The Libary

Yes, I misspelled that intentionally. That's how Ethel pronounces it, and it's difficult for me to pronounce (or write it) correctly.

I decided to get the kids out of the house Thursday morning and visit the library. We love it there. It's close, it's fun, and the kids are always satisfied.

There's an area at the library called Kids' World. Kids' World (KW) is easy to find, located off the main lobby area. As you approach KW, you find yourself under a canopy with vertical supporting posts on each corner which display children books to entice you to come closer and see what else you can find. The ceiling of the canopy displays a night sky image, complete with twinkling stars and a bright yellow quarter moon, surrounded by images of children floating in the sky, many holding books. It's inviting and calm and quiet. The canopy is anchored by the librarian desk, which serves as a gateway into KW. Friendly faces usually greet us, when they're not busy restocking shelves or investigating whatever it is they are investigating on their computers.

In KW, the carpets are bright and colorful with large shapes embedded in the fabric. There are several chairs and loveseats for you to sit on while you read, or just to get a load off your feet while your children play with the toys that are out. There are two touch-screen computers, each of which features a different educational computer game of sorts. There's a Maisy one which has a story on it, as well as lots of different games to practice sorting, matching, and patterns. There's a Winnie the Pooh one which also has a story, and several games that allow the kids to help create their own story, and a few other fun things. One of our favs is the Dr. Seuss one, where the kids can touch the screen to turn the pages in the story and bring the images alive as a narrative voice reads the story aloud. It's really a blast.

I can't say we've ever been to the library when it was what I could call 'crowded'. Yesterday morning was an exception. Perhaps it wasn't that crowded, but I was so surprised by all the noise and commotion, it felt like it was packed.

I will preface this by saying that I've always taught Ethel and Fred that the library is a quiet and calm place. They can engage in the activities available in the library, but they are not to yell, run, or forget their manners. For their ages, I think they're pretty good about all that. I've also taught them, and so has their experience in day care, to be respectful of others on the computers, wait their turns when they want something someone else has, and to put things back where they find them. Again, they're very good with this. Unfortunatley, I don't believe this is common protocol for many of those who come to KW.

As we approached the brightly colored area in KW, I almost mistook the scene before me for a McDonald's play area, minus the ball pit and large slide. Then I thought that perhaps I was walking in on an organized moms group, or some other outing which all the moms present were part of. As I reached the edge of the brightly colored carpet, I realized that my impression wasn't accurate. Whew, that would be tough to explain if I had to tell the kids we couldn't go in there! It was just a lot of people, but I couldn't tell whose kids belonged to which woman.

There are lots of different reasons to take your young child to the library. I chose to expose them to the library because, for one, it's free. This is something we can do which costs us nothing and is enjoyable for all of us. It's close to home. I work from home two days of the week, and a trip to the library does not take a whole day, or even a whole morning. We can go for 90 minutes and everyone is satisfied. Ethel was able to get her library card, a very exciting milestone! And they are exposed to books and stories which we don't already have, and most of which they haven't heard or seen at day care. When they do recognize a book, though, they get excited to know that they already have or have heard that story.

Other parents and care takers, though, use the library as a babysitter. It's a defined space in which these women can drink their coffee, read their own books, and let the kids wander and explore without much mind, if any. To them, it's a place where they don't have to clean up after the little one(s) and the kids can do what they please. Drop the puzzle, throw the Duplos, hog the computer, it's all fair game to them. I, personally, disagree.

We entered KW and the kids each located something they wanted to do. Ethel found an open computer to play with Winnie the Pooh, and Fred found puzzles galore. Both kids were engaged before I could say "books". Wonderful. I kept my eye on both kids, frequently approaching each of them so they knew I was there, and was watching. Fred could do puzzles 'til the cows come home, so this is like heaven for him. Ethel is often challenged on the computers because the touch-screen action isn't always that easy to manipulate.

As I stood between the kids, I watched the other women and children to see if I could identify who belonged to whom. I sized up the crowd, trying to see where I might fit. I'm not a stay at home mom, I work full time. This wasn't a day off for me, it was a work day from which I'd taken a break. On top of this, many of these women are nannys, converging on the library as a place to compare notes about their charges and their employers. As if to be speaking a secret dialect, discussing an important plot, they spoke to each other in Polish, in very animated tones. There was one woman and a young girl who stood out to me, though. Why did they stand out? Because they were both sitting at one of the child-sized tables, each engrossed in their own activity, but very in tune with what the other was doing. Mom had a spiral bound notebook and some papers, and the little girl was intently piecing together a puzzle. It was obvious to me, the way they read each other, that this was a mother and daughter team. My concentration on them broke when a woman approached their table, so I turned and glanced back at my kids.

Before I knew it, I was approached by a woman with a gentle voice, and cautious greeting. "Are they yours, are they older?". Acknowledging that the two ultra-blondes are mine, and are, indeed, older than the little tots we were surrounded by, she asked my permission to have the kids pose for some pictures with a new computer which will be dedicated over the coming weekend. I agreed, quite grateful that my kids were chosen from this mad bunch of young ones!

As the kids sat with another little girl before this brightly colored monitor and keyboard, I noticed that Fred's little nose had been running, and said, "Well, the boogers are free on that one.". The woman with the gentle voice laughed, with the most understanding, "I'm a mom, too" kind of laugh. The kids sat with the computer for a couple of minutes as the young guy with the camera snapped some shots of them. I signed the permission document, allowing the library to use the images at their discretion, and the kids jumped away to go back and read and play.

Ethel secured a copy of "Harold and the Purple Crayon" and scanned each page of the book. Fred returned to the wood puzzles on the tables.

Before I knew it, the noise level had died down quite a bit, and we were nearly the only ones there. We retreated to a loveseat nearby, where the kids enjoyed some pretzels and Goldfish which we'd brought with us. We watched as two other children wreaked havoc on the dollhouse on display a few feet ahead of us. Two women, one dangerously close to delivering what I assumed to be her second child, were talking to each other as if they were the only two folks in the room. Seeing the expecting mom's first child bang the old telephone handset against the plexiglass display case around the dollhouse, I couldn't help but wonder what made her think two might be a good idea. Quickly, I struck this thought from my head, realizing how mean that was, knowing I was only seeing a snapshot of their lives. Still, that snapshot spoke volumes to me as my children sat quietly enjoying a small snack beside me.

The kids and I went to the front desk, checked out our books and CD's, and headed toward the exit. Fred opted to take the stairs on his bottom, one step at a time, and Ethel raced us to the bottom, declaring herself the winner. Both kids celebrated when Fred made it to the bottom, and he were soon on our way home. We listened to one of our new music finds, Jack's Big Music Show, all the way home.

Another successful trip to the libary.