Tuesday, October 30, 2007

Heroes: Family Life

Long before the TV show, we formed a cast of Heroes.

One Sunday afternoon the six kids had been sent downstairs to "play." There was the usual amount of arguing, rough-housing, and crying going on, while Dee and I commiserated with each other upstairs about the joys of parenthood. Maybe things would improve if we had a little team spirit.

Heroes 1980

I went downstairs and sat in the bean bag chair with a notebook and had the kids help. Using my old high school pep-song for inspiration, we wrote a family song including all our names and a few goals. Here are some of the lyrics:

You know the ----- Heroes are really neat!
They've got six great kids that can't be beat.
They've got the style, the smile, the happy way...
No matter where they go you'll always hear them say,
They'll say, "We love each other, we've got heart!
"And we miss each other when we're apart!"...
We're complete, it's hard to beat the ----- Gang!

A Hero (meaning a person who shows courage in difficult circumstances, sets a good example, serves, and has all the other noble qualities) was chosen as our mascot. I've always been a Superman fan, and he's who I try to emulate.

Our motto would be Heroes Have Heart, meaning we should show love and respect for each other. (This line in the song was complicated by the fact that one kid referred to his nipples as his "hearts." It was innocently sung as hearts for a few years, and later accompanied by furtive glances and giggles.)

The girls made up a cheer, Dee promised to have T-shirts made, and we had a new identity as a family. The song had to be adapted when #7 was born,

Min, 1982

and the dog's name was later incorporated, but we sang it regularly until they all went off to form their own teams.

Dee and I always refer to our kids as our Heroes, and they are, in every sense of the word. In-law kids are Heroes, Too, and grand kids are Heroes, Two (as in second generation.)

Our Halloween party Friday was a partial Gathering of Heroes. Sixteen of them live out of state, and we opted to have a grand kids party on Halloween night, so there were ten of us here for grown-up festivities. Everyone came dressed as one of their heroes. You already saw me and Dee. Here are the others:

Pete as Jim being Dwight (from The Office.)
The Kenyan Within (our marathon woman.)

Attorney (ooo, scary!) and Anesthesiologist (because he brings the epidural.)

Vincent Van Gogh.

Rosy the Riveter.

Jerry Seinfeld and Elaine.

Jim (Dwight) and Rosy, again.

So, who would you dress up as for a Gathering of Heroes party?



5 comments:

Jake said...

Love the costumes!!!!

kenju said...

What a great idea that was. I love the song. I made up a small song for my youngest child that incorporated the names of her older brother and sister. Sometimes we sing it again, even though she is 36 now....LOL

Christie said...

Those costumes are fantastic. Those UT kids are WAY more creative than the ones out here.

marta said...

hip hooray for the heroes. and thanks for including me and peaches!

Polly said...

I loved seeing all the costumes, I hear it was a really fun night. We go to a Halloween party every year at our friends, last year I dressed as a sick person (just wore my nightgown) This year I'm going as myself, because it has taken heroic efforts to get me back.