Daddy - Daughter Date

• The Venue
• Escalator Escapades, Part 1
• Hamburgers and Hearing Loss
• The Carousel Incident
• Escalator Escapades, Part 2
• Restroom Switcheroo
• Escalator Escapades, Part 3
• "You Need to Try, Daddy."
• Conclusion

The Venue

Tonight Jennie had one of those "women parties" to attend. You know the kind, where someone organizes the event and has someone demonstrate products and the women have a good time? It's definitely a woman thing.

This meant that Keisha and I got to go on a date! Whoo Hoo! We decided to go to the Dayton Mall to get some dinner and hang out.

On the way there, we stopped by Arrow Wine and Spirits to look at bartending equipment. After about 15-20 minutes we left and headed to the mall.

Escalator Escapades, Part 1

We walked inside the mall and headed to the escalator, since the food court is on the second floor. Keisha was wearing her "flip flop" sandals, and she's still getting used to them. She was afraid of getting on because she didn't want her feet to get caught. So I picked her up and placed her on one of the steps. Getting off at the top was a breeze.

Hamburgers and Hearing Loss

We bought some cheeseburgers from a restaurant, and it turned out that the employee helping us was hearing-impaired, just as Keisha is! I pointed this out to the both of them, especially so that Keisha could see an adult with hearing loss at work. The woman's name was Lupka, and she does some sign language, just as we do. Her sign name is the letter "L" in a counterclockwise circle off to the side. Keisha's is a "curly K" down the side of her head, to correspond with her curly hair. Mine is "D" done as a horizontal figure-eight over my opposite forearm, because I love music.

I spent nearly all of my conversation with Keisha while we ate in sign. Keisha, who understands sign language rather well, is reluctant to sign. I think it has a little to do with "being different" from others. We encourage her to sign with us, but we don't force it on her.

The Carousel Incident

The Dayton Mall has a carousel, commonly referred to as a "merry-go-round." Along with the horses, there is this bowl-shaped thing in which you can make yourself spin faster while the carousel spins around. Keisha and I were really looking forward to getting on that part. She was denied because some older kids got to it first. Better luck next time, kiddo. So she sat down on a chairlike-thingy, and I climbed atop one of the horses.

Let me tell you something about the horses. They are not designed for adult men to ride. I will only go as far as to say that it was, well, uncomfortable. That's the most euphemistic way of saying it.

Escalator Escapade, Part 2

I was determined to help Keisha have a victory over her fear of riding the escalators while wearing her flip-flops. After the carousel ride, we needed to find the restroom. The closest one was on the second floor near the food court. After some crying, Keisha finally reached her hands onto the railing, which is designed to move at the same rate as the stairs. That movement encouraged her to move her feet onto a step so that she would not lose her balance.

I was so proud of her and I made sure she knew it. You should have seen that smile on her face!

Restroom Switcheroo

So we headed for the family restroom. These are really cute because they have a toilet set up for little kids to sit on; it's only about one-foot high off the floor. Yet, Keisha asserted the fact that she's getting older and got to the adult toilet before I did. This actually left me to the kiddie toilet! It was funny, to say the least.

Fortunately for me, she let me use the adult-sized sink to wash my hands.

Escalator Escapade, Part 3

Undaunted in my quest to help Keisha conquer her fear of the escalator, we headed back. A little bit of nervousness and reluctance, some reaching out to clutch my body - to no avail, of course - and she again got on the escalator by herself. I decided that we would try it a couple more times. Then she said she needed to go potty again.

"You Need to Try, Daddy."

I let her take off her flip flops so that she could run back to the restroom faster. When we got there, she said she needed to poop, but she decided to use the kiddie toilet this time, leaving me the adult toilet. I overheard her grunting really hard, and I chuckled.

"Is everything okay over there?" I asked.

"Yeah, I'm just pushing really hard," she replied. Then a few seconds later: "I'm going to take a rest. You need to try, too, Daddy."

"I am," I asserted.

"No, you need to try to go poop, too," she said.

"I did already. This morning."

"[At our home] Downstairs?"

"Yes."

Now that that was out of the way, we finished our business and headed toward the final escalator for our trip down.

Conclusion

We returned to our car, drove to pick up Jennie, and went for some ice cream. Keisha summarized the entire experience in her own, special way. There was a lot more that I could share, like some of the strange stuff Keisha said on the way home about what needs to happen if someone doesn't have a nose. That will have to wait for another post.