Our Library Card Has Been Suspended

                                        

With the day rainy and dismal, today's adventure was a trip to the Public Library for Storytime. Sounded like a nice afternoon activity for us. And I knew Noah could sit happily in a circle during Songtime at our toddler gym, so I figured it wouldn't be too difficult for him. How I came to the conclusion that sitting in a circle with hyperactive singing and clapping toddlers is in any form comparable to sitting quietly in a room with quiet, attentive preschoolers... I don't know. 

After several attempts at finding parking, I stalked someone to a free space. Who knew the library parking lot was more competitive than Nordstrom's? I hauled the little guy up the 500 steps and asked the librarian at the front counter where Storytime was. She paused and looked down from her spectacles. "The Storytime began at 1030." I looked at the clock. 1037. I stared back at her blankly. Did I need a written note from a parent explaining our tardiness? Finally she pointed to a room down the hall. I hurried to the room and opened the door to find dozens of kids sitting on mats, parents crammed in every corner. All eyes turned to us as I leapfrogged over little kids trying not to knock them out with my diaper bag. I see grandma and  cousin Mason in the corner and make my way over to them. The librarian continues the story up front. This isn't so bad I think, eyeing all the kids sitting quietly on their mats. I sit down and Mason is clinging tightly to grandma, and takes his free hand and clutches on to my leg. It makes perfect sense that a toddler would be a little nervous in a new setting. The librarian finishes her book. Oh good, I think. We came all this way to hear one sentence of the story. "Movie time." She announces. My mom and I look at eachother confused. The librarian flips the lights and hauls out the film projector from 1920. As cartoon images start to appear on the wall, Noah leaps from my lap and runs to the front of the room. I would have chased after him had there not been a herd of preschoolers in front of me. He runs to the projected image and points and then turns to the class, throwing his arms in the air and yells "All right." He's laughing and pointing and all the while I can see the librarian looking at me in the corner. "Noah!" I hiss. I try to coax him back waving his binkie in the air but it's no use. Hes laughing and dancing in front of the other kids, having a great time. And noone else is laughing. Ok my mom was laughing. I leapfrog back to the front and pull him towards the door. He is not happy to leave his current post as entertainer. I take him to a table in the kids section where I am relieved to find they have puzzles. We are soon joined by a dozen other kids whose mom's abandoned them for the romance section. One woman approaches me and asks, "Are you these kids nanny?" No, I say. Well I guess some of them, pointing out Mason and Noah. "Oh," she said, "I'm a nanny and this was our first storytime too". "When I called they said the class was for 3 and up but I could come if I thought the kids could sit quietly and listen." Guess we fall into Category B. Noah decided to cap off our trip by pulling as many books as he could off the shelf at once. Guess we will need to borrow one of your library cards for our next trip. I think we've been flagged.