Library

I took the kids to the library today.

It's been a very long time since we went to the library. (Yes, I'm talking about the library that is right across the street from my house. The one that I can see into from my front porch. The one that takes my preschoolers a maximum of five minutes to walk to.)

Yes, I'm a very bad mother.

Taking all four kids to the library is a daunting prospect. I haven't done so for a long time. Which is odd, really, when you consider how much I love libraries and reading. And I personally have been to the library more frequently--but by myself, not with the kids. Today I decided it was time to make a change, and so--before I could talk myself out of it--I packed up the baby into his wrap, Gee into the stroller, the two older kids onto their bikes, and we walked the half-block to the library.

Our library--small, not very diverse, but fun all the same--has two levels: the main floor with the reference books, the movies, the adult and YA fiction, and the adult non-fiction. The basement has the children's and juvenile books, both fiction and non-fiction. So naturally we went down to the basement, where the kids lined up for their stamps (the children's librarian stamps your hand with a little ink picture of a fish, a robot, or (be still Em's beating heart) a kitty-cat! We played for awhile with the computers, we sat on little couches, we read a few little stories, and I had the kids pick out three books each.

So far, so good (mostly). Keeping our voices down was a problem, not running around was a problem, but the kids were (mostly) listening to my whispered orders. The problems began, however, when I wanted to go upstairs and get a few books for myself.

We'd been at the library for a good thirty minutes by that point. Surprisingly, Gee and Em were quiet content to sit on beanbags and read their books while I browsed nearby. Zee was a different story. He started by teasing Gee (who invariably responds by shrieking loudly), and then moved on to jumping on and off the beanbags (not an acceptable behavior). He then wandered up and down the ranges calling "Mother? Moth-ther!"

Finally I gave up, and we headed to the circulation desk. Checking out our books took all of five minutes, and the entire time Gee was complaining that I took his book, Zee was doing tricks on Gee's walker, blocking the entrance into the library, and Em was dancing around, bumping into passersby. At last we were able to escape, books, children, and slightly-frazzled mother.

I think we'll do it again next Monday. If the library doesn't ban us, that is.