My son wandered into the living room during the last five or ten minutes of the
History Channel’s True Caribbean Pirates the other day. The kid loves pirates. We have most of the Playmobil collection, and he’s even fine owning and playing with a couple of the
scarier Pirates of The Caribbean action figures. Even the
Backyardigans pirate episode never ceases to catch his attention. So I let him stay to watch the end of the show, ready to steer him out at signs of any upsetting violence.
The end of the show was like a recap, showing once again the pirates featured in the show: Blackbeard, Captain Morgan, Black Bart, etc. This is what my son saw, and after only a minute or two, he turned around and asked me in consternation:
“Where are all the GOOD pirates?”
I realized I had encountered my first ‘No Such Thing…’ question, and it snuck up on me. I felt a twinge in my gut. Or in my soul, if the soul lives in your gut. As a parent I honestly had not yet decided if I wanted my encourage my children to believe in NSTs, and suddenly here was my first chance to possibly either spawn or slay one.
The twinge wasn’t a full blown crisis, but it was a warning. My back went out in college once. Muscle spasms, and I suffered through one finals day literally bent into an ‘L’ as I waited for the muscle relaxants to kick in. It hasn’t happened since, but every once in a while my back will give me that twinge that lets me know it can happen again. A bad one can still come.
And that’s what the Pirates NST question summoned: One day a big one’s coming, Daddy-O. Think on that.
But that day wasn’t the other day. Not yet.
“Here’s the good pirate!” I answered, digging the dread pirate Dad’s tickle claw into his belly. I was then happy to spend the next few minutes before his bedtime suffering the ‘Arr Matey’ leaping elbow drop from the arms of the couch.
That night we were a couple of good pirates. And though someday I’ll start to answer all of the NST questions, I hold out hope for my son that as he grows and begins his own search for treasure, he can do it while remaining a good guy.
I’m pretty certain that he can.
