Thanks so much for your input, everyone! I'm glad I won't have to go back to being a closet otaku so as not to embarass my boys!
Mr. Smartypants, consider yourself adopted!
![Happy :)](./images/smilies/smile.gif)
Plenty of room here in front of the tv for another anime watcher. But, are you really really good at the Playstation?? I'd hate to have another kid around here who could cream me at my favorite sword-fighting games!
And Kaji, you are so right about most kids being embarassed about their parents at one point or another. If it's not about my anime watching, it'll be about the weird clothes I wear or something. (and NO, I do not wear weird clothes!! They're not weird to me anyway!
![Eyewink ;)](./images/smilies/wink.gif)
)
And you had good points, That Dude and manga fanatic, about not pandering to them... I do try to downplay my "strange mom tendencies" around their friends so they don't ever think I'm trying to "fit in" with their buddies or something. If the boys want their friends to know, they can tell their friends themselves. (When my oldest son had a friend over, he showed off a couple of my gundam models. When the boy asked where he got them, my son said "oh, it's not my collection, it's my mom's!" The look on the boy's face was priceless!
![Laughing :lol:](./images/smilies/lol.gif)
)
Eriana, I also like the jpop music, and I've gotten my boys to like it to. But I get the exact reaction from my husband that your mom gives you, so I know just how you feel!!
Natsumi Lam, I don't have any sailor moon jammies, but I do have a Gundam Wing and a Rouroni Kenshin shirt! Am I gonna have to ditch these? (noooooo! Not my precious mech shirt!! )
You bring up an interesting point, W4J... I will watch things on anime that I wouldn't watch in a live-action show, and I've wondered about my own motives on that one. I guess I'm on the flip side from your parents. I love those samurai shows with the bad guys getting sliced up into little pieces ... but I won't watch voilent movies or even shows like 24 or Law and Order SVU and things like that because they bother me too much. Hmmmm... I wonder myself if I should be so "casual" about the rough stuff I watch just because it's animated. (And no, I don't let my boys watch that stuff yet... I save my samurai shows for after they go to bed.
![Happy :)](./images/smilies/smile.gif)
)
Family vacations to anime cons, wisedragon and Rev. Doc, huh?... Fun!! (Well, it would be family vacation MINUS dad here ... he is a good sport and tolerates my anime, but he still rolls his eyes at me sometimes, so I doubt I could drag him to a con! ) It may still be a few years before I take my boysies to a con, only because of the amount of skin showing everywhere you look there!
![Suprise :wow!:](./images/smilies/suprise.gif)
Wowsers! I've only been to one con, and it was a blast, but I was amazed by the number of nearly nude cosplaying girlies that I saw walking around. Yikes. 'Course, since my boys are only 7 and 10, this might be a good time to take them, cuz they would say "eww gross!" at this age!
Thank you to everyone who took the time to give me their input. I really appreciate it!