Library

I took my two youngest kids to the library last week. Now I know what you might be thinking. Who in their right mind would take a two year old boy and his four year old brother out in public. Well, I never claimed to be in my right mind.

I have been taking my kids weekly to the library for story time since my oldest was a toddler, so this is no new experience for us. My two youngest have presented a whole new challenge for me. My toddler tears through the library at top speed, leaving a trail of books behind him. This usually provides a great way to tell which aisle he is hiding down, but this particular visit I lost track of him for a moment. He is much faster than he used to be. My four year old followed behind me laughing at the scene, so I decided to put him to good use. His cute little face lit up as I said the magic words, "Go stop your brother." He took off like a rocket. Within seconds a huge wailing sound reverberated throughout the library. I raced across the library until I came to the 649.1-808.5 Self Help aisle. I turned the corner to see my two year old lying face down with his hands and feet kicking furiously as his older brother sat on his back, arms crossed, with a look of utter triumph on his face. As I scooped my toddler into my arms a book title caught my eye, "Enjoy the Ride: tools and tips for the most common parenting challenges". Looking back, maybe I should have checked it out. But who has time to read?

You may be thinking, "Why doesn't that woman strap her kid into a stroller?" Wait until you hear how well that went the last time I did. My toddler kicked so much that he literally tipped the stroller forward so that he was lying face down. I paused before rushing right over, scared that he might be hurt. Suddenly his little arms popped out from the sides and he started army crawling away, dragging the entire stroller with him. Now that I look back it did slow him down a bit.

We no longer stay for story time. This is mostly due to the fact that it is held in the back corner of the library. We do not usually make it that far into the building before being kicked out. I miss the good old days when my six year old autistic son would accompany us to the library. Everyone ignored my rambunctious young ones, because his odd behavior and screeches were usually more distracting. The librarians usually just diverted their eyes and didn't do anything. There is probably a law about people with special needs having full rights to do pretty much whatever they want. God Bless America, land of the accommodating.