Holy Toledo, Batman

I take full responsibility for the fact that my son knows all about lightsabers, Darth Vader and Yoda.

Batman, however, came from a different source, despite the fact that the Dark Knight was also a distinct part of my childhood.

I was about 4 years old when I watched the old Adam West series on TV, while my father, who worked night shifts, took his badly needed naps. He had it timed well. After Batman was over, I was supposed to wake Daddy up so he could go to work. I have such vivid memories of this routine: my father on our old tan sofa and me sitting between him and the coffee table while the Joker, Robin and several rounds of "Pow" and "Bam" flashed before my eyes.

These days, however, my son experiences Batman comes through the Internet.

At the moment, one of his favorite websites is this wonderful animated series of the Lego Batman vehicles.

(I'm already a big fan of the animation company, which did this wonderful Star Wars - Lego movie).

Batman came in handy when my son was home sick with a cold and I, trying to rearrange my schedule to watch him one morning, needed a quick shower.

No problem on the distraction, especially since my 4-year-old is already handy with a mouse and knows how to navigate a web browser. In truth, he only needs me to send him to the web page, since the URL is embedded deep in my bookmarks.

I shudder to think what would happen if I set up a toolbar buttons saying, "Batman." Then he would have nothing to stop him from stealing away to the computer and watching the defeat of those Gotham City criminals.

The cutest part is the fact that no matter how many times my son has watched these videos, he is still amazed everytime when good defeats evil. He cheers the ending everytime, having that affirmation that all is good in the world, and all that is bad goes to jail. (Or at least the Arkham Asylum.)