I’m afraid to leave the house today. Not because of the blazing heat, or the fresh memory of yesterday’s disastrous outing to the beach, with the little man dragging me along on his hellish emotional rollercoaster ride. No, today we’re waiting on the UPS delivery person. The little man’s fifth birthday is just around the corner, so plans for his party need to kick into high gear. I let the boy decide on this year’s theme. For his third birthday it was Buzz Lightyear. For the fourth, dinosaurs. This year, lo and behold, he has chosen Batman. Which is odd, considering how little exposure he’s had to the caped crusader. Yet. The new Batman animated series premieres on the WB a week from tomorrow, and we’ll be watching. And I did watch an awful lot of Batman Beyond, when he was just an infant. But my Batman comics have been off limits as a) he can’t read yet and b) the content isn’t exactly rated G (and next year’s film won’t be either). Even so, the little man is the one who picked out Batman boxer shorts at the store. And the goods for this year’s shindig. Maybe Batman is just in our blood. And will hopefully be in our house shortly. After the package arrives I’ve got to get those party invites out asap.