It is my pleasure to introduce you to the amazing Robin Farr. Robin is a writer, wife, communications professional, speaker and mom – chronologically, at least. She got mixed up philosophically during her struggle with postpartum depression but wrote her way out of it on her blog, Farewell, Stranger. You can find her on Twitter @FarewellStrangr or on Facebook. Robin and her family live in Calgary, Alberta.
If you’ve ever had a five-year-old boy, you surely know about their tendency to want to take their pants off at every opportunity. (Based on the title of this post, you probably think you know where this is going. Not so! Read on.)
My son Connor, who just turned five, is no different. He is mostly past the stage where he wants to be naked all the time—though Naked Boy still occasionally makes an appearance—but he still likes to run around in his underwear. We’re usually pretty good at limiting this to our house. And my parents’ house. Okay, he’s been known to take his pants off elsewhere, but that’s not the point I’m trying to make.
The point I’m trying to make is that he has superhero underwear.
The last time my husband took Connor to get new underwear they came home with two packs: a Star Wars pack and a superhero pack. My son thinks Star Wars is pretty cool, but only because his dad thinks Star Wars is pretty cool. It’s not like he’s seen the movies. (He’ll probably be introduced to the franchise in the order in which God—and George Lucas—intended, i.e. not with Episodes 1, 2, and 3. I highly doubt my husband will want him to ridicule the series before he even gets to the good stuff.)
But back to those superhero underwear. On summer days when it’s really, really hot, all a kid needs is a pair of superhero underwear. T-shirts are obviously surplus to requirements, and no self-respecting five-year-old wears pants anyway (as we’ve already determined). So underwear it is. And why stop at wearing underwear on your bum? After all, it makes a pretty good mask.
One day last week I had a friend coming over to pick up some food I was donating to someone affected by the recent floods in Calgary. I mentioned to Connor that she was coming over, which was a mistake because he immediately got excited and hyper and I had to keep him occupied for the hour before she arrived. That was relatively easy to do simply by playing superhero…until he got the idea about the mask.
So there he was, pretending to be The Flash in his little red underwear with the lightning bolt on them. I was about to tell him he had to at least put on some pants before my friend arrived when he came over with his Aquaman underwear in his hand. He needed a mask, he figured, and was clearly not concerned about a mix-and-match superhero identity.
I have to say, if you put a pair of Y-fronts on a kid the right way they do make a pretty good mask. But still, all of that was a little more than I figured my friend needed to see, so I told him,
He was remarkably okay with this condition. I suppose even superheroes know their mother has the last word.
Your turn:
What bizarre outfits did you wear as a child?
What about your own kids?
You are wise to determine the order in which he watches Star Wars. The most pivotal moment in the whole series is when we find out Darth is Luke’s dad. Watching 1-3 first would kind of blow that all to pieces.
Ah yes. The old underwear over the head trick. Although my son is older now, our neighbours remember this well.
Excellent place to draw the line! 🙂 One of my favorite skippy jon illustrations is when he takes his mask off and puts it on as superhero underwear. And if you haven’t seen the book Aliens in Underpants Save the World, then you should check it out. 🙂
In my house, it’s all I can do to keep the dirty underwear off their heads…
As a toddler I saw a gogo dancer and was inspired. I wore snow boots with dresses before it was cool.
You sound like the coolest mom ever!
Oh, you’ve taken me back in time to when my twins were little…they wore superhero underwear on their heads too, except one is a girl and thankfully, her brother shared. Thanks for the memory…
LOL If anyone would have understood seeing your five-year-old with underwear on his head…. Kind-a sorry I missed that, actually. Remind me sometime to show you a photo I took – for later incriminating purposes – of Jack with his underwear on his head. Silly boys!
Love this, you had me in stitches! Looking forward to my little boy getting to this stage
James is the exact same way. Although, I don’t think he’s ever thought to wear underwear as a mask.
