As you know, I am an avid nerd and consumer of all things Anime, Asian and eclectic in style. Being that I have such an immense love for anime, it would only be natural that I attend Anime conventions, adorned in the latest cosplay fashion, right? Youmacon has been by far my favorite convention that I have attended for the last few years. Yes, I remember when it was hosted in Troy. See here are the photos:

Yes, that is me at Youmacon 5 years ago, funny how time flys right?

Here we are in 2016 and now I have a little girl who is extremely active in the cosplay world, I mean who wouldn't want play dress up with their kids and sword fight with them? I love to take my 3-year-old to practice LARP and enjoy watching cartoons with my kid, hell I don't feel so isolated and silly anymore because I have a (cough cough) excuse to do the things I love.

This year Celeste and I got to experience Youmacon for the first time together this year. BOY WAS IT AWESOME!! Here is a full recap of what we did at this year's Youmacon and a parents survival video to cosplay with children!

The Orcs take off on an Epic adventure to Youmacon:

This year, I won't lie, I ran out of time to actually make cosplays and cheated a little bit. I bought a warcraft costume for myself and a Viking costume for my daughter, threw some green paint on our faces and called it a day. My daughter thought it was awesome and loved the whole experience!

Parking:

Okay, so as a single mom I am not a huge fan of taking my daughter to downtown Detroit by myself. It is just not my thing. I will say this there was ample parking and I did not have any issues with getting into the Cobo Center feeling uncomfortable. I actually had to park kind of far away because we got there late due to a wardrobe malfunction and the fact that my 3-year-old is newly potty trained, so it was not that bad walking to the Cobo Center.

Once inside:

My favorite part, and always has been the Cosplays. Personally, what I love about conventions is cosplay. Everyone works so hard on their costumes it is awe-inspiring to see what people come up with. This year's turnout was amazing. Far better than the previous conventions Celeste and I had been to. As we walked through the doors (and I quote) "MOMMA ARE WE AT DISNEY WORLD?"

Now if you have a small child in cosplay, everyone will want to stop you and take your picture. I actually love this part, my daughter really enjoyed how the other convention goers commit to the character they are dressed as for my daughter. Now, I am not sure if anyone has ever covered the unspoken rules of conventions or not, but when it came to pictures of my daughter people always asked if it was okay to take our picture. There were several young ladies that my daughter was literally swooning over but could not approach because she was scared. Thankfully they are my friends on twitter and posted the pictures I did not capture.

What should you do with children at a convention?

Well, personally my daughter really likes to see all the people in costume so we spent a majority of our time outside talking with people. Next year we plan to come back and stream a live broadcast of Youmacon. This year like I said I was not really prepared like I normally am. But as we walked around some of the highlights that are good places to take children are the merchant booths. Celeste, of course, had to have all the plushies she could see, meaning I bout one at every booth. Not all of them were hers though :) We also had a really good time watching the Fan Art Theatre and taking advantage of the photo ops.

Now I will say this, panels at conventions have never really been my thing but some people really like them. As I walked through there were not many panels that were directed towards children. A few, I did have to take my rambunctious 3-year-old out of, but as we the convention goers get older I think it would be wise if the organizers of Youmacon would make a few panels that are directed towards children. I think had there been something that was directed at kids like the Monroe Comicon has, Youmacon would be much more child-friendly.

Additionally, we loved the karaoke and I always look forward to watching that every year.

The Gaming tables were not a good idea and literally walked in and out as my daughter wanted to go steal someone's deck of cards. To you nice young man who was clearly upset my daughter interrupted your game, we are actually sorry.

As a side note, many of us die hard convention folks are now starting families ages and will be wanting to immerse our children in this culture. As a suggestion for panels that would be cool for kids would be things like, kids cosplay dance off, children's cosplay competitions, name that Pokemon, how to train your Pokemon kids' edition, Pokemon Go for kids, etc. This is something that parents should head up and work towards having in the future as I did see an increase of children at Youmacon this year.

Survival Tips:

Okay, so going to a convention with a kid has a whole different set of needs that most people do not understand. Here are some tips I have come up with over the last 3 years to help new parents immerse their children into our secret cosplay life.

#1 you are a pack mule get over it. As a parent, you will need to understand your child will get hot and bored at some of the events. I suggest bringing a backpack with an extra set of normal clothes, water bottle, lots of snacks, coloring books (*anime theme if possible), lots of batteries because your phone will run out of juice, digital camera with extra batteries, if your kid had on warpaint like mine you will want to bring the makeup with you as they will sweat it off.

Costumes can be very hot and sweaty, Celeste got a little cranky as the day went on so I was very glad I had brought her clothing. As a side note, there are lots of places to sit/lay down a sleepy kid, I highly recommend bringing a blanket so your child can lay down if they need a small break.

#2 Keep with your kid's schedule. Celeste likes to take a nap around 2 pm. I was able to go to a low volume area on the 3rd floor of the Cobo Center where she could take a little nap while I went through my photos and videos on my computer. I recommend that you as a parent bring something to keep yourself entertained.

#3 Make it an adventure and play along. My daughter loves to explore, I was able to give her a map of the Cobo Center as well as the Renaissance Building to have her locate new uncharted things to look at and meet through the weekend. This kept her busy and engaged in what we were doing. She absolutely loved it.

#4 Bring a boom box and make it a dance party! Personally, I did not do this but because the other convention goers were more prepared than I, we could make the convention a dance party wherever we went.

#5 Remember that you are there to meet people and have fun. Half the fun is meeting new people and expanding your network. Show your children how to network and be open minded. That means to make new friends and make lasting memories!