Well, I have a confession to make. I just took my kids to the public library for the first time. As frugal as I am I have not made use of the library since Grace was little. Let me explain. When we first moved here I was all about having a library membership. I love to read. When I found out it cost $70 a year because we didn't live inside city limits it slowed me down, but I still cashed out the money. You see we didn't have cable tv and reading was something I did to relax. We were also on a tight budget and it was before the days of moneysavingmom.com so I read books like "The Tightwad Gazette." (Anybody remember me reading those? While helpful, we got a lot of free laughs from them. Remember the idea to make puzzles for your kids out of recycled meat trays??) I digress. Well, I definitely didn't get my $70 worth that year. As Grace got older she became mobile at a very young age and I just couldn't figure out how to take her to the library and actually pick out a book. The library had stairs so I couldn't stick her in a stroller. And she was very independent from the beginning. (in reality I was mortified I would have to drag her kicking and screaming from the library while i fainted in embarrassment)
But, when we went to visit the Gorsch's last week Grace said, "Mom, do we have a library we can go to?" I had to confess that we do indeed have a library in Hannibal. The funny thing is since we moved to our new house the library has been free. And ironically even though I now have 3 kids I didn't think it would be that big of a deal to tackle this outing. (Have I relaxed a little?)
So with Grace and Faith hand in hand and Titus in the sling we went to the library. I was surprised to see that the library had a ramp & an elevator so I'm not really sure what I was so afraid of. And with some chatting in the car beforehand about having to wait while I renewed our library card and how they should act they even waited nicely! The girls loved choosing their own books to check out. Here were some of their selections: Clifford, Berenstein Bears, Dora, Arthur, Handy Manny, Thomas the Train & Fancy Nancy. (Hopefully you didn't notice that my kids chose all books that have a TV show associated with them.) Oh, except for Fancy Nancy. Which by the way I think would be a hit kids show if they turned it into one. So, Jane O'Connor if you are interested give me a call- we could totally use the royalty check.
So, I have renewed my interest in the public library and I think (gasp) we might even try the summer reading program. Sounds like fun! And maybe at some point I will even attempt to check out a book for me. Maybe...
