I feel like being a stay-at-home dad is rife with the kind
of stuff that internet memes are made of. For example, if you ever do a quick
search of stay-at-home dads on the internet, I
guarantee you'll find something along the lines of "Lazy dads
finding an easier way to watch child". That will inevitably be accompanied
by pictures of a dad rocking a bassinet using a string tied to a moving foot
while playing Madden on his Xbox. Or there's the one where the dad sucks his
daughter's hair into a vacuum hose in order to make a ponytail.
While I would never claim to be that lazy, there are times
where I find myself looking for a better way to accomplish a given task. As you
full well know, the easiest task can become immensely more difficult when a
baby is present. If I'm doing the dishes, it's a guarantee she'll be hanging on
my leg attempting to pull out my leg hair. And yes, I'm pretty certain she has
succeeded in doing so during her short life. However, that's nothing compared
to taking Ellie to the library.
Yes, while taking Ellie to the library seems like a simple
task, it is often anything but. If I'm not paying close enough attention to her
while trying to pick out books for her, she will inevitably begin pulling books
off of the shelf at will. Then, I get the fun experience of putting them back.
Another library related struggle I have faced is just being able to carry both
Ellie and a pile of books to the checkout station. Seriously. Since I generally
check out four or five books for Ellie at once, I find myself forced to
precariously balance the books in one hand while carrying Ellie to the other.
Add that to anything I might get for myself and the pile gets pretty high.
As time has gone on, I've gotten tired of picking up books
off the library floor after dropping them. Especially when you consider I have
to set Ellie down in order to pick them up. Well, never fear because I finally
came up with a foolproof solution to keep that from occurring. Although, I must
say I am slightly embarrassed for never thinking of it sooner. My new idea (and
the savior of my sanity)? A simple cloth shopping bag.
 |
| Simple, get it? Because Dory's relatively simple? |
Honestly, the difference between library trips pre and post
bag are like night and day. While I still have to worry about keeping my
daughter from pulling every book she can reach off of the shelf, I no longer
have to worry about dropping books myself. Well, that's not entirely true as
there is still one drop I do have to worry about: the drop into the bag. Once
the books are safe and sound inside the bag, there's no worrying about them
until checkout.
By the way, I'm considering applying for a patent on using a
cloth grocery bag at the library. I am slightly concerned that there's nothing
proprietary about it though. Even if my patent fails, I guess I'm at least
working smarter, not harder, and therefore further enabling my laziness. #DaddyWrite
No comments:
Post a Comment