Traditions are always fun.
Over the past seven years, I’ve created a few of them. Some
with Ellie. Some with Ethan. The thing about traditions though is that you
inevitably will experience the tradition for the final time. Heavy stuff,
right?
One of my favorite traditions with Ethan dates back to Ellie’s
first year in preschool. As you can probably guess, when the big day came to
drop her off, I was understandably sad. Couple that with the fact that I didn’t
even get to walk her to class (Thanks, COVID) and it was understandably an emotional
time. Ethan was still young enough to not really understand that I was sad but
I still wanted something to distract us from the occasion. Therefore, on that
day, we had our first ever start-of-school breakfast at Chick-Fil-A. While the
order will change from time-to-time, there is one constant: we must finish our
meal with a milkshake. Yes, you read that right; a milkshake at 9:30 in the morning.
Yep, I’m a good parent.
Over the past few years, Ethan and I have marked Ellie’s
first day of school in both August and January with a trip to Chick-Fil-A for
breakfast. It’s quickly become a fun part of an otherwise sad day for the two
of us. However, on this occasion, I realized that this semester’s trip would
actually mark our final start-of-school breakfast at Chick-Fil-A. You see, with
Ethan starting school in August, there will be no one to go to Chick-Fil-A with
and a guy in his thirties going to CFA by himself on the first day of school just
seems a little sad.
Honestly, our trip to CFA was nothing super special or out
of the ordinary. It was relatively simple. We walked in, placed our order for
chicken minis and hashbrowns, and headed to our table that Ethan had picked. For
the record, when Ethan goes to Chick-Fil-A, he pretty much chooses the exact
same table every time. It’s a high-top table in the glassy sun-room area that
used to be the playplace. In fact, that sentence really kind of dates this tradition.
When we first began going, the hope was that Chick-Fil-A would eventually
reopen the playplace once COVID ended. So much for that, LOL.
Over our breakfast, I mostly just sat and listened as Ethan told
me stories from the Christmas break, what he liked and didn’t like, and as he
wondered what Ellie was doing. Once we finished our breakfast though, Ethan
knew what time it was and he was ready. With that, we made our way back to the
counter where we ordered a Cookies and Cream shake to share for the final part
of our little routine. Once it arrived, we took turns digging in with a spoon, making
sure that after every two bites we passed it back to the other.
Now, I realize that this was a pretty simple story. Not much exciting happened. However, that’s the reality of the day-to-day life of a stay-at-home parent. That doesn’t mean that certain things aren’t worth remembering though. After all, Ethan’s and my little tradition of first day of school breakfasts at Chick-Fil-A are certainly worth remembering to me.
#DaddyWrite
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