10.18.2011

Daddy’s day of care

So it’s my day to watch the kiddo. It’s parent-teacher conference week for Kates.

Pheebs and I were up, ready and at it by 7 this morning -- an all-time record! We were out the door and on our way to school before the sun came up. The reason: Today was “Dads And Donuts” -- aka DADs -- day at Phoebe’s school. It’s a time for dads to spend a little extra time with their kids before the school day begins. We hung out in the school library, ate donuts, chatted with other kids and their dads. And it was good.

Tonight, I got the pleasure of picking up Phoebe from her school. She was thrilled to see me and ran into my arms … She wasn’t so thrilled when we began walking out of the school, and she realized she wasn’t going to Kates’ classroom today for a snack and some extra playtime.

* * *

I needed to pick up a couple things at the grocery store for an office lunch party tomorrow, so we headed there next. Phoebe got lucky; one of those carts outfitted with a race car or something of the like for children to ride in was parked at the front of the store. I didn’t plan on grabbing a cart, but without hesitation, Phoebe hopped in, and I went along for the ride. … She was spinning the driver’s wheel throughout the entire store, having loads of fun and begging me to go faster.

* * *

As we were leaving the store parking lot, I found “Deer in the Headlights” on the iPod. Her face lit up the moment she heard the opening riff, and the singing began all over again.

* * *

As we drove on Main Street, Phoebe spotted the Dairy Queen. “I wanna corn dog!” she shouted, pointing at the Dairy Queen. I tried to brush it off and tell her we were eating at home. We had plenty of leftovers waiting. ... But the sad face and tears proved too adorable. So I turned on the next street, drove around the block and headed toward the Dairy Queen drive-thru for a corn dog for Phoebe.

Except. Dairy Queen doesn’t have corn dogs. That became apparent when Phoebe informed me Dairy Queen wasn’t the right place because it didn’t have a picture of me with a corn dog. I’m not sure what that meant, but apparently there’s a picture of someone’s daddy, who resembles me, holding a corn dog -- and wherever that is, that’s where Phoebe wanted her corn dog.

“It’s the place with the yellow and red sign!” she said from the back seat.

“Are you talking about Sonic?” I asked, pointing at the Sonic restaurant across the street.

“Yeah! There’s Sonic, just like where Mommy takes me!”

So we headed to Sonic. Phoebe got her corn dog and tots. I ordered the double cheeseburger meal.

I don’t like Sonic. In fact, I think it’s terribly overrated. The food isn’t that good, and when I opened up the packaging to pull out my cheeseburger it was a heaping mess. As long as Phoebe’s happy.

* * *

At home, Phoebe played “school” and pretended to decorate her “classroom.” I let her watch the first half of “Tangled” … She also went potty, and invited me to see her “very big poop,” which, she was quick to point out, had corn in it.

Now she’s in bed. And I have a paper to write.

Just another day.

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