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SALT LAKE CITY — When one of Seth King's five children is late to school, you won't be disappointed by the back story.
The Utah father has been writing comical late notes to excuse his children's delayed arrival at school for a couple of years, but only recently started posting them online. The hilarious notes were shared on the TODAY Parents webpage Thursday, helping the Late Notes Instagram account his wife created gain more than 30,000 followers. King said his publicity actually got its start when he appeared on Studio 5 with Brooke Walker earlier this year.
[\#latenotes](https://instagram.com/p/8x8AnCmAd0/) A photo posted by Mr. King (@latenotes) on
"It has been a fun way for us to let people know not to take life too seriously, and let my kids know that I want them to be on time — if I can persuade them to be on time by embarrassing them in a social situation without causing them too much trauma psychologically," King said. "Life is too short to be taken seriously."
King and his wife have five kids: 15 year-old Isabella, 13-year-old Carson, 10 year-old Sophia, 6 year-old Nolan and 3 year-old Liam. He said his wife doesn't age, but he is "old."
While the notes have a "heavy emphasis on imagination," King said that they are all based in reality. For example, one note explained that his daughter Isabella was late because she had been running around the neighborhood wearing a cape and carrying a wand while shouting "expecto patronum!" That morning, there actually had been deer in the King's backyard. The "cape" was in fact a bathrobe, while the "wand" was a curling iron.
[\#latenotes #harrypotter](https://instagram.com/p/2oD_7tmAbk/) A photo posted by Mr. King (@latenotes) on
Another note, written for Nolan, was a hit among teachers. It stated that the middle schooler was late due to the fact that he was a member of the boyband "Essence of Pubescence" and his morning practice ran longer than expected. At the end of the year, several of the teachers signed the yearbook saying they were looking forward to hearing the group's first smash single.
"(The notes are) all kind of timely as for what is going on in our lives," King said. "That's kind of how I look at it. I look at it a little like a journal for some of these kind of landmark or milestone experiences for our family."
[\#latenotes](https://instagram.com/p/1pR9jKmAQA/) A photo posted by Mr. King (@latenotes) on
He said his teenage children aren't as fond of his notes as his kids in elementary school are, but that they're used to the fact that he's an "embarrassing dad." The father has been known to show up in costume at social gatherings to make sure his daughter is ok.
King said he knows everyone has different parenting styles so some might not agree with what he does, but that he and his wife are doing the best they can to raise happy, productive members of society.
"I completely acknowledge that I'm a flawed and goofy and weird parent," he said. "I understand that my daughter sometimes probably wishes that I was just quiet and wouldn't write anything or post anything or tease her at all, but I grew up with a father who teased me and made me laugh. I know I frustrated him at times and he always found a way to make me smile. I've tried to do the same for my kids. I love being a father. I know my wife loves being a mother. It's the best thing we've ever done and we just hope that we're doing it right."
