anything you want to be

Lately I've taken Spiderman to the little coffee place where I get - not coffee - but cream cheese stuffed pretzels, and Batman went with me to the store.

Jake has finally entered a long and proud Bohon family tradition: He's discovered the costume box. It started with Spidey because it's one of his current movie faves. He was beside himself when he discovered he could actually become the webby red and blue hero. But alas, he's potty training. The red-and-blue was a casualty of the process and went into the laundry basket. Jake was sad.

So without a single movie version in the house, we introduced him to Batman. We have the mask and everything, which sits over the eyes and nose but not the mouth - making it much more convenient in my opinion. He wasn't impressed with the idea of a non-Spidey costume, until we showed him the action figure. He took one look at those famous black, leather abs, looked at me and said, "I want to put on Batman."

I know I'm the mom, and it would be perfectly acceptable to tell my child to remove the costume before we go to the store, but I just can't do it. I've been to the store with superheroes since John first asked me to tie his cool brown blanket as a cape. He soon graduated to an actual black cape to match the mask. He was Zorro. I remember being so proud when he could return the fancy indoor cart to its stall all by himself - even if, while doing so, he sometimes ran over the elderly. I know that other parents in the store probably think I am just too tired to fight it - but the truth is, I'm secretly thrilled that Jake has joined the party.

It could be worse. As one mom told me, "If my son came dressed as his favorite character, he'd be wearing a giant, yellow sponge."