Iron Man defeats his evil nemesis, Pinkeye!

This is what happens when I take my kids to work. Or in this case, kid. Connor woke up this morning with the dreaded crusty eyes—the highly contagious crusty eyes which prevent a child from attending school but renders them otherwise perfectly healthy—yes, pinkeye had made its yearly visit to our home.
After a visit to the doctor's office, we headed in to work so that I could do a photo shoot in the studio and record a quick video with our food writer. I thought I was prepared, we had brought lunch and a huge stack of movies, but the movies weren't quite as interesting as the people in the newsroom, who, bless their hearts, always act like my kids are the most entertaining, interesting, adorable kids they have ever met. Which of course, they are, but you know I don't like to brag.
It started out with a battery he found in a bucket of recyclables. Then Mark, a fellow photographer, cut holes in a cardboard box to make a mask. Then my friend Erica made him a "glowing heart thing" (the miniature arc reactor) with a piece of paper and a highlighter. Then she made him a chest piece, to which we taped the arc reactor and the battery (to power the suit, of course). I finished it off by making some "flight stabilizers" for his hands, and voila, Iron Man was born in the Kalamazoo Gazette newsroom. The only thing missing were the rocket boots. Connor keeps asking me, "When can I get rocket boots?" I told him he had to go to school to be an engineer, then he can make his own. We'll see if that sticks. One of the other designers, Richard, even made Connor an Iron Man poster, telling him, "Iron Man stopped by and told me to give this to you. He had a job to go do, but he wanted you to have this." Connor thought it was awesome. Richard even made a Batman poster for Riley, so he wouldn't feel left out when we picked him up from school. How cool are these people I work with?
Believe it or not, I actually got a little bit of work done. I am so grateful to work at a place which in general is so understanding, not to mention filled with people who are more than happy to give a little time to indulge a four-year old's superhero fantasy.