Over the course of nine years and 208 episodes, the tapestry of How I Met Your Mother is rich and it expands beyond the first and last episodes of the series. We got to see younger versions of Ted, Lily, Marshall, Robin, and Barney. Future versions, too. We got see how not only Ted met Tracy, but how he met everyone else over the course of the series as well. Despite the series not sticking the landing, so to speak, HIMYM had a lot of moments over the years to help cement the sitcom as one of the best ever.
Some of those moments involved parenting.
Best - Barney Pledges His Life
After years of philandering around and having all sorts of schemes to get with women, Barney made the decision that if he couldn’t make it work with Robin, he wouldn’t be able to make it work with anyone. But the Barnacle finally slipped up and accidentally knocked one of his many conquests up. He resisted at first, but upon holding and staring into baby Ellie’s eyes for the first time, he pledged his entire life and everything he is and owns to her.
Worst - Ted Tells His Kids Everything
It’s very nice to have such a great relationship with your kids that you can tell them anything and everything. But should you? Ted sat his two children down to tell them the epic story of how he met their mother. But Tracy was barely part of the story. Instead Ted told his children every sordid and scandalous detail about his and his friends’ lives. Which is just what every kid wants to hear about - their parents’ escapades.
Best - Jerome Helps Barney Take His Hoop
When Barney found out that not only was his wild and crazy Uncle Jerry was actually his father, he was livid. His anger, frustration, and sadness got even worse when he reconnected with Jerome, who had cleaned himself up and started his life again as some “lame suburban dad.” Barney decided that since his dad’s son JJ got to have a real dad and childhood, he couldn’t keep his basketball hoop. Rather than argue or stop him or have some heart to heart that Barney wasn’t ready for, Jerome simply helped him to get the hoop down and let Barney know that he would be there for him if Barney was ever ready.
Worst - Mickey’s Never There
In stark contrast to how amazing her father-in-law was, Lily’s dad Mickey was anything but. For every big event in Lily’s life, Mickey was elsewhere, usually trying to come up with some terrible board game. He also decided it would be a good idea to move back in with his parents and force his elderly father back to work instead of allowing them to retire happily.
Best - Baby Marvin’s Lullaby
Marshall and Lily together is one of the most saccharine couples on television. So of course, their lullaby to newborn baby Marvin would be epic. Only parents who love their kid and each other this much would sing a lullaby where the entire world and it’s inhabitants say goodnight while Lily plays a variety of instruments to cheese off the entire apartment building.
Worst - Played “Who Wants To Be A Godparent?”
There was no doubt about how loved Marvin was by Lily and Marshall, but everyone’s favorite couple on HIMYM didn’t do themselves any favors when they decided that the only mature way to pick Marvin’s godparents would be to have a contest was in bad taste as far as parenting goes.
Being a godparent is supposed to be a sacred tradition and honor, someone who is carefully chosen by the parents to always be there for their kid, but Marshmallow and Lilypad thought it was better to hold a game show up for the prize.
Best - Robin’s Mom Arrives
Both fans of the show and Robins friends had never seen Geneviève Scherbatsky in the flesh before she showed up during the events of “Vesuvius.” Robin hadn’t planned on her mother attending the wedding, and to cope she had gotten stonewalled about the fact that it was her wedding day. After all her mom is afraid of flying. But in true great, romantic comedy fashion, Genevieve showed up for her daughter’s wedding day.
Worst - Loretta Lied To Barney For Years
No matter how much it might hurt all parties involved, every child deserves to know who their parents are. For years, Loretta wanted to keep the past in the past and insisted that both Barney and James lies about their fathers for years. Barney believed his father to actually be Bob Barker from The Price Is Right. It hurt him for years to the point that even he chose to believe it and believe that Loretta was all he needed for parents.
Best - Marvin Was Marshall’s Best Friend
To some kids, their dad was everything to them. A brother, a teacher, friend, and of course a great dad. Marshall’s dad Marvin was all that and more to the Eriksen clan. His untimely passing in “Bad News” is one of the most heart-wrenching moments of the series and Marshall (or the fans) were definitely not ready for his passing.
Partly because Marvin wasn’t just the best dad ever, but he was Marshall’s best friend too and helped him with everything.
Worst - Ted’s Parents Never Tell Him Anything
If there was ever an over-correction on the show, it would be Ted telling his kids every little detail about his life. But that was because Ted’s parents didn’t bother telling him anything. In the episode, “Brunch,” Ted finds out (long after the fact) that his parents had gotten a divorce and his dad set his mom Virginia up with her new boyfriend, Clint. Ted also found out long after the fact that his grandmother also passed away.