Fatherhood

As my daughter gets older (not far from being three), I notice that her imagination is developing. It is influenced by her parents, the tv shows we allow her to watch and the books we read to her.
Last night she donned a dish towel that we had drapped on the refrigerator. She asked me to put it on her like a cape. I knew what she wanted because she kept calling her self Superman. I told her she was a girl and she should be Supergirl. She was chasing me calling me Spiderman. I let her drop me to the floor and pretended to wrestle with her. She continued calling me Spiderman. The dish towel on her was soooo cute that my wife had to take a couple of pictures.
What precipatated that incident was halloween. I had dressed up as Spiderman and I presume that left an impression on her.
Her knowledge of superheroes is limited, but influenced by me since I have over fifteen hundred of them. She knows only of few of the main heroes by name. She does know that they are good people. I instill good attributes concerning them and let her imagination take over. I was quite surprised when she wanted to have a cape. I did not know she even noticed Superman had one. Perhaps her power of observation is better than I thought. I know her thoughts are developing. She now verbally participates in some of the shows she watches. Some of the shows she watches are interactive which allows her to partake. It forces her (in a good way) to look at the characters, understand and interpret their meaning and respond.
Moreover, some of the other shows we limit her watching has no participation and is inanne. I would rather watch her grow in contemplation, comprehension and the augmentation of her creativity. If that show does not match one, if not all, of my qualifications, then I suggest to her that she looks at one of her books or I would read a few to her. She always prefers the latter one. She likes when my wife and I read to her. We make it a nightly ritual to read to her. That helps her foster her curiousity and knowledge.
I hope everyone takes the time to help their child grow through reading, watching the proper shows and limiting their time watching tv.

George