Library Storytime

Okay, here's the scoop. My library storytime experience was a good one overall. When I arrived, there were several other mothers and kids lingering around the room where it takes place. Several were talking with each other which was one of my biggest fears. I had been told when I called to ask about this program that it had been going on since January so I figured there was already a core group of moms who had become the "storytime gang." But I found a woman sitting there by herself with her daughter playing with some legos so Elise and I joined them. She turned out to be very nice, her daughter is just about the same age as Elise, her name is also Kim, and she and her husband are moving within the next month to our subdivision. I guess you can't beat that. The downside is, of course, she works during the day. She is an assistant principal so she has one more week left before she is back to work for the school year.

Anyways, the storytime room finally opened up so I headed in there and found a spot on the floor with the rest of the kids and moms. The woman leading it introduced herself and said that we were going to start by singing "our" song. Fan-freakin-tastic. Not only are they going to sing a song that I don't know the words to, but we are in a large room with not that many people. That means that others are going to potentially hear you sing. For those of you who know me, you know I can't sing. Fortunately for me, I didn't know the song we were singing, so I didn't really have to sing. And Elise didn't seem to care.

After the song, came the flannel board story. I was a little skeptical about how long this would hold these kids attention. I'm no expert on child development or anything, but I found it hard to believe that these kids ranging from the ages of 10 months to 20 months (Elise was the oldest) were going to sit still for "Are You My Mother?" on a flannel board with only silhouette cut outs of the characters. I was right. And Elise didn't seem to care.

Finally, the flannel board nightmare came to an end. Then it was on to finger plays. Oh great. Right up my alley. Once again this was something I didn't know (I'm not exactly the fingerplay kind of mother), so I had to try to catch on and make it look like I thought it was fun so the other mothers and leader didn't think I wasn't all in to it. So, like a good little mommy, I caught on to it pretty quick and went with the flow. And Elise didn't seem to care.

The fingerplay ridiculousness ended and we were FINALLY on to some book reading. She read from a book (I have no idea what book it was) while the kids all cried, crawled on their parents, or tried to escape. And Elise didn't seem to care.

Next came "instrument time." Finally, Elise's time to shine! She loves shaking things and making noise. The leader passed out a box of instruments for the kids to choose from and we went the the sleigh bell option. Once the kids all had their instruments, the leader put on "Rockin' Robin" and it was time to shake our sleigh bells. The younger kids ate their instruments and the older kids played them while smiling and laughing. And Elise just stood there and didn't seem to care.

The song ended, the instruments were wiped clean of baby drool and free playtime began. Lots of toys and books were put on the floor for the kids to play with while the parents were able to spend some time talking. I was looking forward to this part, but my little one had other plans in mind. Just about all the kids sat in the middle with the toys and books and the parents sat near them chatting. Elise, along with 2 boys, did not seem one bit interested in toys or books. The boys ran around yelling and Elise divided her time among a few options - trying to escape out of the room, running around the group of people with a high pitched scream, or trying to fasten and unfasten the stroller straps in another mother's double stroller. Needless to say, we did not stick around for playtime much longer and headed to the car.

Over all, the program itself isn't that great, but I guess it's geared towards children and not adults. And it is something to do on a Wednesday morning with an opportunity to meet some new people. I will give it another try this coming Wednesday and see how it goes. In the meantime, I think we will be practicing our bell shaking skills in preparation...