Lord of the Nerds

Before I met my husband I liked to surround myself with people who were often the nerds of your school. The ones who were outcast as strange. The people who read books that I'd never heard of. Created art so incredibly wonderful that I often felt down on myself.
When I met Pete I think he was fearful of what I'd think of him if I knew the truth about how nerdy he truly was. Sure I knew he was a computer gamer. This is how I met him, through a mutual friend who worked at the same game company. But I never knew the obsession with Science Fiction and fantasy books. I never knew about the Buffy the Vampire Slayer collection he had at work. That side was all kept away from me.
Inevitably we moved in together and as time progressed you see and find things that are questionable. But I stuck with him. I love him. I love a nerd. (This shall be my true-confessions book title.)
As our two oldest kids have progressed in life, we see little quirky things pop up here and there. I am by far a quirky creature. I admit it,  it just so happens that I have pink hair in my drivers license, but nobody really sees that anymore.  But I am also a mainstream type who reads about current fashion, trends, music, etc. So my quirky side gets masked by being a stay at home mom driving a minivan.
My kids however embrace their quirkiness. Owen, my four year old is by far the most imaginative. He will take a rubber band and strap a chop stick to his wrist and call himself a battle droid. Evelyn, my eight year old, has quirk, but it comes differently. It comes on quietly. She will wear her ballet flats, and skinny jeans, and play with her American Girl doll, and then all of a sudden quote "Dr. Horrible's Sing-a-long Blog." Or better yet, she has probably half of the Harry Potter books memorized out of not reading them, but by listening to them non-stop for the past four years on CD and iPod.
Evelyn's current obsession is Lord of the Rings. Not because we have read the books to her. Oh no, Mommy is not quirky enough for that!! But because my husband turned the movie on for her last weekend while she was on the couch suffering with a stomach ache. She didn't see the whole thing at first. But she couldn't stop talking about it. Finally yesterday after school she says "I've finished my homework and I'm too tired to play outside and ride my bike, can I watch a movie today?" Sure. I'm a reasonable Mom! Plus this allows me time to make dinner. So what does the child turn on? Freaking Lord of the Rings.
Shoot me!! I am probably one of the rare people you will meet that has never seen any of these movies. I have also not seen Avatar, Titanic, or Blade Runner in its entirety. I loathe these types of long drawn out EPIC movies. So here I am stuck nursing the baby with an obnoxiously LOUD at one moment and quiet moment the next movie.
I ended up barricading myself and the baby in my bedroom and text messaged my husband about what a truly horrible father and husband he is. How dare he turn MY baby girl into a NERD! And what horrible husband leaves his wife home with three children and expects her to accept things like Lord of the Rings on her television. During the witching hour no less!

He walked in from work just as the credits started rolling and both kids were thrilled at the prospect that there are two more movies that they have yet to see. Evelyn immediately started asking when she can watch the next ones.

I now feel like an outcast. A nerd. A strange freak. In my own home.

But there is hope...
I have another.