I wa sjust wondering how may of you have kids that also enjoy writing, and how much of it do you think that they got form you (the rent).

Of course some kids hate everything their parents do.

I try to help my kids but they prefer strangers as teachers. They feel like they can be open and more honest with a stranger than Dad and his judgemental gaze.

(I'm 36 and still dodging grown-up status.)

[Edited to add this forgotten thing]
My mom read to me at bedtime from before I have memory. When I was in first grade and we all trotted to the library for the first time, I wanted to check out Nancy Drew. My teacher wasn't going to let me because she thought I needed to pick something more suitable. I still remember opening the book and reading out loud from it to prove that I was past "See Spot Run."

Yay for my Mom and Dad!

These two both emulate their parents' love of reading and read far beyond their grade levels.

I know many kids go through times where they don't want to be anything like their parents. But most people inevitably go back to their roots.

However, Diarmuid will continually pick up notebooks and pens (mine if he can lay hands on them) and tell me he is working. He adores books and at playschool, one of his favorite things is to read a book quietly by himself. He will sit down anywhere (and I mean ANYWHERE) if he wants to read - home, supermarkets, parks...

Even the baby is starting to show an interest in books. She sits on my lap and gets very excited when I open a book.

Thing is, they pick it up from my husband and myself. Just as we picked it up from our parents. All the grandparents are voracious readers. My father writes. Both my sisters have published non-fiction in their fields (child psychology and art). And our parents picked it up from their parents. Cousins, grandfathers, brothers and sisters - the fights at the bookstalls of jumble sales are the embarassing thing.

Anyway, my 2 cents worth.

however, my parents are very literary people. and they also used some other tricks to encourage us to become literate. for one thing, when they didn't want us kids to know what they were talking about, they would spell the words out. i was so proud of myself when i was first able to crack the code

my dad would read Lion, Witch, and Wardrobe to us on the way to Church and home and to Grandma's on Sundays as well.

With my daughter, we try to strike a balance. She is surrounded by books, gets them all the time for Christmas, birthdays, etc. My wife also reads a fair bit. She's taken to writing in her diary (she's 13 going on 44, BTW). She writes a lot of poetry - I'm no poet, not sure WHERE that comes from, but I'm glad to see it.

My kids are too young to produce anything written. However, my third-born (barely 3) is quite a talker and has a definite gift for both comedy and grammar. The two older children seem to be more musically inclined and that's where their father steps in. He's always drumming or playing something on the piano or, more rarely, pulling out his guitar so the kids can dance to his musical musings. They get a kick out of that and so does he.