My 7-year old was fascinated by the chases and fights in “The Last Crusade” as we watched it on cable last week. I’d have turned it off, but I really wanted to watch it. S

hould I take him to the new movie? Generally, we only attend animated features at the theater.

However, I’m the same dad that introduced him to Star Wars three summers ago when he was 4, and he became a freakishly devoted fan (though we waited until after he was five to let him watch the final movie, and them we fast-forwarded in the gruesome final scene).

- Alan

When things start going poorly, we have every intention of maintaining the calm parenting skills that we 100-percent support in the imaginary world of mature thought and common sense. In the real world, however, the 7-year-old wins, and the little voice in our head that snarkily says, “Who’s the adult here?” just ticks us off.

So when the children are finally quiet and asleep, and the good sprits of the evening are ruined, we’re often feel like terrible patience-less parents, wondering aloud how a 7-year-old can outfox and outlast us again and again.

Then Tivo switches to Supernanny.

Thank God for Supernanny.

After 15 minutes, my kids look like angels again. But realistically, that’s bound to happen by morning anyway, with or without a TV show.

After 15 minutes, I feel like a decent parent again. We don’t have it so bad. And that’s something to be thankful for.

- Alan