There comes a time in every one of my days at home with
Ellie when I begin to count down the hours until Bethany gets home. It normally happens for any variety of
reasons. Sometimes, it's because Ellie's
hungry and I'm short on milk. Other
times, it's because she's just screaming like a crazy person and there's
absolutely no soothing her. Or it's
simply because I'm bored. Ironically, on
some of those that I get bored, I end up having more fun with Ellie than on a
normal day.
This weekend, I have the rare opportunity to have all of my
college roommates/honorary roommates together in the same city at once. Of course, we're going to take advantage of
that and go camping. Sure, it's late
October and it might be a little chilly (ok, very chilly), but we're still
going to have a blast. It's a cheap and
efficient way to all be together without bothering our spouses and/or
children. Also, no noise complaints so
that's a win. Given that I have a
freezer full of delicious Angus beef, I volunteered to make up some burgers
that we could grill for dinner. I mean
hot dogs are always fun and all, but who's going to pass up one of my special
hamburgers?
 |
| Um, perhaps vegetarians? Not to mention bovine. |
While I set out to prepare the burgers, I placed Ellie in
her bouncy seat right behind the counter so that she was easily within eye
sight. I then began to narrate my
actions as I went through it step-by-step (day-by-day). Narrating my day is actually something that I
do quite often with Ellie. Not only does
it further develop my skills for my future career as the Narrator for Disney
movies, but it also includes her in whatever I'm doing. I've actually read (re: research) that
talking to your baby throughout the day can help her grow and develop
mentally. I figure that it can't really
hurt unless I give her the impression early on that her daddy is a total
nutcase. I suppose it beats having an
imaginary friend though.
As I got the ground beef out of the wrapper and placed it in
a mixing bowl, I proceeded then to get all of my ingredients out. My Minced Garlic, my Salt N' Pepa, my
GrillMates seasoning, a little ginger, and my secret ingredient which clearly
must remain secret. Placing one thing at
a time in the bowl, I would turn, kneel down and explain to Ellie what I had
just done and why. Believe it or not,
she was actually quite intrigued and studied my work carefully. Perhaps I have a tiny, budding chef on my
hands. When the time came to make the
patties, Ellie was delighted by the calvacade of noises coming from me slapping
the patties several times to get the perfect burger size and consistency. She was even more delighted when I knelt down
with a patty in my hand to show her the finished product. I actually had to pull it away before she
could touch it. I mean, I'm glad that my
baby doesn't want to be a vegan, but she also doesn't need to be eating raw
meat right now.
 |
| Ok, I think I see what you've done there. At what point do we eat it? |
Honestly, I know it's cheesy and slightly corny to narrate
my day to Ellie. The thing is that it
actually makes me feel like there's another human being in the house instead of
a very lifelike practice baby stolen from a high school Home Economics
class. Plus, it gives me more incentive
to keep her alive by building that emotional connection further. After all, I don't think that I just get a
'F' if anything happens to her. Probably
worse repercussions there, likely from her mother. #DaddyWrite
 |
| Wow, these things are actually creepier than I remember. |
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