Yesterday my son asked me in all sincerity if we had a Jetpack. He's 3. I love that he thinks we might just have one stuffed away in a closet like an extra jacket. I am going to wallow this bit of affection for a moment. I suspect there will be a time in his life when his geeky old parents will seem a source of humiliation but for now I am cool enough to own a freakin' Jetpack!
His question of course spurred a conversation about jetpacks, who has them, and what they are for, that culminated in a very quiet yet ardent "Mommy can you get me a Jetpack?"
Oh, child How I wish I could.
We agreed that building our own pretend Jetpack would be acceptable for now.
Now I know that the reality of Jetpack technology is not was he believes it to be. He has been watching some Transformers as of late so he expects they are able to fly large robots long distances. I have always spoken with him as an intelligent being capable of understanding complex ideas. And he always understands the basic concept of what I say. For example I taught him about chloroplasts and chlorophyll when he asked why plants are green. This is the first time I really don't want to tell him how it is. If he sees that jetpacks only run slowly and a measly fifteen minutes the magic of possibility will be lost for him and truly I want him to believe in exceptional things. I think I am doing right by him here in providing balance between imagination and reality but I can also see it construed as inconsistent. Bahh it is so hard to know what is right! Dear Milo please know I intend always to do my best for you and I hope I've done right here.
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