Help, I raised a geek!

When I was young I was always embarrassed of my mother. I swore back then that I would be a cool mom when I grew up. And now here I am, a mother of 9 kids. I like to think that I am cool. My CD collection includes artists like Rob Zombie, Matchbox 20 and the Barenaked Ladies. I watch VH1and MTV with my kids. I play catch with some and will even try out a ride on a snowboard every once in a while. I could relate to almost all of my kids. Some like baseball, some like to sew, some like car racing, and some like to draw.

But then there was Eddy, a kid who walks to the beat of his own drummer. He has been the model of a perfect son. He has never raised his voice to me, always calls when he will be coming home late, does chores around the house, is on the High Honor Roll at school, and is a member of the National Honor Society.

Eddy is my oldest child, and it seemed like I could never really relate to him. I had pictures of sports stars and rock bands on my walls. Eddy has pictures of video game and anime characters that hang in his room. I played sports when I was a kid. Eddy plays video games. I loved to be outside. Eddy doesn t want to leave his room because he can t take his computer with him. I listened to popular music. Eddy listens to video game music. I wore a biker s leather, and he wears black dress socks and sandals!

I m not quite sure how it happened, but I, the cool mom, raised a geek! He got his first video game system when he was 3 years old, and became hooked! When he wasn t actually playing video games he would create ones with his toys, even making electronic noises with is mouth. It was almost as if he was an addict and video games were his drug of choice.

I couldn t take it anymore, and I thought that I was being a good mother when I told him he should take time out of his day to sit down and write a journal. He began writing stories about video game characters! I felt like beating my head up against a wall! How was I going to have a relationship with my son when the only thing that seemed to matter to him were video games?

He will be graduating high school this year. Everything really sunk in at the beginning of his senior year. I felt like I missed the opportunity to share the best years of his life with him. But then something funny happened. I rekindled my career as a freelance writer, and Eddy has chosen journalism as his major in college. He has taught me how to use my computer, and edits some of my work. I can finally sit down and have a real conversation with him. And it is only now that I realize  I haven’t missed out on the best years of his life. They are only beginning.