- Find obscure ways to curse without raising potty-mouthed kids.
- Indulge in interests not widely shared by the general population such as ukuleles, grammar, toilets, or hula hoops.
- Apply the Bechdel test to the movies your kids watch.
- Watch sex videos (of animal mating). Avoid the “don’t ask, don’t tell” attitude about teen sex. And make sex education an ongoing dialogue with your kids.
- Ensure the name you bestow on your new baby isn’t remotely popular or ever likely to be.
- Recognize that you’re a Renaissance soul.
- Muse about the way you reflect your identity through the screen names you choose, the glasses you wear, and the fashion trends you avoid.
- Geek out for guys like xkcd creator Randall Munroe and Lego sculptor Nathan Sawaya.
- Apply the scientific method at the grocery store.
- Recognize that female involvement boosts the collective IQ of a group.
- Determine your primate mothering style.
- Enthuse about your daughter’s geeklet cred. Embrace signs of your partner’s geek interests.
- Encourage your kids to take considered risks.
- Advance your kids’ scientific comprehension. Identify “alien” species in your neighborhood as well as learn about the science of Star Trek.
- Get your kids to predict the future.
- Make personalized baby blocks, plastic bag crafts, and unique cross stitch.
- Teach critical thinking over a holiday meal.
- Subversively advance geographical knowledge using a wall map.
- Write music from an alternative point-of-view.
- Assert your authority over technology with unplugged Fridays and In Real Life lessons. Or avoid broadcast TV entirely.
- Keep your kids apprised of online safety.
- Experiment with pennies, leaves, and candy.
- Hack some standard recipes. Make beet dip, okra chips, cranberry orange mustard, apple pizza, pesto deviled eggs, or chard popsicles.
- Encourage your child’s natural storytelling abilities.
- Identify your favorite DC heroines as well as media-inspired girl-power characters.
- Update the old “it’ll ruin your eyesight” excuse to get your kids outside.
- Know stinkbugs in order to fight stinkbugs and know bedbugs in order to fight bedbugs.
- Encourage your offspring to enjoy the pleasures of science-y teamwork with First Lego League, Odyssey of the Mind, and Destination Imagination.
- Teach kids knitting and clapping games to advance brainpower.
- Get comfortable with who you are and speak up to let others know it gets better.
- Find music videos re-mixed for fresh history and science lessons. Or just enjoy what you’ll learn by scrolling through YouTube with your kids.
- Make smart vacation plans and get smarter while you’re there.
- Play games like Warhammer Fantasy.
- Enjoy music, whether comedic or space-inspired.
- Improve education at home and school.
- Make critical distinctions about copyright usage.
- Embrace such strange foods that your kids are inspired to cook just so they can eat “normal” meals.
- Make informed choices about cloth diapers, baby sign language, organic produce, and junk food.
- Give your opinion about why Bella is a poor role model for girls and still encourage your daughter to enjoy Twilight for her own reasons.
- Be savvy about definitions of intelligence.
- Promote your kids’ reading skills using picture books and sci fi.
- Give geek romance advice.
- Explain topology by braiding challah, explore geometry using paper plates, and make bagel cutting into a math challenge.
- Read banned books.
- Make cake more fascinating. Try Magrathea cake, Keroppi cupcakes, Lego cake, and cake in a mug.
- Tour a brain.
- Recognize generational differences such as phone use, travel concerns, and even crafting.
- Give out-of-the-ordinary presents such as experience, local donations, buy-one-give-one gifts, and non-profit gifts.
- Accept Lego bricks as household necessities.
- Realize there’s no limiting the many ways you express your Geek Mom-ness.
I bow to your GeekMomness! My husband and I are raising a Geeklet of our own and I’m thrilled to see this ‘Guide’ on how to help your teeny geek reach their potential as a well-read and diverse-interests person. You rock! Happy New Year and may it be shiny!