I had the idea today to take a trip to the library, and it went like it usually does:

Enter children’s area of library
Find a place for 2 mobile children to play that is not already occupied by someone else
Go to book area (within sight of children’s area) to look for children’s books that are not too short, too long, or too scary
Go back to play area to stop 19 month old from messing with computers
Go back to book area
Go back to play area to take 3 ½ year old to bathroom
Wait in bathroom
Back to play area
Back to books
Back to play area to pick up puzzles that 19 month old has thrown all over the floor
Back to books
Back to play area with a few books to tell 3 ½ year old that it’s time to go
Make empty threats during his tantrum
Leave children’s area
Check out books and vow to never return

I will read this the next time I am pondering why it has been so long since we visited our local library.

This week’s adventure held a new highlight. We were in the adult section and the boys found an ugly umbrella-looking thing that had these long wires coming out of the top, and I mistakenly thought it was something to read under (hey, I would try it-give me a solitary space that I can crawl under and be alone, and I’ll grab the novel closest to me and not come out for a while). I was just about to grab a book when I heard the librarian lecture me on not allowing children under the whatchamacallit because it could tip AND it costs thousands of dollars. Really? Ugly art is expensive. We left quickly to avoid knocking over the thingy and also because I had an iced coffee in the cup holder of the stroller, which I know is not allowed, but in order to survive library trips, is necessary.

We have made some investments in summer toys this year, mostly because the boys are old enough to enjoy them. Our garage now holds a wagon, a kid’s picnic table, and a Little Tykes slide, thanks to garage sales and online specials. Of course the slide doubles as a pirate’s ship and the wagon as a reading area, but that is what summer is all about-using your imagination.

Just not at the library under the ugly thing.