I have found in recent weeks, that somehow, I totally missed that 'nerdy' has become cool again. I mean, I get it - tech is cool, right now, and the ability to use said tech makes you 'nerdy'. Thus, nerdy = cool. I just missed it, somehow. Because, you know, I'm too nerdy to be aware of popular culture, apparently.
Anyhow, I realized this recently on one of my mommy forums. I made some sort of amusingly self-deprecating comment about being a nerd. Within moments, several women had hopped on to declare their supreme nerdiness. "After all," one wrote, "we're all on an online forum."
And it hit me: she was right. Here I was, feeling like the nerdiest person at the lunch table, and I was talking to a bunch of people I've never even met. All of whom were proud to declare their nerd status. Which is what I find amusing.
Fifteen years ago, I was being shoved into lockers for being a nerd. I was locked in the instrument closet in orchestra for being a nerd. I was ostracized, and I sat alone, reading during lunch, because I was a nerd, and therefore, untouchable. I wish I could say that I didn't care - I liked being smart, and if that meant that others didn't like me, so be it.
But I did care. I cared a lot. And I would be lying if I said that I had never wished to be one of the pretty, popular girls. Because I did. But now? Looking back? I am really glad I was the nerd. I'm proud of that awkward girl I used to be for having the guts to sit alone and read, rather than pretend to be something I wasn't.
And I'm so glad that being nerdy has become 'cool' again. Because hopefully, when Miles tells his friends that he wants to learn computer programming or how to diagram a sentence, they won't laugh at him. Hopefully, they will think of him as the cool, nerdy kid, and ask him to teach them these awesome new skills.
I know it's unlikely, but that would be my ideal world for my kid.
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