This may be somewhat of a random thought but isn't it cool
how human beings are imbued with certain desires or knowledge from birth?
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| Humans are also imbued with a deep desire for pizza. It's true. |
For example, one of the first things any child wants to do
upon entering the world is to eat lunch...or breakfast...or dinner (I'm not
really certain how a newborn labels meals). Shortly thereafter, sleep beckons
for said newborn (as well as the new mom and dad). Then, for approximately the
next six months, that process will repeat itself over and over again.
At some point, said child reaches the age where they are
able to express themselves and their desires in a rational manner. By the way,
by rational, I mean said child has the capability to express themselves through
spoken manner but still chooses to scream, cry, and throw fits where
applicable.
I would be remiss though if I didn't my newfound hypothesis
that some of the knowledge seems to be relatively gender-specific.
It goes without saying that Ellie spends the majority of her
waking moments with me. It also goes without saying that I, as a father, am
going to work really hard to find things that Ellie will like that I also like.
Things that currently fall into that area include Legos, race cars, blocks, and
playing farm. Of course, we also spend plenty of time running, roughhousing,
and playing catch.
I don't know if you noticed or not, but to me, none of those
seem like the stereotypical activities that little girls participate in. For
the record, the keyword there is stereotypical; I really don't have a large
pool of knowledge to draw from. One thing is for certain, I really haven't
spent a ton of time engaging with Ellie in quote-unquote girly activities.
That's what makes some of her newest forms of play so surprising.
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| "Girly activities" |
Ellie's always been super fond of her stuffed animals. She's
always taken great strides to treat all of her "friends" equally. However,
it now seems that she is going above and beyond the call of duty in loving her
stuffed animals. The examples are aplenty.
First and foremost, Ellie has long had a fascination with strapping
her "friends" into her high chair before pretending to feed them
lunch...or breakfast...or dinner (Once again, I'm not sure which). She's even
also been known to lovingly swaddle her stuffed animals on occasion. Today
though, she found a new way to entertain herself while pulling her changing pad
out of storage.
Grabbing her floppy bunny, Ellie proceeded to lovingly place
it on the changing pad, even buckling it in to boot. Then, she proceeded to
lift the bunny's little skirt and pretend to change the bunny's diaper.
Finally, she would bring the changing pad to me to unsnap the bunny only for
the process to begin all over again. All told, this little process probably
repeated itself 12 to 15 times (no lie).
While I don't mind that Ellie plays in this manner, I'm more
confused than anything. It's not like Bethany or I have ever shown her how to
play in a maternal fashion. Maybe she put it together watching us babysit our
friends' daughter, Cassie. Either way, it's a little confusing to adjust
to.
Sarcastic moral of the story? It's time for me to ramp up the amount
of tomboy-esque activities Ellie takes part in. It's really the only way. #DaddyWrite
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