Toddler Story Time

Our long-time readers and friends probably know that I have a bit of a library story time phobia. Our first attempt was hugely unsuccessful and I haven't quite gotten over it. I generally like to keep my metaphorical SuperMom cape on when we're in public and when I attend quiet-time activities with my two wild boys, it is usually stripped right off. :)

We decided to try again today and were much more successful this time. We made it through 15 minutes of the 20-minute session! Before attending, I told the buddies that afterwards, we'd meet our friends at a park. Both boys lined up nicely while we waited for the doors to open (although a librarian did ask them not to bang their heads on the bookshelf behind them - oops!). Upon entering the story time room, we opted to sit right up front and center, even though I knew I might have to do the "Mommy walk of shame" if we became disruptive and had to duck out early. Ace loved the warm up songs and got a kick out of doing the hand-motions and claps with the librarian. Ben seemed to enjoy the story, about a mouse and a strawberry, but was shushed several times by the little girl sitting next to him when he shouted out things like, "Oooh! A big strawberry!" during the reading. Both boys sat nicely during the opening songs, a puppet show, and the story. But, the instant the librarian said, "the end", Ben jumped up and said (loudly), "Now we can go to a park!" Ace followed suit. So, rather than explain to them that story time was not over (there were some wrap - up songs), I did a not-so-shameful walk to the door with my two energetic, but generally well-behaved boys. It was a success!

Afterwards, we met up with our triplet friends and took all five kids to McDonalds and let them go wild on the playground. Their mom and I discussed story times and decided to launch a search for a more interactive story time. Although I can appreciate why libraries have certain rules, I would rather encourage my kids to stand up and dance during songs and to chime in during story time. We're going to try again, but try another venue, in the hopes of finding a better fit. If any of our readers have suggestions, I'd love to hear them!