A secret job for a special guy
July 4, 2010
Recently I’ve mentioned my new guilty pleasure that has crept its way into many different aspects of my life, Phineas and Ferb. (It's now my new ringtone on my cell phone. A Disney XD cartoon, which seems to be on at least 5 times a day. It always finds a way to make me smile and it sticks with me throughout the day. Without it, I'd never remember that the end of a shoestring is called an aglet.
Outside of the two pre-teen main there are several other supporting cast members which seem to play a role in most every episode. The more I watch, the more I see the parallels between Nathan and the boys pet platypus, Perry. Yep, I just said my son’s a lot like a platypus. 
To the whole world (minus a handful) Perry is just an animal who just lies around. After all, platypuses…platypi…platyp?... you know what I mean, don’t do much. They’ll chatter their teeth (Nathan grinds his,) move from room-to-room (Nathan mainly rolls around,) eat, sleep and love on his family.
What no one knows or sees is the secret life both lead when others aren’t watching. Perry turns into Secret Agent P, sneaking off to his secret lair to get his assignment from Major Monogram, and intern Carl defining how it’s up to him to save the world from Dr. Heinz Doofensmirtz, and his plans to take over “the entire tri-state area!” Secret Agent P now stands up, travels around, outsmarting his frienemy, saving Danville and still making it home in time for dinner.
It’s amazing the things Nathan does when no one is looking (or when he thinks no one is looking.) I wrote a few weeks back about him singing the Mail song, when I wasn’t there to sing it for him, he’ll also move around, trying to teach himself to crawl. One of my favorites is watching him in Annette’s car. There’s a mirror on the back of the seat in front of him, and if there’s no noises from back there it’s normally because he’s watching himself in the mirror practicing moving his hands to his mouth so the next time he gets a fry, it’s going in on the first try.
When there’s a new person at one of his therapies, Nathan will freeze like he has no clue what you want him to do. He’ll stare at you blankly as if to say, “you must have me confused with someone else. I can’t do that.” In the past I’ve always called it playing possum, but I'll now say he’s playing platypus. Only when he’s convinced that the new person is not going away, (and when Mom or Dad tell him/her all of his tricks) will he show others what he can do.
Even around family, there’s many times that he will perform “a new trick” but it’ll be something that he’s done for us, or others several times before. When he knows he has an audience, can steal all of the attention and somewhat seem to save the world, will he put on his show.
I have a new perspective of pets and the lives they live when we’re away. Never underestimate the power of those we often take for granted. We may be taken in by their smile, the little small gestures they show us time-and-again, but there’s a lot more going on in those minds. The key is unlocking what’s inside and helping build what great possibilities are inside.
I have to admit, that I recently bought the soundtrack that Amazon has for Phineas and Ferb. I justify it to myself, as being for Nathan as we’re adding music and songs to his speech device. On the soundtrack it has the full version of the theme song, which I never knew existed. Listening through the whole thing, it gave me another reason to like the show. It’s a good morning mantra, to help put a positive spin on Monday morning.
“This could possibly be the best day ever.
And the forecast says that tomorrow will likely be a million-and-six times better.
So make every minute count, jump-up, jump-in and seize the day.
And let’s make sure that in every single possible way,
today’s going to be a great day!”
May today be the day you find the secret agent hiding inside you, fighting for all that is good and loved. I hope you find a renewed inner-strength that you never knew existed, and may no one ever underestimate the talents of those “special” people in our lives. It’s the special Secret agents which make the world a better place for all of us.
Site designed, written and maintained by Kevin Rearick, Graphic Designer and PMG Dad - 2010