Storytime Drama...And Fun

I love storytime at the library on Fridays, and I think it's safe to say that Brylee does, too. She loves to interact with other little ones, and I love to meet and talk with moms.

Yesterday, though, was one of the more 'unique' days we've had so far.

Started with seeing a mom who said she is due to have her 2nd little girl any time now. She said 2 weeks ago that she thought it would be on Saturday (March 12), however, she and her little 13 month old, Molly, has been at the storytimes since.

Yesterday she told us that she is 5 cm dilated, but stopped labor, so she was sent home. This woman said that she delivered her first baby in 24 minutes...if I were her, I'd be so nervous about not making it back to the hospital in time, I'd sit in my car in the parking lot! Then again, Small Town is no more than 5 minutes from anything...so I told her that if anything happened, all the moms and librarians would be glad to watch her little Molly until relief could come...(which never happened, btw)

The first time we attended storytime, we were asked not to bring the beanbag chairs to the front because it causes drama. Which we got to experience first-hand yesterday. One little girl wanted to sit in a beanbag chair, and save the next for her friend, "Dora The Explorer".

Well, after 15 minutes of this chair not being occupied by anyone non-stuffed, Brylee couldn't handle it any longer, and I couldn't hold her anymore (she was determined to get away from me and was super wiggly), and headed for the beanbag chair occupied by Dora. This threw the other little girl into a major temper tantrum! Her daddy swept her up, told the little girl to share, and a couple of minutes later, Brylee was happily sitting in one chair, and the little girl was in the next chair. But somehow a 3rd chair got thrown into the mix, and little girl #2 refused to share it with anyone, including her little brother.

Sounds like the bean bag chairs just need to be put out of sight during storytime...

Next, we had a special guest, Clifford The Big Red Dog, come to say hello. The librarians warned ahead of time that this dog was really Elizabeth, the story-telling librarian, and not to be scared. Well, of course not everyone understood this, and once Clifford walked out, there was a big cry with tears streaming down a little boy's face. Mom went to comfort this little boy, telling him that it was only Elizabeth, but the little boy's sister apparently wasn't aware of anything going on because she was drinking from the water fountain, turned around, saw a giant red dog, and screamed at the top of her lungs, also pushing herself flat against the wall in the process. Poor mom ran to comfort her as well, stating, "We don't get out much"...Poor mom (and of course the little ones as well!). Miss Elizabeth removed the big red head after that...

And our little one? I expected her to get quiet and shy, not sure of what to do. But she tried to get into the face of Clifford, waving and saying 'hi'...and smiling big! I wanted a picture of this, but it's kind of hard to do when you are holding her to keep her out of the way of all of the other little ones who wanted to see Clifford. She took every opportunity she could to wave and say 'hi' to Clifford. I was so proud of her!

And finally, to end the storytime, cups of ice cream drizzled with maple syrup were served to everyone in celebration of Maine Maple Days (which is this weekend), and I barely got the kid into a chair before she grabbed a cup and spoon and was eating it all up! She made a mess, of course, but she enjoyed every bite she got into her mouth, and I loved watching her (with several napkins trying to keep her and the surrounding area somewhat clean...).

She might be oblivious to the drama earlier in the storytime, but it left me exhausted!