When I was a wee lad, three decades ago, I often found myself glued to the television, watching in amazement my idol. He was tall, very European looking. He had stamina to run 90 minutes non-stop and when the game was on the line, he still could find the open man. His name: Vladislav Bogecivic. Bogie, as we people in the know called him, played for the New York Cosmos of the long defunct North American Soccer League. He was a great passer, and as I watched him slide an impossible ball between two defenders to a streaking Giorgio Canalia, I wanted to be him.
Last Friday, I played soccer, trying to recapture a moment of what Bogie was to me. As I was making a pin point pass that careened off of a woman's chest into the goal, I wondered who Xoe, my two year old, would idolize. Will it be an obscure sports legend like Bogie? Or maybe a singer like Keith Caputo?
Currently, I know Xoe worships Adam Sandler, or, as she calls him, “Nicky.” You see, we have a Little Nicky DVD which X just loves. You see, Hell is very colorful place, full of deep reds and endless blacks. Lots of contrast. A toddler's dream. I know Xoe loves Adam Sandler cause I bought her a copy of Happy Gilmour and she's watched it a dozen times already.
So what about Barney? Rollie Polie Ollie? Sponge Bob? Sorry, they don't compare to her idol worship of Nicky. He is the shovel faced slow speech prince of darkness that warms her soul. So the question will be asked, “Should she be idolizing Adam Sandler, let alone the spawn of Satan?”
I don't have a problem with it. You have to understand, Xoe does not put moralistic judgments on things. It's either good or gucky (bad). She's at a good point in her life where she can appreciate the colorfulness of Hell without worrying about the peripheral stuff. I do wonder what in the future will attract such worship. Since I have control over it now, should I try and move her towards more traditional children's fare?
My question would be, "What is the difference?" It's not a matter that she must like whatever Disney decides is kid friendly (Elvis singing space aliens?), but she should have the ability to like what she likes. I can influence her but she has to be able to make decisions for herself. She'll latch onto something bad someday, we all do (I bought Motley Crue's "Shout at the Devil"), but what I hope is that I am instilling in her is the ability make up her own mind. So what if in her formative years she adores the Prince of Darkness (Nicky, not Ozzy).
Someday, she'll see beyond the color and coziness of Hell. But for now, she's the only toddler I know who loves a character with a speech impediment, much like her father is the only thirty-something person to have a picture of Vladislav Bogecivic on his desk.
