Back to the Library

We went to story time at the library yesterday. This is significant because it’s the first time we’d visited the library in a couple months. I used to take the kids to the library every week. That was back in the days when the boys were immobile, when I could sit them next to me, do a finger-play with Abbie to keep her from screaming, and still find the boys sitting next to me a minute later. When the boys gained the ability to run around the room, we slowed the library visits. When the kids gained the realization that I could only hold one of them next to me while the other two ran around the room, we stopped going to the library completely.

Now that Abbie is in preschool, the score is different. I have two children, and two hands to hold them. If I’m lucky, mommy will be available to visit the library with us, giving us a perfect one-adult-to-one-child ratio.

Mommy was home for this first re-entry to the library, so we walked into story time with one child for each parent. I started with Ian; she took Tory. Periodically they ran past each other, and we’d play a zone defense and switch charges.

The biggest surprise about the Abbie-free story time was how unresponsive the boys were. When the story leader announced a finger play around Abbie, she’d get excited and start making the Five Silly Monkeys motions. Yesterday, the boys stood silently during the finger plays, not remembering the monkeys bouncing, the bees buzzing, or even the spider climbing. They stared at us with a faint recollection that this was supposed to be interesting, possibly even more interesting than the storage closet at the back of the room. As soon as it was over, they resumed running. Fortunately, I could hold my child with both hands.

When mommy and me walked out of the library, exhausted from trying to keep up with her one child, she asked how I did it with all three. I had a faint recollection of children sitting contentedly by my side, and that we all found it interesting. Hopefully with a few more trips, we’ll all find it interesting again.