Me, My Daughter and Thor
For those of you who do not know "Thor" is a Marvel Comics Superhero. He debuted in 1962 in a book entitled Journey into Mystery #83. For some reason my Daughter has taken an interest in his story.
I won't get too into the weeds because as you will discover I am no expert but the basics of his story are this:
Thor is the son of Odin ruler of Asgard (fictional planet). Odin decides his son needed to be taught humility and sends Thor (with no memory of being a god or his home) in to the body of an existing, partially disabled human named Donald Blake. While in Norway on vacation Thor (Blake) witnesses the arrival of an Alien and flees to a cave - he discovered a walking stick (which is actually Thors Hammer) breaks it open and transforms into the Thunder God THOR.
He serves in life with his alter ego treating patients in a private practice and defending earth from the doers of evil.
Released in 2011, Thor the movie depicts this scenario in a very different way - however it gets the point across that is made in many of Stan Lee's comic adventures - "With great power comes great responsibility" - the lesson in humility is a small part of the ethical question surrounding all superheroes. It is the same question asked by Batman regarding Superman. The same question asked by The Punisher regarding any number of Marvel Superheroes with the exception of maybe Captain America.
This brings me to my 7 year old daughter. She has this ability to find the good in just about anything - I am elevated from earth to the clouds by this smiling, curly haired, centrist that just loves everyone and everything about life. She's the kind of person that wanted the New England Patriots and the Atlanta Falcons to tie so that no one would lose. That could be the age, but I prefer to think that she has found a way to turn her mother's sweetness into a superpower.
She has an infatuation with Thor. I don't know if it's his powers, the long golden locks of hair or the the moral he represents but he for some reason he garners a lot of respect from a little girl that has a lot of pull with her father.
That pull has required that I read Thor and understand Thor so that I can answer questions about Thor. Because what is a Dad if not an encyclopedia of everything that may interest their child? We've all had that "oh crap" moment when our child has a question we may not be able to answer to their expectation or at all for that matter. I strive to avoid this by doing my homework when I can.
Admittedly this in itself can become a full time job. Especially considering that we are only discussing one instance from one child out of five, four of which have the ability to put their questions into words.
Though it may seem like I have gone to Thor University - my failed endeavor has been that I don't like or care for the story-line surrounding Thor and much like my kids - if I can't get "into" something I tend to lollygag and the results can be terrifyingly below average.
This is not entirely my fault - I have always been drawn to darker characters or characters without any super powers at all because I have a underlying love for the underdog. So as per the usual I got the basics down, read a few pre-approved** comics with my daughter and thought "I've got this".
**Pre-approved means that I vigorously reviewed said comics prior to reading them with her - this is often overlooked and a reason why some parents error when supporting their child's comic book reading endeavor. We also managed to find some age appropriate comics that included Thor along side the Avengers.
So that Thor University thing - I flunked out. I know this because of the exchange I had with my daughter following a trip to the grocery store.
Daughter: "Daddy where is Thor From?"
Me: "Asgard"
Daughter: "Where's Asgard?"
Me: "Honey it's another planet, I don't know where it is."
Daughter: "Why is it (the hammer) called the Mjolnir"? The pronunciation was the funniest part and if I could I would break it down but - it's just not funny on paper.
Me: "........" (Blank stare)
Daughter: "Can Captain America lift Thor's Hammer?"
Me: "No, he can not."
Daughter: "But I thought he did."
Me: "I don't think so honey."
Daughter: "Yeah. He did."
Me: "I'm pretty sure he didn't."
Daughter: "Well I think he did."
5 minutes later
Daughter: "Daddy what does worthy mean?"
Me: "It's when you deserve recognition for something, or people see you as deserving of something."
Daughter: "So you don't think Captain America is worthy?"
Me: "........" (Blank stare)
Here in lies the issue - my little girl is backing me into a corner. She's trying to get me to commit to something that would prove that I do not know all and see all. OR she could just be curious and I'm reading into the situation.
At this point her mother calls her, saving me and leaving me to be bothered so I decided to do a quick google search.
**I took a hiatus from Comic Books and in that time I missed the "fear itself" story-line. Spoiler Cap wields the Hammer. After further research apparently Cap wielded the hammer in 1988 (before I started reading comics) and defeated the Egyptian God Seth.
So now I have a classic conundrum - I know there is no way for her to know that Cap wielded the all mighty hammer of Thor. I also know she knows she doesn't know. You follow?
Me: "Honey did you know Captain America could lift Thor's Hammer?"
Daughter: "No but I thought he might."
Me: "He did, and did you know that a bunch of other people did too?"
Daughter: "Well if they are super heroes and good people then they would have to be able to right?"
Me: "......." **Not a totally accurate depiction of the "worthy" definition of the comic but from a 7 year old I'll take it and give it a gold star.
Me: "Well I think we learned something today."
Daughter: "Thank you Daddy." (Hugs)
**This is her default setting - if there is an awkward silence between us - she hugs and says thank you.
Me: "I love you too honey."
Humility. That is the lesson that is taught to Thor by Odin and the lesson that my daughter teaches me most days without even trying. Today I have been schooled by a 7 year old, and her side kick Thor.
