May 2017 was a different time. Popping into a remote work meeting via videoconference was fairly common, but not ubiquitous. In any case, one was expected to appear professional and put-together, just like at the office.
And, also like your office, you weren’t really supposed to have your kids hanging around. Then “BBC Dad” happened: While a sharp-looking academic in a suit and tie is giving a serious BBC interview about politics on the Korean Peninsula, his young daughter barges cheerfully into his office, followed quickly (and hilariously) by her little brother, careening in with his walker.
Six years and one pandemic later, the video seems like a harbinger of what was to come for many working folks. Here’s a refresher:
Well, BBC Dad and the whole gang recently posted a little update, and the kids have really grown since their adorable moment in the spotlight.
Robert E. Kelly, a professor of political science at Pusan National University in Korea (then and now) who is originally from Cleveland, Ohio, shared a few new photos on Twitter last week.
They show his daughter Marion, the happy interloper from the original video, after a vocal performance, posing with Kelly, his wife Jung-a Kim, and their son James. He also posted a short video of his family picking strawberries at a local farm. They still live in Busan, South Korea.
According to another tweet, Marion is now 10, and James is 6. (James is well beyond his walker years, but still looks a tad mischievous.)
ADDENDUM:
Here’s video of the kids today.
The day after BBC Dad day is Marion’s birthday. (That’s why she was so happy with that little strut in the original video.)
So we took the kids to a farm to pick fresh strawberries today. Here’s a clip of that. pic.twitter.com/nY9tM5caRM
— Robert E Kelly (@Robert_E_Kelly) March 12, 2022
So cute!
We’re lucky to get these follow-up pics — in a 2018 Guardian interview, Kelly said that the sudden attention on his family from the original viral video was shocking, for both good and bad reasons.
Marion’s school hired a security guard to defend against possible “weirdos,” Kelly’s family members in Ohio were approached for interviews and at first, Kelly worried he’d lose his gig as a Korea expert on TV. They also had to contend with strangers on social media discussing the relationship dynamics that appeared in the video.
“For two weeks we were the most famous family on Earth,” Kelly told the Guardian. “It’s nice to think we made people happy, but it’s not really the kind of thing you’d ask for.”
Despite the early weirdness, it looks like things are still rolling along well, six years later!
This story originally appeared on Simplemost. Check out Simplemost for additional stories.
