Hello, friends!
Long time, no blogging. I hope you’ve been well. SO MUCH has happened since my last blog post. I had my baby (she’s three months now), I became a stay-at-home mom, we started our first garden, and our homeschool year came to an abrupt, yet natural end. I’ll catch you all up on all of the deets on everything in separate posts, but for now I wanted to give a quick update on our “library situation.”
In my last post, I talked about how taking my boys to the library was pure bananas. “The library had always been my sanctuary and taking the boys was turning it into a nightmare.” were my exact words. Well friends, things have turned the corner. Sure, they’re still children and my youngest son wants to run and yell like children do, but he’s starting to understand the rules and that’s a lovely thing. I don’t know if he understands why he needs to be quiet or why he can’t run around, but he bought in to what I was selling anyway. *cue the angels* Hallejuah!
I still do the prep work before we go (as I mentioned in the last post), which helps tremendously. I’ve also added a few new things to the mix that has changed the game.
- I have the boys help me find whatever I’m looking for. Duh, right? Helpful children are more engaged children. Yes, lawd. Plus, learning how to locate items in library is a good skill to learn at a young age.
- I limit the time we’re there. I give myself about 20 minutes to get in and out. Keeping visits purposeful and short is the way we roll right now. As they get used to going, we’ll be able to extend our stay.
- I bought an Ergo carrier for the baby. This helps keep her close and my hands free, which helps when I do have to give chase to grab my three-year old. Hey, it’s gonna happen, so why not be prepared?
- I have them take turns checking the books out. They love giving the library card to the clerk, so that adds a nice boost in the “I like it here” category.
The upcoming homeschool year will have us visiting the library more often, so hopefully this gets them in the habit of looking forward to going and enjoying their time there. We’ll see. Right now, I’m just happy that going with all three children is closer to a dream again rather than a nightmare.
The Intuitive Homeschooler 