Darth Vadar/VW commercial/Poem

The precious VW commercial with the minature Darth Vadar brought back so many memories...memories of Miller and his imagination. Mind you, he was never into Star Wars but he was definitely into Spiderman, Buzz Lightyear, Batman, Woody, etc. The way the little boy in the ad totally BELIEVES with his whole heart he IS Darth Vadar made me laugh and cry. That could have been Miller eight or nine years ago. Bittersweet.

The words, sights, smells and feelings come rushing back to this mom...

Miller walked up to me at the tender age of five in full Spiderman costume with every bit of seriousness and said, "Mom, I think I'm Peter Parker."
I asked, " Why do you say that?"
Without a smile, he said, "Because I've been sticking to things."
"Well, maybe you are," I told him. He slid against the wall to prove his point. I had to hide my face so he wouldn't see me cracking up. Priceless!

Now my boy is almost grown. I can't believe how fast the time has flown by. I cry about it sometimes because 18 years isn't long enough. I realize I will always be his mom, but the small window of time I have to be around him all day every day and experience life through his eyes is closing in. He is officially a preteen, actually only a few months away from being a full-fledged teenager. Just typing that made my stomach churn. Ugh! That boundless wonder and unending imagination isn't the current event anymore. It's still there, but I only catch glimpses of it. That wonder and imagination have been replaced with algebra, book reports, hanging with friends, sports and girl drama. His school assignments rarely bring out that wild-eyed enthusiasm where the creative juices flow so rapidly. It's no one's fault. It is what it is. Growing up does that to a person.

But...
Just when I think my "little" boy with the powerful imagination has vaporized into thin air forever and a "big" boy full of hormones with mush for brains is left, I see a small beam of light in the darkness of the movie theater. Onscreen Harry Potter, with arm extended and wand in hand, is putting a spell on some dark force. Beside me, my own Harry Potter is casting the same spell with his toy wand that he obviously had hidden in his jacket. We exchange no words. My heart smiles and I breathe a happy sigh of relief...for now.


My Son Has Always Seen Me

My son has always seen me
As Superwoman
Protecting him from the evils
Of monsters under the bed
And holding his hand when he has
A bad dream.

But he doesn not know
That I'm scared of the darkness
Freaking out about every weird sound
And waking up his dad to ask
"What was that?"

He will never know
That I check all the closets
And behind the shower curtain
For axe murderers and
Serial killers.

One day I will tell him
That I am only brave
When it comes to him
For him I would battle
Fire-breathing dragons and
An axe murderer or two
My love for him
Is stronger than anything.

*I wrote this poem as a model for my students long ago. It is based on a poem in a literature book I taught from. Getting students to write free verse poetry is easier if they have something to go by at first.