Craig Melvin straddles the hard-nosed world of politics and headlines and the heartfelt side of life on NBC, both as co-anchor on “Today” and on MSNBC. His broadcasting skills and genuine heart come across in both arenas. The journalist has delved into the deep devotion of fatherhood in his feature stories on Dragon Dads and a week-long “Today” series called “Dads Got This.” It showcases fathers supporting daughters, in every regard, from learning how to braid hair to building microphone stands for dance rehearsals. On the job or at home, Craig Melvin is all in as a dad, as any glance at his social media will show.

Craig Melvin is a very involved and proud parent by all accounts to his five-year-old son, Delano, and three-year-old daughter, Sybil, who goes by “Sibby.” Melvin and his wife, Lindsay Czarniak, frequently share glimpses of milestones and family downtime in photos. The recognition of the International Day of the Girl on “Today” this morning, October 11, fit right into the fatherhood character of Craig Melvin, and the salute to niceness, culminating in the naming of Columbiana, Ohio as the Reader's Digest “Nicest Place in America,” was just fine, too. He took no issue in Martina McBride championing the female presence in country music or the performance by Alessia Cara. There was a little something else.

A neighborhood tradition of sneaking candy onto his doorstep, however, seemed to rub the newsman the wrong way.

Not so fun to Melvin

No viewer ever knows where the opening few minutes of banter on the third hour of “Today” will go, and this morning, with Halloween drawing ever nearer, the topic of candy and kids had to come up.

Al Roker openly confessed to a “man-crush” on Craig Melvin last week but thought his colleague was a little tough on some kids recently who snuck by the front door to leave some sweet treats.

“You never know about the mean streets of Westport,” poked the jovial weatherman.

Melvin admitted he was very wary of the activity late at night by his door, and captured a snippet on his camera. He considered calling the authorities but thought better of it after viewing the evidence.

Carson Daly piped in, being very familiar with this custom of “ghosting” candy. The idea is to leave the candy, and sometimes a note, and the recipient can “pay forward” this week's gesture to another neighbor. Daly, also a dad to soon-to-be four children, displayed that he had several images of notes and the young goblins. Dylan Dreyer recalled the days of eggs and toilet paper being left in lawns, so being the victim of a candy deposit doesn't seem so bad at all.

Maybe it’s the long hours

Sleep deprivation might be the reason why the smooth and affable Melvin is a little more jumpy than usual at the moment.

The correspondents at MSNBC are running on coffee to keep up with the never-ending breaking news of the impeachment proceedings, with shoes dropping by the minute. Every co-host on “Today” must report for duty at 3:15 AM, even if he or she has two anchor desks.

Candy can be great for a brief sugar high to take Craig Melvin through his “Today” and MSNBC shifts, and maybe he can catch a nap and listen to a little Hootie & the Blowfish.
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