Chivalry is not dead!

As faithful reader readers may remember, Grant was not too fond of adding sister Grace to the mix. He often would pray for her, but then in the next breath say something akin to "I don't want her in my family." He was territorial about toys and parents, and he did not like anyone bringing up the subject of our burgeoning family.

But, all of that changed. I know this is going to sound crazy, but we have Disneyworld to thank for Grant's new found love for his sister. You see, up until our back-to-back Disneyworld/Disneyland adventures, Grant's television viewing included the PBS line-up: Curious George and Clifford the Big Red Dog, to name a few. But, after Disneyworld, we watched Peter Pan, a movie that forever changed the course of Grant's life. I have my issues with Disney movies (a bitter post for another time), and I happen to have real issues with Peter Pan as a heroic character, but that--too--is not the point.

The point is that early in the movie (for those of you who haven't seen it 74 times like I have), Wendy starts to fall from the sky (the "danger ahead" aspect is not found in the toddler PBS genre). And, that moment is when our little hero was born. He snatched her up in his hands, proclaimed to the world that he had saved her, and developed a keen fascination with saving the damsel in distress. We went to the library to find a Peter Pan book, and we read the story again and again and again. But, Grant gravitated to one page: the page with Wendy falling. He'd sit by the page (the book pages had to touch his leg) for hours (not exaggerating); he'd sleep with the book open to that page.

But, then our Disney viewing did not end. Each week we'd go to the library to find another movie, and over the course of the week, we'd watch another film, and if there was someone who needed to be saved, Grant was the man for the job. Now, if a woman is crying in a commercial or a small blond girl starts to cry at the park, Grant transitions into hero mode and trys to swoop in to save the day.

So, tell him that his sister does not have a family and is need of someone to help her, and guess who answered the call?

Grant now spends HOURS a day carrying around these "women" in his hands (let's not visit the potential imagery of trapping these women in some male-dominated hero complex). I like to think that my son is learning that he has a special opportunity to care for, to nurture, and to even protect the women in his life. Now, it's on to opening doors and buying flowers on non-holidays.

Here are just a few of the many pictures we have of Grant protecting Wendy (or Cinderella... or Snow White... or "Anastasia from that evil Rasputin."