Toddler Time at the Library

This post is really just for me. I want to be able to come back and read it when I get a wild hair to bring Jacob to differnt programs for "toddlers". It won't come with any cute pictures, but it is hilarious to read what my toddler does at toddler time.

First off, he is GREAT at Little Gym. They don't mind, in fact, they encourage the kids to roam around and play instead of sitting on mom's lap. Jacob's favorite part of the gym is the tables that they store in the back under the water fountains. But, oh well, he still is no trouble. A few weeks ago, I took him to a Kindermusik (yes, I spelled that right) program at La Centerra. He had ZERO interest in what we were supposed to be doing because there were 3 steps up to the area that the Kindermusik program was taking place. So, he spent his hour going up and down the steps, with my help (did I mention they were concrete steps) instead of singing and dancing. So, I should have guessed that today may not go well...

I used to take him to the library programs for infants, and we loved it. Did I mention that he could not walk then? And, to top it off, the lady that ran that program didn't appear to like children. So, we stopped going. Since it's been a while since we've gone, and we have friends that go to the one in Fulshear, we decided to join them today. We entered a room that could probably hold 20 toddlers plus parents that had 40 toddlers plus parents in there. Most toddlers were older than Jacob and were sitting on their mom's lap or near their mom. Jacob started by going to the front of the room to be cute. No big deal...he's always cute. The first 2 things are songs and he danced and did the motions...no problems.

Next, was actual story time. The lady that usually runs the program (and according to Jennifer, loves children) was not there today. Today's lady simply tolerated children. She mentioned a few times that the toddlers should be with their moms to keep them safe. She pulled up a stool to sit on and read the story. The only problem was that she NEVER actually sat on the stool. So, Jacob, being Jacob, went to the front to climb on the stool. Tolerates-children-lady bumped into him a few times when he was playing with the stool. I would go get him and drag him back. Needless to say, I could not tell you what the story was about. Then, he saw the tower of audio equipment in the corner (at the front, of course). It's black and has a glass door. She kept it open because she would go over there to turn the music on. Jacob doesn't like doors open, so he closed it for her every time she opened it. At first, he just closed it. The more he did it, the harder he slammed it (yep, glass door). With me going to get him every. single. time. He also pulled every picture off of the felt story board, tried to close other doors to the room, and tried to pull all of the craft material off of the table. Apparently, his behavior was making tolerates-children-lady hot because she turned on a fan, on the floor, that was facing her. Of course, Jacob had to go inspect it and try to put his fingers in it about 97 times. By this time, we were 20 minutes into the program and I was exhausted.

I tried to sit him on my lap, but that only worked as long as we had juice. When that ran out, he was off again. Luckily, this was just in time for more songs, so he did well. The last group activity was the parachute which he usually loves to RIDE ON at Little Gym. When tolerates-children-lady mentioned that the had to hold the handles and walk with the parachute, I decided Jacob could not play. Then she let the children go under the parachute ONLY if they would sit or lie down. Guess who did not participate in that part either.

The very last thing was the craft. I had to go wait in line to pick up his flower to color. While waiting in line, Jacob decided it was time to kiss me. Remember the cute picture yesterday of him kissing me? Imagine that, with tongue, for about 3 minutes. Usually, he just wants one kiss and goes on his way. Well, I was holding him and he proceeded to hold my face and literally make out with me for the entire time we were in line...with tongue. Keep in mind that most parents are already keeping their eye out for the trouble maker kid, only to find him making out with his mom. I was dying laughing at this point, so I'm sure 1/2 of Fulshear thinks I'm insane. He did very well coloring his flower and shared his crayons with Jacqueline (the friend we were there with who behaved poorly too...just not as bad as Jacob).

As we were leaving, Jennifer mentioned that she wanted to bring Jacqueline every week in hopes that she follows the other children's lead and sits in her lap more. I'm not sure I'm up for that challenge yet!

~Nancy