Heathcliff, Spiderman, and a Ninja

Today's not-so-favorite moments included . . .

. . . entering the bathroom to find a room-sized puddle, courtesy of my son who enjoys splashing in the sink.  I knew it had been quiet for too long.

Today's favorite moments included . . .

. . . savoring cool breezes this morning.  It's finally starting to feel like fall.

. . . Phillip rolling up on his Ninja motorcycle just as I was dropping Joy off at school.  She had asked him to drop her off, but we didn't think he'd be back from an errand in time.  He made it after all, just in time to walk her to her classroom door.  She was pretty thrilled, and I thought it was sweet that he had made the effort to get there.

. . . having a spirited discussion of Wuthering Heights at the book group, then laughing until I cried during our rambling conversation afterward.

. . . a friend giving Phillip a priesthood blessing this evening because his cough and minor fever have long outstayed their welcome.  The blessing was very comforting.  I am so grateful for the priesthood.


And another thing . . .

. . . Joy has a few female friends, but she spends most of her recesses playing superhero games with some of the boys (we must have talked for at least twenty minutes today about Spiderman, where his power came from, etc.). 

Have you ever noticed that superheros tend to solve most problems by fighting with and/or killing the bad guy?  In superheroland, the bad guy is clearly identifiable and rotten to the core, so we don't tend to feel too bad if he gets clobbered or goes to the big, high-security prison in the sky.  I guess that's been driven home to me more today, as I've listened to Joy make up a dozen different scenarios where the "bad guys" are swiftly and summarily killed (in one case by a giant pancake landing on their town).  No hesitation, no remorse.  Good riddance to 'em.

I can't resist pointing out to her occasionally that there may be a better way to resolve conflicts than killing people.  I'm sure that must sound so tediously boring, not to mention the fact that a penetrating discussion requires a lot more mental effort than dispatching and dismissing the one-dimensional bad guys, but if we tell ourselves the same oversimplified story over and over we may start to believe that that's how life really works.  Especially when we're kids.