For her early school years, Rosemary attended public school in Brookline and then private schools that could offer more individualized attention. She was tutored at home during periods when school placement proved unworkable. She repeated grades. The process was one of constant adjustment, constant searching for an environment where she could function and progress.
Her mother described her, in a recollection quoted in multiple accounts, as “an affectionate, warmly responsive, and loving girl.” Those who knew her as a child noted that she was cheerful and eager to please. She loved the outdoors — swimming was a particular joy, and she was good at it. The physical world, in which the requirements were different from those of the classroom, offered her real competence and real pleasure.
The Kennedy family moved frequently during Rosemary’s childhood, following her father’s expanding ambitions. The nine Kennedy children — Joe Jr., Jack, Rosemary, Kathleen, Eunice, Pat, Bobby, Jean, and Ted — grew up in a household that was large, energetic, and competitive. Rosemary occupied a particular position in it: younger than her two brothers, older than six siblings, and visibly different from all of them in ways the family worked hard to manage.
Her brothers, particularly Joe Jr. and Jack, were expected to escort her to social events and to present her as a normal, functioning member of the family. By multiple accounts, they did so. Joe Jr. danced with her at parties. Jack accompanied her to gatherings where she might otherwise have been conspicuous. What this cost Rosemary — if anything, or everything — is not recorded in the surviving documents in any direct way.