Dear Jack and Ben, Months 57 and 30

Dear Jack and Ben,

You both are WAY into being super heroes right now. I'm not sure where you learned about Batman, the Green Lantern, Superman, Captain America and the Flash. They aren't in any of your movies or TV shows. You don't read comic books. Perhaps you hear about them at preschool, Jack. I don't really know. But you love to play "super hero."

When I came home the other day and asked you, Jack, what you did with Kelsey, you told me this elaborate tale about how bad guys tried to come and get Claire, but you and Ben put your capes on to protect her and fight them off. When you're playing in the back yard, Ben, I often see you leap from the deck stairs and take off running yelling, "To the rescue!"

I've read a lot of books about raising boys and in them, they always talk about how boys love adventure. I've read about how you both have this innate desire to be a hero and to fight for someone or something. I'd say that I've seen more of that this month than ever before.

I love it that my boys have that need for adventure and the desire to protect. I really love it that you want to defend your sister and each other . . . I hope that continues. But I also hope that your desire to protect others extends beyond your family.

My desire for you boys is that, just like super heroes, you'll develop a 'radar' for finding the people in your lives that need defending. I want you to become the kind of people who look out for those who are in need or hurting. Flying and fighting are great, but sometimes just befriending the lonely guy or inviting the less popular kid makes you more of a hero than anything else ever will.

There will be people in your lives who seem less desirable. Weak. Weird. Awkward. Sometimes even mean or grumpy. And if we're really honest with ourselves, we've all fit into one of those categories at one point or another. Your first instinct might be to avoid them or ignore them. But my prayer is that those will be the people you'll befriend. And that they'll befriend you in return. I don't want you to feel sorry for them or to think of them as less. I want you to remember that God loves you in all of your weirdness and awkwardness. And that He loves them as much as He loves you.

Love,
Mama