Thursday, July 14, 2005

One mother’s dust is a child’s inspiration!

My housekeeping skills are not that bad. However, there is a window high above our front door that I can’t reach. It is dusty and has a cobweb or two. I know I should clean it but …well…you know! I can’t reach it!

My children created a makeshift clubhouse on a small landing with sheets stretched across chairs and the railing of the stairs. From this height, my daughter launched my son’s stuffed Spiderman, sending him to the window ledge in the entranceway. After Christian’s initial hysteria that Spiderman was far too high for any normal human to rescue him, both children noticed the cobwebs on that window for the first time.

“Mommy, look! Spiderman already shot a web!” Christian cried.

This was amusing enough for a while but when my son began to want his toy back again, I offered that he could watch out for our family up there and keep us safe.
That’s when my daughter mentioned that she had seen a “roly poly bug” up there earlier (she must have bionic eyesight), but that as it was no longer crawling along the edge, she was sure Spidey had caught the bug in one of his webs!

Maybe I’m naïve in thinking that the cobwebs two stories up won’t hurt anyone (ignoring the latest urban myths about just how many spiders humans digest while they’re sleeping). I did manage to rescue Spidey with a new telescoping duster (presumably for ceiling fans. Our ceiling fan WILL get dusted with it.) I feel a little sad though. Maybe thinking that our own tiny superhero was up on the ledge watching over our family was good for all of us.

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