We’re big Harry Potter fans in our house – the books, not the
lousy movies. I have read them, my wife has read them and our oldest has reread
them so many time I found myself involved in a ridiculous argument. It went
something like: “You are rereading Harry Potter AGAIN?” “So? I want to read Harry Potter.” “This is ridiculous. You have to
read something else. No more Potter!” “You
can’t stop me from reading Harry Potter!” “I... You’re right. Forget it.”
And I slunk the hell out of there – another parenting fiasco.
We love to read our kids the books. I read the first one to our
middle son before my wife took the project over (even though my character
voices are much superior). I was reminded how awesome the headmaster,
Dumbledore, is. Harry, as an orphan, is looking for replacement parents throughout
the books to help him grow into the man (wizard) he needs to be. Though his
mother is central to his story (she sacrificed herself to allow him to live),
Harry is searching primarily for a Father figure. By far the most important of
these is Dumbledore.
Initially, I was amazed by Dumbledore’s willingness to
permit Harry to go on these risky adventures
without interfering. This is contrary to
current hyper-involved bubble-wrapped parenting. Dumbledore knows Harry must undergo risks to BECOME the hero. He has to try and fail. Dumbledore
doesn’t do Harry’s homework for him, he doesn’t micromanage or call from the
sidelines about how to do things (something I am prone to).
Also, when Harry asks Dumbledore to tell him the truth, he
gives a great answer:
“I shall answer your questions unless I have a very good
reason not to... I shall not, of course, lie.”
He gives Harry what Harry can reasonably handle but doesn’t
try and “protect” Harry from the world.
Lastly, Dumbledore regularly demonstrates the quality which
makes all kids love him: a childlike curiosity and humour about life. At the
end of the book, he tries one of Bertie Bott’s Every Flavour Beans - even
though he had a bad experience in his youth with a vomit-flavoured one. So, like
Dumbledore, I try to give my kids
permission to fail. Learning to deal with failure and to keep trying those
beans (even though the next one might taste like earwax) is a very important
lesson.
A version of this article appears in the August/September issues of Village Living Magazine: West Village and Village Living Magazine: Mt. Pleasant.
A version of this article appears in the August/September issues of Village Living Magazine: West Village and Village Living Magazine: Mt. Pleasant.
