History Main / WhenYouComingHomeDad

* Rick Moranis is a subversion of this. When his wife died, he retired from acting specifically so he wouldn't be one of these to his daughter.

* In the ''ComicBook/SpiderMan'' comic that first revealed that ComicBook/NormanOsborn was the Green Goblin, we see Norman being this to his son Harry in a flashback. We even see him bringing Harry an expensive present and trying to tell himself that this surely makes up for never having time for him. [[CaptainObvious No Norman, it doesn't.]]

* ''Film/{{Click}}'': Creator/AdamSandler's character needs to learn that spending time with his kids and [[CaptainObvious having sex with]] Creator/KateBeckinsale [[CaptainObvious is better than working]].

* The {{Trope Namer|s}} is a line from Music/HarryChapin's "Cat's in the Cradle." The father never seems to have time for his kid, making empty promises to spend time with him, and despite all that, his kid continues to look up to his dad, promising that he'll grow up to be just like him. When the dad is retired and finally has time for his son, he finds that his son is now the workaholic that has no time for him.

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[[folder:Comics]]
* In the ComicBook/SpiderMan comic that first revealed that ComicBook/NormanOsborn was the Green Goblin, we see Norman being this to his son Harry in a flashback. We even see him bringing Harry an expensive present and trying to tell himself that this surely makes up for never having time for him. [[CaptainObvious No Norman, it doesn't.]]

* The opening for issue one of ComicBook/PoetAndersonTheDreamWalker show Jonas and Alan's parents are often absent due to their jobs.

* In ''Series/TalesOfTheJedi'', this winds up being the relationship between Nomi Sunrider and her daughter Vima. Although they aren't physically separated, Nomi has little time for Vima (or for Vima's training) when she becomes Grandmaster of the Jedi Order. As a result, Vima acts out and then seeks out a new teacher in the regretful fallen Jedi, Ulic Qel-Droma.

* In 'Nexus' this is subverted, as Jack rarely thinks about his father unless he has to.

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* ''Podcast/PlumbingTheDeathStar'': Mario gets a 5/10 as a stepdad largely because he's too busy plumbing, saving princesses, [[VideoGame/MarioKart going go-kart racing]], [[VideoGame/MarioParty holding massive parties]], and [[VideoGame/MarioAndSonicAtTheOlympicGames mastering sports]] to raise a child with love and care.
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* In the Literature/NewJediOrder, Jaina Solo (Han and Leia's daughter) is this with respect to her mother as during her childhood, her parents were always off saving the galaxy and were too busy for her. [[DaddysGirl She oddly doesn't hold her father to the same standards]], though this is partly due to the fact that she somewhat resented the fact that Leia never properly learned to be a Jedi even though she carries a lightsaber, and that she otherwise shares all of her skills with her father.

* In the TV-movie "The Christmas Shoes" Rob Lowe plays a lawyer who spends too much time away from his family, but learns his lesson because of the aforementioned shoes (it makes more sense if you know the song on which the TV-movie is based).

* On ''Series/SchittsCreek'' Moira and Johnny were too busy with their careers, wrapped up in each other and their busy social life to pay much attention to David and Alexis, who were raised by their nanny in a different wing of the house. The main arc of the show is the family becoming an actual family when they become destitute and are forced to live in close quarters.

[[folder: Stand Up Comedy]]
* {{Parodied|Trope}} in Tim Hawkins' piece "Short Songs", where one of the songs he abbreviates seems to be "Cat in a Cradle": "My son got mad 'cause I worked all the time; he grew up to be a jerk, just like me!"

* In Theatre/TheTwentyFifthAnnualPutnamCountySpellingBee, Olive saves a seat for her emotionally distant father. He never shows.

* In ''VideoGame/{{Persona 4}}'', Dojima-san is always too busy solvin' crime to do anything with Nanako. She asks him the title question over the phone more than once.

[[folder: Web Original]]
* Inverted and played for laughs in [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JsqHWqAkQIY&feature=kp this 5-Second Film]].

