6/15/14
By: Charlotte Triggs
Photos By: Art Steiber
When I first arrived at Jimmy Fallon’s office at 30 Rockefeller Plaza, it was pretty clear the guy was exhausted. He seemed ready to fall asleep on his brown leather Chesterfield, and was drinking something he called a Bulletproof coffee — fortified with butter, coconut and palm oils — to get his energy level up.
Turns out he didn’t really need to rely on caffeine to do the trick. As soon as his 11-month-old daughter, Winnie, became the subject of conversation, you could see him perk up. His eyes lit up, he suddenly got animated and busted out his iPhone 5 to show off pictures (Winnie with their golden retriever, Gary Frick) and videos (Winnie slurping water from a glass).
When I shared the news that I too am expecting a little girl, he couldn’t contain his excitement. “Oh my God, you’re going to freak out! Little girls are the perfect things,” he said, in his signature way of speed talking. “Little boys are great, too. But little girls you can buy the cutest outfits,” he said, before adding, reassuringly, that parenthood “is the best thing that ever happened to me.”
During my interview with Jimmy and a follow-up with his wife Nancy Fallon, a producer, both seemed eager to share the parenting advice they’d picked up over the last 11 months. My takeaway: try to get a baby nurse, come up with a “safe word” to use with your husband when in-laws and friends criticize your parenting choices and don’t be afraid to let dad just handle it.
“Men don’t get left with babies ever, so they’re told the message is, You can’t really do this,” says Nancy. “Everyone plays that game. And that’s some BS. Walk away and let him handle it.”
For Jimmy, it’s clear that tactic has worked. “I just want to hang out with my daughter,” he said. And he does a great job, according to his wife: “He is the fun, goofy, make-her-giggle kind of dad.” That’s something Jimmy is very proud of. “I make my daughter laugh every day,” he said triumphantly.
And as we wrapped up our interview, Jimmy shared a few more impressions of parenthood (everything “just gets heightened. The volume gets turned up,” he said) and, after shaking my hand, bent down to say goodbye to my baby bump. “Hi baby. You’re going to have so much fun and watch the show all the time because mama is going to be up really late with you so she’s going to have to watch!” he said, mock shouting to the baby inside. “I’m Jimmy! I can’t wait to meet you!”
