My Son the Superhero

My nine year old son thinks he's a super hero. I don't mean he's running around in Underoo underwear with a towel clasped around his neck as a cape. I mean he really tries to convince us he's a secret ninja with flying capabilities who fights evil all over the world, and he gets extremely upset at his older brother when the eyes start rolling as if (gasp) he doesn't believe him.

I was standing at the sink doing dishes one night and he came into the kitchen to grab a snack.

"Mom, I just got back from a battle with my nemesis." He tells me as he leans against the counter.

"Oh really?" I ask, "And how did you get to this battle?"

"I flew." He said simply.

"I see." I could be worried, maybe I should be worried...but I'm not. "Well in the future I would appreciate it if you let me know when you're leaving the house, okay buddy?" I tell him.

He ponders this for a moment. "Yeah...okay, I can do that." Then he walks away.

I have always encouraged my children to tap into the powers of their imagination. Perhaps it's the aspiring writer in me. However, I must admit there are times when I wonder if I do this too much. When do you cross the line that separates being imaginative from having lost touch with reality?

I guess like any parent, I wonder if I'm doing right by my children as they get older. I know what I want the outcome to be...I want my children to be self confident, I want them to follow their dreams, and be successful. I want them to know that no matter what happens in life, I'll be there to help them out or just to be supportive. But as we parents go along, we don't really know if we're going about it all the right way. It's kind of like being in a forest so thick that you have no way of knowing if you're following the path you're supposed to take to get you to the other side of the forest until you get there.

Maybe the best we can do is just that...the best we can do. I would say my ex-husband and I form a pretty good parenting team. I'm the free spirited dreamer and he's the practical one. I'd like to think they get a healthy dose of both, so they'll end up not being so serious that life is a monotonous bore, but they'll also know when its time to buckle down and get serious. They know when they need answers they can come to us and we will answer honestly, taking the time to make sure they understand.

So getting back to my super hero, I have decided to let him be and let his dad be the practical one in this case. I'm sure he knows deep down that he can't really fly. I remember after watching "Firestarter" as a child, I tried convincing people I could start fires with a thought, I just didn't because it was too dangerous. I knew I couldn't, but the thought of doing so left me feeling more powerful than a normal eight year old would...no harm done, and I outgrew it fairly quick. Maybe some parents would worry that their son has an over-active imagination on occasion. But the way I see it is at an age when most kids question their own self worth, if my child wants to think he's special enough to be a super hero who can fly and fight his own battles with his very own nemesis, I'm all for it. After all, it could be worse...he could be the nemesis.