Study Up on Your Super Heroes & Monster Trucks

Once, on the way home from musical theater class (and I use the word “class” very tentatively), my four-year-old granddaughter asked from the back seat, “Who’s you’re favorite superhero, Mom-Mom?” I tried Spider-Man, my grown son’s favorite. She wasn’t buying that – too mundane. How about Owlette (from PJ Masks for all of you uninitiated grandparents)? No, that was her favorite. Even Big Hero 6 (yes, I watch a lot of movies with my grandkids) was rejected and he has “hero” right in his name. After unsuccessfully throwing out a few more names (Thor, Black Panther), I settled on Elastigirl from “The Incredibles.” A mother, a strong female figure, someone more or less current. Elastigirl she bought. Phew!

It’s even harder to remember the name of every monster truck in my grandson’s collection. Grave Digger, El Toro Loco, Blue Thunder, Monster Mutt. He has dozens of monster trucks and he can name them all. He can name the ones he doesn’t have…yet. He can even name the ones that come packaged in pairs (two for the price of, well, of two). I have actually been to a monster truck rally. I wore ear plugs. I got sprayed with mud. Half the time I kept my eyes closed. That little boy would have been mortified by my less than passionate behavior.

I scour all blogs and posts and articles and even some of the books about keeping my mind sharp as I march into old age. There are so many tricks, so many puzzles. But, right here and now I can save you a pocketful of money and hours of reading. Try keeping track of every superhero, every monster truck, every Disney princess. Your grandkids can. They know all the names and how each fits into his or her ever-expanding, marketing universe. Since I haven’t visited with my grandchildren in months, it’s even more important that I can keep up my end of our FaceTime and Zoom conversations. Take some time to learn about their smaller world while we all wait to once again enjoy the wonders of watching them explore the larger one.