* In ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil2'', both of Sherry Birkin's parents are high-ranking scientists who work for Umbrella. But because of their work, they're almost never home and barely able to spend any time with her, forcing Sherry to learn how to take care of herself. It's even worse in the remake; after she's implanted with a G-Virus embryo by her mutated father and Sherry's mother [[TheNeedsOfTheMany chooses stopping him from leaving the city over curing her]], Sherry begins doubting if her mother even loves her, outright refusing her pendant when Claire offers it back to her, claiming it was a birthday gift from her mother... But all Sherry wanted was for her to be home more.

* In ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil2'', both of Sherry Birkin's parents are scientists who work for Umbrella. But because of their work, they're almost never home and barely able to spend any time with her, forcing Sherry to learn how to take care of herself. It's even worse in the remake; after she's implanted with a G-Virus embryo by her mutated father and Sherry's mother [[TheNeedsOfTheMany chooses stopping him from leaving the city over curing her]], Sherry begins doubting if her mother even loves her, outright refusing her pendant when Claire offers it back to her, claiming it was a birthday gift from her mother... But all Sherry wanted was for her to be home more.

* For the 2015 UsefulNotes/SuperBowl, Nissan had a [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bd1qCi5nSKw one and a half minute ad]] about a racing driver and his son being separated from day one by his career, with Harry Chapin's "Cat's In The Cradle" scoring it and the dad nearly getting killed in a racing accident. It does end on a heartwarming moment, however.

* In ''Anime/PonyoOnTheCliffByTheSea'' the father of main character Sosuke is this, much to his mother's annoyance. It's somewhat [[HeartwarmingMoments heart]] [[TearJerker wrenching]] in that Creator/HayaoMiyazaki made the film at least partially as an apology to his son and wife for working so much. When the father signals ''I'm sorry'' from the ship, it's Miyazaki, talking to his family.

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** It's revealed that Nate's friend is a LonelyRichKid whose parents are often too busy.

* Sorrel from ''Anime/PokemonIChooseYou'' has parents who works often. When he was younger, he was raised by their Luxray. [[spoiler:The Luxray ended up freezing to death keeping him warm while they were stuck outside in a snowstorm]].

* The PlayerCharacter's father in ;;VideoGame/PokemonUranium'' throws himself into his work after his wife dies in a nuclear reactor meltdown, and sends his child to live with his aunt rather than raise them himself.

* In ''WesternAnimation/AdventureTime'', Jake becomes the father to a litter of dog-rainicorn pups. However, his status as an adventuring hero means he's rarely around to see them. It doesn't help that the pups have RapidAging, so all of Jake's attempts to bond come off as hopelessly immature and childish. One of them even tried to buy out Jake's house and force him to take a more "serious" job.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheFairlyOddparents'': Timmy Turner's parents were these at first. It doesn't get better. They have since been {{Flanderiz|ation}}ed into being ever more [[ParentalNeglect neglectful]] and selfish.
** There was a flashback which revealed how Timmy came to have Vicky as a babysitter. In the flashback, it was revealed his parents ''obsessed'' over him -- or, at least, his father did -- and made home movies of ''everything,'' even Timmy eating spinach. His mother, wanting a life of her own, practically dragged Timmy's dad out, hired a sitter, and they became the neglectful parents they are today.

* While Kensuke is growing up under far better conditions than the pilots in ''Fanfic/NeonMetathesisEvangelion'', matters aren't perfect. As the sidestory, ''Life During Wartime'', indicates, his mother is dead, and his father is well off, but basically never around, always staying late at work.

* Played with in ''WesternAnimation/{{Coraline}}''. Upset with lack of attention from her workaholic parents, Coraline is ensnared into the seductive world of the Other Mother where Coraline gets everything she wants and her parents exist only to please her. [[spoiler: It's later revealed to be a honey trap, as the Other Mother is actually a creature that feeds on children's souls.]]\\
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It is implied that her parents at the start of the movie are close to an important deadline and are not workaholics. They also just moved into a new house, which partly explains Coraline's resentment -- she was also upset that her parents had her leave behind her old friends and home.

* In ''Film/ADivasChristmasCarol'', Bob Crachit is the manager for famed singer Ebony Scrooge. On Christmas Eve, he's working for Ebony in New York, while his wife and ill son Tim are waiting for him in Cincinnati. Tim is understanding, but Bob's wife, Kelly, is pissed off. She all but says that she's poised to divorce him. [[spoiler: After Ebony is redeemed, she helps to set things right]].

