This post is a culmination of a number of unrelated happenings over the past little while.
It all started with being invited over to a neighbor's house for dinner....
A few weeks ago, we went to dinner at a neighbor's with a couple of other families from the neighborhood - so we could meet and get to know some of the neighbors. It was great fun but it turned out, two of the guys were dealers. Dealers of *MY* kinda drug.... pop culture merchandise. After talking with them, I came home and started browsing their website, Seven Times Six. Yes, I'm a geek but no, I don't do math. So it never occurred to me to do THAT math - even though they specifically called out it was taken straight from Hitchhiker's Guide. Whatever. I'm not so bright all the time. In reading about their site, I came across their "Find Your 42" mantra. Holy crap. I LOVED that. I thought about it non-stop for days and just how brilliant it was.
At some point in this same time period, I ran across this post from A Mighty Girl about a girl being bullied for her interest in Star Wars. Until I read that, it never once EVER occurred to me that my daughter might some day be bullied, teased, mocked, harassed, ridiculed or anything for her interests. She's always been the little girl into super heroes and Star Wars and Doctor Who and Supernatural and Captain Hammer and Firefly and all things geeky and not exactly "girlie." So far, anyone who finds out about her interests has had nothing but amazing things to say about how awesome it is. "Anyone" has always been adults who *know* it's pretty damn cool. We've yet to encounter the kids' perspective. She plays with the girls, she plays with the boys, they both think she's cool as can be. But she's in a tight-knit group. And kids don't get too mean this young. So until I read that article, it never crossed my mind that as she grows up, kids can be mean. That fractured my very being and I didn't even want to deal with the idea of it.
Also during this time period, Elena became very adamant that she get to be a Stormtrooper for Comic Con this fall. (Which helped that article really hit home given the specific costume choice.) Of course, my response was "You betcha!" Cuz why wouldn't it be? I hadn't read that article yet or thought anything of it other than she'd make a damn cute little Stormtrooper.
So here is where these pieces come together. Yes, I am going to get her a Stormtrooper costume for Comic Con. And if she decides she really does want to be Hulk for Halloween, I'll let her do that too. She is who she is and I am proud of that.
In all of this, I have found a big part of *my* 42. Letting my kids be who they are. As different, as non-conventional, as sassy, as geeky or as girlie as they want to be, I'm behind them 100%.
I am going to get Elena that Stormtrooper costume and I am going to teach her to ROCK IT like nobody's business and be proud of who she is. And, if I have to teach the little one to simply tell others to "suck it!" so be it. Because she can rock that tomboy-geek and her mom's whole point is to be behind her as strong as I can be the whole way.
That's my 42.
