Storytime

I made the decision to start taking Stephanie to storytime at the local library. I decided she needed exposure to both other children and a semi-structured environment.

At first I didn't want to make the commitment, since Joseph is due in less than 3 weeks (!), but then I read up on it, and realized that this year they are doing drop-in storytime instead of registration. This means I can show up when I want, and not show up when I don't want to. Perfect for my situation! I was really excited this morning, and since Stephanie has started showing greater amounts of concentration with playing, and a greater attention span for activities, I figured she'd do great. Well....not so much.

We got there early, so I took her to the children's room. She loves library children's rooms, and runs all over, looking at books, coloring, and playing with the toys. When I told her it was time to go to storytime, she was game, and walked with me to the meeting room.

 The librarian started by blowing bubbles, so Stephanie was captivated. But then the bubbles went away, and she didn't understand why. (More bubbles Mama, more bubbles!) Then the librarian started reading the story, and Stephanie wanted nothing to do with that. She went over to this little ledge/step thing where all the librarian "stuff" was. She just wanted to climb up and down, so I let her, until another child joined her, and that mom went right over and brought her back to the group. Ooops. So I got my kid, and brought her back, too. Mine didn't react quite as calmly as the other one.

 Then we did some songs, and she liked those. But after the first two, she was done, and kept trying to escape the meeting room to go back to the library. I dragged her back, kicking and screaming.

 Then the parachute came out, and she loved that. But then it went away, and the tears started. (More Mama, more!) The end of storytime involved free-play with blocks. She was interested for about five minutes, and then that was it. I finally took her back to the children's room and let her play for a few minutes.

After that, I took her across the street to the playground, which she loves. Some of the other moms and children were there too, so I struck up a conversation with a few of them. (Nobody seemed horribly appalled by my child's behavior, so that was good. Even though she was the only one who didn't seem interested in the song and stories. More proof that I should have been taking her to structured classes sooner than 19 months.)

In the end, I decided that this was a good experience. (Bet you weren't expecting me to say that!) But it showed me that I need to consistently bring her back so that she gets used to it. I need to be encouraging, and show her how much fun i'm having. (Which would be easier if I wasn't about to give birth, but oh well.) I'm actually looking forward to going again, and I hope Stephanie will enjoy it more and more each time we go.

Tweet