Son: " Gee, Dad... I've cut the grass once a week, every week since last August. I'm done painting Davout's entire corp. Now, can I please go to Origins?"

Dad: " Mmmm...how did the rebuild go on the transmission of the 57' Chevy?"

Son: "Well, I haven't test driven it."

Dad: "Why the heck not?"

Son: "Cuz, I'm only 12."

With a heavy sigh, I confessed that he had me, and yes, he could go to Origins, this year. Okay, so maybe I didn't put that many hurdles in front of him...more like keeping his grades up and not driving his sister completely crazy.

It is, however, a different mindset when you're preparing to go to Columbus and you are packing for two. First though, you have to register and a special "Shout Out" (is that still "cool" or is that like last century already?) to GAMA for the Bring a Friend special. Hope they repeat it next year. I don't have another son ready to attend his first Origins next year, but it's still early enough if I get the adoption paperwork started right away.

We spent a lot of time looking at events in the pre-registration guide. Drake (that's the boy's name) selected a nice mix of miniatures, board games and demo events in the exhibit hall. He needed a little help, since he managed to pick 60 events over three days and there were times when he had four of them overlapping. Another round of applause for on-line event registration...I shudder to think of standing in line Saturday morning listening to a little voice that can't see the head of the line, "Are we there yet?"

Hotels reservations: If you can swing it, stay on site (the Hyatt, Dad -- they call it that because with 20 stories, it's high -- get it Dad? High-at ** insert parental groan). With some events running until 10 or 11 pm on Friday and Saturday, having your preteen or early adolescent out on the streets in the downtown of any major city is a real concern. Being able to go directly from the gaming venue to the hotel room made it easy for him (i.e., I forgot my event ticket) and took a load off of me (i.e., Well, just go back up to the room and get it off the desk where you left it).

Food: Foraging at Origins can be expensive, especially when your auxiliary troops don't actually have meals scheduled at 8 am, noon and 6 pm, but rather a special "feeding" event that starts as soon as they awake and doesn't end until you make them brush their teeth before turning in. Pack plenty of snacks (as healthy or not as is your taste and ability to inflict upon your child) and a back pack for them to transport the two bananas, granola bar, 18 oz. bag of Doritos and two 20 oz sodas it will take to tide them over from 9 am until lunch. We did coordinate our schedules such that we could go over to North Market for lunch one day and to Barley's for dinner the next -- that way, I could ensure that he at least had "A" serving of fruit or vegetable during the convention.

Where's Waldo?: The Columbus Convention Center is too large to find each other in, especially if you are both looking. Would suggest printing out a schedule of each other's activities, easier to find the needle when you know which haystack to search. I was lucky and all of my events (those I ran and those I played in) were in the Exhibit Hall C -- the Miniatures HQ area. Choosing distinctive clothing makes recognition easier (I told him he looked very manly in the pink tutu but he wouldn't buy it -- even after I pointed out he'd be ready for the Bolshoi LARP). I might look into taking a pair of the 14 channel mobile radios next year.

Purse Strings: Another good way to make sure your child will check in frequently is to limit the amount of cash they have at any one time. When they need you, they will find you -- and you might have a chance to intervene before Chain Mail Girl convinces him to spend $36 on a foam rubber and rattan battle axe.

Time on Target: Wargaming, in general, and Origins, specifically, can be a great chance to bond with your child. I can't stress how enjoyable it is to participate in events with them, to show them you value the time you can spend with each other. Other Dads may take their kids bass fishing or play a round of golf or go hunting in the woods, we'll take ours fishing for archive lead mini's in a 30 gallon plastic tote at a booth in the Bazaar, or turn them loose to go a few rounds with the crazies from Loony Labs or shooting at Plaftz XII's while playing Aerodrome.

Plug time: If you are taking your child to Origins or any other event and Rick Schirtzinger is running his Ace of Aces. Get two tickets. It's a great game, visually appealing, easy to pick up and tons of fun. The extra bonus comes from the way Rick does things. With your first kill, the player gets a promotion and a nice little card commemorating the fact -- Rick calls the player up, the rest of the group comes to attention, he makes the presentation and they salute the just promoted player. The smile on my son's face after that was worth every penny I spent at Origins. Rick has upped the ante with a campaign ribbon he pinned to the boy's shirt. Outstanding!

A Village: It's possible you're going to Origins with a group of friends or may be meeting up with them after arriving. You've just added a couple of temporary uncles to your roster when it comes to watching out for your child. Introduce him to the folks at the HMGS booth and everyone in the games you're playing (when he wanders up). Over the past several years I've made some good friends and the rest are one's I just haven't gotten to know yet. Do that and you've just added about a hundred uncles to your army list. We all know that the best new wargaming recruits come from our own cadres. It's important that we all look out for them.

Like many of us, I'm already looking forward to attending next year. Happily, so is my son.