* Both parents from ''Film/MaryPoppins'' are period-piece examples of this trope, although in the mother's case it's her political crusades, not a job, that take up too much of her time. Moreover, in both cases, it seems as if it's not that their jobs are particularly time-consuming so much as they're mildly disinterested in the children and willing to palm their parental responsibilities off on someone else. Then again, this was completely normal for a well-off family in the Edwardian Era.
** The kids get an aesop on the subject as well; just because their parents aren't around as much as they'd like doesn't mean they don't love them. And also that being a grown-up and providing for a family is very hard, and you shouldn't be too hard in judging them.

* In ''Film/HellraiserInferno'', Detective Joseph Thorne does seem to love his daughter if not his wife anymore, but he ignores both of them by claiming he's working a case when in fact he's visiting hookers. At one point his daughter cries out that she just wants him to come home as he leaves to hunt the killer. [[spoiler:It's Joseph's absence that causes the Engineer to murder his wife and child with no one there to protect them.]]

* In ''Film/{{Mental}}'', the girls, and Shirley, wish that Barry were home more often, as he often stays away from days [[spoiler:with his mistresses]].

* In ''Literature/TheCompound'', the fabulously wealthy father had grown up in an orphanage and, during his kid's childhood realized he didn't spend enough time with them. [[spoiler: So he faked a nuclear attack and made them live with him in an underground bunker for 6 years. He was planning to keep them there another twelve, even if that meant they'd have to eat the younger siblings who were born underground.]] Well, the thought was there...

* [[spoiler:Barty Crouch, Sr.]] in ''Literature/HarryPotterAndTheGobletOfFire'', with deadly consequences. Not that this character didn't have [[KnightTemplar other problems]].

* In the Literature/NewJediOrder, Jaina Solo (Han and Leia's daughter) is this with respect to her mother as during her childhood her parents were always off saving the galaxy and were too busy for her. [[DaddysGirl She oddly doesn't hold her father to the same standards]], though this is partly due to the fact that she somewhat resented the fact that Leia never properly learned to be a Jedi even though she carries a lightsaber and that she otherwise shares all of her skills with her father.

** One book had a subplot in which the sitters begin taking care of two kids who are constantly forced to attend extracurricular classes and sports activities because their parents are always at work.

* The first conversation between [[spoiler:Harry and Maggie Dresden]] in ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles'' has shades of this. Mainly because for a variety of reasons ([[spoiler:Eight years of not knowing Maggie exists, one year of being mostly dead, and a year of being unable to leave a small island in the middle of Lake Michigan]]), this first ever father-child conversation happens when the child is ''ten''.

* Entirely averted by ''{{Literature/Discworld}}'s'' Sam Vimes, who ''will'' read his son's favorite storybook to him every night at 6 PM, come hell, high water or terrorist attack. The Watch get in on the act, blocking off the two busiest streets in Ankh-Morpork at rush hour solely so he can get through, and he even manages, [[spoiler:while in a berserk fury, deep underground and possessed by a vengeance demon]], to roar the story loud enough for his son to hear it from several miles away.

* ''Series/TheWire'': Detective Jimmy [=McNulty=]'s bad parenting encompasses this trope, but is by no means limited to it. He is separated from his wife, and is frequently disputing the terms of the custody agreement, insisting he needs more time with both his kids. The first time we, the audience, see either of his kids is when he realizes almost too late that he has to attend his son's soccer game, and has to bring Bubbles, a police informant and drug addict, with him to the game.\\
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The second time, he's playing soccer outside with his two kids, when suddenly he gets a page, at which point he bundles both kids into the car and takes them to the morgue (getting takeout for dinner instead of the restaurant date he'd promised them, and staying past their bedtime), in the company of a convicted felon, so said felon can identify the horribly mutilated corpse of his lover.

* On ''Series/{{NCIS}}'' Tony's mother dies when he was young and his father was a struggling businessman who was usually one step away from bankruptcy. [=DiNozzo=] Senior spent a lot of time traveling and would regularly neglect Tony when trying to scrounge up a new business opportunity. Tony remembers one summer when they went on vacation to Hawaii and Tony spent an entire week by himself in the hotel room because his father met some investors and was trying to hammer out a deal.
* Very common question in ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'' flashbacks as John would leave his young sons by themselves in seedy hotels for weeks on end while he hunted monsters. Also very popular in fan fiction as canon establishes that Sam doesn't find out the truth about what John does until he's ten and thought his father was a traveling salesman.

