One rewarding piece of the parenting gig involves encouraging one's children to develop their interests, and to pursue activities that they enjoy in their free time. Since my own offspring happen to be energetic boys, their preferred leisure activities often gravitate toward running circles in the backyard, chasing/throwing/catching/kicking a ball of some sort. When they're driven indoors by cold or darkness or rain, one hobby they've come to appreciate is building with Legos. Derek seems to be growing out of this a little bit, but Riley still will sit for long periods, concentrating intently on creating a structure to add to his desktop Brick City. If you happen to catch a glimpse of him working, you can almost see thought process chugging along in his head, as he first envisions and tests his idea, and then implements the final design by manipulating those colorful plastic blocks. Legos are one of those wonderful pastimes--both educational (shhh! no one needs to know they're practicing engineering skills!) AND fun. They get the unequivocal Parental Stamp of Approval.
So imagine my delight when a note came home from his elementary school informing us that there would soon be a club starting up...for Lego enthusiasts. If this isn't right up Riley's alley, I don't know what is. After I sent back the permission slip, I received an email with further details. Among the important procedural items--cost, meeting dates and times, blah blah blah--I caught one very entertaining fact: the group will be called the Junior First Lego League. How formal! How official! How....very much like a Secret Superhero Society, yes? (Okay, maybe this is attributable to my time as a child watching Justice League cartoons. You know how kids have imaginary friends? Yeah, Superman was mine. My mom stopped asking who I was talking to when she found out I was having conversations with the Man of Steel...okay, that's entirely enough embarrassing childhood confession....) But doesn't it sound like they should have, I don't know, masks and capes? Or at the very least, special...Lego...toolbelts, or something? I wonder what their missions would be like? Fighting for safe building practices? Exposing and correcting shoddy construction? Ooh, speaking of which, I hope they get to make their own Headquarters! A fancy, well-appointed hideout where they can gather to discuss...Lego...issues...and plan how to defeat the Forces of Evil ranged against them. What do you mean, "who could possibly be their sworn enemies"? Why, the Duplo Block Club, of course!
Whew! Clearly the television shows one watches as a young, impressionable child can have lasting effects long into adulthood. So I'll just keep this all to myself, and let Riley and his little architectural buddies do their thing...while I go catch a syndicated episode of Lois and Clark for old time's sake, and wait patiently to hear what the J.F.L.L. will actually be doing with their sessions from now until March. (Thinking back, I do recall something in the initial communication about "working in teams, brainstorming, collaborating, problem solving"...but that should leave plenty of time to set up that Command Center, right? Here's hoping...)
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