Optician in TV nursery show after wife calls him 'weekend dad' (From Enfield Independent)

Optician Garry Kousoulou in Daddy Daycare TV show after wife calls him 'weekend dad'

4:30pm Tuesday 7th February 2012 in Top Stories By David Hardiman

An Enfield Town optician labelled a “weekend dad” by his wife is set to appear in a TV show where he is put in charge of a nursery in south London.

Garry Kousoulou, who runs Goodlooking Optics in Onge Parade, off Genotin Road, is a self-confessed workaholic and decided to take part in Channel 4 show Daddy Daycare to prove a point to his wife Lia who said he only fathered his three sons, aged one, four and six, at the weekend.

But he was in for a shock when he was put in charge of dealing with dozens of children in a nursery – dealing with nappy-changing and cleaning babies.

The 38-year-old said: “It started off when my wife called me a weekend dad and I took offence to that – I thought I was the perfect dad.

“I thought I was the exciting dad who came home and did the good bits like reading stories to them before they went to bed, but I didn’t realise how important the boring bits are too.

“Before I knew it I was on TV looking stupid and the first few days the kids were running wild. But then they got people in to give us training on how to teach and control them.”

I guess the thing I’ve learned most is that I need to be there more to do the boring bits of being a Dad so I can bond with my kids more.

Garry Kousoulou

The three-part series puts groups of three men who have little experience of childcare in charge of a nursery for a week in a bid to prove that they need to help out with parenting at home more.

Garry, who was part of Enfield Town’s Love Your High Streets campaign and also runs a store in St Albans, said he ran off during the first day’s filming to escape and ended up in a nearby bus garage.

But once he was there, he arranged with the company’s manager to bring a bus to the nursery so he could teach the children about behaving on public transport. He added: “The producers thought I was crazy but I did it anyway.”

Garry said the experience had taught him he needed to be at home more for the more mundane parts of parenthood.

He said: “I guess the thing I’ve learned most is that I need to be there more to do the boring bits of being a dad so I can bond with my kids more.”

Daddy Daycare airs next Wednesday on Channel 4 at 8pm.