I casually mentioned to friends that I ate paper as a kid; for example, as I read a book I would tear off the corners of pages and eat them. Please tell me I am not alone. Other childhood oralcentric habits welcome.
(It may be genetic: As a kid, Mom would buy a box of Red Hots at the movies, eat the Red Hots, and then eat the box.)
Yes, I did this, too :o Not really on purpose, just sort of an absent-minded thing to do while absorbed in reading a book. I don’t think it’s really unusual, and hey, lots of fiber, right?
You must be me.
I did exactly that with all my books as a child and I had completely forgotten about it until I was at my parents house this Christmas and my mother had dug out my kiddiwink books from the loft to give to my niece. All the corners were gone.
Yeah, I used to do that as well to my books. My Hardy Boy books suffered the worse.
Sadly, I still do it. Not to books though, I appreciate them more now, but I still do chew on paper. Within the last half-hour I have chewed on a peice of white Post-It note that I have here on my desk. I don’t swallow them, though. I’ve extended this to other pulp based products, including toilet paper, napkins, egg cartons, etc. I tend to stay away from glossy type paper and go for uncoated paper.
Now I’m slightly embarressed.
I used to eat tissues when I was little. Nowadays, if so compelled, I will chew on paper, plastic, wax, …
Yeah I did a lot of that as a kid. Mostly eating the wrappers/boxes of gum/candy. The paper sticks from suckers, etc. Sometimes paper cups after fast food meals. I ate all manner of crap as a kid though: glue (Elmers Glue-All, but not School Glue, which tasted disgusting), crayons (Crayola, but not Prang - again disgusting. Brown was the best Crayola because for some reason it was extra “crunchy.”) Pencils - the wood and eraser. Popsicle sticks - I was constantly coughing up splinters. That’s just what I can remember off the top of my head!
I did it really bad. I wouldn’t just eat corners but whole sides of pages of books, sometimes even into the words! I still eat straw wrappers (I am 41). My sister somehow became friends with Quentin Crisp, the Naked Civil Servant guy by calling him on the phone and she met him for dinner one night. She brought one of his books to be signed and promised him that she would not loan it to me, explaining that I eat books and doctors had, in fact, found pages 26 and 27 of Little Women in my appendix. Mr. Crisp got QUITE the guffaw out of that.
I used to chew on straw wrappers and the like as a kid. I still have a terrible oral fixation, chewing on all my pens, but never wooden pencils, as that’s just icky.
Sometimes with the computer paper my grandmother gave us for drawing paper (remember the old dot-matrix paper with the little holes down the sides?), but only to be silly.
I never chewed on book paper, but I do remember chewing on tissues, candy boxes, straw wrappers, napkins, and so on.
I used to eat cupcake wrappers when I was a kid. I’d look forward to it. I’d lick off the frosting, peel off the paper, eat the cupcake, and then eat the paper. I remember showing my cousin once and then her eating it too.
Me and my sister both ate a lot of paper-- book page corners, crayon wrappers, etc. It was something I felt driven to do-- like chewing on your fingernails. I’ve heard that it can be a sign of a vitamin deficiency of some sort-- might be called “pica” if I recall correctly.
I still do.
Mostly the fringe stuff from spiral bound paper, and Q-Tips. Break off the cotton ends, break the remaining stick into three or four piecs, and unroll them in my mouth.
Pica (also mentioned recently in General Questions, about eating dirt):
"People with pica frequently crave and consume nonfood items such as:
dirt
clay
paint chips
plaster
chalk
cornstarch
laundry starch
baking soda
coffee grounds
cigarette ashes
burnt match heads
cigarette butts
feces
ice
glue
hair
buttons
paper
sand
toothpaste
soap
Although consumption of some items may be harmless, pica is considered to be a serious eating disorder that can sometimes result in serious health problems such as lead poisoning and iron-deficiency anemia."
I definitely ate things like plaster when I was a toddler, and chewed on my hair, but eating paper persisted even until I was long past old enough to know better. I also eat compulsively and sucked my thumb for many years so it may all be connected.
Newspaper. Though my personal preference was for the Daily News, I found that the New York Times had a nice, piquant after-dinner flavor - heavy, but with a touch of mellow smoothness. The Jersey Journal, on the other hand… YECCHH!
I thought of that after I wrote my post. I do that as well with Q-tips. Unrolling a piece right now, actually.
I chewed on random pieces of paper as a child, but I didn’t swallow them, mostly.
I remember getting ‘chewed out’ for leaving chewed up wads of paper around the house. I think it was from not being able to afford gum.
Cupcake wrappers - THE BEST!!!
I used to eat notebook paper. And the wood from pencils.
Now I know I’m not alone!! 
:smack:
I occasionally eat paper towels and napkins, as well as other paper-like things like lollypop sticks. This wasn’t a childhood thing, though. Maybe it’s pica, maybe I should go talk to a doctor.