A trip to the library
What I really wanted to do this afternoon was get away from my house without any kids. Unfortunately I was at home with just Gleek and Patch who are not old enough to watch themselves. Howard, Kiki, and Link had all made their escapes while I was still working. I realized that my desire to get out was strong enough for me to deal with two kids in public spaces, so I took Gleek and Patch to the library.
For awhile I had to give up taking my kids to the library. It was an exercise in frustration because the younger versions of Gleek and Patch would express their excitement by running and jumping and shouting to hear the echo in the children’s section. Naturally they always ran in opposite directions so it was nigh impossible for me to adequately supervise both of them. Kiki would go off by herself and fill her bag with books. Link would have to be argued into picking out a single book. I would just grab books at random hoping they were good for Gleek and Patch. I always came home exhausted and frustrated. Then I got busy and so finding the time to be frustrated by taking my kids to the library was a very low priority.
Today’s trip to the library was very different. Gleek has learned to read. Prior to this trip all the books on the shelf were no more than a pretty decoration. This trip Gleek was on a mission. We have the first book of the Jewel Kingdom series, she wanted to read the rest of them. It warmed my heart to see Gleek very seriously walk up to the reference desk and ask the librarian for help. Unfortunately our library did not have this series, but the librarian helpfully suggested a different series. We found it and Gleek scooped several volumes into her backpack. Later she found another book and asked the librarian about that one as well. For the first time in her life, Gleek was more interested in picking out books than in jumping off of the stairs.
Patch picked some books too, but the highlight for him was the time in the courtyard. Our library has two wings separated by a little courtyard. It is a small lawn surrounded by buildings, bushes and trees. In the lawn are square stepping stones. Patch loves to jump on these. Gleek does too. We spent a good thirty minutes letting the two of them run around. They found a dead bird which prompted conversations about how it might have died, why we should not touch it, and how much we like birds. We also found a charming little caterpillar which we relocated from a hot brick wall onto a nice tree trunk. Several times the two kids took themselves inside the building for a drink of water.
When we checked out, each of them proudly presented their library card so that they could check out their own books. Our library will issue a card to any child who can write their name. These kid-cards are linked to a parental account. They feel so grown up checking out their own books. Then they carried them to the car. That is the only limitation I place on number of books. They have to be able to carry the books themselves. This is necessary because I had my own bag full of books. The kids were so good that I had time to do my own browsing and book selection.
I think weekly library trips just made it back onto the schedule.