We are very grateful to @Tylenol for sponsoring the following post while allowing us to share our Halloween story.
“Mom, do I need to be fast to be a superhero?” asked my daughter of me. “You just need to be you in order to be a superhero,” I replied to her.
“But superheroes need to be strong in order to save the world,” she kept going. “Yaya, strength doesn’t always come from big muscles. Most of the time it comes from your heart,” I told her with a smile.
“Then this Halloween, I want to be a superhero,” she announced. With that in mind, we looked for her desired costume, and many nights before Halloween, she decided to give it a try.
As dramatic as things can get around here, above all, my daughter was worried about not being a good enough superhero and not having the proper superpowers to save the world. She wanted to have time to train in advance, so she could be ready for Halloween night. And so we did.
She decided our backyard was equipped to become the best possible hidden superhero training place. For hours, she practiced her “flying skills”, her speed and some superhero sound effects. I sat on the ground nearby and took several pictures of her without paying much attention to the camera. I was soaking up the moment of commitment and dedication coming from my little girl.
By the end of the training, she was disappointed in her inability to fly or run faster. According to her, the superhero costume had given her no superpowers at all. Again, the superhero qualification conversation arose.
“Yaya, everyone can be a superhero in so many different ways. You don’t literally need to fly to reach the sky. Many times joy and pride can take you there. Love can take you there. Doing something good for others is going to make you feel like flying!
You don’t need to be faster, but wiser. Sometimes by trying to do thing too fast, we miss the most precious moments. Going slower is okay. Everything has a pro and a con, and life is about celebrating our unique abilities.”
“How do you know that, mom?” she asked.
”You have taught me!” I said.
With that, a smile came back to her cute face. And because superheroes take showers after arduous days, she did. Right after, she was ready to take a look at the pictures I’d taken of her.
We looked at them together, but some of the pictures came up very blurry because again, I was focused on her, not on the camera. And then, something magical happened. “Mom, you see this?” she asked. “This is me flying!! You were not fast enough to catch my speed, but still, you are my superhero.”
I gave her a big kiss as we chose a couple of pictures to tell our superhero story. One more time, and even without fully understanding it, my Yaya taught me something unique and special. I keep telling her that everyone can be a superhero, but there are few times I cheer up myself enough to consider myself one. And like she is, I am one too. Because being a superhero is all about using our hearts to empower and strengthen others. That’s why she’s mine and I am honored when I get to be yours.
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