Hahaha! Guess what my 5 yo son was doing as I read this post? Stripping to his underwear. He hasn’t gotten the idea of wearing them as masks yet, but this could be due to the fact that I keep them high in his closet so I know which ones are clean or dirty. Otherwise, they’d be all over the house.
When I was little, it was the dresses. If the dress didn’t flare out when I spun around, or as I called it “go big round,” then my mom would expect tears and tantrums. lol Even as I got older and learned to sew, I’d make the kind of costumes that require a hoop skirt. *whispers* Sometimes I’d wear them around the house for fun, even in my 20’s.
I had three sons and all three did the same thing. My wife would tell me about it unfortunately I was always at work. Of course I thought work was more important at that time. Stupid Juan.
Good Lord, that’s hilarious. Life advice for us all.
LOL! When our oldest (now 20!) was little, he loved to wear capes – made from (clean, I promise) cloth diapers. I cannot tell you how many pics and day-to-day sightings were involved in the endeavor. Oy.
“I have to say, if you put a pair of Y-fronts on a kid the right way they do make a pretty good mask.” LOL
My littlest has demanded that we wear diapers on our head. Numerous times.
And we have.
I have pictures. Ahem.
Simply delightful…and so close to my own heart. A couple days ago, my daughter-in-law told me her four-year-old son picked up her bra, put it on his head, and wanted to keep it on…it was his helmet. I wasn’t there but I can easily imagine his doing this clad only in his Superman undershorts. When I read your post, it brought such clear delightful images to mind. Thanks for sharing!
My brother and I were a year apart, and since everyone thought we were twins (we looked alike, although why that makes people think a boy-girl pair twins is beyond me), but we only had matching red shorts. So he would get the idea for us to take my baby on a walk with only the shorts on. I don’t know how many times I heard my mom screaming for us. Of course it was ME who got punished for being topless!
Walked into our bedroom a few years back and found our then 3 year old with one of my bras on his head – it was his “umbrella”. Not going to lie, I was a bit flattered.
This is AWESOME, you had me LOL! I’m sure you never expected the need to say those words to your child. I really hope you got pictures of this for future blackmailing and embarrassments!
Now I feel like a bad mother because my 5 boys never did this. Did I some how deprive them of their childhood?, do they need therapy? They did slingshot their undies off their fingers at each other. Is this consolation? Or should I just run out now and find avengers undies in mens M sizes. *Sob* I failed them, they hate me, I have guilt. Quick we all need emergency cake..
My 4-year old’s favorite superhero is Naked Man. Apparently, Naked Man is very powerful and sly. He appears out of nowhere when you least expect him.
What is really funny (thought my husband doesn’t think so) is when he is playing Naked Man, but with a pair of my heels on!
Love the story. I had a son just like your Connor. Often when he was in the house running around in his underwear he would bolt for the door and before I knew it I was outside chasing him as he laughed and ran surprisingly fast for a small child.
Oh, yeah. I can picture your son without a problem!
The strangest thing that comes to mind for me is when when re-landscaped our backyard. We cut down a bunch of trees and hired a guy with big equipment to come and make it more level. Of course our son was there with his toy trucks imitating the workers.
And of course his little sister had tagged along to imitate her older brother. It had rained, so the two of them were covered in mud. This happened during a stage when Lia refused to wear anything but dresses. There she was in a pretty dress, covered in mud and playing with trucks.
My 2 GIRLS do the same thing. I have a picture – tutu skirts and leotards, socks on the hands, and underwear on the head. Superheros they were!
Reblogged this on quirkywritingcorner and commented:
Whether you’ve ever known a five-year-old or not, you can truly appreciate this. Too funny!!!
I thought we had hit the pinnacle of embarrassing moments already with that phase. Wrong. My twin 6 year old girls now like to wear sleep masks as bikini tops around the house. Most of the time it’s pared with shorts, winter boot liners and a headband. I have yet to answer the front door before them. UPS thinks we’re nuts.