As everyone already knows, one of the most important parts
of any relationship is finding common interests. It really doesn't matter what
kind of relationship it is either. Friends, spouses, or parent and child. Each
and every one of those relationships require some kind of common ground to
function in a healthy and proper manner.
Second to finding those common interests though has to be
simply having shared experiences. Yes, it's true the shared experience may
benefit one party more than the other. However, there's still something to be
said for how experiencing life together can bond people closely. The concept of
shared experiences benefitting one party more than the other is certainly fresh
on my mind after the events that Ellie and I shared on Monday and Tuesday of
this week.
For Monday, I feel it imperative that I provide a little
background. Over the past few years, the fantasy football league I participate
in has chosen our yearly draft order through some random means. Examples: the
Olympic Steeplechase race in 2016 followed by a Dad Joke competition in 2017.
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| Stuff like this is the exact reason we picked the Steeplechase... |
For 2018, our league had been brainstorming over the past
month or so before finally settling on setting a draft order via the Home Run
Derby. The lone problem with doing so is that the Derby was to be held on
Monday night and as of noon on Monday, we still had no idea how it would work.
Therefore, as someone without a "real" job, I was tasked with
figuring out how to make it happen.
First and foremost was figuring out ironclad rules for how
an eight-man Derby could choose draft slots for thirteen fantasy football
players. Once that was finally settled, it was time to see who each person's
MLB representative would be. This is where Ellie comes in.
As I didn't want the process of random selection to fall
100% on me (just in case things seemed sketchy), I found it imperative to have
someone assist with the pairings. While that normally falls to Bethany, her
work schedule kept her from doing so on this occasion. Therefore, the deed fell
to Ellie which provided me with another whole set of problems.
I normally do a live recording of the setting of the draft
order but doing so with a toddler left way too much up to chance. Therefore, I
had to get creative. First, I placed all thirteen members of our fantasy league
in an individual envelope. Then, taking sixteen of Ellie's blocks, I taped a
piece of paper with a Home Run Derby participant to each one and placed it in a
hat. Finally, I tasked Ellie with choosing a block, one at a time, and handing
it to me so I could stuff the piece of paper in an envelope with a league
member without looking at either name.
Honestly, it's a good thing I chose not to do this little project
live and on camera. Ellie spent approximately the first 57 seconds of the video
sitting on a chair beside me with only her eyes peering into the frame before
she lost interest and scampered off into the living room. Although, she did
eventually return to hand me envelopes to open without me even asking her to do
so.
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| Note the eyes in the bottom left hand corner. |
For the record, Ellie did a great job picking players as she
matched me up with Bryce Harper, enabling me to take home the #1 overall pick
for the second consecutive season. I guess she really knew what I wanted at
that moment without me even asking her to do so. And that leads us to Tuesday.
First, a quick public service announcement. If you have not
yet downloaded the Chick-Fil-A One app, stop reading and do so right now. After
all, it's due to that little piece of technology that we had Tuesday's
adventure.
One of the nice little perks of the Chick-Fil-A app is that
it's pretty common to receive freebie items that are available for a limited
time. An even better perk is that a person can occasionally accumulate a large
amount of freebies at once essentially allowing them to have an entire meal for
free.
That was the case on Tuesday as our Chick-Fil-A app had
gifted us a free breakfast sandwich, medium cup of fruit, and a Peach Iced Tea
Lemonade. Therefore, Ellie and I found it prudent to head to Chick-Fil-A for
breakfast to revel in our newfound "wealth".
Upon receiving our freebies, we found our new favorite seat
in the restaurant and sat down to eat our haul. After we ate our fill, it was
time for the second part of our little adventure: letting Ellie play in the
play area. Before she could begin playing though, I had to first convince her
of two things.
Number one, she absolutely had to leave her socks on to
play. That one is non-negotiable. And number two being that there was
absolutely no way for Daddy to go down the enclosed tube slide with her. I've
tried them at parks before. I just don't fit and have to awkwardly walk/scoot
my way down the inside of them.
Lucky for us, the play area was totally empty on Tuesday so
Ellie was able to have the run of the place for as long as she wanted. She
could climb up and down the stairs to her little heart's content. She could
practice for her future career as either a NASCAR driver or an astronaut (I'm
guessing you know which one I'd pick). And last, but not least, she could
propel herself down the slide as many times as she wanted.
While I definitely enjoy watching my daughter play, there
are times where I get a little antsy. That's especially true if she's playing
in a place where I really can't play too, a'la Chick-Fil-A. I finally put an
end to our little adventure around 9:00 after being at the restaurant for an hour
and a half much to Ellie's dismay. And
if I needed any further confirmation at all that Ellie had a good time, the
immediacy of her falling asleep in the car provided just that.
Days like these two are always good reminders for me that
even though Ellie gets mad at me quite a bit, she still likes to spend time
with me and do fun/different things together. Now, the question is whether or
not that will be the case when she's a teenager. Only time will tell!
#DaddyWrite
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