For the weeks heading up to SDCC 2018, we are revisiting some of our best articles in regards to con attendance and cosplay. Hope to see you in San Diego next month!
While this post isn’t expressly about fashion, it is about geekdom and raising up a new generation of geeks. Part of that is teaching the kids about loving what you love without apology. This confidence leads into body confidence and self-love, which will serve them well in the future. Not to mention, you and your son or daughter can share great experiences in geekdom for years to come.
I have a 12 year old daughter and she is thankfully into the exact same fandoms as I am. I introduced her at a young age. Every parent and every kid is different, so it up to you as to when and how to introduce your youngling into a fandom. For me, I started with the fandom that started my life as a geek, Star Wars.
When I noticed that she could sit through a movie at home- that was when I introduced her to the Star Wars universe. We started with Episode Four and took it from there. I was also lucky in that “The Clone Wars” was on television at the time. This was a great way to share a new part of the fandom with her.
If you decide that you want to share a fandom with your kid, I suggest you find something where you can get excited about the new stuff together. The Marvel universe has any number of ways to do this. Animated series, leading to the feature films, weekly dramas, and of course comic books! This is also a great way to get them excited about reading and will help with homework. Get homework out of the way, and then you can watch this week’s “Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.”
If you find that your kid is really into it, then you can explore going to Cons and maybe even cosplay, which I will discuss in a later post.
I’ve found that sharing this enthusiasm for geek culture has brought my daughter and I closer together. She has a confidence and spirit that is amazing for a nine year old. I feel like geek culture has given her that. Kids are lucky these days since geekdom is more mainstream. They don’t get the heat like we used to. They can proudly wear their fandoms quite literally on their sleeves and not get bullied about it. If they do get bullied, they will find back-up on the school yard from any number of kids that are into it as well.
We are also lucky in that we have several strong women characters to refer to when teaching our kids strength and confidence. Showing them that beauty comes from their strength and ability to take care of themselves, not fitting into a certain jeans size. Makes a Mom’s job easier.
Next time, I’ll discuss taking geekdom up a notch and taking your kid to a Con. There is planning that must be done, Moms. Until next time….
Love, Kim and Scout