The man behind 'Husbands of Target' says he tends to go overboard for his kids. But really, they just want to spend time with him.

• Taylor Calmus, aka Dude Dad, is a viral sensation.
• He's famous for his videos and over-the-top DIY projects.
• This is Calmus' story, as told to Kelly Burch.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Taylor Calmus. It has been edited for length and clarity.

I always dreamed of becoming an actor. I even moved with my wife, Heidi, from our home in Colorado to Los Angeles to pursue my dream. But when she got pregnant with our first child, I had to face the music: It was time for a real, secure job. 

Still, I wanted a creative outlet. In 2016, there were tons of mom blogs but nothing for dads. I saw a market and a way to keep my work aligned with my day-to-day life. Dude Dad was born.

For a while, I was creating content for fun. I paid the bills by acting in occasional commercials and building sets for TV shows. I was swinging a hammer, then getting behind the camera when I could. It was fun to see the views on my videos climb higher and higher.

Then Facebook started to allow content creators to monetize. That changed our lives overnight. Suddenly, Dude Dad wasn't my hobby; it was my full-time job.

I embrace humor, DIY, and sentimental videos

There's sometimes a lot of pressure to have a consistent type of content. Yet my audience never knows what to expect. They might log in and see sketch comedy, like "Husbands of Target." Other times, they get do-it-yourself tutorials, like when we built a kid's DeLorean — one of my favorite projects.

A lot of my content comes out of our family life. I have three kids and another arriving any minute, so I'm never short on content. 

Luckily Heidi is a trooper. Our series on classic spousal fights is straight out of our home. Heidi still doesn't understand why I leave my clothes right next to the hamper in laundry purgatory, and I maintain that she can't possibly use all those shower products. All 10 arguments we mention are still unresolved, but writing them into a script makes me see both perspectives. It's like a weird way of doing therapy. 

I wrote a kids book about what I'd learned doing projects with the family

These days, my oldest is 7. The kids still think the whole channel is pretty cool. But Heidi and I are starting to think more about how we'll involve them in the future. No matter what, I want them to look back and see what a cool childhood they had.

Recently, I got to accomplish another goal: writing a children's book. "Dad and the Recycling-Bin Roller Coaster" is — as usual — based on my life with the kids. But this time, it's me learning from them. 

As a dad, I'm always thinking up the next grand idea. I'll admit, sometimes I get too caught up in a project, making it bigger and better. 

I think it's common among parents: We spend so much time doing things that we forget what our kids really want and need is just our attention. We have to remember that it's not about always going above and beyond. It's about just showing up. When we're so exhausted from keeping them alive, just being there with them is enough.