Sodium16 Store: http://bit.ly/2m3b6XF
I won't get too into the weeds because as you will discover I am no expert but the basics of his story are this:
Thor is the son of Odin ruler of Asgard (fictional planet). Odin decides his son needed to be taught humility and sends Thor (with no memory of being a god or his home) in to the body of an existing, partially disabled human named Donald Blake. While in Norway on vacation Thor (Blake) witnesses the arrival of an Alien and flees to a cave - he discovered a walking stick (which is actually Thors Hammer) breaks it open and transforms into the Thunder God THOR.
He serves in life with his alter ego treating patients in a private practice and defending earth from the doers of evil.
Released in 2011, Thor the movie depicts this scenario in a very different way - however it gets the point across that is made in many of Stan Lee's comic adventures - "With great power comes great responsibility" - the lesson in humility is a small part of the ethical question surrounding all superheroes. It is the same question asked by Batman regarding Superman. The same question asked by The Punisher regarding any number of Marvel Superheroes with the exception of maybe Captain America.
This brings me to my 7 year old daughter. She has this ability to find the good in just about anything - I am elevated from earth to the clouds by this smiling, curly haired, centrist that just loves everyone and everything about life. She's the kind of person that wanted the New England Patriots and the Atlanta Falcons to tie so that no one would lose. That could be the age, but I prefer to think that she has found a way to turn her mother's sweetness into a superpower.
She has an infatuation with Thor. I don't know if it's his powers, the long golden locks of hair or the the moral he represents but he for some reason he garners a lot of respect from a little girl that has a lot of pull with her father.
That pull has required that I read Thor and understand Thor so that I can answer questions about Thor. Because what is a Dad if not an encyclopedia of everything that may interest their child? We've all had that "oh crap" moment when our child has a question we may not be able to answer to their expectation or at all for that matter. I strive to avoid this by doing my homework when I can.
Admittedly this in itself can become a full time job. Especially considering that we are only discussing one instance from one child out of five, four of which have the ability to put their questions into words.
Though it may seem like I have gone to Thor University - my failed endeavor has been that I don't like or care for the story-line surrounding Thor and much like my kids - if I can't get "into" something I tend to lollygag and the results can be terrifyingly below average.
This is not entirely my fault - I have always been drawn to darker characters or characters without any super powers at all because I have a underlying love for the underdog. So as per the usual I got the basics down, read a few pre-approved** comics with my daughter and thought "I've got this".
**Pre-approved means that I vigorously reviewed said comics prior to reading them with her - this is often overlooked and a reason why some parents error when supporting their child's comic book reading endeavor. We also managed to find some age appropriate comics that included Thor along side the Avengers.
So that Thor University thing - I flunked out. I know this because of the exchange I had with my daughter following a trip to the grocery store.
Daughter: "Daddy where is Thor From?"
Me: "Asgard"
Daughter: "Where's Asgard?"
Me: "Honey it's another planet, I don't know where it is."
Daughter: "Why is it (the hammer) called the Mjolnir"? The pronunciation was the funniest part and if I could I would break it down but - it's just not funny on paper.
Me: "........" (Blank stare)
Daughter: "Can Captain America lift Thor's Hammer?"
Me: "No, he can not."
Daughter: "But I thought he did."
Me: "I don't think so honey."
Daughter: "Yeah. He did."
Me: "I'm pretty sure he didn't."
Daughter: "Well I think he did."
5 minutes later
Daughter: "Daddy what does worthy mean?"
Me: "It's when you deserve recognition for something, or people see you as deserving of something."
Daughter: "So you don't think Captain America is worthy?"
Me: "........" (Blank stare)
Here in lies the issue - my little girl is backing me into a corner. She's trying to get me to commit to something that would prove that I do not know all and see all. OR she could just be curious and I'm reading into the situation.
At this point her mother calls her, saving me and leaving me to be bothered so I decided to do a quick google search.
**I took a hiatus from Comic Books and in that time I missed the "fear itself" story-line. Spoiler Cap wields the Hammer. After further research apparently Cap wielded the hammer in 1988 (before I started reading comics) and defeated the Egyptian God Seth.
So now I have a classic conundrum - I know there is no way for her to know that Cap wielded the all mighty hammer of Thor. I also know she knows she doesn't know. You follow?
Me: "Honey did you know Captain America could lift Thor's Hammer?"
Daughter: "No but I thought he might."
Me: "He did, and did you know that a bunch of other people did too?"
Daughter: "Well if they are super heroes and good people then they would have to be able to right?"
Me: "......." **Not a totally accurate depiction of the "worthy" definition of the comic but from a 7 year old I'll take it and give it a gold star.
Me: "Well I think we learned something today."
Daughter: "Thank you Daddy." (Hugs)
**This is her default setting - if there is an awkward silence between us - she hugs and says thank you.
Me: "I love you too honey."
Humility. That is the lesson that is taught to Thor by Odin and the lesson that my daughter teaches me most days without even trying. Today I have been schooled by a 7 year old, and her side kick Thor.
Sodium16 Store: http://bit.ly/2m3b6XF
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