If Only I Could...

One of the disadvantages of becoming an adult is that we stop thinking about some of the things that occupy our minds as children. Okay, so maybe it’s not always a disadvantage. I mean, I’m happy that I no longer have to worry about some of the things that come with being a kid, like being cool or popular. (That ship sailed long ago!) But there are many thoughts we have as kids that seemingly never occupy our minds after a certain age.

Foremost on this list are superpowers. Sure, every busy adult at one time or another has probably wished for a duplicate version of themselves. That’s not really wishing for a superpower though. That’s more of a complaint about the busyness and chaos of adulthood. The same with wishing there were more hours in a day. Most adults who wish for such a thing do so because twenty-four hours isn’t enough for them to complete their everyday responsibilities, not because they want special time-bending powers to do something awesome.

But kids think about superpowers all the time. Once when Boy’04 was little, probably three years old, we were playing and he told me that he wanted to fly. I picked him up and carried him around the room as we always did, and he started yelling.

“Not like that. I don’t want you to make me fly. I want to fly for real! When can I learn to fly?”

It seemed perfectly reasonable to him that he’d learn to fly just as he had learned to talk or walk. If Buzz Lightyear could do it, then why not him? Unfortunately, I had to explain to him that he’d never be able to fly on his own. 

Complete disappointment.

I think our desire for particular superpowers changes as we get older, too. When I was ten or eleven years old I remember watching wrestling and wishing that I had super strength that would allow me to get in the wrestling ring and defeat Ric Flair. It’s a safe bet that I would have sold my soul to the devil for such a power back then. But it would have been a reasonable trade since Flair always came so close to getting beat, and there’s no way he could have remained champion if I’d had super strength. And if I wasn’t ten years old.

I’m ashamed to say that four or five years later I remember having a discussion about superpowers with a few of my friends. I can’t remember the powers they wanted, but I had the ingenious idea that if only I could be invisible I’d walk into the girls’ locker room at school and have a look around! (What a delinquent.) Now that I mention it, I think I might have seen that in a movie, but I’m not sure. No doubt there are boys around the world right now who would accept such a power.

These days I’ve reverted back to a more wholesome superpower desire. I’d choose flying if I could. Just like three-year-old Boy’04. Of course, that’s stipulating that the power to heal disease or world hunger or protect my loved ones was off the table. We’re talking pure selfishness here.

But even if I think about superpowers, I can’t pretend I have them. If a seven-year-old boy is outside playing and pretending he’s flying around the yard, people will think it’s cute. If I pretended to do the same thing people would think I was having a breakdown.

Like everything else with growing up, I suppose our desire for superpowers changes. Girl’97 wishes she could read people’s minds. She’s right on the cusp between childhood and adulthood, and her superpower choice falls perfectly in between. It would never even occur to an elementary school kid to want to read someone’s mind. I’d probably reject that superpower if it were offered to me. But for a teenager it could be invaluable.

Thinking about these changes as we get older makes me wonder if the most universal desire is for the ability to control time. When we’re younger we want it to go faster, but as we get older we want it to slow down. And since we’re often happiest when we’re simply enjoying the moment and not thinking about the past or the future, perhaps it’s a good thing that none of these powers exist outside of our own minds.