Attack of the clones - will kids always become geeks?

I spent the weekend with some friends up north and their three year old son. His dad's a geek like me, his mum is most definitely not. What are his chances of a fandom-free future?

Yes, I wear Star Wars socks sometimes too.

At age three he loves all things Star Wars, most things superhero related, a bit of historical war gaming, and the obvious Disney entertainment. A quick look around his room and you'll find socks, pants, t-shirts, duvets and posters all themed around comics and films that his mum generally doesn't understand. He's essentially a clone of his dad - in a good way.

It made me wonder whether he'll ever realise that his love of all of this stuff comes from being surrounded by the epic stories of Star Wars et al since he was born. Did he ever stand a chance of being something other than a fanboy? Or was his father's influence too strong to resist?

I don't think growing up a fanboy or girl is a bad thing. In fact, I think that Star Wars, the Marvel and DC universes and other such fandom delights have great lessons to teach children. There's also the precious art of storytelling, and no matter how you feel about science fiction or fantasy you can't deny that they make exciting and compelling stories.

At age three this young Padowan can discuss his favourite characters using energetic and complex language - it's not all about the light saber noises. We also had a conversation about how the TARDIS is bigger on the inside. Not sure I quite convinced him though.

What do you think about fanboy parenting? Would you rather read your child a Mr Men story or something about an epic space adventure?