This five-year-old boy was bullied for wearing nail polish to school. His dad did the most heartwarming thing to make him feel better

A five-year-old-boy was bullied for wearing red nail varnish, so his big brother and dad decided to paint their nails too.

Aaron Gouveia’s son Sam likes wearing nail varnish and had been wearing it for a while, until one day in school when he was bullied for it. In tears, he came home and wanted to take it off, and that’s when his father talked to him about it.

The former journalist, who has a Twitter account called Daddy Files, recalled the story on the social media platform.

He began: "Sam is my middle child & he’s a terror. A 'boy’s boy' as so many (not me) would say. He’s rough and tumble, he’s loud, he’s always dirty, loves trucks, plays sports and knee drops me from the couch. But he also loves a lot of 'girl' things."

Sam also likes brightly coloured purses… and brightly coloured fingernails.

Sam initially wanted his parents to remove his nail polish to prevent bullies from further hurting him, but his dad wasn't having it.

His son decided to leave the nail varnish on because it makes him feel good, and then his ten-year-old brother painted his nails in solidarity.

Sam then picked out a colour for his dad, and he shared a picture of them together.

And Gouveia took the opportunity to attack toxic masculinity.

Gouveia’s Twitter thread went viral as hundreds of thousands of people shared and liked his story.

"Yes people can be awesome or awful regardless of gender. The best antidote is the way you guys are raising your kids to be free and fabulous. Every single good parent makes a difference," one person wrote.

Another man added:

I am so proud of you as a father. He may have cried today, but he will win the race. You are raising a champion. I am certain of that.

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