Feel even more sorry for The Wife

You should understand that with me and my almost 8 year-old son Ben, that The Wife has to deal with two 8-12 year-old boys at home every day (at least on an emotional/intellectual level).  Ben has become interested in a lot of stuff that I like, too.  He started out with sports, especially football and baseball.  Then he added Star Wars/action movies, video games and junk food.   A month or two ago, he and I went out to see the X-Men: Wolverine movie, picked up two cheesesteaks on our way home, and sat down and watched baseball. It was all I could do to refrain from offering him a beer.   A lot of days, the only difference between us is that I'm taller.  I am incredibly happy about how this has worked out so far. 

Ben's newest passion is more of the same.  He has become interested in professional wrestling.  By "interested" I guess I mean obsessed.  During the end of the school year, he asked if he could watch wrestling.  After a month of badgering, I DVR'ed a show or two.  He was hooked.  Turns out that some of the other boys in his after school program watched WWE.  From there, he spent some of his allowance on wrestling figures.  Now, we tape all 5 hours of WWE programming each week, plus the shows immediately after, in case the matches run a couple of minutes late.  He now owns I think 8 figures, complete with a ring, a bunch of "metal" chairs, tables and ladders, etc. I was even looking on TicketMaster for tickets when the tour comes to Reading in August.  I never thought that I'd have a Mike the Miz, formerly of the Real World, wrestling figure in my house.  Jealous?

Ben doesn't do anything half way.  When he liked Thomas the Tank Engine, he knew every train and every location and story in that universe.  He knows how many homeruns that Ryan Howard has right now.  Same thing with wrestling.  He knows dozens of wrestlers, their stories, moves, etc.  He is constantly asking me about matches my favorite moves and wrestlers, etc.  He gets up early on weekends to watch taped programs (while The Wife and I get some extra sleep, which is nice) and gets ready quickly during the week to catch 10 or 15 minutes while Caroline putzes around. 

It probably goes without saying, but The Wife has zero interest in this stuff.  So when Ben talks about this stuff, it naturally falls back on me.  Luckily, I am up for the task.  Ben was doing impressions of wrestlers.  He says "who's this: Wooooooo." The Wife looks at me, again blaming me for contributing a Y chromosome to this particular conversation.  I of course know that it is Ric Flair.  When I get the answer right, I raise my stature even higher in my boy's eyes (I do not want to considerwhether this makes me less desirable in the eyes of the Wife).  I am sure that this makes him even more interested in wrestling, dragging The Wife further along in the vicious cycle of male adolescence present in our home. 

I am pretty OK with this.  I cannot say that I do not watch along with him when I am able.  Plus, there is a lot of nostalgia for me.  On WWE Raw, three main characters are Randy Orton (son of Cowboy Bob), Cody Rhodes (son of Dusty) and Ted DiBiase, Jr.  Funny how things come around.  This summer, they had Wrestlemania 25.  I remember Hulk Hogan and Mr. T against Mr. Wonderful Paul Orndorf and  Rowdy Roddy Piper in the first Wrestlemania.  When I was in law school, a bunch of my friends watched wrestling all the time, so I saw some of the Triple H, the Rock, Steve Austin group at that time.  So I am not too put out by Ben's newest hobby. 

Comments

[rusty]

maybe this will help him keep in the good graces of his RA in college, much like uncle rusty and bill did with Slim whitman, yes, the man that sold more albums than the beattles. side note, bill and I were just talking about that at the shandor.
if you ever need a break, you can send him up to uncle rusty. although I haven't seen the new stuff except for a couple minutes here and there, I can regal him of the golden age of pro wrestling. and btw, the figure four leg lock hurts.

[Yum]

I so need to get myself a Miz doll!

[Yum]

And at least the wife has Caroline. It's too soon to tell with Son2, but if he ends up being exactly like FS and his clone (Son1), I'm doomed.

[buzz]

Yes, there is a very VERY sharp division in our house. Unfortunately, Caroline is usually more difficult to deal with, and The Wife spends the huge majority of the time dealing with her.

[buzz]

BTW, you could keep trying for a girl....

[FS]

Based on other signs, it seems much more likely that Son2 is just like his mother.

BTW, you could keep trying for a girl....

A-HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!! No.

[buzz]

Cannot believe that I missed it, but I try to call them action figures, not dolls. The Wife has antagonized Ben about that for a month now. The Miz action figure has the faux hawk and stupid look on his face. It is hard to accept him kicking someone's ass as a wrestler when you are reminded of him getting pushed around by Tonia (name provided by random Real World bimbo name generator, not actual knowledge).

Also, Slim Whitman sold more albums than both Elvis and the Beatles. I do not know where he ranks with respect to Zamphir, master of the pan flute.