Epbot Exemplars: Mother's Day Edition

Thank you all for the overwhelming response to my last post about Lily. She's doing much better now, and is out of both the onesie and cone. (YAY!) I'll be sure to post updates in the future, as we figure out what helps/will help her long-term.

Now, on to today's post!

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I get to hear from a lot of cool moms through Epbot, so in honor of Mother's Day, let's take a look at a few from my perpetually overflowing inbox, shall we?

First up, how cool is it when a mother and daughter cosplay as mother and daughter?

THIS COOL.

That's reader Katherine H. with her 8-year-old daughter Elizabeth at a convention in Chicago. Katherine even made her own dress! And look how pretty the back is:

Dorothy F. tells me her daughters are grown and about ready to head off to college, but are the culmination of "a lifetime of geeky girlhood." Ha! Here are the three of them a few years back (in stunning steampunk garb, I might add) at the Handcar Regatta:

 STUNNING.

Here's Gina S. and her two cutie companions at the Doctor Who exhibit over in the UK:

D'awww, mommy/daughter Daleks!

Don't be fooled, though:

She will exterminate you with teh cute.

Felicia is another mom who loves making costumes for her kids, and fashioned this fabulous Diablo demon hunter cosplay for her daughter last year:

Complete with crossbow guns!

And here's Felicia with her, as a rather terrifying witch doctor:

I know a lot of moms just make the costumes for their kids - which is amazing, don't get me wrong - but I especially love the moms who get out there and dress up, too. Which is probably why I got such a kick out of this:

This is Lori L. (in a gorgeous steampunk Tardis gown) with her three daughters at Austin's Wizard World:

Yep, Mom is dressed up, not the kids! Haha! 

Oops, wait - Lori's daughter Rose [and how perfect is her name?!] is dressed as Katniss on the far right. Lori tells me her other two were more interested in shopping than cosplaying - and hey, BEEN THERE.

Lori writes, "I wanted to let you know that you totally inspired me to take my daughter, Rose, to the Austin Comic Con this November in costume. Since we started following Epbot, she has been wanting to attend a Con in cosplay so I told her I'd go with her, in my own costumes. Thank you for the inspiration to go out and do something crazy with my daughter.  It was totally worth it, and it made her day!"

Aww. You know, encouraging fellow geeks to get out to their first conventions is one of my favoritest things.

Which reminds me: I'd be remiss if I didn't show off my own mom again, who first got me hooked on Star Trek books and drove me to my first conventions back in middle school. She never wore so much as a Halloween costume when I was growing up, but Mom has taken to cosplay these past few years with a zeal even I'm hard-pressed to match:

Do I have dapper parents, or what?

Mom's already hard at work on her next costume: a steampunk Minnie Mouse. Hee!

Next up, reader Adrienne W. did something extra special for her robot-loving little girl: she gave her an entire robot-themed bedroom!

Say, does someone here look a little familiar?

Awww YEEEAAAAH. It's the Epbot 'bot!

(Gotta love that pair of paintings, too!)

Adrienne went all out; there's even robot bedding, and I'm quite smitten with the cover fabric:

Plus can't forget K-9 over in the corner, which Adrienne hand painted herself - along with all the other robots. Suh-weet!


This next one is kind of a long read, even with my editing it down a little, but I promise it's worth it:

Janis in Australia writes,

I wanted to tell you how much we love your blog, and the exemplars, and what it means for us...my Mother, my Mother-in-law and I.

I have always been relatively geeky thanks to Mum. She plays Assassin's creed a lot, does my Mum, at 60 yrs of age, and raised us on a steady diet of Asimov, Star Wars, Doc Who, Blake's Seven, Battlestar Galactica. etc etc.

Mum and I were really nerdy. We were so NOT girly...I can remember my Mother saying ''Jan, you gotta see this FANTASTIC movie!!'', when Alien came out. I don't think I was old enough to go, but she got me in. We loved it soooooo Much! Blood, Gore, Alien Rampage, chicks with guns, gorgeous ginger cat... we were in Heaven!

However, as time goes on, after my teenage Punk days, you start to blend in with the (note of derision) ''norms''. Self defense. Y'all know about that. You lose yourself.

As my Mother's and my respective healths started to deteriorate, we were less and less ourselves, and more and more soulless automatons.

However, we recently found that we have a blood disorder called Pyroluria, after many years of mis-diagnosis and mis-treatment.  We also have a type of high functioning Asperger's, very mild, that needs no treatment other than self-awareness, and self management. So feeling better, we started to find ourselves again. And understand why we weren't like others. And finally feel that it was ok, and not trying to fit in anymore, and not make any apologies for who and what we are. You get so sick of living your life as an act of camouflage.

This year I said, ''What the heck, I don't care what anyone thinks, we are going to comic-con!!!'' We always wanted to go, and just never did. My Mother-in-Law happened to be here in OZ on a visit, and we took her along, too. Well, we all had a blast, Mum and MILaw had a cuddle with what we all thought was an extremely good-looking Zombie (see photo), and now we have come home to ourselves with who we are and what we like. My MIL had her pic with William Shatner and she looks like she will explode with happiness in the pic. I addicted her to 'Game of Thrones', and generally we brought out her inner geek. She is the one smiling in the photo I sent. Mum is pulling the face...deliberately!

It took us all these years to just let ourselves be who we were, instead of who we were expected to be. I hope people don't let their kids waste time, like we did. Life is short, you wake up one day and discover that your life is half over before you've begun to do what you want... begin now, wherever you are in life, don't waste any more time.

Janis goes on to describe their plans for Zombie Walks, more conventions, and costumes in the works, ending with:

"I'm really happy to have seen your blog, so we know there are others like us, who like to make, and do, and be."

Totally worth it, right? That e-mail really made my night when it first came in.

And finally, to reward you for making it through this entire post:

Charity M. turned her 14 mo. old son into a Jedi, and omigosh cannot handle the extreme adorableness:

DAT FACE.

Happy Mother's Day, everyone! Now go call your mom, and quote something geeky at her. ;)

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{Give-Away Update: I still haven't heard from last month's art winner, Isles Island. Isles, please e-mail me to claim your prize!}