I Was Embarrassed By My Child
By Lisa Rabasca Roepe
Courtesy of Lisa Roepe
My 13-year-old daughter is a nerd. While most of her friends no longer play with Legos or Pokémon cards, she loves them as much as she did when she was in elementary school. On Friday nights while her classmates are going to the local teen dance, she prefers to stay in and watch YouTube videos about Minecraft. Instead of wearing dresses, she favors cargo pants, hoodies and T-shirts with her favorite characters — Darth Varder, Bart Simpson and the White Spy from Mad Magazine.
RELATED: For a Dying Woman, My Mother Sure Knew the Importance of Living
I used to be embarrassed by her behavior until we started watching TBS’s King of the Nerds and CBS’s The Big Bang Theory, and I realized it’s cool to be a nerd.
While The Big Bang Theory’s nerdiest characters are really just exaggerations of nerdiness, King of the Nerds features real people, with real feelings and real careers. Many of them are NASA or aerospace engineers, roboticists, chemists, neuroscientists and mathematicians, proving that being nerdy has its rewards—some of them monetary. Add to this the rising popularity of STEM education (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) in the United States and suddenly, if you’re a nerd, you’re one of the cool kids.
RELATED: Mom Posts Worries About Her “Unattractive” Daughter and the Internet Rallies
Although I am running out shelf space in my house for my daughter’s elaborate Lego displays — recreations of the Simpsons House, Harry Potter’s Diagon Alley and Hogwarts, and a guitar she created from spare Legos, which was displayed at New York City’s Art of the Brick exhibit — and I wish that she would spend her allowance on clothing instead of another pack of Pokémon cards, I really can’t complain.
I am realizing I am thankful my daughter is a nerd. Here are six reasons why.
1. Positive Peer Pressure
At a time when most teens are facing peer pressure about dating, drinking, smoking or even trying drugs, the only peer pressure my daughter cares about is getting good grades, building the most elaborate tower in Minecraft and having the best Pokémon cards for her Saturday morning tournament at the local comic book store.
2. No Drama Queens (or Kings)
My daughter is not a drama queen and has no patience for drama queens. She doesn’t come home from school upset because Susie doesn’t want to be her best friend anymore. Friendships aren’t a complicated, high-risk venture where you are either best friends or not, you’re popular or you’re not, you’re invited to the Friday night sleepover or you’re not. She has found her nerd compatriots who also love Japanese anime and video games, and she is happy.
RELATED: Mom Finds Her 8-Year-Old’s Photos on Porn Sites
3. Social Media Isn’t a Threat
My daughter has no interest in posting multiple selfies on Facebook and seeing how many likes she can get, or posting to Instagram. She would rather spend her time playing Minecraft of Clash of the Clans. I don’t have to worry about Snapchat sexting or cyberbullying because she has no social media presence and doesn’t want one.
4. Minimal Eye Rolling
Yeah, it still happens and I still hear the occasional, exasperated, “Oh, Mom!” but it doesn’t happen all the time, and my daughter still wants to spend time with me and her dad, often playing a board game because she knows she can usually beat us, especially at Monopoly. I think she has figured out the algorithm behind these games because she is always the first one to land on Park Place and Broadway.
5. Interest in the World
My daughter is not caught up the microcosm of her own little clique. She is generally interested in what is going on in her family, the community and the world at large.
6. Stress-Free Nights Out
The biggest benefit is we trust each other. I know if she goes out with friends she will make the right choices and, if she is uncomfortable, she is smart enough to call and ask for a ride home. I also know that when my husband and I go out to dinner on a Friday night, we are not going to come home to a house full of teenagers.
More from GoodHouskeeping.com:
This Terrifying Experiment Shows How Easy It Is to Lure Kids Away
What I Want My Son to Know About My Suicide Attempt
9 Reasons We’ll Never Apologize for Our Mom Bodies
