Seth, I am your Father’s Day

As a father of four, I didn’t harbor any hopes of sleeping in this past Sunday. I expected maybe some breakfast in bed, but I knew I was in for some kind of surprise.

I awoke to the best kind of gift: a heartfelt & handmade card from my daughters (all 3 of them) and a lightsaber from my son.

You read that right; a lightsaber

For some perspective let’s rewind back to Christmas when my son, Owen, was given an ultimate fx lightsaber. At his request (and interest) we made sure to get the green lightsaber used by Luke in Return of the Jedi, though there are 3 or 4 other models.

It just so happens that Owen presented me with one of these other lightsabers – Darth Vader – just after his elder sister gave me the card. The little guy could hardly contain his excitement when he handed it over and begged me to get out of bed and “fight” the moment I got the box.

I’ll let that sink in for a minute: my son wanted to play-fight with lightsabers where he was Luke and I was Darth Vader. That’s either a complete and total nerdsplosion or an invitation to all kinds of therapy down the road.

Darth Vader Ultimate FX Lightsaber
The gift that keeps on giving … Oedipal complexes.

My thoughts at the time were three-fold:

1. AWESOME!
2. Thank goodness he hasn’t seen all of the newer trilogy.
3. Should I pretend to chop off his hand?

In the end I went with a modified version of the third item and just intoned “Join me and together we can rule the galaxy as Father and Son!” in my best James Earl Jones.

That particular move earned me a groan from Jenn, but I still got some quality playtime in with the boy, as you can see here:

[Footnote: the Darth Vader Ultimate FX Lightsaber really is an elegant (toy) weapon, even in one’s underwear]

After the melee was over, we all went to eat brunch and, upon our return, Owen claimed Vader’s lightsaber as his own, saying I could “borrow it whenever I wanted to”. That’s a win in my book, even if the symbolism doesn’t catch up to him until later.

I went to sleep Sunday night knowing at least I was a better Dad than Anakin Skywalker. đŸ˜‰

Happy Father’s Day to me!

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