Day 7

I was helping my 10-year old clean out his bookbag since he is (finally!) returning to school tomorrow after an extended holiday break. To my suprise, I found a project that he had done at the beginning of the school year to help other people get to know him. It had a picture of him, what his favorite activity, class at school, movie,  and food was, as well as where his favorite family vacation was (Disneyworld, of course). But one section caught my eye and brought a smile to my face- the one labeled "Meet My Hero". Now I know he has many heroes- including Batman, the guys from his video games, Wall-E, etc. But instead of picking a fictional character, my young son clearly named his older brother. I had concerns about the age difference between the older two children when we got pregnant with the 10-year old- 12 years is a big gap. But time and time again all three of the kids have proven we had nothing to worry about, as they have always been closer than I could ever have hoped.
That aside, the 10-year old made me stop and think about the word "hero". What truly constitues hero status, and who is mine? At 10 years old, my son was able to fill that slot with a real, living person- one who doesn't have super powers or is able to regenerate themselves with a push of a control button. And he could even explain why his brother earned the status- again, not because he takes him places, or plays with him, but "because he never lets me down." I am a bit ashamed to admit that the security question to one of my online accounts is, "who is your childhood hero?" and my answer is.....Wonder Woman. Not Mom, or Rosa Parks, or even Florence Nightengale. Huh. Shown up by a 10-year old.
So I am not going to retire my Wonder Woman workout t-shirt or beer glass, but I am gonna down-grade her from hero status. Who will fill her slot? Not sure yet, but she is gonna be real and, well, awesome of course. So I ask you- who's your hero amd why? And if you don't have one, take a few minutes to think about it- having someone to look up to or know is a rock by your side is invaluable and can help get you through the hard times that unfortuantely none of us can avoid 100% of the time.
Today's positive picture is about the power and bond of brothers, as well as a mother's/step-mother's pride in 2 of her children.