And...You're OUT!

Libraries and toddlers...oh boy.

If there is a list of banned books, then somewhere there must exist a list of kids banned from the library. I'm pretty sure my daughter is on it.

Now, don't get me wrong...books are great for kids and I have read to my kids daily from a very early age. My favorite time of the evening happens to be when we are all snuggled up and being whisked off to some magical place via the storybook du jour.

Getting the books from the library is a completely different story. Especially when Sienna is involved.

We make a weekly trip to our local library and usually this means I take both kids by myself. My son loves these outings and at the age of 4 is able to handle the rules: quiet voices, walking feet, gentle fingers. We repeat these simple phrases the entire way there in the car...it is our "mantra"...which apparently only works so far for my son. Sienna obediently says the words with us but I know that her brain is thinking other thoughts. Devilish two and half year old thoughts. All I can say is...poor library...poor mommy...and here we go. A recent visit went something like this:

I made a point to be there at 10:00 am on the dot because this was when the library opened. I also figured that at that time there would be less people to grace with our presence. Our mission was to enter quietly and head straight to the kids' section to quickly select our books and then get out as soon as possible. Of course it would've been great to sit down and snuggle up in a nook to peruse books with my kids, but Sienna, of course, had other ideas.

First of all, telling a two year old to be quiet in a library is like telling her to not breathe. She has only one noise level to operate on: loud. Then there are the aisles that must just scream "RUN RUN RUN" to her and so she does. Add that to the fact that all of those lovely books lined up on the shelves happen to look oh so tempting to touch. Note: my daughter has proven capable of emptying an entire row of books in less than 10 seconds flat. By this time, I was starting to get the "looks" from the librarians which seemed to say, "Woman, why can't you control your child?"

Yeah, I know. Control her...yes, what a brilliant concept.

Hah.

With my arms laden in books I finally made my way to the checkout counter with Devin following right behind me and Sienna...well at least I knew she was still in the library because I could hear her from across the way loudly telling someone her name. I dropped the books on the counter, told Devin to stay put and went to go retrieve my daughter before she could dismantle anything else. She of course did NOT like this plan and decided that instead it would be the perfect time to throw one of her tantrums...she hadn't had one in for at least 45 minutes, so what better place to toss one in? I carefully carried her thrashing body to the front to try to complete the transaction only to find out from the kind librarian checking us out that we had a late fee of $1.50 (of course we did!) She took one look at the flailing child in my arms and quietly said, "I'll just let it slide this one time..." while she hastily handed us our books.

Whew.

After strapping both kids into their seats I then settled myself into my own spot and tried to calm my brain. I was embarrassed, I was frustrated, I was NEVER GOING BACK. Sienna and libraries just didn't mix. And that's when I heard it, her sweet little voice saying in a very normal way: "That was fun! Can we go again Mommy? I wike the wibrary!"

Good grief.

So today I really wasn't sure what to be thankful for...but then it hit me. I am thankful for my daughter's short memory...because I want her to view the library as a fun place and to want to go back. I just know that developmentally she is not quite ready unless it is a one on one experience where I can provide more adequate supervision. She needs that guidance to be able to learn how to exist in a library.

Until then, she has been 86'd...and hopefully the librarians have a short memory as well.