The Daddy Diary
Musings on Babies, Bulldogs, and Beer
Fridays at Braum’s
When I pick up Ella from school, I walk into her classroom, and I’m typically met with a triple shot of “Daddy! Daddy! Daddy!” as she runs up to me to give me a hug. One Friday last year, I picked up Ella from school, and I could tell right away that something was wrong. Instead of her usual greeting, she slowly walked over to me with her head down the entire time. When we walked out of the room and closed the door, she grabbed my leg and started to cry.
“What’s wrong, Sweetheart?” I asked.
“Nobody wanted to play with me today.” she said.
It felt like a group of four-year-olds all grabbed part of the handle of a dagger and plunged it straight into my heart. I don’t know what caused the situation. Sometimes kids just act like kids. Heck, sometimes adults act like this, too. Maybe Ella said something mean to one of the kids. Maybe it was just a misunderstanding. I knew that the next day, it would be another kid’s turn to be ignored. The backstory didn’t matter in the moment because nothing hurts more than seeing my child in pain, even if it’s temporary, emotional pain.
I didn’t have any words to say which was probably a good thing because any words that would’ve come out of my mouth probably would have done more harm than good. I fought the instinct to try to simply fix the situation and explain how this pain was nothing and that she will experience much worse in her life.
Read more: Fridays at Braum’s“Wait until someone you love breaks your heart.”
“Wait until someone close to you betrays you.”
“Wait until your football team fails to make the NFC championship, much less a Super Bowl, for 27 consecutive seasons.”
“Wait until greedy hedge fund managers decide that instead of selling or restructuring, they can make more money by closing and liquidating your favorite toy store.” (I obviously haven’t gotten over the closure of Toys R Us).
I kept my mouth shut because I’ve learned there’s no value in diminishing someone else’s feelings. All feelings are valid at the age of four., and being ignored by your friends is the worst thing imaginable at her age.
I didn’t know how to make her feel better, but I did know one truth – In some situations, the love of a parent can ease the pain. For everything else, there’s Braum’s.
In a brilliant move of corporate geographic planning, Braum’s placed a location about two hundred yards from Ella’s school. Every parent has to drive right by Braum’s to get to the main road from the school. Since we had to drive right by that magnificent palace of lactose-infused joy, I decided to stop and buy her some ice cream.
So, she and I just sat there and ate ice cream together. We didn’t say anything. Even having a few minutes to process the situation, I still didn’t have any words that would help. Sometimes all you need to wash away the pain is silence with someone who loves you and a scoop of chocolate ice cream in a waffle cone.
I said, “I know you had a bad day, but tell me what was the best part of your day?”
Ella said, “Sitting here with you.”
Daddy holds back tears because he’s in public.
Ella says, “Daddy, can we come back here next Friday?”
And that has become our little tradition. Every Friday, I pick Ella up from school and we have ice cream at Braum’s. It doesn’t matter if she had a good or bad day anymore. Fridays at Braum’s is our thing.
I hope someday she looks back on Fridays at Braum’s with the same fondness that I do. No matter where I am in town, whenever I drive by a Braum’s, I can feel my soul smile. And it has nothing to do with the fact that they always have Peanut Butter chunk ice cream readily available.
I know that as she turns the pages in the story of her life, Daddy will play a lesser role. There will come a day when hanging out with friends and boys will be more fun than having ice cream with Daddy. It’s going to kill me, but it’s okay.
We’ll always have Braum’s.
One Comment on “Fridays at Braum’s”
Leave a comment
The Daddy Diary 
My heart smiles – Daddy’s and daughters have a special bond. Jimmy used to take our grandsons to Big State on Fridays when they stayed with us in the summer – It is still a fond memory.
LikeLiked by 1 person