- Mette -
Have you ever heard about the Shaytards? Well, for me they've meant so much, which I will come back to. First of all, let's clarify a few things.
Who are the Shaytards?
"Shaytards" is a youtube channel, which is run by the Butler family, mainly the father Shay Carl Butler. He is married to his wife of 9 years, Colette Butler. Together, they have 4 kids - two boys and two girls - and Colette currently has the 3rd boy in her tummy. A couple of months ago they got a new Great Dane called Zeke - their previous Great Dane named Malachi past away a year ago (I bawled my eyes out when that happened!). They do daily vlogging, which means that they upload an edited video of their lives every single day of the week - except for Sundays, where they do "one-take-sundays". Instead of using their kids' real names, they call them "Sontard", "Princesstard", "Babytard", "Rocktard" and the new one in the belly "Gremlintard". However, when they found out that Colette was pregnant again, they made a video in which they tell the kids - and in this video they use the kids' real names, which turned out to be Gavin, Anya, Emmy and Brock. They currently live in L.A, but they move quite a lot! In the 5 years I have been following them, they have lived many places in both Idaho and L.A. Shay Carl is the co-fonder of Maker Studies, which was the reason for them moving to L.A. - at that time, most of their family lived in Idaho, however, his brother and his family have moved to L.A. as well after also starting daily vlogging and other activities with Maker Studies (I will list all of their channels below!). As you can tell from some of the pictures above, Shay Carl has been quite obese - he turned that lifestyle around on his Shayloss channel, forcing him to weigh himself with some friends in front of the camera - thus having to show his weight to the whole world every week. This journey made him loose 100 pounds.
Why should you subscribe to the Shaytards?
I have a billion reasons for this. The best reason is: because they make you smile. Each person in the family has a great and different personality and you start to love all of them. Shay Carl is the funniest and best father in the world. He likes to joke around with everyone, making him loved by everyone around him. Colette is such a caring and sweet mother with a great sense of humor. Their relationship is so cool - you can really tell that they're meant to be. Sontard/Gavin is SO caring. He takes care of the other kids without having to be told to. I know he will be the best son in law ever when he grows up ;) Princesstard/Avia is crazy like her father! She's always hyper and cracks jokes all the time. However, when she's not hyper she's super caring and I know she will become a great mother later on in life. Babytard/Emmy was the cutest baby ever! If you search for videos from 2008ish you will find the cutest little toddler with such an adorable smile. At that time many said that people only watched the Shaytards because of her ;) She was quite shy when she was younger, but she has opened up more now. Rocktard/Brock is a typical toddler - always running around leaving a mess ;) But, obviously, he's the cutest thing ever - all of the kids are. You really grow to love these personalities and watch all of them develop and go through ups and downs in life. This family always inspires people to love and care for each other and be good to other people. They focus a lot on teaching their kids these traits, which is awesome to see. And of course they do A LOT of fun things in the videos - they live in L.A. and they earn quite a bit through YouTube and Maker Studies so they have the opportunities to do awesome stuff - like going to Disneyland, eat out often, go to Vidcon, travel to Idaho, etc.
It's cool to follow a family that lives on the other side of the world from me and see how everything works there - how the culture is, how their school system works, what they talk about, etc. I feel like I get so much cool information :)
What have the Shaytards meant to me?
So much. I found the Shaytards in my gap year after high school when I was looking for a job, but wasn't able to get one even though I wrote countless applications. I spent a lot of time on the internet to pass the time and I stumbled upon this family. I recognized Colette, because I had seen her channel before (she has a own channel as well). I started watching them every day + their old videos. At this time they had been daily vlogging for about 6-7 months. They put a smile on my face when I really felt stuck in my own life. At that time I was really overweight, and I couldn't find the strength to stick to a diet. In the middle of November I decided to go on yet another diet - more determined than ever. And, luckily, Shay started Shayloss the week after I started my own journey! So I had these videos to look forward to - in this way, it didn't seem like I was fighting alone, we were a team. Team Shayloss :) Shay lost some weight, but he eventually gained the pounds again - he lost the 100 pounds a year or two after this. But I stuck to the diet and eventually lost 28 kg (61 pounds), which was life changing for me. Besides this, Shaytards have taught me to always look at the bright side of life instead of focusing on the negatives. Happiness is a choice! Furthermore, I have watched these two parents raise their children, which I feel like I can learn so much from.
All in all: the Shaytards are so awesome. They mean a lot to me and I will cry when they choose to stop vlogging. Please check 'em out!! :)
Find the Shaytards by clicking these links!
Instagram: ShayCarl
Other family:
12 February 2014
SvarSletSpotted your blog because my name is Tuesday. I continued to scroll-down and view TuesdayDate's content because of my fondness for the ShayT's. Always fun seeing other people's favourites! Your synopsis of who the Shaytards are was excellent. I will be certain to pass this on to others. When/ if I mention the Shaytards in passing-- sometimes receiving a perplexed, furrowed brow.. it's a little difficult to explain that there's this little family that's been vlogging for 5+ years on YouTube on a daily basis.. this sums it up nicely.
I enjoyed your selections of favourite Shay & the Tardette vlogs (all precious). May I also include one of my personal fave's: 3 Beautiful Birthday Babes (the one where Brock reacted by wincing/ whining and looking pained when Collette and her sister, Callie started to sing).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NpfHtpCzP4U
But there are so many that are truly memorable and riveting to watch. I suppose to each his/ her own.. the Butlers touch each one of us individually which transcends age/ gender/ location/ religion/ language, etc. I find Collette/ Katilette/ Mommytard to be very inspirational and motivating. Adore Shay' energy and never-say-die attitude.. but deep down, I suppose I can relate the most to Emmi/ Babytard.
Very much obliged for the post!
is2daytuesday
Hi Tuesday (wow, what a cool name!)
SvarSletThanks so much for the positive feedback! It means so much :) Yeah, the Shaytards is the best thing ever. It's hard to explain! I hope my blog post will make your friends less confused, haha. But honestly, why does anyone have to be confused? This family is so great and all-in-all epic! ;)
I love that vlog as well! Geeez, there are so many great ones to pick from..
And yes, Shay and Colette are such great people. I've learned SO much watching their vlogs. Especially about being a good person, but also about parenting and choosing happiness.
Shaytards for the win!