Wednesday, January 5, 2011

Fear Not Citizen

It's a little known fact that Lukas wasn't born here.  Nope, Mrs. LIAYF and I actually found him inside a steaming hot space capsule in the middle of a corn field. There was a fairly long stretch of scorched earth leading up to the half buried capsule.  Inside, there was only this beautiful bouncing baby boy, along with a note indicating that he was sent here from the planet Cute-ton.* (This also explains why he gets physically weak in the presence of kittens as well as Drew Barrymore pictures)

There were two things that Lukas wanted for Christmas.  A rocket and a superhero cape.  As you might have guessed, Santa's helpers were kind enough to oblige on both counts.  The rocket, which came with two astronauts, three aliens, a moon rover, and a countdown to blast off button the sound of which is now forever etched into the deepest reaches of my memory, received heavy play time early on.  The superhero cape? Not so much.  It sat, pretty much ignored for the past two weeks, in his play area.


But today, with Lukas was back at pre-school after break, Mrs. LIAYF asked him if he wanted to wear it to school.  "Yeah!!" he enthusiastically responded.  And with that she loaded him into the car and off they went.  We she returned, she indicated that some of the other kids were oooohing, and aaaahing already over his red cape with the lightning bolt on back.

Later, when I arrived at the school to pick him up, I had already forgotten about the cape.  But as I entered the play ground, he spotted me and came sprinting across the yard with his hands outstretched and red cape flying behind.  "Daddy, daddy, I'm saving people!" he exclaimed as he turned and ran off towards a large group of preschoolers lined up to go inside

"He's been AWESOME!" the teacher on duty volunteered to me.  "He has been running around all afternoon 'saving' kids from peril. So much fun."

"Daddy, Summer was stuck up on the slide and I helped her down." he then explained to me.  "Way to go son." I responded rubbing his head.  Then, as the kids entered the school and began taking off their coats, the same little girl got her arm stuck in the sleeve.  With a huge grin, Summer then held her arm out to Lukas, who pulled the coat free with just the right amount of gusto.

"That's so cool!" said another mom, who had witnessed the act of gallantry.  Then, looking at his cape, with the lightning bolt emblazoned on back, she asked "Who is he anyway, Shazam?"

"Why no Ma'am" I responded.  "That's Super Lukie"

We all got a good laugh out of that.  And that being said Lukas turned, placed one hand on his hip while extending the other straight into the air, and flew us both to out to the car.

On the way home he regaled me with more tales of helping citizens in peril...and stopping meteors headed for earth.

*This is a complete fabrication for dramatic effect, and in no way diminishes the 80 hours of truly laborious labor which Mrs. LIAYF endured to deliver our son unto the planet Earth three and a half years ago.  I, of course, could never have endured such an ordeal.  I am extremely weak by comparison.  I am also not stupid.

24 comments:

ericdbolton said...

Does his part go the other way when he's in his civilian clothes?

Diplo_Daddy said...

We bought our little one a Spiderman outfit. But try as I might, he never mustered up the courage to wear it to school, even on days when it was ok to do so.

SciFi Dad said...

We've got some capes, but all my son does when he's wearing one is tell me he looks "fancy". I try not to think about it too much.

Violetsouffle said...

Hahahah, what a hero :) Lucky guy, having such fun
Parents.

Keith Wilcox said...

His cape is way cooler than the one I made for my boys out of bedsheets. Kids love being super-heroes. I hope he keeps it for a while. It's better that than a super villain, right? :-)

goodfather said...

Awesome! Yay for Super Lukie, heheh. I've got Princesses instead of heroes... ;)

Otter Thomas said...

That is awesome! He makes a great superhero. And I love the note at the bottom. Well played.

Didactic Pirate said...

I love every part of this post. Read it twice, in fact.

By the way, I asked for the exact same stuff for Christmas. But my cape didn't have a lightning bolt on the back. (Sigh.)

Anonymous said...

Does that come in pink? For me of course.

Douglas said...

We had a very similar experience with a cape that sat untouched (for nearly two months in our case), but suddenly became an integral part of 'our' daily adventures. Now our 4-year-old has attended STL Cardinals' games as Spiderman, Superman, and Batman, has his own Bat-signal, and often wears his costumes under his regular clothes.

Welcome to the PJLA (Parents of the Justice League of America)!

Portland Dad said...

The world needs a hero at times like these, it's good to know they are out there, helping kids down from slides and loosing them from stuck sleeves. Like Didactic Pirate I love everything about this post and read to my wife as soon as she got home.

James (SeattleDad) said...

@Eric - He is just known as mild mannered Lukas. Not many have seen hime this way.

@He's waiting until he can attract attention from a girl who resembles Kirsten Dunst.

@Scifi - Haha. made me laugh. Thanks.

@Violette - Why thank you.

@Keith - But not nearly as economical.

@GoodFather - Now that would be a challenge only a true superhero could conquer.

@Otter - Like I said, not stupid.

@Didactic & @Portlanddad - Best comment a blogger could receive. Thanks.

@DC - Will the real DC comic please stand up?

@Douglas - That's too cool. Oh, and it's great that I am now a member of PJLA. Do I get a cool jacket? Thanks for stopping by.

Anonymous said...

great post! So cute how the little girl was totally egging him on, too!

I feel safer already!

Jack Steiner said...

If he can save me from the pile of papers on my desk he'll be generously rewarded. :) He looks very happy.

Darren said...

Have a great new year! I haven't been around the blog much in 2010, but I'll try in 2011!

eurooms said...

Lukas is so sweeeT!!

Michael @ adaddyblog.com said...

"Daddy, daddy, I'm saving people!"

How sweet. And great that he likes helping people. And what little boy wouldn't want to wear a cape to school? Thank you for sharing, James.

-Michael

Jared Karol said...

That is awesome. I love hearing stories of kids just a bit older than mine. It's like a preview of things to come. The other day, my son put his bib on backwards and was sitting eating apple sauce as it dribbled down his shirt. Meanwhile his bib was protecting his back from. . . ? Perhaps he was imagining himself a superhero too (SupberBib?). Who he's going to save, not sure. . .

Barbara L said...

Love this post!

Papa K said...

I like how you had to put a disclaimer after the article as if we might think that Lukas really did come from planet cute-on! Very funny brother and I wish Lukas all the best in his future superhero endeavors

Lady Mama said...

80 hours of labour? I think your wife is the superhero!

Slamdunk said...

Thanks for protecting us Super Luke. I hope you keep up the good work...

Anonymous said...

Oh, super powers. My son has become a member of the elite space ranger corp, but having super powers sounds much cooler.

Hey Monkey Butt said...

Awes I miss Pre-K days at times :)