Alter Ego Boy

From the other room I can hear the radio turn on. A young Michael Jackson blasts ABC. "Having a party, Cyclops?" I call out. "Yeah! Wit Wolvahweene and Jean Gway" He yells back. The X-Men never had it so good. To be part of Jasper's imagination, his stories, is to be part of a World of make believe so amazing that even characters like the X-Men have never known adventures such as these. The Superheroes he creates or becomes don't spend all their time fighting battles or conquering Evil. They also have yoga classes, dance parties and they hug - a lot.

I knew nothing about imagination till I had my son.

The funny thing is that in actuality he is quite shy and introverted. Or at least, he was, once upon a time. As a baby he never smiled at strangers, and in fact he barely smiled at us unless in the privacy of our own home. Grandmothers made excuses for him saying "he must be tired" when after much effort and coaxing he sat there, like a stone, just staring at them. No smile. He was very quickly nicknamed "Mr. Serious". As a toddler he spent time in the corner away from the excitement and bustle of the other kids when we were at community centers or birthday parties. It wasn't really until he discovered Superheroes, namely Spiderman, that he suddenly started to become quite the animated child. He had always been amusing and comical with his telling eyes and fantastic facial expressions. But I would have to say that it all started with a theme song. Specifically it was the theme song to Spiderman that his father introduced to him at a very young age and sang to him word for word. Jasper, a very musical child, (even from birth where music could calm the newborn beast in a snap) became obsessed with the theme song and it’s catchy tune and fun lyrics. It was all it took. After that we could always tell who was emerging from his room, as the theme music would come forth, echoing in the hall, as he came down the steps to greet us.

All at once we were all thrust into Jasper's magnificent World of make-believe. When he was "Shark Boy" one of his sister's invariably became "Lava Girl", even if they hadn't agreed to it. When he was Batman, the theme music boomed through the house out of his tiny body and his father was now his trusty sidekick "Robin" and I was always "Poison Ivy". As we walked by the park the other day he called out to me "you look bootiful today!" I blushed. "Thanks!" I said. "Yur welcome Mary Jane", oh...hello Spiderman.

Imagination plays a big part, but there has been a definite switch from boy who wears whatever you dress him in to boy who chooses his clothing very carefully. So every day these days Jasper insist on wearing a Superhero shirt. And if none are available then he searches out his crocodile shirt and becomes "Crocodile Boy", or his chimpanzee shirt to become a chimpanzee for the day. Of course everyone knows that the power of imagination means that clothes don't limit who you are or what you can do. However a good shirt sure can help make you feel more like the character you have in mind. At the park this summer (while wearing his Hulk shirt) he spent 20 minutes taking huge leaps over small ditches made in the sand pit while growling. He was the Hulk. Other children tried to speak with him and get him to join their game. They asked his name, he responded loudly "HULK!” They asked his real name, again "HULK!” He couldn't be bothered to stop for long, Hulk had some smashing and jumping to do. He was off. The children looked on amused, but not quite understanding.

Confusion and giggles surrounding Jasper's games and characters are not a new occurrence since the birth of his extroverted self. Luckily he doesn't seem to mind and so on we go playing and having a grand old time. Of course there is one character that does confuse even the adults in a group. Particularly because he will introduce himself to a group of people as a character named "Curtis". He has actually convinced people his name is Curtis, I’m serious – like they think that I named him Curtis. In all fairness though this doesn't happen all that often because Curtis is more of a private character who appears sporadically. Not everyone gets to meet Curtis.

It’s too bad about that because Curtis is the best. Curtis is hand’s down my fave. And that’s saying a lot because when he takes on a character, any character, he is fabulous every time. Ah but good old Curtis, the alter ego that stands out because of how totally un-Super he is. An imaginary friend that Jasper wears as a skin.

Curtis and Jasper know each other, but like Polka Dot Door's character "Polkaroo" are never in the same room at the same time (not to go unnoticed that the show was about imagination). He walks with a sort of strut and his body leans to the left when he's standing still as if "cool guys" don't stand up straight. He makes broad movements with his hands when he speaks and has a low quick laugh that happens often in conversation, as if he doesn't quite believe what he is hearing but doesn't know what else to do or say. Curtis is kind of an awkward guy. But where Jasper refuses to help clean up his toys or might be sensitive to his sister's teasing, Curtis shrugs off any hurt feelings and is always very helpful. Curtis isn't easily hurt. An important guy, he gives Jasper the freedom to flip out when he's feeling out of sorts and the strength to be extroverted in public even when he's feeling timid. He helps Jasper get through moments of being bored or feeling picked on. Without Curtis, Jasper's placement in our family as a middle child might have worse repercussions for his sense of worth or personal courage.

The definition of "Alter Ego" is second self. Directly translated from it's Latin derivative Alter Ego means "The other I". Curtis faithfully follows this definition to a tee. In every way except name he is Jasper. No super powers or capes. Curtis is just a hip little guy with a low manly voice who is gentle and friendly to everybody and lets anybody join his game. He is always at the ready to give somebody a hand, a hug, or tell them he loves them. He never loses his cool and is the ultimate optimist. A regular hero in a way.

Probably my favorite part of Curtis is that he is not so very different from Jasper, or that Jasper is not so very different from him. Jasper and Curtis's personalities overlap so much that really Curtis is Jasper incarnate and so too is the opposite true. A pretend self that isn't so pretend after all. And thank goodness for that because it's really Jasper I'm into hanging with anyways.