Adventures in Parenting for Fans and Other Interested Parties

Your soon to be three year old protests the repair you've made to her favorite PJs because the new button doesn't say

Pokemon

Like the other two.

ANyone know where in the world I can find small metal buttons that say Pokemon on them?

smallages.blogspot.com

A blog that suggests suitable children's music that you'll like too. :)

My sports mad 8 year old has discovered, through SI Kids, the wonderful and engaging world of online fantasy sports - in particular the salary cap game(s).

He is mad to play more, and more complex ones than the Sports Illustrated Kids website offers. It turns out that many of these games in the wider internet world require a) that you be at least 13, and b) pay. We have used both these facts to stave off participation. This has led him into wider and wider link clicking in search of a game we would approve of. This we are not keen on, for obvious reasons.

If his dad or I had any interest in playing with him, it would solve the problem - but we don't. The entire subject makes my ears bleed with boredom and concentrating on it is nearly impossible for me, and while his dad is a serious baseball fan, he leans way more toward attending games or playing himself than playing the fantasy version on line.

But, and that's the rub, 8 yo's obsessed, and I'd like to support his enthusiasm. If only he was content with the pre-vetted (sort of anyway) SI kids version things would be fine, but he's a math geek on top of everything else so the far more complicated rules and math of the 'mature' versions also totally grab him. Another interest I would, for obvious reasons, be happy to encourage.

Anyone here have any experience with the world of fantasy sports and online fantasy sports gaming? Or could point me to web/support pages for it? I tried googling for parent + fantasy sports, and all the variations I could think of, but turned up nothing. I think that if I could find the right game, dad *might* be talked into playing/supervising one season's worth of obsession - but I'm going to have to find it myself. Thus, I'm turning to you for help!

Thanks,

Nell

norah is running a poll about fandom, children, and work - if you get a chance, go give her some more data points. . .

LOL

My daughter is very proactive in her roleplay - she's even started a few things that have become 'fanon' and she was laughing. "I started all of that, but only a few people know it. I don't feel the need to have to tell people that I was the first one to do it, but it's kind of cool to just know that's what happened. You know?"

I had to laugh. I know ADULTS who feel the need to point out what they 'started' - they don't have the wisdom of a 12 year old.

*sniff* I'm so proud.

Hi, I just posted the following disjointed thougthts in my journal and it occurred to me that they might be appropriate here. I apologize in advance if they're not. : )

I have been rethinking the role of the domestic realm lately. In my youth a number of influences caused me to devalue domesticity. Historically, beginning perhaps with the Greeks, domesticity was relegated to the "private," while the "public," civic realm was viewed as a higher sort of sphere. Women of course were kept within the private household to carry out domestic duties, and men, as full citizens, were allowed to interact publicly.

Hannah Arendt, a 20th century political theorist, broke this take on the human condition down a little further. She divided human action into three levels: labor of the body (the sustaining of life itself), work of the hands (the solid things we build), and action - the political interaction of human beings. This division is strictly hierarchical as each level raises us from animal to fully human. Each level also takes us from the domestic and private to the public. Historically, those levels also "rise" from female to male.( Read more... )

This community has had fairly infrequent postings, but those that I have seen have mostly been about setting boundaries between our fannish activities and our kids. We've discussed how to keep some of our fannish pursuits away from children's eyes, who to explain without explaining too much, etc. I think those are reasonable things to discuss and boundary setting is important.

Still, there's another side. It's just sooooooo lovely to share fandom with one's children. In the past few days I've re-watched 4 Star Wars movies with my kids, watched some songvids with them, and read my youngest a fanfic bedtime story.

More details on my journal at http://www.livejournal.com/users/mofic/11467.html

I'd love to hear how other community members do share fandom with children.

I just came across this community from a meta list. I was interested in how people reconcile the two parts of life. My interest in Harry Potter is hardly a secret to my family - but the depth and breadth of my, er, love is pretty well hidden. That is, I can answer trivia questions on the first five books with breathtaking ease -that's OK. But confessing my addiction to 50-part Harry/Draco NC-17 epics posted on Livejournal - can't do it.

At the moment I just keep everything separate. We have little separate areas on the computer, and I'm the main user. But I bookmark stories and recs. so that I don't lose them and from time to time I do worry that either my son or my husband is going to stumble over the links and be totally squicked. DH is fairly understanding but I doubt he'd get it. He doesn't get chick flicks either. How do other people deal with this? The fanfic love that dare not speak its name?