Lucatown

When Luca received his preschool equivalent of a report card this year, the YMCA teachers called out Luca’s vivid imagination. I wasn’t sure if that was a positive or a negative, but I was pleased. I worry from time to time his video game addiction will do lasting damage to his brain. Like it has mine. What were we talking about again?

When Luca goes into his imagination. He doesn’t simply dip a toe in. Luca jacks into his imagination like Neo from “The Matrix.” He clenches his eyes tight and balls his hands into fists and shakes with effort. He also makes a series of clicks and beeps and explosions.

To watch him do into Lucaland can be a little disconcerting. He sometimes looks like he’s having a medical emergency. In one such episode, Diana’s dad said, “Is he choking or something?”

Diana will sometimes ask, “Luca! Where are you right now? Who are you fighting? What’s happening in there?”

Luca will sheepishly mutter, “I’m being Iron Man.” Or, “Robots. I’m fighting robots.”

And sometimes I’ll whisper in his ear, “Come back to Earth, Luca. Join us here on Earth.”

We do it in good humor, but also I think in some ways we are a little worried he’ll get lost in there with the robots and the Iron Men. Or that he is exhibiting symptoms of something scarier.

A quick search of the internet revealed that he is either completely normal or possessed by the devil.

But I’ll take a kid who has a vivid imagination and is mildly possessed by the devil over some dumb dullard.

In other Luca news, Diana recently asked him what kind of job he wanted to be when he grows up. He said, “A reglear dad.” He says “regular” that way.

She said, “If you are a reglear dad as your job, how will you make money?”

He said matter of factly, “I’ll just live here with you and Dad.”

Elijah informed him, “Oh, they’ll both be dead by then.”