Fatherhood Lessons: Teaching Good vs. Evil

Today was my son’s three year ‘Well Baby’ appointment. ‘Well Baby’ seems not the best way to describe my son, since he’s already towering at over 3ft, 2” tall and 34lbs built like and the growing speed of a future football player, charming and personable, holds conversations with adults and offers his hand for a handshake like a true businessman or politician, offering eye contact and a smile beyond a baby, but of a young man, who I can continue to be so proud of.

As a comic book fan for a good amount of my life, of both DC Comics and Marvel Superheroes, Santa, along with my son’s Uncles, helped me to introduce Batman, Superman, Spider-Man, Iron Man, Aqua Man, The Flash, The Green Lantern, Thor, The Incredible Hulk, and Captain America, to my son this past Christmas and birthday two days after.

My son is fond of asking me as we read Golden Books on these Superheroes, is this a good guy or a bad guy, as characters are introduced in the stories. He also asks what the bad guys are doing when seen stealing money or jewels, or plotting a scheme against the Superheroes. I use the opportunity to point out what the villains are doing is wrong, and how it hurts people like us. He often will point out that Lex Luthor, the Penguin, and other villains need to sit in a time out, as he recognizes the connection of discipline and right and wrong in reality.

My son recognizes that Daddy and Mommy, as both local elected officials in Montgomery Village, attend meetings and hold leadership roles in the community, and is rather pleased with that. As an elected official, there are occasions where reality provides lessons learned in teaching similar themes, of not everyone is a nice person and there are times where my son will have to witness someone not being nice to me or my wife, because of our leadership roles. I try to use those opportunities to teach my son that much like many of the villains in the stories, they were once good people, but sometimes a lack of good parenting led to a loss of a good moral compass, or mental illness, loneliness, lack of structure or discipline, the need for attention, not getting what one wants in life, unreasonable expectations, or other circumstances changed those people into bad people or simply people that don’t come across as nice people. For those individuals, their reality brings a totally different perception of the world around them, and they can end up saying hateful things to try to bring hurt to those they perceive in leadership roles as their opponent. I try to always point out to my son, that there is good in everyone, despite the way some people treat others. One must always be the better person in always being nice to others, work towards a better community and helping others, because the difference you make is what makes our world a better place for everyone.