Tuesday, January 14, 2014

Grandson to Grandpa

My mom was a tenth grade Hindi teacher and loved fiction. My dad, although an accountant, also loved to read fiction. It was fun to watch them discuss various novels and when my aunt came over, the three of them would talk about novels that they read, sitting under the blue starry sky of an Indian evening until the fruit bats came, and they realized that it was almost midnight and they would go inside.  So, needless to say four out of six children of my parents love to read for fun besides college or work material.  My brothers and I could not wait for our turn to read a good young adult novel that our parents would get for us. However after I got married, I did not get the same company.  My husband thinks that fiction is a waste of time.  Some one told him when he was young that he needs to read fact books only. So he thought that I was wasting  my time.  That did not stop me from reading. I made sure that my kids grew up around fiction from the age of two. They love books of all kinds . So I did my job as a mom. Year after year, I felt sad for my husband for being deprived of such wealth of enjoyment. His memory is extremely sharp and the fact that he does not want to read what people wrote is something I cannot figure out.  It is ironic that as much as I love to read,  it is not easy for me to retain fiction in my mind and following long stories have become a problem . So I have been bugging my husband to enjoy reading for fun, not just for learning and I think I have succeeded a little bit. 

 After reading Granny Annie's inspirational blog post I have made up my mind to look at the positive sides of things. Granted, it is cold outside and snow storms  do not seem to cooperate with work schedules, I decided to enjoy our grand-kids even from  long distance by talking about them and remembering each and every visit and comparing how they are growing up each time my husband and I see them.We discussed how one day our eight year old grand son told us in a matter of fact way that his class is trying to understand the different genres of books.  My husband at first did not realize that an eight year old could use the word "genre". However  he seemed to understand when I told him how the world is changing very fast and kids are being introduced to all kinds of books as long as they do not have foul language.  I told him that it is a good thing that fiction books are being introduced to kids at a young age as well as fact books. Guess what ? While so much of my nagging and convincing did not prompt my husband to read, the fact that our grand-kids are into fiction books is making him look into fiction as well. He is taking interest in different characters of Marvel comics and yesterday he watched the movie X- Men.  Now the question is - - - will he read fiction?

 Roommates X Men Comic Book Cover Peel & Stick Wall Decal -  York Wall Coverings - Toys"R"Us

26 comments:

Anonymous said...

I love to read--my husband doesn't. I think he is missing SO much!!

TexWisGirl said...

i think each has their own tastes. i read fiction for years and enjoyed it. then read only spiritual or self-examination type books and haven't read fiction in years. i think it is possible for someone's tastes to change - as long as their mind stays open to the possibility. :)

Beth said...

I love to read. Almost anything if it is well written!
Your husband is missing out on so much by not reading fiction too.

joeh said...

I'll be back,, I have to look up genre.

DWei said...

I wish I had time to read fiction instead of my textbooks.

Launna said...

Munir if your husband ever takes the time, I bet he will be hooked... Books have a way of doing that, if we let ourselves get immersed...

Have a lovely rest of the week <3

Shelly said...

My husband only likes to read non-fiction, too. I love to read all kinds. I enjoyed reading more about your family!

Joanne Noragon said...

I like the way children are taught to think about the books they read. My granchildrent are avid readers and understand the types of books and the devices the authors use to unfold the story. I didn't figure those things out until I was far older than they are.

Optimistic Existentialist said...

I much prefer fiction but I don't mind the occasional non-fiction book :)

Chatty Crone said...

Read it all - reading is fundamental and it opens the world world up!

Ghadeer said...

That's adorable (that your husband is inspired by his grandkids). My parents are both avid readers, but my father, just like your husband, thinks novels are a waste of time. He encourages us to read informational books- history, politics, etc. I appreciate, though, that while he verbally expressed his disapproval of the 'time wasted' reading fiction, he never tried to stop me, and I've even managed to convince him to read a couple of novels :)

klahanie said...

Hi Munir,

I like a bit of fiction. Besides fiction can turn into fact.

I reckon your husband will be reading some fiction along with its several genres.

