Day 473 - This Day Bites

Actually, 'bites' wasn't my first choice for a title when writing this blog. However, I feel it's important to make sure I'm keeping #DaddyWrite on the PG level, PG-13 at worst. The way I see it, if there's a word that I don't really want Ellie to use as a two-year-old (since she repeats everything), then I should probably avoid using it, even if it is just in print.

Not Bagel Bites...although those would be pretty awesome.

I realize there's plenty of folks out there who read #DaddyWrite semi-regularly and feel like I'm living the dream life. After all, staying at home all day and playing with a toddler can't be all bad. There's definitely good and bad days though and today marked one of those bad days.

It all started this morning with a free Breakfast Scramble Bowl courtesy of Chick-Fil-A. Ok, I admit any story beginning with free Chick-Fil-A generally doesn't constitute a bad story. Around the 8:00 hour, I loaded Ellie up and the RAV and headed towards the west end of Barry Road to claim our prize. After a quick run through the drive-thru, I had our breakfast in hand and headed back home to eat it.

Now, what happened next really is my fault but that doesn't make it any less irritating. For some reason, I was feeling lazy and wanted to watch some television while sharing the Breakfast Scramble Bowl with Ellie. Therefore, we set up shop on the couch right next to each other, alternating bites. 

MMM...scramble.

When we reached the bottom of the bowl, Ellie promptly hopped down from the couch and took it upon herself to grab our trash off of the footstool despite my many objections. It wasn't so much her desire to help that bothered me. Instead, it was the opened packet of salsa laying on the lid that happened to have trails of salsa running down the sides of the bag. It was that very bag of salsa that Ellie chose to place directly on the footstool leaving a small puddle of salsa for me to then clean.

I will admit that I'm 97% certain I was overreacting to the situation. However, that didn't stop me from verbally chastising my daughter for her inability to listen as I cleaned off the footstool. What was Ellie's reaction? To throw herself on the ground, face down, and repeatedly scream "Nap!" over and over. So with that, Ellie went to bed to take a morning nap.

While the morning nap was once a thing of beauty for yours truly, it has now become a sheer horror. With Ellie generally only taking one nap a day, the existence of a morning nap means it is unlikely she will sleep again before bedtime. If you're doing the math, that makes for a very, very,very long afternoon.

Because math...

In this instance, that very, very, very long afternoon was filled with a seemingly overabundance of energy coupled with an enormous lack of listening. In other words, there was lots of screaming, crying, and throwing of toys throughout the afternoon...from both of us. Actually for the record, I didn't throw toys. That was all Ellie.

Finally, at long last, 4:30 had arrived and it was time for our traditional afternoon phone conversation with Bethany as she drove home from work. At least I thought that was the case as approximately five minutes into our phone call, I received a phone call from a friend. Viewing it as out of the ordinary, I hung up with Bethany and answered the phone call to hear some very tragic and disheartening news.

I don't want to trivialize said news by mentioning it in a blog post as it's neither the time or place as family and friends are undoubtedly still coming to terms with it. However, I will say that it really provided me with some much needed perspective. Even though I have rough days with Ellie, the truth is that nothing she does is really all that bad. If anything, I just need to ensure I'm enjoying every moment I have with her.

Because sometimes one's blog needs cute pictures.

I'll close with this (even if it does seem a little dark for #DaddyWrite standards). I don't care who you are or what you're doing right now. Take out your phone and put the following number in your contacts: 1-800-273-8255. That's the number for the National Suicide Prevention Hotline. I feel positive that I'll never need it for myself. However, I want to have it ready in case I ever need to give it to someone else. I hope you feel the same way. 

Until next time. #DaddyWrite

Because sometimes one's blog needs more cute pictures.