July 14, 2013

"Mom, there's a forest fire in our kitchen"

Our son just admires his Daddy and what he does.   He also loves airplanes, hotshots and his 5 invisible friends (only the imagination of a 4 yr old).  He came running into me the other day, as I sat holding the baby in the living room.  "Mom, there's a forest fire in the kitchen.  My invisible friends and I have to go fight the fire.  I have to help the Hotshots."  So I said, "oh okay, well be safe and hope you get the fire out soon."  He grabbed his airplanes (especially the C-130 air tanker that Papa gave him) and was dropping retardant on the fire.  Next thing I hear, is his favorite airplane (the B-17) shooting at the fire.  He shouts out "tail gunner return fire, tail gunner return fire."  I just love hearing him and his imagination go crazy.  He comes into the living room, and wiped his forehead. "Whew Mom, that was a bad fire.  I had to call one hundred, fifty, thirty Hotshots and all my friends.  I drove my truck and shot the flames with retardant.  I have to go take a shower now."  So he leaves the living room, only to return about 10 minutes later, "Mom, I have another fire to go to.  Did you do my laundry?  It's a big fire, so I might be gone for days."  So with concern in my voice, I said, " Yes all your clothes are clean.  Do you need me to pack you a lunch to take with you?"  "No, Mom, I have to go.  My invisible friends said it's getting big.  Bye, love you."  And away he ran into his bedroom.  I went into his bedroom a few minutes later to find him lining up his airplanes & jets next to his firetrucks and to my surprise there was a couple of dinosaurs and a dragon there, too.  I asked him what they do?  He told me, (with his hand on his hip), "Mom, they breathe fire so they help." I thought to myself, how funny he's got all his "resources" to fight the fire and his dinos and dragon are going to breathe fire.  He then said "Ugh, Mom don't you know they eat the fire, too. You better watch out or they'll throw fire on you."  So I left the bedroom and he followed me into the living room.  "Mom, do I smell smokey?  I think I need to take a shower.  Bye."
The funny thing behind all this is how he takes bits and pieces from his real conversations with Daddy and his knowledge that comes with being the child of a WFF.  I've heard my husband tell him things like:  "Daddy has to leave for a big fire, so I may be gone for a few days."  Occasionally when hubby comes home from a local fire, he'll smell of smoke.  (A smell that has been familiar to me since childhood, with my Dad as a WFF, too).  And my husband will say "Let me go take a shower and get cleaned up, then we can play."  I've also heard my husband say "the Hotshots helped put out the fire."  Hubby also will say things to me like "did you wash my laundry?"  All of these things our son takes and creates these pretend situations.  So when I hear him tell me things like the size of his fires, or he asks me if I did laundry, it brings a smile to my face and tugs on my heart strings.  He sees and hears what his Daddy, his hero does.  He wants to be like his Daddy and do exactly what he does.  If you ask him, "do you want to be a Hotshot like Daddy?"  He'll answer you with stories of how he's going to fly a jet, or drive a monster truck.  Do we want him to follow his Daddy's footsteps??  Well as a parent, I just want him to be good at whatever he chooses.  But in the back of my mind, I think it'd be cool to have a 4th generation WFF in our family.

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