saying: ‘Samantha, look there’. I looked, and I didn’t know what to do. I didn’t think it was actually going to happen. And, I didn’t think it was going to be such a big poster.”
The girls said pupils started saying their father is G.O.A.T (greatest of all time).
One of the teachers gave the girls a fist bump and told them to appreciate their father as they had ‘the best father ever’.
However, the girls said when a fellow pupil said she wished her father would do a gesture like this, wishing she even had a father broke their hearts.
“Sometimes my daddy would say something and do something, but it wouldn’t be this big. I mean, the whole school was reacting.
“I was shocked. I love it when he does this. All my friends were saying your daddy is so sweet,” Chante said.
“ I love it when he does this. It is so nice. I know some people don’t have father’s like this and get to see and do these things. It is a privilege to have him as a father,” Samantha added.
However, the girls were still treated for their annual ‘daddy date’ and had a lovely lunch at Tiger’s Milk in Muizenberg.
IOL