At almost the exact moment we knew Ellie would be a girl, I
was inducted into the international fraternity of girl dads. I'm pretty sure
that's a real thing, right? I half expected the door to the ultrasound room to
fly open dramatically as a bunch of guys I had never met burst into the room
carrying balloons, stuffed animals, and pink confetti cannons while providing a
musical score on kazoos. Vivid picture, eh?
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| I may not like Jimmie Johnson but I do love this gif... |
Now, clearly I'm exaggerating slightly. However, there is
truth to the fact that once I knew Ellie would be a girl, I was initiated in a
type of fraternity of girl dads. Meaning I was privy to all kinds of inside
information from men who had survived raising daughters. Honestly, I love
receiving advice from guys who are clearly wiser than I.
One of the first pieces of advice I received from members of
this so-called fraternity was the importance of taking your daughter on dates. The
idea being that if you treat her special, she'll be more likely to find a man
who does the same. Now, obviously, I would like for that to happen. While Ellie
and I go on plenty of adventures outside of the house, it's generally for
something I need. Ellie's more of just a helpless tag-along.
However, today was the exception to that rule as I carefully
planned out the perfect daddy - daughter date for the two of us. Ellie's been
struggling quite a bit lately between teething, night terrors, and trouble
napping. To top it all off, her mommy and daddy are trying to force her to use
a fork and spoon. Oh, the humanity! As a result of everything she's been going
through, I wanted to do something sweet to reward her.
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| Oh, the awful pun... |
My plan started off simple enough. I would just take Ellie
to Zona Rosa to play on the indoor playground for a while. Not long after
formulating that plan, I realized there was more I could do to bring Ellie joy.
Namely, treating Ellie to two of her favorite things: animals and food. Those
opportunities would be provided courtesy of KC Pet Project and Yogurtini
respectively. As I pride myself on my inherent sneakiness, I kept the plans for
the afternoon a secret from poor little Ellie. Not exactly a difficult
accomplishment.
Upon our arrival at Zona, I extricated Ellie from her car
seat and immediately headed towards the indoor playground. Once there, I
removed Ellie's shoes and jacket and sat back and watched as she explored her
surroundings. I always enjoy taking her to the playground as she discovers
something new each and every time we go. Today, it was a bear holding a hollow
stump which Ellie continuously climbed in and out of with a smile on her face.
Before long, Ellie tired of the playground and began to
attempt her escape. She even got as far as wandering onto an abandoned
escalator. Don't worry, I was right behind her and didn't let her go far. With
that, I bundled Ellie up in her jacket and we set out on foot towards the Pet
Project's storefront. With Ellie riding on my shoulders, it really didn't take
long to get there.
Once we walked through the doors, Ellie's eyes immediately
came alive and began dancing across the room. We slowly made our way around the
room with Ellie needing to stop and greet every single dog with a hearty
"ha" even if they didn't really want to greet her. Her favorite part
today wasn't the dogs for once though. Instead it was the abundance of kittens
on hand today. Ellie even got the chance to touch their little paws as the
kittens reached through the bars of their cage.
After our stop at the Pet Project, Ellie and I then embarked
upon the final stop on our daddy-daughter date: Yogurtini. Now, I realize
taking my baby girl to get froyo might be construed as slightly self-serving (LOL,
lame pun). Believe it or not, it wasn't though. With her teeth bothering her so
much, I thought the cold would be very beneficial for her. Besides that, I made
it special according to Ellie's favorite flavors. Strawberry and Cake Batter
ice creams, fresh strawberries, blueberries, little cookie dough balls, and a
little bit of Butterfinger for myself.
After sharing our cup of frozen yogurt (and by sharing, I
mean Ellie ate the majority of it), it was time to head out. First though, we
needed to walk back to the car. At this point, I decided to let Ellie test her
little legs just to see how she would fare. After crossing the first street, I
sat my daughter down on the sidewalk, took her by the hand, and began the long
walk back to our car. Honestly, I figured Ellie would lose interest within a
couple of minutes. That was not the case though as she actually held my hand and
walked by my side all the way back to the indoor playground.
The playground is where that little experiment ended as
Ellie immediately wanted to play more as soon as she saw it. As it was Ellie's
day, I let her have her way, taking off her coat and shoes and releasing her to
go play. Perhaps the most enjoyable part of the playground experience was
watching Ellie play nicely with another little boy her age. He even tried
really hard to help Ellie climb up onto tall objects. That being said, he did
grab her butt in doing so. Don't know if I should be upset about that or not.
Probably not.
After seeing just how much fun it was to go on a little date
with Ellie, I now know I need to be more conscientious about doing so in the
future. If nothing else, it will hopefully enable us to build some fun memories
together.
At least that will be the case in the future. For now, I'm just happy if she remembers where she left something six minutes prior.
#DaddyWrite
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