I pretended I was a number of different superheroes. From Batman to Spiderman… and even Wonder Woman (there’s a story behind that one… really there is. But that’s for a different time). And even though Zorro isn’t really considered a true superhero, I loved to pretend I was him (I even made a mask out of black fabric and road a fake horse…). But the thing is, at the end of the day, I wasn’t a superhero. No matter how hard I tried (and believe me, I tried), I wasn’t going to get anywhere close to being Batman or Spiderman or even Zorro.
But that desire to be a superhero still follows me today – especially in the area of parenting. I want to swoop in and be the perfect parent. Cause that’s what superheroes are – perfect, right? I mean, superheroes have all the answers, all the resources, and all the abilities that make them… perfect. And that superhero complex follows me today. But the problem is, I’m not perfect. And I end up acting like the Joker instead of our favorite superhero we all think about.
Because I’m not perfect – I fail.
I see the same desire in a lot of parents I’ve worked with as well. They want to swoop in and be the perfect comic book parent. But the problem is, they can’t. And that creates a ton of stress and frustration in their lives – because as parents – they fail.
I pretended I was a number of different superheroes. From Batman to Spiderman… and even Wonder Woman
We think, as parents, our children need us to be the perfect comic book parent – to be a superhero. But as I live day in and day out as a parent, I’m believing more and more that my children – our children – don’t need us to be superheroes, they need us, as parents, to be responsible. To be faithful. To show up every day. It’s in the ordinary day… each and every time we show up… in the faithfulness… that we actually become superheroes to our kids.
