Some Errands, My Son, and a Pair of Walkie-Talkies

Yesterday afternoon I needed to go run some errands. Nothing fun really, just dropping some stuff off at Goodwill, getting the oil changed in my Soccer Mom mobile (a.k.a. our van), and going to the grocery store. Despite the lack of any prospect of fun on these errands, Thing 2 wanted to come with me to "help". So the boy and I pile into the van and head out for our afternoon of errand-running.

Now, I've mentioned before that Thing 2 has a thing for superheroes. His current favorite among the superhero set is Iron Man. For Christmas, Santa brought Thing 2 a pair of Iron Man walkie-talkies. This gift was hours of fun for Thing 2 and his older sister, Thing 1. They had long conversations with them from the far reaches of my parents' house while we were there for Christmas. Very cute.

But since Christmas, the walkie-talkies have played a fairly minor role. We've really not seen much of them at all ... until yesterday afternoon. Apparently, they were gone but not forgotten.

As Thing 2 and I were about to leave, he handed me a walkie-talkie. I was instructed to put it in my purse because that's how he intended to speak to me while we were out. I'm sure anyone who happened to look into our van at a red light would've had a little chuckle at what they saw - Mom and son (sitting a scant 2 1/2 feet behind me) talking away on his Iron Man walkie-talkies.

We were gone for 3 hours and that's pretty much how we spoke to each other the whole time. He even wore it clipped onto his pants every time we went in a store or got out of the car. I'd hear things like this:

(static) "Uh, Mom. When are we going to get ice cream?" (static)
(static) "Sounds good. Over and out." (static)
(static) "Can we stop at Old McDonald's for lunch?" (static)
(static) "But I don't want to go to the grocery store!" (static)

So that's pretty much how our afternoon went - a new twist on running errands. It was kinda fun.

Thank Goodness for the Good Guys!

Thing 2 has always loved his Superheroes. From the time he could talk, he was always inclined to all things "super". We encourage him, sure. But most times the Superhero du jour is all his idea.

So I'm finding myself thankful for the good guys out there. Whether they be flying Superheroes with capes, or the new sheriff in town, I'm sure glad those guys are around for my son to emulate.

For a long time, Spiderman was the one. We have Spiderman shirts, PJs, coloring books, you name it. If it's got Spidey on it, we probably have it. And he's got "the guys". That's what he calls his burgeoning collection of action figures. He never goes anywhere without at least one stashed in his pocket or backpack. And you can't have a good guy without having a bad guy for him to fight, so we have Venom and Sandman too.

Then he was on to Iron Man. I must admit, Iron Man is pretty cool. He even had a brief stint where he was all about Captain Jack Sparrow. He's even got pirate hair that he wears when he's pretending to be that great man of the sea. While Sparrow's good guy image may be a little tarnished in places, he's still good at heart. Of course, Batman and Superman have had minor roles in our lives, as well as Luke Skywalker vs. Darth Vader.

But now we have a new one. Really, though, it's an old one. My husband thought it would be a kick to introduce the kids to the Indiana Jones movies. We'd enjoy seeing them again, and we both agreed the kids would love them. Love them they did! Especially Thing 2.

He pretends to be Indiana Jones on a daily basis. All. The. Time. He teaches the other kids at daycare how to make Indy shadows on the wall. They find themselves in awful predicaments, and then Thing 2 (as Indiana Jones) swoops in to save the day. He's even made himself a whip to wear on his pants.

But the best part has got to be the song. We can't go an hour during his waking hours without hearing that song! He hums it while he eats breakfast, while he's getting dressed, and of course, while he's playing with his Indiana Jones Legos.

Heck, he may even do it in his sleep! If I hear it in the middle of the night, I'll let you know.

Dut ta da daaaa, dut ta DA. Dut ta da DAAAAA, dut ta da da da ....