Musings of a Father

(originally posted on June 16, 2011)

Nowadays, being a father means facing a lot of stiff competition. The concept of fatherhood has been murky blurred by the onslaught of fictional heroes that young kids prefer to idolize and be their hero.

My son Zek likes Ironman who can vanquish his opponents in a zap with his state-of-art weaponries.

He likes the mythical powers of Thor and that powerful hammer of his.

He feels safe thinking that Spiderman has his back.

Darth Vader also kinda appeals to Zek since he knows that it is “good” Anakin behind the mask.

Even a non-biological entity like Optimus Prime easily catches his fancy.

Well, OK, we do have Voltes-5 and Super Rangers back in our youth that also occupied our imagination but the kids today are much more exposed to the highly visual, high-definition world of superheroes and animation that can make fathers like us uncomfortably competing for any form of adulation and emulation from our children. The times has changed in leaps in bounds.

Or so I wrongfully presume.

For how can I deny the fact that these fictional heroes are in reality no match to us fathers in terms of respect and love by our children. Below is a simple yet infallible proof of that.

My son likes superheroes no doubt, BUT HE LOVES ME.

What I lack in super powers, I can more than make up with my loving times spent with him.

So to all fathers out there, let me borrow a few song-lines from a good friend Jani Lane of Warrant (yes, it is that 90’s heavy metal band and one proof that this kind of music genre is not only about noise)

I don’t need to be a superman

As long as you will always be my biggest fan

Heaven isn’t so far away

Closer to it everyday.

Happy Father’s Day to all loving fathers out there!