I Got 99 Problems And Being A Nerd Is One

Jordan just got a Justice League comic in a cereal box and got really excited about it. This made me feel that the nerd culture was making a step forward, that the next generation was getting into it. To see just how far he has come, I asked him to name all the members.

I pointed to Superman and he knew him. Same with Batman and The Green Lantern. I then pointed to Aquaman and of course Jordan didn’t know who he was. Seriously, Aquaman is famous for sucking. Why would Jordan know or care about that dude.

Next, I pointed The Flash and again Jordan didn’t recognize him. I was starting to feel a little bit like a failure now. Just because Hollywood has not made a movie about The Flash doesn’t mean that a nine year old shouldn’t know who he is.

Finally, I pointed to Wonder Woman and asked if he knew who she was. He got a big smile, started to walk away said “Super Woman” and then did a Jay Z “brushing the dirt off my shoulder” move like he nailed it.


While I loved the bravado (I’m sure I don’t know where he learned the move) it made me start to question myself as a nerd parent. He should know who Wonder Woman is after all.

So I decided to make this a teaching moment and told him who it was and got the response that shook me to the core, “whatever.” As I a stood there in stunned silence, Wendy was looking at me with concern, like I was about to cry.

This just showed me while Jordan has come a long way, there is still much I have to show him.