Superheroes

Superheroes. My kids are rather obsessed with them these days, and they're not alone, either. As they look forward to superhero-themed episodes of their favorite shows and Batman or Superman cartoons from the library, their parents anxiously await the season finale of Smallville, wondering how Clark will defeat a whole bunch of flying Kryptonian clones while he himself still seems to be grounded.

My kids like to play superhero games, whether or not they are able to find capes to assist their play. Sometimes I find myself playing superhero, too, but not with super powers. No, my heroics are more along the line of finding socks for my husband, getting the kids ready for church on time, or heading out to the store for random needs at unearthly hours. Nevertheless, I cannot deny the rush I get when I accomplish some such seemingly impossible task.

Now, ideally, my superhero skills would be better used for genuine emergencies. However, my alter ego has not quite learned balance, and so it seems easier to rest up lying in wait for small catastrophes to occur rather than to work diligently to prevent them in the first place. It is a big set of skills to learn, but I believe (at least on some level) that they really would be useful skills to learn . . . those skills associated with keeping house rather than just rescuing house occasionally. It is, after all, mild-mannered folks who really keep the world together, no matter how fun superhero shows are to watch. One could even call them real superheroes.