MJ's First Library Card

We love reading in our house, and our bulging bookshelf is evidence of that. But even with a playroom full of story books, picture books, and lift-the-flap readers, it suddenly seemed as if we had nothing to read.

MJ had outgrown most of the baby and toddler books, and the few preschooler stories we owned had been memorized. Big kid books are expensive, and I wasn't about to take out a second mortgage to fund my children's literary habits. So, to the library we went!

It's been years, probably decades, since I've been to the library and my card expired many moons ago. Instead of opening a new one, I thought we'd let MJ do the honors.

Here we go!

 Waiting to fill out our application......

Got it!!

So excited to go check out the children's section and find some new reading material!

Now that we were officially licensed members of the public library, we were ready to get picking! Browsing through the rows was so much fun....

 Reading was fun, too.

No trip is complete without a little play, and our library has a cute kids area with some learning toys. MJ was very happy to put together the alphabet train and count all the cars.

When it was time to go, we loaded up our book bag with 15 selections. Let me tell you, the library has become way more generous in recent years. MJ and I are were busy agonizing over which books to choose, thinking we were limited to just a handful. A librarian overheard us debating Things That Go! and Farmer Will and told us, "You can take up to 30 children's books on your card."

30? 30? Wow! There was no way I was carrying home that many books, but we were delighted to toss all of our top 10 favorites in our bag - no sacrifice necessary.

MJ couldn't wait to check out his literary loot. Here he is reading on the way home...a book about construction vehicles, naturally.

When we got home, he was so excited to show Daddy his library card. And beg for him to read a story (or two, or three).

Please?????

Luckily we have a really awesome Daddy.

Story time!

Since our first trip, we've been to the library to refill our shelves three times. Each time we love seeing what's new, picking out a variety of stories, and challenging ourselves to read a longer book.

But we set one rule about the library. No Baby Brother. He's definitely not ready to be quiet, or sit and read, or do anything other than this:

Yes, he is diving through the bookshelves. It's adorable, but it's also loud and disruptive. And creates a big mess. He emptied that whole shelf in like 10 seconds flat. Then ran screaming into the reference section. I was totally embarrassed and flustered trying to pick up, keep MJ near, keep Evan quiet, and check out our books, until another mom  (who was reading quietly to her older son) said to me, "I have two boys, also. It gets easier."

Bless you, strange mama! Bless you!

Maybe in a few years Evan will get his own library card. For now, he simply gets to enjoy seeing what new board books Big Brother and I bring home for him.