Hello! It’s Been A While!

For the last few years, my little schtick here on The Mother Ship is to talk about geek parenting and what that looks like.

It’s included taking them to shows, conventions, playing video games, watching geeky movies, talking about life in general with still young, geek children in this insane world of fantasy, sci-fi, horror, mystery, adventure and magic.

We’ve talked about Gravity Falls and meeting Alex Hirsch, attending Star Wars Celebration, joining the Galactic Academy, attending ComicCon, going to Disneyland, what to be for Halloween, why YouTube sucks for kids under 15, we’ve talked about Autism in geek culture… oh wait, no… we really haven’t. Well, we should talk about that. Maybe next time. Anyway, that’s what we’ve done here so far and it’s been awesome, but now it’s time to get a little deeper, a little more personal and dive into the reality of day-to-day life of a geek mom.

Lately, we’ve been on the rollercoaster of life and I apologize for the months-long hiatus, but seriously… momming is hard. But, I’m back now. As I was trying to figure out how to return, I thought I’d come out of this break with a quick rundown of the six months, just to bring you up to speed and show you what’s going on in my world.

Back in April, I joined a reparatory theatre company that ran from May through the end of August. I appeared in the productions of The Putnam County Spelling Bee and The Mystery of Edwin Drood while ushering for The Three Cuckolds. The season was amazing, the talent was incredible and it was such a rewarding experience being back on stage after 18 years away.

The week the season closed, I auditioned for the Inland Master Chorale; a prestigious, classical community chorus. I miraculously got in which further committed my time to rehearsals once a week and 4+ concerts a year. A week after I started the Master Chorale, I went back to my voice teacher from 20 years ago and began taking an active role in my own development.

Some of you may not know this, but I am also a private vocal coach 2 days a week and after summer was over, I began teaching voice an extra day. So, I now teach three days a week, (extremely thankful for this no matter how busy I am) two of those, into the evenings as late as 8pm. I also joined a bible study that meets once a week for 3 1/2 hours in the middle of the afternoon so the kids could attend the homeschool daycare and get some time with friends who are also homeschooled since most of their friends attend public school and we rarely see them anymore.

In the midst of all that, we began the 2017/2018 school year for my now kindergartener and 1st grader. We started our homeschool year independently with a free-flowing, eclectic schooling style that works well for the needs of my children. Due to finances and lack of free time, I reluctantly joined a charter school offering me curriculum assistance, accountability, as well as tools and resources I would not have access to otherwise. So far, it’s been positive. My life is going to be even more complicated, as I’m about to enroll them in enrichment classes 2-3 days a week on top of our pre-existing commitments.

My daughter turned five and I gave her her first video game; “Monster High: New Ghoul In School”. She loves it, but because she can’t read, it makes it hard. I have to sit with her to play it and read her all the prompts, which is just too time consuming for me most days. She also received her first set of lightsabers this year, a green one for Easter and a purple one for her birthday.

Here’s why this matters:

It’s only been recently that she’s had any interest whatsoever in the Star Wars universe, having always seen it as a “boy” thing, even though I have always encouraged it. It’s interesting to see how gender roles take shape so early in life, even when the parent does little or nothing to encourage one thing above another. It truly gives insight to the whole “nature vs. nurture” thing when you know darn well you have never told your child that “Star Wars is for boys” or that “only boys play video games” but somehow, she still believes this to be true. Same with my son and his love of My Little Pony and other more “feminine” interests. Even though we have never encouraged preference, he has seen how culture divides them into gender groups. He LOVES My Little Pony, Equestria Girls, even princess movies, but he has a hard time admitting that in certain circles. Another example of this was his hair. We cut his hair this summer. Almost two feet of gorgeous curls gone in an instant because some jerk kid in a park told my son he looked like a girl, so he wouldn’t play with him. I was livid… my son came home asking to cut it. I tried to help him see how some bully’s close-mindedness means nothing and to never, ever change himself just to be accepted by someone who doesn’t love him for who he is. He only wanted friends, he said… *sigh* It was heartbreaking, but I honored his wishes and let him do it.

In addition to writing here, I maintain a mother’s support group and blog for natural parenting, breastfeeding awareness and mother/baby wellness. I rarely get on there to blog much anymore, but I’m still active in the private support page and it’s been steadily growing, allowing us to reach out and help more mothers in need, so that’s amazing.

We have had 4 field trips a month since August going to some incredible places like the OC Prehistoric fair, the pumpkin patch, an apple farm, and more. We’ve attended six birthday parties, took my nephews to Disneyland, attended a wedding, did the typical family Halloween, observed Dia De Los Muertos and went to an adult birthday/film release party for a dear friend last night.

This morning, we watched Monster High, then went out early to get my son a “big boy bed” since he is turning 7 in 3 days. We got home, I cleaned the house and straightened the kitchen a bit, made dinner and now everyone is watching Netflix while I type this drinking my 40th cup of coffee for the day wishing it was 9:30 instead of 7:30.

Stupid Autumn time change.

SO…..yeah. That’s been my life. There’s more, but who am I kidding? It’s not *really* that interesting or relevant to this page’s interests.

Now that we’re all caught up, I’ll be writing again more frequently but this time, I’m doing it a bit differently because, well, life is different.

I would love some suggestions, so hit me up in the comments if you want me to talk about anything specific.

I’m a geek girl, a stay at home-homeschooling mom, I am a business owner, a user of essential oils, my son has autism and adhd, is obsessed with guns, zombies and someday being “an army man” while my daughter is the brightest, sun-shiniest, girliest girly-girl I’ve ever met in my life but still tells me she “wants to punch bad guys in the face” and learn to “Hayyyah!” them with kung fu like OKAY KO and ninjas. We game, we watch, we play, we run, we dance, we sing, we live.

Maybe there’s stuff you’re curious about with some of those topics?

Maybe you need some help navigating the world being a “subculture” parent and want some support?

Maybe you just think my life is insane and want to know more about it because it’s amusing to watch busy people scurry around like little mice in a maze?

No matter what it is that peaks your interest, let me know! I’m open to whatever topic(s) you might be curious about and am happy to research something if you ask something I’m not sure about.

I am also going to be adding some of my own writing and (bad) art, vlogs, and just generally using this space for reaching out to you and connecting, sharing and offering opportunity for open conversation.

So yay! I’m back and that’s my plan! How are you? What’s been cooking? What are you working on? Any stories to tell? I’d love to hear them!