You have time to read?

I have kind of a vent right now. I can't tell you how often I have received this response when I tell people I'm in a book club.

"You have time to read?"

(usually uttered in a stunned, incredulous or condescending tone)

This is usually followed by some lamentation about how they're too busy with their kids, or work, or life etc. to pick up a book, magazine, whatever and read.

Seriously?!

Here's why this irritates me.

1. You think a woman who works 45+ hours a week and has a 4 year old and another on the way isn't busy? Or are you trying to insinuate that I'm somehow neglecting my job/family/household by taking 10-15 minutes out of the day to read?

2. Why don't you have time/make time to read?

I have been reading since I was 4 years old. I've been obsessed with books since before then. My parents had the 1975 World Book Encyclopedia set, plus a set of Childcraft books that I would page through for hours on end. There were always newspapers and magazines in my house, books on the bookshelf, and I have vivid memories of seeing both my mom and dad reading novels as a child out in the open where anyone in the family could see. I learned to read early... so early in fact that my kindergarten teacher thought my parents were full of it when they told her that I could read. Proved her wrong. Once they realized I could read I got to select books from the first grade shelf. By second grade I was grabbing chapter books from the 4th-5th grade shelf. Books have always been my escape, my refuge, my way to explore unknown worlds. You were more likely to find me with my nose in a book in the summer than out playing with my friends. I wasn't anti-social, I just preferred reading.

This love affair with reading was cemented thanks to some fantastic English teachers in junior high and high school. Then of course I saw "Dead Poets Society," a movie which changed my life. I flirted with the idea of being an English teacher, but instead majored in English in college (along with journalism as a double major). Reading to me is life. It's learning. It's expanding your horizons. It is something I truly love to do, so why wouldn't I make time for it in my busy life? If you like boating, you're going to make time for boating, right? Same thing with crafts, television, movies, insert whatever you want into the blank.

I think I'm setting a great example for my son by reading books not only with him, but in front of him. I'm teaching him to value books and to treasure reading. He has his own bookshelf and will sit for long periods just pulling books off the shelf, looking at pictures or telling his version of the story. That makes me so proud... that I'm nuturing his love of reading, fueling his mind and his creativity through books.

If you don't like reading books, fine. I have no problem with that. There are a lot of things I don't like, so I don't do them. But when you hear someone talking about books, their book club, reading etc., don't flip back at them "You have time to read?"