Anime Convention - With Baby?

It should come as no surprise that I have attended anime conventions before. I had to convince my mom that it would be ok to go to one when I was a freshman in high school. Of course she wanted to drive us there and make sure everything was safe; the first person we saw in costume was, of course, Sailor Bubba. (If you know what the series Sailor Moon is, Sailor Bubba is exactly what you picture when you read that name.) He was the unofficial mascot of Acen for several years, if I recall correctly. I'll be honest - I try to block my remembrance of that costume!

Recently, a small one-day convention happened and we decided to check it out. It was TINY but the price was good and it was ultimately fun to go to. But I did find myself missing the conventions of years past. When responsibility went as far as making sure that I ate and drank something during the long hours my friends and I would spend looking at booths, going to panels and watching anime we had never seen before.

This time, I sat in my room amidst a pile of all of my cosplay outfits, frustrated because none of them would work with breastfeeding. And if we wanted to be there for more than a few hours, I would have to feed Silas at some point. And I didn't want to have to go into a bathroom stall to undress and feed him. So I chose to wear street clothes. (If only I had known there was going to be a body painting stall! I could have stripped down there and fed Silas on one side while getting painted on the other. That's how that works, right?)

Ultimately, once we got there, I felt silly for worrying so much. The convention was literally a five minute drive from home. I could easily go home for a bit to feed Silas in the comfort and - most importantly - non-bathroom room of my house and come back in costume, which I did.

Silas loved looking at all the different items and people in costume, and I enjoyed being in costume. I know this is silly, but I love when kids come up to me and say, "Hi Sailor Mercury!" or whatever I'm wearing, because I remember when I was their age and I saw the Pink Ranger at a town festival. It was kind of like magic to "see" someone from the TV right there in the same place as me!

And, just in time for me to ride off the high of attempting one short convention with Silas, my friend who has recently moved to Florida found out that in half a month there is another one day convention down by where she lives. So I'm thinking, road trip!