Happy Mother’s Day to all of my fellow Nerdy Moms. In celebration of one of my favorite holidays I’ve rounded up some of the best moms from the world of Geekery:

I’ll bet there are no bedtime struggles at that house.

Sarah Connor (Terminator): The ultimate bad ass mom. We get to watch as Sarah goes from unwitting player in the robot-war-that-hasn’t-happened-yet to ass-kicking-escaped-mental-paitent. All the time she is putting herself in incredible danger to protect her son John, so that he can grow up and lead the rebellion which ultimately saves the human race. So important is she to the Terminator universe that the franchise’s TV spinoff was called “The Sarah Conner Chronicles” Sure, John saves humanity, but who saves John?

Mrs. Incredible (The Incredibles): Helen Parr/Elastigirl/Mrs. Incredible deserves some credit just for being able to raise
her three kids. If you think your son is hyper, your teenage daughter moody and your toddler is a handful you can surely sympathize with Helen who has to deal with all the typical issues of mom while also dealing with super-speed, invisibility and whatever the heck Jack Jack’s power/s were. She’s not the “kick-ass” type, but we get to see her fiercely defend her children and save her husband, all while trying to be a “normal” mom.

Martha Clark Kent (Superman): Martha and Jonathan Kent wanted a kid so badly that they didn’t ask too many questions when one just happened to land in their corn field. Raising her son with strong moral values and even making his costume in most storylines, Martha encouraged Clark to use his powers for the good of humanity.

Aunt May (Spiderman): While not Peter Parker’s biological mom, Aunt May has been has been “mother” to her husband’s nephew since he was a young boy and was his only parental figure after Uncle Ben’s death. Her strength after the death of her husband becomes an inspiration to Peter, even while he deals with his Aunt’s fear of Spiderman. Hard-nosed and stubborn, she holds her own. Even Wolverine won’t argue with Aunt May.

Beverly Crusher (Star Trek: TNG): Holding down a prestigious military job while being a single parent to a precocious kid isn’t easy but Beverly Crusher handles it while remaining a force to be reckoned with amongst her crew. She supported Wesley as he failed his Starfleet entrance exams, inexplicably saved the entire ship on multiple occasions and then went off to explore alternate realities with the Traveler, all while burying her feelings for Captain Picard.

I think this is actually Boomer…frakin’ toasters…

Sharon “Athena” Agathon (Battlestar Galactica 2004): It can’t be easy being the first Cylon to reproduce, and with a human of all things. Athena goes to great lengths to protect her daughter Hera, even convincing Helo shoot and “kill” her to get her kidnapped daughter back.

Theresa Wiggins (Ender’s Game): Theresa  mothered three children that are so smart the government monitors them with a chip in their heads. In Theresa Wiggin’s world the humans are preparing for a second war with the alien Buggers (Or Formics as they are later called). The military has instituted a program to find the most brilliant children on earth and enroll them in an intense military academy from a very early age. Both of her children were deemed smart enough, but daughter Valentine suffers from an overabundance of compassion, and Son Peter is sort of a sociopath, so neither of them make the cut. The government – which has a strict two child policy- allows the Wiggins to have a third child, hoping that it will share the intelligence of its siblings, but have a more balanced personality. Despite being bullied at school Andrew “Ender” Wiggin’s upbringing makes him a pretty normal kid who just happens to be a super-genius. Theresa has to say goodbye to Ender as he is whisked off to Space Academy, knowing she may never see him again. She is vindicated in the end as Ender almost single-handldly saves the Earth from alien attack.

Sue Storm (Fantastic Four): Sue was Marvels’ first female superhero, and acted like a mother figure from the very beginning. As a central member of the the Fantastic Four, she was the voice of peace and reason in the group. Later, she became mother to a super smart and very powerful mutant son named Franklin. She is also the mother of Valeria, arguably the smartest person in the universe, who just kinda showed up from the future one day. On top of all she’s got going with raising her actual children, we all know that she’s the one taking care of the three man-children who make up the rest of the Fantastic Four, which now includes Spiderman since her brother Johnny’s death.

Shmi Skywalker (Star Wars): Sold into slavery at a young age, she became mysteriously pregnant with Anakin Skywalker, who was then born into slavery. She cared deeply for her son, but allowed him to go train to be a Jedi, in the hopes he’d have a better life. Prior to the Clone Wars she was mercilessly tortured by Tuscan Raiders and she died in her son’s arms, saving her the torment of watching him turn into Darth Vader.


My mom: She threw me a Pac-Man themed birthday when I was five, and managed to make my Sweet Sixteen Batman party not as weird as you would think. She bought me a Sega Genesis for Thanksgiving one year and once redecorated my bedroom into a celestial theme in one weekend, complete with a custom bed spread. She never told me that I was wrong for sleeping with a Matchbox Firetruck instead of a doll every night or that I shouldn’t wear my TMNT t shirt (Bought from the boys department) to school. She always clapped at my little kid fan fic Indiana Jones dramas, and bought me all of the Muppet Babies dolls from Burger King because she knew how much I loved the Muppets, even though I knew how much she hated Burger King. Most importantly she always, always encouraged me to be true to my weird self, even when I could tell she wished I had more “normal” interests. I love you mom!