When it rains, it pours! Awesome guest posts, that is; I mean, who wouldn't want to be rained on by that? Manga Mom mailed over this magnificent massive missive for your marvelling. Most marvelous and magical, methinks!
Konnichiwa! *wave*
I'm a geek. Should be pretty obvious from Awkward Mom's introduction. :) Right now I'm big into Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World. That's right. The Napoleonic Wars and billowing sails and weevil-infested biscuits! All that great stuff. And, you know, I'm pretty laid back about what Chibi-kun (my four year old) watches. But when I invited one of my mom friends over to watch Master and Commander with me, I made sure we'd be starting the movie after he went to bed because it has some fairly bloody scenes in it. Naval battles and all that. Anyway, it was going pretty well. Neighbor mom actually seemed to be enjoying it, despite initial reservations, and we'd managed to get to one of my favorite bits, when I heard Chibi-kun start moaning upstairs. I sighed, figuring he wanted to go potty. He still has accidents sometimes, and for some reason is reluctant to leave his room at night unless he's escorted. So I headed upstairs to check on him, leaving the film running as the captain weighs the benefits of catching the French man of war against saving his surgeon's life. When I talk to Chibi-kun, he seems really upset but I manage to get him to go potty and try to escort him back to bed. Meanwhile, I can hear the surgeon downstairs saying he'll never be able to repay his best friend and scurrying off to explore the Galapagos Islands. After a couple of gentle attempts, I give up on getting Chibi-kun to go back to sleep and offer to let him sit on my lap until the movie's over. Big mistake, right? But what could I do? The movie was actually almost over. It had about ten minutes left and I felt bad asking Neighbor Mom to leave just because my kid couldn't get back to sleep. So I held an unusually clingy Chibi-kun on my lap for the final, climactic showdown. Cannons and pistols and swords, oh my! He was transfixed, but thankfully also a bit confused. He thought the blood on the uniforms was fire (associated with candles on birthday cakes, not danger, my friends) and that the dead midshipman the camera lingered on was "sleeping." I did nothing to dissuade him on those fronts. Shameful, I know, but I'm a bit squeamish myself when it comes to violence and I didn't want him to have nightmares. Neighbor Mom sensibly took off the minute the movie finished, and I led Chibi-kun back to bed. He slept for a few fitful hours and then woke up again at 3:00 a.m. with a fever and a cough. Surprise, surprise, right? But, on the plus side, he didn't have any nightmares and now squeals "Master and Commander!" every time he sees a boat, especially one with sails. ;) I even read him a few passages from O'Brian's book when I borrowed it from the library and he loved the ships on its cover. So, are geeky parents doomed to raise geeky kids? No, but we definitely enjoy it when it happens. And, yes, I'm really, really lucky he wasn't freaked out. Normally, we watch Finding Nemo and Shawn the Sheep. (And sometimes Sherlock and Star Trek, but who doesn't?) May all your geeky endeavors, whatever they may be, bring you joy.
Marvelous, Magna Mom! You are right, whether the geeky is passed on or not, it is best not to fight it when it pops up. Readers, Magna Mom is incredibly smart and has a variety of interests; a true Renaissance mom. She blogs at sanityplease.net. It is totally political, but don't let that scare you away! After all, it is an election year; we should all be discussing big and important topics. Some of us do this more awkwardly than others. Manga Mom does not, she is massively magnanimous and mindful. She is also mildly misfit-ish; hence her friendship with me. Thanks for the guest post, Magna Mom! I have an unexplainable urge to go watch Russell Crowe now....OK, well, I suppose that it is pretty explainable.
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