Hey guys. You might remember me as the mom with the baseball-obsessed son. After nearly 18 month long streak, Take Me Out to the Ballgame no longer reigns supreme as the anthem of the Confetti house. While I thought I might relish in the freedom from never ending baseball, baseball, baseball, this isn’t really the case. Out with the old, in with the superheroes.

And Oh. M. G. guys, I have to admit that I miss baseball. This superhero business is no joke. And all-consuming. And full of weapons and violence. And not my favorite.

So we are making lemonade here, deep in the throes of what started as a mild interest in Spider-Man and is now a full-fledged obsession with all things Superhero. Here’s how it has slowly taken over our everyday life.

1) Books.  So many books. Thank goodness that my local library has an abundant stock of all sorts of surprisingly preschooler-friendly books, and mamas, let me tell you – most libraries will let you reserve books right from home on their websites and have them ready for pick up at the front desk. It is amazing. Plus, when I pick them myself, I can decide which ones I will actually read to Colin, not only to scan for level of violence, strange vocabulary I will have to explain and more, but since the ones we read once, we read a MILLION times, it’s good to be prepared. There are a ton of options, through the Step into Reading, World of Reading, Passport to Reading and DK Readers book collections. If you buy them, single story paperbacks are only $3.99 and multi-story books and sets can often be found as low as $7.99 – both pretty reasonable when it comes to children’s books. I’d also try posting to local Virtual Garage Sale groups on Facebook or check other second hand sources, because the word on the street is that LOTS of 3 and 4 year old boys go through this obsession (and eventually outgrow it). Here are some of our favorite Superhero books:

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1) The Avengers  |  2) Superman VS Bizarro  |  3) Superhero ABC  |  4) Batman  |  5) Ten Rules of Being A Superhero  |  6) Spider-Man VS Green Goblin  |  7) Spider-Man Costume  |  8) Batman Batcycle  |  9) Superman Cape  |  10) Spider-Man Figure  |  11) Captain America Figure

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2) Tools for imaginative play. When C was obsessed with baseball, he wasn’t even close to the age where true imaginative play blossoms (plus baseball is pretty cut and dry – no need to pretend, just grab a ball). Now that he’s 3.5, he is just bursting with ideas and stories and all sorts of crazy contrived adventures. We stocked up on a few great costume pieces post-Halloween for playing dress-up, and we have been experimenting with sticker charts to reward good behaviors that we are working on with the rewards being toy figurines.

3. Using the concepts from Superhero stories as a teaching tool. More than anything, I am trying to use this interest in Superheroes to help me as a parent, navigating the everyday challenges of parenting a three year old (which any parent of a threenager can tell you are plentiful). Superheroes make great peer pressure tools when at home without peers. Here are a handful of ways we’ve incorporated Spidey and his pals into our parenting:

  • What does Batman eat to keep him healthy and strong? Should he only eat candy and crackers, or will his muscles be stronger if he eats a healthy breakfast?
  • Does Ironman always do everything all by himself? No – he is part of the Avengers team – just like you are part of our family. It is great to try to do things all by yourself, but it’s okay to ask for help.
  • And on the other hand, does Superman need help putting on his superhero suit, or can he get dressed all by himself?
  • Does Spiderman pick on people who are weaker or smaller than him (aka your little brother)? Or does he help them?

This is just a smattering of the many ways we incorporate superheroes into our day-to-day discussions (since that’s nearly all he ways to talk about sometimes).

Finally, #4: Helping to address toddler fears. Around the time we started reading superhero books from the library, we also noticed an uptick in fears, bad dreams, etc. Part I attribute to the stories, and I believe part is just the normal developmental adventures of raising a young child. Still we have used the context of these stories to address things that might be scary (the dark, monsters, “bad guys”, etc.). We’ve talked a lot about what is real and what is pretend, how there are people in our family and our community who are like superheroes who can protect him, and about what it means to be brave.

Any other moms of superhero-obsessed kids? What other ways are you embracing the superhero passion?