The MorphOsuit

Redmond (6) gave me his Christmas list a solid month before the big day. There were only a few items on the list, one of them a "morphosuit".

"Where would Santa find a morphosuit?" I asked.

"I don't know, but he will. Or he'll make one. Santa can do anything."

I assumed the suit was something created in Redmond's imagination. A magical cloaking device that would allow him to become invisible, fly, float, battle bad guys, or just look cool.

As Christmas approached, I reminded all three boys that they should refine their lists—add or eliminate items—and to remember that just because they want something didn't mean they would get it. They understood. Except, Redmond refined his list to two items and one of those items was still a morphosuit.

"What's a morphosuit?" I finally asked him.

"I don't know."

"Where did you see one?"

"In the Thanksgiving Day Parade . . . on TV."

I found out that Redmond saw people in the parade wearing solid color spandex-y suits. Blue and green specifically. He was intrigued, asked his older brother, Parke, what they were and Parke told him morphosuits. And so was born the desire to have one of his very own.

I chatted with Parke about the suit. Turns out he wasn't making up stories—something I had suspected. The suits were legit. Only, the spandex get-up is called a Morphsuit, not a morph-O-suit.

Santa came through for Redmond on Christmas morning. Our boy quickly overcame a feeling of slight disappointed that the suit was black, not purple, and then he was overjoyed. Especially when he discovered the purple wig, orange sweatbands, and silver glasses.

Morpho-Boy!Mary can't stop staring.We spent the rest of Christmas day adjusting to the sight of a little kid running around the house covered from head to toe in black.