Below I have listed my favorite things about growing up as nerds!
Photo Credit: Janet Severance
#1. Have you ever killed a monster with a baby!?
We were raised playing weekly Dungeons and Dragons games that our parents would DM. This meant our friends came over and played the amazing campaigns our mom and dad spent days creating. Eventually, we were old enough to take over and my sister started DMing the games. During one campaign, I came face to face with the Big-Bad and had nothing more than a baby at my disposal. Most people would think they were done for. Not this nerd! I rolled the perfect score to kill the beast… AND SAVED THE BABY!
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#2. Golden Eye? More like humble pie.
Kids today are used to more comforts when it comes to gaming. Newer games have incredible graphics and larger maps. Not to mention how fast characters can run. I remember being a kid and sitting in front of a 13 inch TV, playing GoldenEye 007 on the Nintendo 64. We had to sit as close as we could so the chords would reach the console. It felt like it took forever for the character to get anywhere and the maps were overly simple, but it didn’t matter. We played for hours.
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#3. Lord of the Rings…and things!
While most girls our age were reading “The Babysitters Club”, we were busy reading things like “Lord of the Rings” (J. R. R. Tolkien) and “IT” (Stephen King). Not to mention the greats, like Ernest Hemingway and Emily Dickinson. When the other kids were playing games, we were reading. My parents used to make a fun day of going to the library. The day I got my first library card would change my view of books forever!
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#4. Sticks and Stones
When we weren’t reading, playing games, or watching our favorite nerd shows, we were busy getting dirty outside. We loved to fake sword fight with sticks. Sometimes we would build forts and defend them from the wicked wizard who came to capture the princess. We would even play capture the flag with groups of our friends and my parents would join in on the fun!
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#5. Mom-Gyver and Squirrel Man
And the top reason I know we were raised as nerds? Because our parents raised us. They taught us to crave knowledge instead of attention, to rely on our intellect instead of our looks and to have faith that we could achieve any goal we put our minds to. They made our home a fun, accepting place to grow up. My mom was so crafty, we started calling her “Mom-Gyver” because she could fix anything with a roll of duct-tape. My dad was always finding ways to make us laugh. He would run around the house with a make shift cape and would call himself “Squirrel Man”.
Photo Collage: Janet Severance
I can only hope to someday give my children the same life that our parents gave us, because I am so thankful to be loved by this “island of misfit toys”!
Most of the time, my nerdiness was far more passive, reading, reading, and watching SF on TV. Did a little gaming when it came up.
I too loved SF on TV. There was a lot of that! 🙂 And a lot of my childhood really was spent reading which, I suppose has something to do with my love of books! -Thanks for sharing!
I’m glad to see that you and your siblings still love books as much as your dad. Your way with words are still amazing. Keep reading and keep writing. Love you
You all are a very inspiring family to be part of! 🙂
I just finished another book last night while wearing my Hogwarts Alumni pants. I think we’ll be 90 and still rocking the best kind of nerdiness.
You can never rid us of the NERDOM!