Pokemon Conversations

My 8-year-old son is into Pokemon. He has the cards, watches the show, has stuffed animals, and through osmosis I have a general idea of what this world is all about. I must say I have never understood the appeal of Japanese animation, even as child when these cartoons would come on tv I was baffled by the large Bambi eyes, the sweat drops which appeared on the forehead, the way the facial expressions were over-exaggerated, and I would quickly change the channel. I am now paying for this as a mother, now Pokemon, Yu-Gi-Oh!, Dragon Ball-Z, and Digimon are almost always on multiple times a week. My son likes to draw the characters, read the guide books, and form battles in his head. It should be noted that my son is a talker and will talk and talk and talk even if you just walk away from him, he will continue to talk. So one day I am just minding my business in the kitchen when he comes in talking about Basic Pokemon like Gyarados, Bulbasaur, and Weedle, and I know this is important to him and a big part of his world so I look at him and listen, I nod my head while he is telling me about their energy types which in my head become Earth, Wind, and Fire. This leads me to start thinking about Earth, Wind, and Fire songs, and do I actually know any, are they good, maybe I should go and listen to one after this conversation is over. Oh crap, I am supposed to be listening to the conversation, I should ask a question so it seems like I am paying attention. So who do these guys evolve into? He needs to know I am interested in what he is interested in, plus I used a word from the lexicon- I am so awesome. Now he is talking about Venusaur and points and battles against Butterfree.I feel like this conversation has lasted long enough now because I don’t know if I can pretend to be this interested in Pokemon anymore. What if this means he thinks I want to play the game or watch the shows? Oh no, I don’t think I can keep this up. I am not that good of a liar. Hmm, how do I get out this without seeming like a totally horrible mother? What is he talking about now? He is talking about the top ten best basic Pokemon. *I should add that he likes lists and rankings so I should have known we would end up here. He is going to ask me what I think. I don’t know the names of ten basic Pokemon. Crap.He is looking at me now. 

Son: So mom who do you think the most powerful basic Pokemon is?

Me: So you want to know my favorite basic Pokemon? Um, well, uh, I really like (looking around the room and seeing a Pokemon stuffed animal on the ground ) Squirtle. 

Son:Yeah that is a good one. Why did you pick him?

Me: (Looking at the stuffed animal to get clues about what Squirtle does) He has a shell for protection like a turtle and he can squirt water. He has a good offense and defense.

Son:Yeah, I think you are right

If I were a character in Japanese anime right now I would have sweat drops and an exaggerated smile. I know I can’t fake this anymore. That was too close, so since I am ahead right now in the being interested in what my kid is interested in game,I better call it quits. 

Me:This has been a great conversation but I have some stuff I need to finish up here. (even though when you came in I was just flipping through a magazine) Why don’t you watch an episode of Pokemon or look through your book and come up with more battles?

Son: Sure and I can tell you about it later ok?

Me: Yeah that sounds great.

That was close. I wonder how much longer he is going to be interested in Pokemon? Can I keep faking it? Well, I am at least going to count today a parenting victory.