To the Library

With the rainy weather comes new ways to entertain the troops. We ventured out last Friday and went to the library. I know most associate the library with quiet, but our library has an entire section designated just for the kiddos! They have strategically placed the children's part of the library downstairs away from anyone who may actually want to try and read while they are there. We arrived at the library a few minutes before they opened and with my kiddos banging on the window and racing their cars up and down the windows, I think the staff was ready for us to leave before we even went in! Getting to the library and going in is always easy. My bunch all love to read and look at books. Apryl gets to go upstairs on her own and check out books that are more suitable for her age while Lexy can go on her own also but mom can still see her since her books are near the children's area. The rest of the group has to stay with mom and find books that they might be interested in for a couple of weeks. That is a challenge since not much can capture a two year olds attention for longer than thirty seconds. This particular trip I ended up picking out books for the boys because they were a little preoccupied with the computer games. Even though the games are educational, I had wanted to expose the boys to the library, not a computer. They are already familiar with computers and in some regards probably more than their mother! This is where the break down in communication began! As soon as I dared to utter, "it's time to go," I was in trouble! Immediately following I was met with total opposition from both boys. This included melt downs numbers one through thirty five as I attempted to check out our library books. Then I had shoes thrown at me or at least in my direction with a lot of screaming, all of which is happening in the middle of the library where everyone has to walk in order to enter or leave the library. So, I swat one of the boys on his bottom, I am now a villain in the eyes of every bystander, who was just moments ago wondering why their mother doesn't do something about their behavior! Swatting, spanking, whatever you want to call it, is not my first choice of discipline, and I can guarantee my little man didn't even realize he had been smacked on the butt because I still had to practically drag him out the door! Ugghh...so much for wanting to help facilitate a love of books in my kiddos, I think it can wait!