Proud To Be Me....

We visited a new library yesterday....well...it's a new library to us. One we haven't visited before. The kids were ecstatic. The children's section was decorated in Ryan and Aaron's favorite theme...trains! It had trains to climb on, trains to watch run around the ceiling with a big ol' button that made it go. Who would of thought, that a library would encourage children to not only read books but climb on the reading railroad.

The excitement was shown in the sparkle of their eyes to the skid marks made by their new tennis shoes running from display to display much to the displeasure of the librarian. She was not a happy conductor. She kept scolding them for running or squealing which led to Aaron sitting on the couch with his big ol' pouty face and crossed arms and a rather loud sigh.

I haven't made the library a place that we frequent often for the very reason that it all seemed like stress to me. How do you keep your toddlers and preschoolers quiet in a library. How do you keep them from running. It's a huge open space with tons of books to explore and now add the trains and you have uncontainable excitement.

Now I ask you, Is it unreasonable of me to be irritated at a librarian who keeps scolding them for running or squealing out of the excitement that they are feeling? I could see if they were throwing a temper tantrum, screaming their heads off, acting way out of control to have a stern word with them but this....didn't the library want to encourage this. Why else would you put a huge button at the level of a two year old to push so the train goes round and round. Why was the librarian worried that he would break it if it was meant to be pushed? In my thinking...if one was worried about that, perhaps the button should have been in the control of the library itself...hidden from tiny fingers.

The other stressful thing in my mind is the fact that we are bringing home books that we must return. The library is expecting them to be returned in the condition that it is being sent home. I do not find constantly wondering where the book went, is Aaron really standing on it or oops, Ryan ripped the page and even, oh, Aaron are those really chicken eyes that you drew on the front cover, very encouraging to take home more books only to be purchased by me by the end of the three week period.

But I caved in due to the very look coming from my oldest...the puppy-eyed, I just want to try this...please, oh please..can I? Brad and Grace are now proud owners of their very first library card. They are so proud and about as excited as Ryan and Aaron were to run around exploring this new adventure in life. And me....well...if I end up having to pay for torn, lost, colored on, spilled on books...I guess I won't be the first Mother to be in that position.