The children don't watch TV (only DVD's that we own), we don't have any spiderman books, he has never seen the movie, so, how did this superhero swing into our home?Despite our best efforts to encourage wholesome toys and quality resources, the web slinger somehow crept in. My son sees him at the store and somehow, instinctively knows his name. He shoots webs from his wrist and runs around pretending to swing from buildings. I held out at first, steering him to wooden toys, swearing off Toys R'Us, and trying to avoid the merchandising as best we could. Finally, I succumbed to the t-shirt. I don't want to be remembered as the Mom who would NEVER buy the shirt he wanted. So, spiderman has come home to roost - or should I say come home to crawl? While I still avoid the plastic toys and refuse to let my son watch the violent movies or cartoons, he has the t-shirt.
Have I sold out?
I prefer to think of it as choosing my battles. A little superhero play is good for the ego and spiderman is probably the lesser of superhero evils. I still am very frustrated by the marketing of violent movies and their merchandise to little kids. But, I am trying to find my balance in this, as in everything else.
In the meantime, I hope that indulging the urge to sling webs may let the fascination run its natural course, and dare I hope, die a natural death? I see how he loves nature, wooden blocks, and books, so hopefully a little superhero action is just a piece of the puzzle.
