Dear Mom and Dad:
Remember all those times growing up that I'd insist on wearing that silly Superman costume that you made me for Halloween? I'd go tearing around the house, in full Super pose with my super speed and super strength. If only I had enough super sense not to crash my fist through the living room windows ... not just once, mind you, but many, many times (I insist to this day that the cape kept me safe, I never got a scratch). Well, rest assured, we are not alone. A doctor in England studied this, and warns parents that dressing kids like super heroes can be dangerous. (How are we to know that super powers aren't included with the cape, and we can't really fly off the arm of the sofa?) It's not exactly an exhaustive study; there were only five boys (it's always boys, isn't it?) who were hurt while dressed as Superman or Spiderman. I'm not making light of injuries to kids, flying through windows can lead to serious harm. I just happened to be lucky, and thankfully the five boys in the study are all OK. One of the boys was actually kept from further injury by his padded "imitation muscles" (must have been the Spiderman costume, Superman doesn't need any enhancements). Though, interestingly, the doctor says it's not just DC and Marvel dress-up dangers: "Parents whose children dress up as Bob the Builder should also understand that hammers and saws are highly likely to be used in play." But, at least Bob can't fly.
Your son,
Scott
P.S. I can't be the only one who did something super stupid while dressed as a Superhero when I was a kid .... anyone? ANYONE???
Blog of the Nation
Kids in Capes
When I was a kid my favorite Halloween costume was Boba Fett from Star Wars. For those people who didn't know his name, the costume said "Boba Fett" in a huge font across my chest. But Boba's powers were generallylimited to his ruthless cunning, plus the gadgets embedded in his forearm protectors. I did try to freeze my brother in Carbonite once, though, but that's another story.
When we were kids jumping off the roof of our two story house was the norm, we were practicing our "tuck and roll" until one day the dumber of us got a hold of a mini parachute and jumped out the second story window. Well the chute didn't open, he fell like a rock and sprained his ankle, forgot about the tuck and roll. Boys don't need capes to do stupid things.
... and yes we did wear superman capes too, but our injuries were not because we thought we had super powers but more from watching our cape flow and not paying attention to where we were going
When my nephew was about 1-2 years old, we were watching a Sesame Street episode where the kids flew up into the air and formed themselves into letters of the alphabet. Seeing this, my nephew stood on the sofa and raised himself up onto his toes attempting to fly. I caught him before he toppled off the couch and had an educational lesson about gravity.
Wally, you're right: kids don't need capes to do stupid things! When i was around 7 or 8 I knew I didn't have superpowers, but wanted to fly anyway. To do that, I pulled a chair up close to the blinds in the dining room, climbed onto the chair, and tied the rope for the blinds around my mid-section. When I jumped, my weight (and gravity) pulled me down, while the rope slid up; all the way around my neck! Thankfully, my mother was in the next room and heard my wailing. She came into the room to see her only son hanging by his neck from the wall! I escaped with rope burn around my neck and lots of strange stares from neighbors.
Girls don't need capes either. I jumped off our garage roof when I was about oh 10 I think. I hadn't practiced the "tuck and roll", so I hit my lower jaw on my knee when I landed. Slick.
My brother and I are 6 years apart. I am the elder of the two. When we were much younger there was a cartoon that came on television called Tranzor-Z. It was similar to Vultron in that it was a giant robot controlled by a person that piloted it from the inside. My brother was CRAZY for this carton. So one day he figures out a way to take his arms and insert them into one of our mother's large bed pillows (you know, the kind with the center-slit pillow case) and by doing so he could create the look and feel of having a jet-propelled winged hovercraft on his back. He would run about the house pretending to fly with his arms firmly fixed inside a pillow and restrained behind his back. He learned his lesson when he tripped and, having no arms to break his fall, he slammed his forehead into the space heater in the living room. One trip to the hospital and several stitches later he was done impersonating crime fighting superhero robots.
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