What makes an “ordinary” parent “super?” When it comes right down to it, not a whole lot. Each and every one of us, in many small ways every day, demonstrates a superhero skill—whether it’s having the distinct honor of being the soul human who possesses the ability to calm his hysterical child, or the (consistent, uncelebrated) ability to pack the kids’ lunches and get them out the door, in tact, every day. There’s a reason why “Mommy” and “Daddy” are special titles bestowed on us by select individuals—we’re the ones our children seek for comfort; the ones they (hopefully) ask for advice; and—oh yeah!—we’re the ones responsible for feeding and clothing them… KAPOW!
Inspired earlier this year by a touching image of a father and son wearing superhero capes in a hardware store that made the social-media rounds (take a peek at njfamily.com/superhero), we decided to dedicate our June issue to “Superhero Dads” (and Moms) for Father’s Day. We asked our readers to share stories of magical moments shared between parents and their kids, and collected some of them for you in the following pages.
In the end, we found, Superparenting is all about the “little” things regular people do to make ordinary moments extraordinarily special… To borrow from another viral hit, “The difference between ordinary and extraordinary is just that little bit ‘extra.’”
Enjoy! And keep sharing your stories with us. —Judy Grover
—
My daughter loved the Easter Bunny and got so excited when she saw him at the mall, wherever… She had a bunny costume that she loved wearing. I borrowed an adult-sized bunny costume and dressed up one day for her. She asked if we could be Momma and Baby Bunny for Easter. So we dressed up and walked around our neighborhood on Easter morning. —Maryann, Wanaque
My husband’s super-power skills come out the most when my daughter is sick. He can sit for hours, just holding her and helping her sleep. When she is sick, she always looks the most comfortable lying on his chest in his arms. —Julie, Lawrenceville
Daddy and his 4½-yr.-old twin boys decided to surprise Mommy and built her a vegetable garden so she wouldn’t have to go veggie shopping and could spend time with her men… They even made special garden signs that specifically said what vegetables they wanted Mommy to plant… It was the best gift ever!! —Gloria, Clark
Our Superhero Dad is a super volunteer, offering to be both the boys’ soccer coach and a Boy Scout leader, serving not only our own children, but over 30 boys in our town. —Kristy, Clifton
Last night, my hubby was playing his classical guitar… Our 4-year-old son went over, took both of Daddy’s hands off of the guitar, & proceeded to “play” it. Our son is on the autistic spectrum and never has my hubby not allowed our son to play any of his instruments. In fact, he tries to light our son’s interest by urging him on. —Anonymous
My husband was multitasking at work on a conference call and trying to access a website to get tickets to the MLB All-Star game hosted at Citifield and the homerun derby. Finally, he was able to get the tickets. Our son was beyond happy when he heard the great news. —Barbara, Marlboro
This weekend at a birthday party, I glanced over to the swing set to admire my shy 3-year-old gliding carelessly with her arms in the air and an oversized playmate squeezed behind her…her father. He has proven to be her hero numerous times, whether it’s being her security blanket in a sea of children or her cheerleader as she long-jumps onto couch cushions he has lined up. That night, he admitted that the glider digging into his back was so painful that he was sore and possibly bruised. When I asked why he stayed so long, he replied, “Her giggles were so joyous I couldn’t bring myself to stop.” And in this moment both his cape and my love for him were revealed! —Jennifer, Scotch Plains
Despite offers for higher-paying jobs, my husband started his own business so he could spend more time with our daughter. From time to time we reconsider our family economics, but, for now, the choice to work at home has paid greater dividends than the city job could have. —Cynthia, Verona
There are a lot of superheroes in my life. Superman, Spiderman, Batman, and Wolverine all make daily appearances—on sheets, underwear, plates, backpacks, socks… My two young boys (3 and 6) are fascinated with them. Familiar with favorite characters’ backgrounds, they talk about them like old friends. My husband has immersed himself in their hobby, often debating various powers. When my older son entered kindergarten, his new school sent home a name tag for him to wear on the first day. My husband secretly drew superheroes all over it. The finished product was a big hit, and gave my son a constant reminder of his dad on a very scary day. The name tag is one of my favorite mementos, because it reminds me of who my kids’ real superhero is —their Amazing Dad. —Megan, Hawthorne
I thankfully had many superheroes growing up, one being my awesome Polish grandmother. She had a very warm, calm, and jovial personality. I have so many happy memories of playing at her house with my cousins. Often, the kitchen was still a mess after dinner, but she would take a break to play records from her turntable, dancing with my cousins and me, her three granddaughters, while belting out Connie Francis tunes. Today, I have that record player in my dining room, and I cherish it. It doesn’t play records anymore, but what it does is even better. It reminds me that it is never a bad time to stop everything and have a dance party with my own kids. —Sarah, Westfield
When I was 16, my first boyfriend broke up with me. I was crushed, crying my eyes out. That night, my dad knocked on my bedroom door and suggested we do one of our favorite things: impulse grocery shopping! When we got home, we pigged out together while gabbing like teenage girls. That night he basically turned into my best girlfriend and talked the night away to help me get through what seemed at the time to be the end of the world. —Anonymous
Last night while tucking my 5-year-old son into bed, he said to both me & his dad that he didn’t want us to leave him because he was scared of monsters. I asked him if he had ever seen any monsters in our house. He said no, and I asked him if he knew why. I told him it’s because “monsters are scared of Mommy and Daddy—because we love and protect you.” He asked me how I get rid of the monsters when they show up, so I made a gnarly face and then roared, “Leave this house and my kids alone, I’m Supermom, and I will defeat you!” He giggled a bit and then told us we could kiss him goodnight, that he wasn’t scared anymore. —Deborah, River Vale
A Superman cape caught my eye the other night while out at dinner. Being an actress and mommy myself, I thought how great it was that a little boy’s parents approved of his fashion choice. It immediately made my day when I heard the Dad say, “And Superman will have the chicken nuggets with milk.” —Jenn, Rockaway
For each of our four children, my husband would whirl them around high in the air with his 6-foot, 3-inch frame. He’d pretend to drop them with funny-sounding falling noises, sometimes all at once, sometimes in increments. He would hold them by their ankles and swing them around. All of these were always accompanied with that precious, uncontrollable child laughter. He would refer to his fun, physical antics for the children as “a poor man’s amusement park!” —Anonymous
