March 30, 2005

the Pink Princess Girly Girl strikes back

I have had it with the damn superhero fascination. We suddenly have Spider Man and Justice League crap all the hell over our already messy and disorganized house. So I plunked the boys in front of the TV (watching The Incredibles, which I don’t object to, because I think it’s a pretty smart movie) and swept through said house and PUT EVERY SINGLE BIT OF SUPERHERO CRAP that is not an Incredibles tie-in AWAY , in a basket in the laundry room, waaaaay up on a shelf that I can barely reach. Then I poured myself a glass of wine and sat down at the computer. And I feel so very much better now.

The problem with the superhero fascination is essentially that Henry, at four and half, isn’t old enough to really understand any of it (never mind Charlie, who changes his clothes six times a day and announces after every change, ‘This is my superhero costume!’*). That, then, leads to other more concrete problems, like running in the house (’I'm trying to fly, Mom!’) and jumping off the furniture (see previous comment), and demanding that his brother or playdates be the ‘bad guys’ when they play (which his friend Luke steadfastly refuses to do: ‘No, Henry, I don’t want to play bad guys. I want to play Luke and Henry!’ God I love that kid).

The other problem is that Wade, despite his ability to see that 1) this is really not appropriate, 2) it’s getting expensive (or has the potential to), and 3) it’s so DAMN ANNOYING, keeps coming up with more and more superhero stuff for the kids. While I was gone, he bought them a little set of Justice League figures (one of them is named Martian Man Hunter; Charlie calls him Marshmellow Man Hunter, which, despite my dislike of All Things Action Figure, I find charming and sweet, like the little man is going out to hunt Easter Peeps). Wade also, in his defense–and believe me, he used this in his defense–bought art supplies on the same trip to SuperTarget. But what do the boys want to DO with the art supplies? You guessed it–COLOR PICTURES OF SPIDER MAN THAT DADDY DOWNLOADS FROM THE INTERNET. I’m just doomed here, aren’t I?

I swear I’m going to write about Judith Warner and her smart smart book. Really. But right now I’m going to drink wine and watch The Incredibles with my superhero children.

*Today Charlie’s superhero ‘costume’ consisted of a navy blue fleece pullover hoodie, unzipped to show his little bare Buddha belly, royal blue pyjama pants, and a pair of brown loafers (no socks–apparently he’s a preppy superhero).

Posted by Susan @ 5:03 pm • Uncategorized