Adventures in Geek Parenting

by Michael Harris

Introducing Adventures in Geek Parenting: Mike Harris’ new column about being a geek and raising children–simultaneously!

“I am your Father.” In geek parenting, it’s a quote used probably everyday all over the world whether it’s to remind children “who the boss” is in the household, which always gets a smile from my son, or just to reference that all too familiar Father/Son relationship established in The Empire Strikes Back. The meaning and significance are unmistakable. It’s the line that never gets old in my opinion. The ultimate dad joke.

Aside from being able to get away with corny dad jokes, being a dad is the most rewarding experience I’ve ever had. It’s taught me so much about life, love and even things about myself I never knew. Lately, life’s pressure and a heavy schedule has had me stepping back from a lot of my interests. What once was just routine (TV shows, video games, movies, books, the Internet!) was becoming near impossible to keep up with. I’ve always self-described myself as a “geek” and was dang proud of it! Now, with two kids and a mortgage, could I still be a geek and a parent?

Is that even a thing!?

geek parenting

I remember being a kid myself, and have great memories of all the nerdy things I used to do. We used to walk up to the library and check out ALL the Dungeons and Dragons books–not to actually play by the rules mind you, just to pick out the monsters and act them out in the backyard. I was really into comics back then, the local comic shop was another great hangout. Science fiction has been my genre of choice since as far back as I can remember. I can recite my “first time I saw Star Wars” story like it was yesterday. That’s because it might as well have been. I live the Star Wars. Through high school and beyond, I never lost interest in this stuff. Sure there have been times where it may have waned a bit, but it’s always been there. When life gets a little heavy, it’s been my way to escape and relax. I have a passion for it, and it took on a whole new meaning in 2004 when my son was born.

monster geek parenting

He was doomed from the very start, born into his father’s world of spaceships and laser swords. For me it was a way to recapture my youth also, seeing how much he enjoyed the same things, it’s hard to tell who had more fun. It’s a lot of fun, but I feel there is some inherent responsibility mixed in. Though I want him to see the magic in the things that inspired me as a kid, I’ve never wanted to force anything on him. He has to grow into his own interests as well, and being a parent means being supportive, and allowing your kids to find themselves.

My daughter was born last year, and it’s been such an amazing and different experience. I have no idea what she will like, she already has an amazing and wonderful personality, and I’m going to try my best to support her passions as they develop, in fact that is what I feel is at the heart of geek parenting. It’s about passion.

I think traditionally, “geek” referred to the realm of socially damaging interests such as reading and being creative, but I don’t think that’s what it is at all. To me, the term geek is just a measure of the level of passion for something, and not so much the topic of interest itself. Someone who loves something so much, that every little detail is of interest. That can be anything from sports to cooking, not just space movies. So then being a geek parent is really just being a supportive parent. Maybe focus less on getting them into Dune (shameless Dunecast plug!) and more on just reading in general. Get them to go outside and play football or fight orcs, in my opinion the result is surprisingly similar.

I’m going to tackle some aspects of geek parenting and my life as a geek parent in future articles; topics like budgeting time and money, how to introduce kids into your interests, toy collecting, etc…so stick around!

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