From Elmo to Spiderman in Sixty Seconds
It seems like just yesterday (okay, less than six months ago) when Elmo was the center of my child's world. Videos, books, being Elmo last Halloween, having whatever the hot Elmo toy was called last Christmas. Though some might find Elmo's third person speech annoying, I liked him. I thought he helped teach my child a lot of good lessons.
Less than two weeks ago Tyler turned three. He got a lot of amazing gifts, but by far his favorite was a Spiderman with a spidey car. It seemed as if my husband had waited all of my son's life to indulge him in his latest passion. The Disney Channel's Spiderman series got turned on, and Grant has bought him three more Spiderman knicknacks.
Tyler doesn't even understand the television show, thank God. When Spiderman is not on the screen he keeps asking, "Where's Spiderman?" When his alter-ego, Peter Parker is on, "Where's Spiderman?"
He told us he wants to be Spiderman for Halloween. Gasp! When did he become able to make his own decisions about what he wants to be? Gone are the days when we could dress him up as a cute lion or a scarecrow for our own amusement!
Today Grant and Tyler were looking through a small catalog that came with his latest Spiderman present. The only thing I thought was cute and age appropriate was this big, soft Spiderman that little boys can take to bed with them. Grant asked, "Would you like that, or is that for little kids?" "Little kids," Tyler answered. My heart broke a little.
So it seems, in my male dominated household that it is two against one in favor of Spiderman. I can only keep in mind that quote from the comic book and the movie: "With great power comes great responsibility," and to try to use my mommy and wife superpowers for good by tempering Spiderman with books and television shows starring the likes of Curious George, Harold and the Purple Crayon, and maybe, just maybe The Little People.
This is an original post to New Jersey Moms Blog. Emily writes about being chronically ill and raising a child in her blog, Mamasick.
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