he likes the bad guys
A blessed occurrence happened this past November.
theFirst Born and I had one of those cherished bonding moments that will be forever etched in memory (or on the blog). Over one glorious weekend I introduced him to The Trilogy. It goes without saying he has been forever changed. For a week after being exposed he walked around breathing heavily and talking through clenched teeth (this must be a 4-year old’s interpretation of Darth Vader: “I can hear him talking and breathing but his mouth isn’t moving”).
Funny thing though…he NEVER pretends to be Luke or Han Solo (my personal favorite). He always wants to be Darth Vader and he only ever uses the RED lightsaber.
“Dad, your lightsaber is green. MINE IS RED…he he he.”
Thankfully he has yet to mime the dreaded Vader Choke. That will likely come when he is 16…can’t wait for that.
Side note: what father wouldn’t feel a sense of attachment when his son says: “Dad…Princess Leia is BEAUTIFUL.” I remember thinking the same thing…WHEN I WAS TWELVE. To his credit he also tells his Mom the same almost daily and thankfully he still hasn’t figured out the difference between Leia in a white robe and Leia in the Jabba bikini. At least some youthful innocence is intact.
Anyhoo, as I was saying…bad guys.
Another of his favorites is Hopper from A Bug’s Life. As you watch the first ten seconds of the video below picture my 4 year old son with his arms folded behind his back, high stepping around the house; facial expression fixed in permanent grimace.
Admittedly, it is very entertaining.
Up until last week I thought his deference to villainous characters was a passing fancy. Then theWife took him on his first trip to the library where after looking through the comprehensive children’s offering, he chose THIS of all titles:
Disney Villains: The Essential Guide.
I think I have created a monster.
Did I mention he is only FOUR YEARS OLD?
In hindsight, that fateful weekend in November may be identified as:
a) the turning point, after I’ve been ambushed Menendez style
or
b) the impetus of a life in Hollywood landing roles a la Willem Dafoe, Kevin Spacey, or Alec Baldwin
On second thought maybe me going out in a fury of Menendez violence is better than theFirst Born turning out like Alec Baldwin.
I’m in trouble…aren’t I?
theZeph 
a few years ago i was putting together material for a family christmas letter, and i asked holden what he wanted me to tell the world about him. he said “tell them i’m “Lovish.” i asked him what that meant, and he said “it means i love people.”
when i asked ian what he wanted me to tell the world about him, he said “that i’m the dark side. i love all things dark.” i said, like what? “blood. guts. death. villains. evil.”
so if you’re in trouble, we’ll be visiting our sons in prison together.
dug
February 26, 2009 at 9:50 am
dug – that is if we both survive! lovish? ask holden if i can use that one for a girls name. lovish and zeph – they could be like the brother/sister duo of the captain and tenille
zeph
February 27, 2009 at 12:41 pm
Since the four-year-old’s “manners are mello and he is sweet like the jello” a little bad boy influence didn’t seem too harmful when I picked the “Villains” book for him.
theWife
February 27, 2009 at 3:28 pm
theWife – oh good. so it wasn’t me that has created the monster…it was YOU! i feel much better now.
zeph
February 27, 2009 at 4:21 pm