Do you ever have one of those moments where you start to
feel a little bad? Not sick or anything like that. Although, in case you didn't
know, it is quite common for one to feel a little bad when they are sick.
Consider that to be your two cents of wisdom for the day. Better yet, you got
it for free!
What I'm referring to is actually a story from my Life Group this
past weekend. Someone talked about how they were making strides to find at
least one thing to be thankful for every day. I found that convicting as it's super easy for my pessimistic/sarcastic side to keep me from being thankful.
Therefore, I decided to set out on a mission to find at least one thing to be
thankful for every day. I just didn't expect Ellie to make me work so hard for
it.
I'm actually going to lead with a simple, undeniable fact.
This fact is true no matter where you're at in life. Mondays are the worst. And
by the worst, I mean the absolute worst. Now, as a stay-at-home dad, I'm not
required to do the whole 9 to 5, get in a car and drive to the office, guard
your eyes from the harsh office lights, and earn a paycheck kind of thing.
However, I still do have a definitive end to my weekends. My weekend officially
comes to an end each Monday morning around 7:00 am as I stand at the window,
Ellie in my arms, waving goodbye to Bethany as she disappears down the road. I'm
generally able to put Ellie down for her long morning nap shortly after Bethany
leaves for work. That was not to be the case today.
When I laid Ellie down in her crib and left the room, I did
so without hearing a peep. In fact, I wouldn't hear a peep until 40 minutes
later when I was treated to violent screams emanating from Ellie's room. As I
bounded up the stairs to check on her, I was treated to an undeniably terrible
smell before even opening the door. Knowing what awaited me, I opened the door
and lifted my screaming baby out of her crib. I then went to the changing
table, laid her down, and changed what may be the smelliest diaper of all time. After that, I made the attempt to put her down and left the room. Alas, Ellie
returning to sleep was not to be. She would actually only sleep a total of one
hour for the remainder of the day. A side-effect of Ellie's lack of adequate
rest is that I would find myself treated to a endless array of screaming and
whining as the day progressed.
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| I have a dream. Someday I can tell Ellie to "Stop Screaming!" and low and behold, she'll actually stop screaming. I know that it's likely a pipe dream, but don't take away my hope. (Yay for the longest caption ever!) |
Don't worry, I promised I would find a positive in my day
and I hate to lie to lie to you, my readers. The lone positive in my day is
that Ellie finally learned to go down the stairs on her own. Well, sort of on
her own. Also, I know what you're thinking; "Didn't she already learn to
fall down the stairs successfully?" Well, that is accurate, but this time
she actually made it down them without falling. As I placed her on the top step,
facing upwards, Ellie began to gradually shuffle backwards. Step-by-step, she
would head down, gingerly sliding down the steps, one knee at a time. Before
she knew it, she had reached the bottom. Then, she scampered back to the top to
practice her new trick again and again.
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| Never call it a trick... |
See, I did find something positive in a day of screaming and
whining (which may or may not have come from both of us). The challenge is actually
going to be me keeping this up. Especially when you consider Ellie's not going
to descend stairs for the first time every day. Although to her, the next time
will probably feel just like the first. Yay for still-developing memories!
#DaddyWrite
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