In the sprawling, highly public universe of modern celebrity, few figures have captured the public’s heart quite like Jason Kelce. He is the quintessential man’s man who retired from a legendary NFL career with a tear-soaked, beer-chugging speech. He is the ultimate “girl dad,” a father of four young daughters who has publicly traded his helmet for a… well, a Frozen costume. But as the Kelce family continues to pull back the curtain on their home life, a more complex, hilarious, and utterly unfiltered portrait of “Dad” Jason is emerging.

Through candid confessions on his “New Heights” podcast and revelations from his wife, Kylie Kelce, on her own “Not Going to Lie” podcast, the world is getting a front-row seat to the unique parenting philosophies of the Kelce household. And they are as surprising as they are endearing. The man who is a teddy bear to his daughters is also, apparently, their primary source of household jump scares, and the “tough guy” persona he once envisioned for his parenting has crashed headfirst into a toddler-led world of “lipic” and Disney princesses.

It all starts with a simple, jarring admission. “I like Halloween,” Jason recently confessed, before adding a crucial caveat. “Not for candy. I really enjoy scaring kids.”

For a moment, it sounds like a joke. But his wife Kylie, his co-conspirator in parenting, quickly set the record straight. “He’s not kidding right now,” she confirmed. “He’s dead serious. He hasn’t lied one time.”

This isn’t just about Halloween. For Jason, it’s a year-round passion and, in his mind, a core parenting principle. He admitted it’s “one of my great pleasures in life,” and he tries to do it to his own children “as often as possible.” Kylie paints the picture of a man who barely has to try. “It’s as easy as making a ghost noise,” she said, describing the immediate “all I hear is…” shriek that follows.

This bizarre hobby even extends to his wife. “Admit it, I got you last week,” Jason boasted. “You did get me,” Kylie conceded. “I got him a little jump scare around the corner… Got the giblets going.”

While it may sound like simple, boisterous dad behavior, Jason has a surprisingly deep philosophy behind it. He believes we have become too comfortable, too safe in our “civilized society.” His justification? “It’s good to be scared sometimes,” he explained. “It’s a good emotion to feel… We don’t really get scared very often… I’m telling you, it’s a great way to make you feel alive. The juice is flowing.”

He took this philosophy to his “New Heights” podcast, telling his brother and co-host, Travis Kelce, that “scaring kids is important,” a “good thing to do these days.” Travis, the perpetually bewildered uncle, was audibly skeptical. “Making a kid cry,” he questioned, his tone a mix of laughter and concern.

But Jason was undeterred. “It doesn’t have to cry,” he clarified, mimicking a small, startled gasp. “Could just be like a little… heh!” For Jason Kelce, a little manufactured terror is just another tool in the fatherhood tool belt.

This “tough” approach to emotional regulation, however, stands in hilarious, stark contrast to the reality of his life as a “girl dad.” This is the same man who, in May 2023, opened up to People magazine about his original, pre-fatherhood plans. “Before I had children, I told myself, ‘If I ever have a daughter, I’m just going to treat them exactly the same as a son,’” he recalled. His plan was clear: “I don’t think that you should treat kids necessarily different… I’m going to raise her tough, she’s going to be hard.”

Then, his first daughter was born.

“The moment she came out,” he admitted, “I was like, ‘Yeah, that’s not going to work.’”

That single moment of emotional surrender is perhaps the key to understanding the entire Kelce dynamic. It explains his complete capitulation on the Halloween front. The man who loves to scare kids has absolutely no control over his own costume. “For me, my costumes now are just essentially what my kids want to wear,” he confessed on the podcast.

This year, the Kelce girls—Wyatt, Elliot, and Bennett—have formed a united front. “I’m Kristoff this year,” Jason announced with a note of proud resignation, “just because Ellie and Wyatt and Benny, they’re all going as Elsa.” The man who once dominated 300-pound defensive linemen has been successfully “lumped in” with his daughters’ Frozen fantasy. “I feel like in your 30s, once you start having kids,” he mused, “like you don’t even get to choose anymore.” He did, however, manage to keep one secret, teasing that Kylie’s costume this year is “fantastic,” but refusing to reveal it.

But the ultimate story of Jason Kelce’s fatherhood—the perfect collision of his “tough guy” rules and the chaotic reality of his daughters’ world—comes from Kylie’s podcast. It’s the saga of “lipic.”

During a recent “Not Going to Lie” episode, Kylie revealed a strict household rule. Jason, she explained, “has made it clear that he doesn’t want his daughters to be trying out makeup.” He is, in her words, “vehemently against” one item in particular: lipstick, or “lipic,” as the girls call it.

The “no lipic” rule is absolute. And Kylie is generally on board. “To be fair, I don’t really want them wearing ‘lepic’ either,” she shared. But, as any parent of a toddler knows, a hard-and-fast rule is often just an invitation for creative rebellion.

Their daughter Bennett, Kylie explained, has a “fascination with lipic.” This fascination, combined with the household ban, “makes it so that anything in the house that is remotely lipic-shaped” becomes a target. The result? “Paint sticks… glue sticks…” Kylie said, “end up slowly migrating towards her lips to be put on as ‘lipic.’” (She was quick to assure listeners that both are non-toxic).

This single anecdote is the Jason Kelce parenting paradox in a nutshell. He is the father who wants to raise his daughters “tough” and is “vehemently against” lipstick, but who is also a dad being outsmarted by a toddler with a glue stick. He is the prankster who loves to “make you feel alive” with a good scare, but who also melted the “moment she came out” and will now dutifully dress as Kristoff because his three Elsas demand it.

This is the unfiltered, chaotic, and deeply lovable reality of the Kelce family. They are laying bare the messy, contradictory, and often hilarious journey of modern parenting. And in a world of curated perfection, their willingness to share the “lipic” and the “jump scares” is exactly why the world can’t get enough.