* The {{Trope Namer|s}} is a line from Music/HarryChapin's "Cat's in the Cradle". The father never seems to have time for his kid, making empty promises to spend time with him, and despite all that, his kid continues to look up to his dad, promising that he'll grow up to be just like him. When the dad is retired and finally has time for his son, he finds that his son is now the workaholic that has no time for him.

* Wrestling/{{Boogeyman}} sang the Harry Chapin, "Cat's in the cradle" up to "When you coming home dad?" to Vince [=McMahon=] after it was "revealed" Vince had a bastard son. (it was actually a prank by Finley but Boogeyman seemed to believe it, being crazy)

* The PlayerCharacter 's father in VideoGame/PokemonUranium throws himself into his work after his wife dies in a nuclear reactor meltdown, and sends his child to live with his aunt rather than raise them himself.

* Tiger from ''Webcomic/{{Spinnerette}}'' had a case of this in his flash-back; he often had precious little time with his wife and kids because he was working so many hours as a police officer. In truth it was because he was moonlighting as a superhero. When his family catches him, his kids aren't upset any more, in fact they're completely ecstatic! His wife... Not so much.

** There was a flashback which revealed how Timmy came to have Vicky as a babysitter. In the flashback, it was revealed his parents ''obsessed'' over him -- or, at least, his father did -- and made home movies of ''everything'' -- even Timmy eating spinach. His mother, wanting a life of her own, practically dragged Timmy's dad out, hired a sitter, and they became the neglectful parents they are today.
* ''WesternAnimation/JimmyNeutron'' once travelled back in time and persuaded his father to invest in the show's [=McDonald's=] {{Expy}}. When he got back to his own time, his parents were millionaires, but they couldn't even bother to give him the time of day, so he went back to the past to change things back to normal.

** Kristy's biological father is an extreme example, walking out on the family when Kristy was seven and pretty much disappearing for most of a decade. When he does pop back into their lives, he's still the epitome of [[JerkAss]], resenting Charlie for not immediately forgiving him and not even acknowledging David Michael at all.

** Shannon Kilbourne's father is never home, either. One book had a subplot in which the sitters begin taking care of two kids who are constantly forced to attend extracurricular classes and sports activities because their parents are always at work.

* In the DistantFinale of ''{{Manga/Naruto}}'' and its [[Manga/{{Boruto}} sequel series]], Boruto [[spoiler:Uzumaki]] seems to have this relationship with his father, [[spoiler:Naruto]]. He spends a lot of time playing pranks mostly as an effort to get his dad's attention since he's too busy being the [[spoiler:seventh Hokage]]. While Naruto perhaps means well, it is shown that he barely knows anything about his son and has burned up much of Boruto's goodwill towards him, leading his eldest child to openly disrespect both him and his title of Hokage. Even when Naruto attempts to spend time with Boruto, it mostly revolves around things Naruto himself preferred as a child, such as taking Boruto out for ramen. Sadly, the man who once declared that "I never go back on my word, it's my ninja way!" seems to either be stretched too thin, or just not understand his responsibility to his children. Boruto is particularly enraged when he feels he received a promise from Naruto to be at Himawari's birthday celebration, only for Naruto to send a clone...and one that dispels while carrying Himawari's cake. Needless to say, Boruto is NOT pleased with Naruto. His younger sister Himawari doesn't have this issue and is more accepting of their father's job.

* In the DistantFinale of ''{{Manga/Naruto}}'' and its [[Manga/{{Boruto}} sequel series]], Boruto [[spoiler:Uzumaki]] seems to have this relationship with his father, [[spoiler:Naruto]]. He spends a lot of time playing pranks mostly as an effort to get his dad's attention since he's too busy being the [[spoiler:seventh Hokage]]. It is rather grating as Boruto is being even ''brattier'' than his father as a kid, as well as under-appreciative. His younger sister Himawari doesn't have this issue and is more accepting of their father's job.