Day 549 - What Would Aretha Say?

R - E - S - P - E - C - T

This is a word that has been discussed multiple times over the past few days in House Holt. While it's an awesome Mo-Town era song, that is not the reason for the discussion. By the way, have you ever noticed how hard that song title is to spell? The word, 'respect' isn't difficult but when one is typing out the song title with dashes added, it gets kind of hard.

If you, dear reader, have been privy to recent happenings in my life, you probably anticipated #DaddyWrite would make reference to my recent surgery. That anticipation would be correct. If you're one of the few in the dark, I went under the knife on Thursday in order to have a pair of hernias (affectionately named Steve and Ash) repaired. So if this blog is slightly disconjointed and meandering, you know why.

Video footage of my surgery...

Anyway, with me undergoing surgery, it makes sense that Bethany would be serving as the primary caregiver for Ellie for several days. That is especially true when one considers that the three incisions in my abdomen will keep me from being able to lift more than ten pounds for the next four to six weeks. In fact, the first several days were largely spent with me laying horizontal and lacking all ability to move without the aid of my wife, who happens to be seven months pregnant. Just another day in paradise, eh?

As the new status quo progressed, we became privy to an unsettling set of circumstances. Specifically the fact that Ellie seemingly does not respect Bethany's authority as a parent. 

It's been obvious for a long time that Ellie tends to gravitate towards Bethany over me. Of course, we would always just chalk it up to Ellie loving her mommy. Now we're beginning to wonder if it's because she views Bethany as the easier parent.

Whenever Ellie acts up or throws a fit, it normally just takes me raising my voice slightly, threatening a spanking, or slowly counting to three for Ellie to calm down. However, when Bethany does any of those things, it just results in Ellie becoming angrier and more combative. It's honestly reached the point where I know my poor wife is pretty frustrated by the whole set of circumstances.

While I'd love to get involved and help her out, I'm really physically unable to do so. For one, I physically can't yell right now. I also can't lift or restrain Ellie when she's upset. 

What's really weird about the whole deal is that I watched Ellie by myself all day on Monday and she was a complete dream. From the time Bethany left until the time she got home, Ellie listened and was calm, cool, and collected. The visiting Malachi and Cassie can attest to that. As soon as Bethany darkened the door though, Ellie stopped being sweet and orderly and became stubborn and unruly. That stubborn streak and unruliness was marked by plenty of screaming, fighting, and kicking.

It really is a weird set of circumstances. 

For my wife's sake, I really hope things improve soon because I don't want her to go through four to six weeks of Ellie acting in this manner. Although, it certainly does help me feel like I do a good job commanding Ellie's respect. That's a positive thing right? #DaddyWrite