Captain Owen's Winter Retreat

Super heroes work hard.  They must be ready to spring into action at any given moment.....and that is exhausting!  For example:  when Captain Owen notices a tube of toothpaste, he feels compelled to squeeze as much as super-humanly possible on to his toothbrush and subsequently the wall, mirror, sink, counter and cabinet!  That takes skill and depletes the superhero's reserves of energy rather quickly.

And if Captain Owen smells bread he feels particularly compelled to warn other bread-hating humans of the imminent danger of toast fumes when the lever is pushed down on the toaster.  Every morning one can hear our superhero exclaim, "I SMELL BREAD!  I JUST CAN'T TAKE IT!  MAKE IT GO AWAY!" 

Every.

Morning.

Such vain repetitions are taxing on the super hero's soul.

And being charming....Oh, being charming is so much work!  During a particularly loving moment, Captain Owen said to me with a twinkle in his eye, "Mama, I love you.  You're my prettiest princess!" 
  
Be still my beating heart!!!  I returned the loving lines with, "Thank you, Owen.  I love you, too!"
  
Without missing a beat and an uncharacteristic firmness to his voice, he replied, "Call me KNIGHT!"

The cracks were beginning to show in his carefully manicured superhero facade.  He was being overworked.


So what is a super hero to do?  He can't just hang up his cape and refuse to be super.  He can't just ignore the greater good and brush his teeth cleanly or eat his Honey Nut Cheerios in silence or bark orders at his prettiest princess. 

The decision was made for Owen to get away to recoup and reinvigorate.  Captain Owen is on a winter's retreat in Utah with Auntie and Uncle Neil.  He packed his cape in his suitcase and traded it for a regular four year old's backpack and boarded a plane with Grandma bound for solace and spoiling.

Oh, the fun he is having!  Super deep baths with jets and insane amounts of bubbles.  Chuck-E-Cheese's, pizza, unlimited games of Uno, Wii, hours of play-doh sculpting with Uncle Dane, pigs-in-a-blanket, hanging with Grandpa Spencer and Korinne and Kristen, not having to share toys....and the list goes on and on!

And how do I know that our superhero has been recharged and is ready to come home to tackle his superhero duties once again? Because...

Last night he visited Auntie's in-laws and was required to have impeccable manners and behavior.  Upon greeting the father-in-law, Captain Owen shook his hand.  When Auntie asked, "What do you do when you shake someone's hand?"  Owen grasped the large hand firmly and......added in a little superhero wink.  A wink!

The charming is back!  


And I can't wait for him to come home.