Captain Underpants....and Titanium Boy!

Books, my escape pod as a child. I had planned on my children loving to read as much as I did, as much as my mother, and as much as my Granny, who as she fades into her 90's still reads at least a book every two days.

This has not happened.  My daughter hates to read. Well maybe hate is a strong word. She avoids reading. It is not something that has come easily for her so....true to her nature, she avoids it. My son, I thought would be the family redemption....then came all his medical problems.
Both of my children love to be read to, however so at least some of the worlds great literature is getting in their head via their mother. In second grade my son discovered Harry Potter. I was then chained to a chair and forced to read all seven books out loud to two very excited children. Food and some water were provided....so I can't complain too much.
It was summer before we made our way to the seventh book, and unfortunately very late at night when a certain character met his end. My son, being as emotional as his mother cried out in true anguish. This awoke my poor husband who rushed into the living room to see what the heck I was doing to his children!
We have all recovered from the incident and I have gone on to read many many more books to my kids.
When I think back to what started it all for my son, I would have to say it was not a literary classic....it was in fact a book many parents hate. There is horrible grammar and spelling and the main characters are wretched little boys. My son loved it instantly.
Apparently so did millions of others. Captain Underpants came into our life at such an important time, sometimes I think of him as our savior.
My son discovered this underwear clad hero when he was in Kindergarten. This was the year the grown ups in his life discovered a cyst in his brain.
While he was infatuated with the possibilities of hypnotizing adults to be hero's in underwear we were overwhelmed with medical mysteries.
One of the steps towards discovery was for my son to have an MRI of his brain. This would mean he would have to be put under anesthesia since they would not trust a five year old to lie still for an hour....(imagine that!)
When we were telling our son about this he said, "Well they wont be able to see anything in my brain, because I will be thinking of Captain Underpants and Professor Poopy Pants!"
Ah yes he thought he had us all fooled.

Sadly I will never forget when I asked the radiologist if everything was okay after the exam. He said, "It was relatively normal."
Those words would later haunt me....until I got the phone call from the pediatric endocrinologist who said my son would be sent to a neurosurgeon. Yikes. That can't be good.
    My son however took it all in stride. He was told by the surgeon what would be done, and in the end what my son came away with was the neat fact that he would have titanium plates in his head. How COOL!
We began to call him Titanium Boy. He loved it. If he had any fear for the upcoming surgery he did not show it. He was excited about setting off airport security and possibly having super powers....neither thing happened but he is okay with that.
I wrote him a comic book of his very own, where he was the star of course and his metal plated head would indeed give him supper strength.
I also wrote a letter to Dav Pilkey. The author that had meant so much to my son. We became very close to an employee at Scholastic. She has sent my son, and later my daughter so many books! She also made sure that Mr. Pilkey got my letter.
You know how busy authors, movie stars and other famous people are right? Well maybe we just assume this because you rarely hear from them....however Mr. Pilkey did not disappoint. He sent my son the most wonderful letter, complete with a picture of Captain Underpants himself with a word bubble mentioning Titanium Boy. It has become my most valuable possession.
Judy at Scholastic is a true angel, encouraging my children to escape into the magical world of reading when they both have needed it the most.
I will be forever grateful to her and to Mr. Pilkey.
As my children grow I hope that they will learn to love to read on their own. Until then you can find me chained to a chair with a pile of great books in my lap....