And yes, there are positives in what can seem negatives.

Gary :)

yaya said...

I read every day and I love fiction! I love the imagination it took to create the characters and when I was young I loved reading more than anything. I hope your husband comes around to this fun past time...life is too short to only read facts! However, each person has their own likes!

Granny Annie said...

Oh how fun it was to be mentioned here. Yes, I love fiction. It is also a fact that Ron loved non-fiction. We experienced that in our TV viewing as well. He wanted the History channel or Discovery and I watched movies. I read to my children and grandchildren. My children read to the their children. All are complimented on their excellent vocabularies and those have been learned from books. I looked at the bookshelf to recommend something Ron read that your husband might like but it is all non-fiction. Oh well...

Gossip_Grl said...

I love to read and btw I love Matilda! :) I think I was thirteen when my mom gave me a boxed set of Judy Blume books and I was hooked. When I was in my twenties my mother in law got me hooked on Harlequin Romances. I gave my set to my daughter. As she has gotten older she prefers Non Fiction and I still like a good romance story. Great post and Have a Great Weekend!

Birdie said...

I just wanted to say thanks for stopping by and leaving comments on my blog. Lately, I have not been reciprocating but I am so grateful that you care. Sending love to you, Munir. xo

Susie Swanson said...

Reading opens the world up to so many things. I love to read and so does my husband but everyone is different. Thanks for the sweet words on mine.

Hope said...

just proves two things, never give up on someone till their dead and the wife is always right! lol!

also i found that my children gave me motivation to improve myself countless times. broadening your interests is a great improvement even if you decide later it's not for you at least you've tried.

Teresa Cypher said...

Good for you. Munir--bringing your children up to appreciate fiction. And finally, your husband is opening his eyes to that world.My dad never read fiction. His school years (8th grade education) were during the depression. He grew up working young, and working hard. So I kind of think that in his family, reading much other than the Farmer's Almanac and the Holy Bible was viewed as frivolous and a big waste of time. My mom, quite the opposite, devoured romance books. I spent years of my adult life consuming non-fiction books. Mostly biology, botany, field guides, and gardening books. I have described myself as a nonfiction snob during that period of my life. We all change. we all evolve in different ways. I devour books now--all kinds, all genres. Of course I have my faves, scifi/fantasy/romance.

Good blog post. Thanks for sharing.

Barbara said...

we both love to read but we love completely different types of books so we never discuss what each other has read.

Dee said...

Dear Munir, I surely hope that your husband will begin to read fiction because so much of what I know about being human, about humanity and the foibles and deep down goodness of humans, comes from reading fiction.

There are some excellent children's and young adult books he could start with so as to have conversations with his grandchildren. Two I would suggest are "Code Name Verity" a YA story of WWII and "Number the Stars" a 10-14-year-old novel by Lois Lowry.It, too, is about WWII. It's a true story about getting the Jewish population out of Denmark. Both books are fiction and yet based on facts. Peace.

Hilary Melton-Butcher said...

Hi Munir - we all have different approaches to reading don't we ... at least your husband reads. Also it's great to know the grandchildren enjoy their books and different ideas ... so important in this day and age.

I have so many books that I'd like to read .. and this year I must get down and put my eyes towards the page!!

Have some good reading times .. cheers Hilary

Jackie said...

Love the fact that the Grands have him thinking in a different way.
I saw something on Facebbok this morning that made me smile: "Grandchildren are a Grandparent's link to the future. Grandparents are the Grandchildren's link to the past "

joanne said...

I love to read and so does hubby, I hope that bodes well for the grandbabies! Thanks for stopping by my blog, I've been looking around yours and will be back! take care...;j

Rick Watson said...

I read constantly. I also listen to audio books while I'm in my car.
It's a habit I developed when I commuted to work. I've listened to hundreds of books.
R

B. WHITTINGTON said...

Loved reading about this transformation of your husband from non reader of fiction to reader of fiction. Yay Munir. You helped him to grow, or the grandbabies did. So cool.
fiction has been my best friend for years. Hugs, Barb