Ok, let's wander over to Should Be Reading and check out this weeks question from MizB...This week’s musing asks…
When you were little did other children tease you about your reading habits?
When you were little did other children tease you about your reading habits?
Have I mentioned before that most of my childhood is only a vague memory to me? Granted, it was decades…and decades...ago, which may be why. Or maybe there is not that much to remember.
Ho hum..ho hum.
No, I can’t say that I have any recollection of my classmates teasing me about being a reader. But then, most of them were a bit dense. Ok, that sounds a bit harsh...lol
Let’s just say in grammar school, I do not remember most of my classmates being that interested in their education. I, on the other hand, was all about being a good student. Yes, I was a bit of a school nerd. I liked school…I was good at school, and that was my place in the hierarchy that is grammar school. So, if they were going to tease me, reading was probably the least of my issues.
But as to reading specifically, I tend to think that my reading as a child was a private matter, done in my home, in the comfort of my room. It was not intentional, not something I was hiding, it was just the way it was. I don’t think I was dragging books around with me, or sneaking off to read in the playground. Do, I would come home from school and change out of my uniform (yes, we wore little Catholic school uniforms. Love those saddle shoes.) and go off and ‘play’, which again, as I remember, seemed to consist of wandering around the neighborhood with my friends..aimlessly. Really, what were we doing….
Then I would come home, do my homework, have dinner and watch TV and read. As I discussed last week, probably several of those at the same time.
Reading was just a natural part of my life and I don’t think it would ever have occurred to me that it was unusual. It was certainly the accepted norm in my house, and that is where my reading took place for the most part. I still, as an adult, find those statistics that say most Americans do not read books shocking. I never knew!
..or... maybe they did tease me.
And I have blocked it all out, too terrible to remember.
One of those repressed memory things.
Maybe groups of wee ruffians gathered about me, mocking me, calling me nasty bibliophile name like...like..."BookWorm", trying to tear up my beloved library card, grab my Nero Wolfe, as I stared down at my uniform black and white oxford shoes and knee socks, my heart filled with fear..
No...I don't think so either..;-)
Haha! Well, it has been years for me too, but there was definitely no teasing going on in my neck of the woods. In fact, my classmates and I were a full-service support group for reading. One of us would get a juicy book, preferrably a V.C. Andrews or Judy Blume variety, and we would pass it around to any interested party. Reading en masse!
ReplyDeleteyou seam confused lol, nice post
ReplyDeleteLol, Caite - you crack me up. I could just picture this. Sounds like my childhood, only a decade later. You spring chicken, you!
ReplyDeleteYes,dear sister, we both grew up taking reading for granted. Saturday morning at the Roseville Branch of the Newark Public Library was commonplace and, although are taste in reading has always been completely different, we nevertheless share that basic interest. Is it a learned trait (from our mother who was a constant reader) or could it be genetic? I can also confirm that an interest in reading does not directly correspond with studiousness in school, at least in the early years. Unlike you, I was a rather unengaged and bored student, at least until high school and especially college.
ReplyDeleteI was a little brown noser in school too. I really don't think any of my classmates knew I loved to read.
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by my blog - and for sharing your answer! Ah, the trials and tribulations of "good students"...
ReplyDeleteThank you Bro for confirming my bookish memories. You are right. I took reading for granted and had no idea not everyone did it.
ReplyDeleteCome to think of it, if anyone was bullying me, it might have been your little ruffian friends! A motley crew.
Maybe that is why it did not happen.
Or because the nuns would have smacked them with a ruler. As well they should have.
Love your answer!! I hope you weren't teased. When I was young I saw my mother with a book and thought it was cool and I think that is another reason I started to read. But I later learned it was a fluke that my mom was reading that book. I think its the only one she's ever read! Ha!
ReplyDeleteI don't remember being teased as a child about reading other than my family joking about when I was grounded that they didn't want to send me to my room bc I would just read. No punishment.
ReplyDeletethe example of our parents is a powerful thing...
ReplyDeletehiabs..that is so true. "Go ahead, send me to my room where I have a nice stack of books waiting." oh, the inhumanity of it..lol
Like you, reading was always part of my life, and I don't think I was teased, or maybe I just don't remember because it was so long ago.
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by. I'm convinced that I blocked out a lot of the teasing I was subjected to. Who knows, though? It was a long time ago.
ReplyDeleteI always enjoy your musing posts, and this was one of my favorites.
ReplyDeletei bet dad made fun of you nonetheless.
ReplyDeleteyou are so right MK.
ReplyDeletehe was very mean to me, but it had nothing to books or reading..lol
Well said. After a certain number of years it becomes kind of faded. Well, for me anyway. There was always lots of reading going in my family growing up. I thought everyone read books and went to the library every Saturday...what did I know!
ReplyDeleteI remember my mom trying to coax me into going outside to play because all I wanted to do was sit and read. And don't even get me started on waiting with such anticipation for the Bookmobile to arrive to replenish my weekly reading pile. =D
ReplyDeleteHi Caite,
ReplyDeleteI can't remember a time when I didn't love to read and that made for conflict with many of my peers, when, as a child, I would rather sit indoors and read at every opportunity, when they would all want to be outdoors playing.
I was always a bit of a loner, the one with very few friends, mostly seen as 'teachers pet', as I also loved school and homework.
I was always quite happily early to bed at night, just so that I could read before sleeping, whilst my brother had to be nagged to death before he would do his homework and get to bed at a reasonable time.
Yvonne
It was the opposite for me when I was little, I hated reading. The main reason was because reading was challenging and a struggle for me. I especially dreaded reading out load in front of the class. I used to pray that the teacher wouldn't call on me to read. As the years went by and I went from elementary school to middle school I started to enjoy reading more and more. I found books and authors that I enjoyed to read. I used to stay up sometimes until early hours of the morning reading. Now I love to read and read when ever I have a chance!
ReplyDelete