Story Time.

I don't know if you know this about me, but I really like to read.

And because I like reading so much, I enjoy frequenting the library. I always have. Dude, they have a lot of books.

I especially like the library district here in Colorado Springs. They have libraries all over this gigantic city and I believe the girls and I have been to almost all of them at some point or another. They have a fantastic staff and so many different activities that they offer for everyone in the family.

For example, right now I am participating in the 2010 Adult Reading Program, where you have from January 1st--March 1st to read 8 books and receive prizes for doing so. Um, yeah...I'm totally on my last book. And I started the last week of January.

They also have a FANTASTIC website where I can just type in the book I want, put it on hold, and then they email me when it's ready to be picked up. Love it!

Lately, the moms' group I am in has been going to one of the branches for toddler storytime. There's a fabulous woman who leads the story time with songs and finger rhymes and stories. There is dancing and clapping and scarves. It's only 20 minutes and it is set up so there's no down time. The woman is seriously wonderful with all of the kids and does a few staple songs every week so the kids are familiar with them.

Two weeks ago, I took Julia to the story time for our first time. I'd heard how much the other moms had liked this particular branches story time lady, so I thought we'd give it a shot. You see, Julia is not much of a "song and dance" kind of girl. Not like Elisabeth. So, I took her, knowing that it was either going to be a huge success or a total failure.

We sat next to the other kids from the moms' group that Julia's familiar with. As soon as the lady started singing, Julia put on her "silently judging you" face. She refused to sing. Refused to dance. Refused to clap. She asked me multiple times to get up. She did not want a scarf. She was not partaking in this whatsoever. When story time was done, she lit up like a Christmas tree and headed straight to the kid area that she'd been coveting the entire time. There is this giant wooden cube toy with a chalk board on one side, slidy things on the other side, a car wheel and mirrors, and some other thing. Well, being Evan's child, she booked it for the car wheel and started making car noises. I was talking to another mom, when I glanced over to see what she was doing. She was still at the car thing, but had sat upon a smaller little girl. The girl, who had become Julia's own personal beanbag chair, was trying to push Julia off and get away. I, of course, became instantly embarrassed and went to save the girl from my mammoth toddler, when the little girl's dad came to help too. I was so flustered that my child had SAT ON SOMEONE ELSE that I just kept apologizing. He said he was sure that Julia hadn't done it to be mean. I smiled like I agreed. We left shortly after.

So, of course, I took her again this week. I figure she should get used to this kind of thing since eventually she'll be in preschool and I don't want her to be that one girl who doesn't know any of her nursery rhyme songs.

We took our seats and the story time lady began doing her thing. Julia made her "silently judging you" face again. I tried to get her to participate in the first few songs, but when it wasn't working, I gave my attention to a lap baby that was at my feet making super cute baby faces at me. Then, the story time lady started singing "Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes". You'd have thunk that Julia'd been offered food or something. She started participating! I was so excited. She clapped after every song and started trying to do the hand motions for other songs. She even took a scarf for the scarf dance. And then went and took 6 more, including one from a 3 year old boy who whimpered until Julia shot him a "are you crying?" look and then he just walked away. Overall, it was quite a success.

I believe we'll be going again.

But, please know, Julia still prefers the books and computer to play with when at the library.