Library Love

Apparently, the fact that my wife is pregnant isn't the only thing I've been forgetting lately (can I say that and then also claim pregnancy brain as the reason?). I also forgot all about the library. I go to the library all the time (it's where LLL meets, as well as the local baby-wearing and attachment parenting groups), so it wasn't that I forgot that the library exists. I just forgot that it had a purpose beyond the free meeting space that is the community room. Until today, when, staring at the kids' playroom bookshelf, I experienced a moment of sheer brilliance and simply remembered. We can check out books from the library! Ah-ha!

How did I ever manage to forget this little jewel of knowledge? I think it might have had something to do with late fees, losing library books, and fighting with my children about whether or not we can check out videos. But this morning I resolved to fix all of our previous library-induced maladies by:

a) beginning a very organized new system for keeping track of library books,

b) making a firm "no videos" rule (which is easy for now since we're still without a TV)

c) realizing that the late fees were mostly due to the aforementioned late videos (at $1/day, it adds up), not books

I decided that I would clear out all of the books in the playroom bookshelf (most of which had been there since the summer), and bring them upstairs to the "book nook" where we keep the rest of the kid books. And the plan is that only library books will go in the playroom bookshelf, and that only one library book can go upstairs at a time (the kids like to look at books while they fall asleep in bed, otherwise there would be zero library books allowed upstairs).

So we went to the library this afternoon (do I sense a new Winter Wednesday Afternoon Tradition?), and the lovely librarians shockingly remembered all of the kids' names, despite my having forgotten to bring them in for several months. And while I usually would limit Luke and Jaz to each picking two books (otherwise I'd fear forgetting how many we had checked out), today I simply instructed them to fill the bag. I wanted to be able to cover the shelves with new books. And we were definitely successful!

The new and improved playroom bookshelf:

Luke and Jaz mostly picked books about monsters, dragons and other scary reptilian things, while I made some more "educational" choices. I was especially happy to come across the book, "It's So Amazing!" which explains, among other things, where babies come from (including where OUR babies came from) and what a penis is made out of (since I made one of the worst lesbian-mom faux pas ever the other night when I confidently explained to Luke and Jaz that their penises were actually muscles (in response to the question, "so mom, when our penises stick out? What's that about?"). I really thought they were! It was an honest mistake! My friend Meg clued me in later). So that one is just as much for me as it is for the kids.

Here's Luke doing a happy dance in front of the bookshelf:

Jaz, helping himself to some knowledge:

Luke and Zeb, joining the fun:

Zeb got to check out a book for the very first time.
He is in love. He fell asleep holding it in bed. I'm glad we don't own it.

We all sat around, reading, happily. Not that the kids weren't already book-lovers, we've always been aware of how blessed we are in that regard (#1 defense mechanism when 3 active children are running wild through the house: start reading a book. They will come. They will sit still. They will be calm. They will listen). But having new books to read is incredibly exciting. For the kids and the moms (unless of course, you are being asked to read "Pooh Goes Fast and Slow" ten times in a row. That's not fun at all).

I can't believe I forgot about the library! It's like the best resource we have as parents! Ack! Well, at least I've remembered now, and assuming that all goes well with the new, organized system, hopefully our renewed library interest will continue. I really feel like the public library is the ultimate symbol of what IS working in our society. Borrowing. Sharing. Being resourceful. Fulfilling our need for new things without buying anything or creating any waste at all.

Library, We Love You.