The boys and I went to see “Transformers” today. Edward has been waiting for this movie for, oh, a year and a half, maybe two. I have to confess, I was happy to take them. Because Transformers are a big part of Edward’s life, Transformers have become a big part of my life. Edward was 5 and a half when he saw his first Transformers show. Since then, he has collected the action figures (Energon, later Cybertron, now the movie generation) and all manner of swag. I have learned the story of the battle between Autobots and Decepticons inside and out. I have sat and struggled to transform a complex hunk of car-, semi-, jet-shaped plastic into an equally complex hunk of robot-shaped plastic. So when Bumblebee appeared on screen and transformed from a beat-up, dented, junker Camaro into a gleaming, poweful steel machine of justice, I felt a thrill and I leaned over to nudge Eddie in the arm and we grinned at each other in the dark. For his part, Davey clapped like mad during the explosive battle scenes.

One really great thing about having kids is sharing in their passions and obsessions. Sure it gets tedious, hearing about every detail of every Transformer or Pokemon, but it’s what he loves, it’s his childhood.