Energy

I have heard through the grapevine that I don't post enough. Then I saw that it had been three weeks since I was on here and realized that they were right. So maybe I'll try to post more often no matter how trivial the material. I know I've talked about story time joys. I just can't emphasize enough the energy that comes from dealing with children. Every Monday I go to the school and read to three kindergarten classes. I have never left the school in a bad mood. I always try to pick a fun book. It's as much for me as them. Today I read Pirates Don't Change Diapers by Melinda Long. It's so much fun to do a pirate voice and watch their faces as they try to figure out which coins they need to make 27 cents. (I always ask them questions like that from the story. It legitimizes me being there.) I don't know though maybe it's just the ego trip. When you walk in the door and hear twenty kids go "It's Miss Selena!" or "Library Lady", I have to tell you it makes you feel like a rock star. I smile and say,"Hey guys! How are you doing today?", but in my mind I'm thinking "And the crowd goes wild!" Needless to say, I highly recommend volunteering at the school.

Storytime joys

I think one of my favorite parts of my job is storytime. Don't get me wrong. I hate planning it but I love implemeting it. Where else can you dance around and look goofy and you fit in without having to drink any alcohol? Also no one makes fun of my singing. It's awesome! It's like "Where were you people when I was in high school and I needed a self-esteem boost?" Anyway, yesterday I got the best of both worlds. I had to fill in for a fellow librarian and do storytime for her. All I had to do was the implementation part of it. That rocks! I had nine children to play with and we had a blast. Now I knew most of the children since I have done storytime there before, but there is one little girl in particular that I want to focus on for a moment. I've known her since birth since her older brother is in my son's class. When she was a baby, she loved me and then it took an ugly turn somewhere around 18 months and she didn't want anything to do with me. She wouldn't look at me or talk to me and don't even think about holding her. Please! She is almost three now. Yesterday at storytime everything changed. It was like she suddenly discovered a new toy. She wanted to dance with me and help me keep my hair out of my eyes. When it was time to color she wanted me to put her name on her paper and then mine too. Then she pointed at it and said, "That says Miss Selena". When they were walking out the door, she ran back to me behind the desk and said "I want to kiss you." Now at first I thought she said, "I want to kick you" since that is kind of how she felt about me in the recent past. When I got over the initial shock, I leaned over for her to plant a sloppy kiss on my cheek and then she ran out the door saying, "Bye, Miss Selena. I love you." Now that to me is worth more than any paycheck you can get. I will still be a little wary of her for a while to make sure this friendship thing is going to stick. Now that it has gotten started though it could very well be lifelong.