I find myself trying to figure out two things right
now. The answer to the second thing is
kind of contingent upon the response to the first thing though. I'm actually trying to figure out if I'm
guilty of manipulating poor Ellie. Now,
I think it may be important that we actually define manipulate in order to
answer this question 100% truthfully.
Per Merriam-Webster, manipulate is to control or influence cleverly, unfairly,
or unscrupulously (Is it cliché at this point to define a word per Merriam-Webster?). So, back to the point at hand, I think that I
may have been manipulating Ellie's actions slightly in order to achieve a
desired response from her for my benefit.
As I've discussed before, it can definitely be difficult at
times to spend all day at home with an infant without adult contact. So therefore, whenever I have the opportunity
to do so for a bit, I like to take advantage of it. This morning, one of my friends asked me if I
wanted to meet and hang out at Starbucks for a while. I was definitely game for that. The lone problem that I might encounter would
be getting my poor, sweet daughter to cooperate. I knew that just dragging Ellie into Starbucks
in her car seat would not ensure her cooperation in the least. I had to outthink her. So leaving home a half hour early for my two
minute drive, I pointed my headlights to the north and headed out upon the open
road. Yes, that's right. The majestic open road towards Smithville,
MO. Knowing that one of Ellie's
weaknesses is falling asleep in her car seat if you're driving long enough, I
knew that my little coffee break was contingent on her nap.
As I drove myself north on 169, I kept glancing nervously
into the rearview mirror to sneak a glance at Ellie's face to look for sleepy
eyes. Once I reached Smithville and
eased into a bank parking lot to turn around, my hopes sunk slightly as I gazed
upon her still fighting off sleep. With
no other recourse at my disposal, I headed back toward Kansas City hoping for
the best. As I reached the exit ramp, I
chose to not glance back at Ellie in the back seat fearful of jinxing my
potential good fortune. Shortly
thereafter, I flicked on my right turn signal and coasted into the parking
lot. Turning off my car, I still
abstained from peeking back choosing instead to be surprised by whatever I may
find. I walked around to the passenger
side of the car with baited breath and opened the door. What should I find but Ellie fast asleep, slumped against the side of her car seat, clutching her burp rag and Evy, her
stuffed elephant tightly. I then
carefully closed her car seat's cover and headed inside to hang out with my
friend (and eat a fantastic blueberry muffin).
So now you see my conundrum.
I believe that I may have manipulated Ellie into sleeping when I wanted
her to by driving up and down the road until I achieved the desired
outcome. And if I did indeed do that,
then is that wrong of me? What say you, faithful
reader? What say you? #DaddyWrite
P.S. - Sadly I couldn't get any pictures, gifs, or videos to work when posting this. Life's just not fair, right?
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