sad trains and some reviews

It has been particularly busy for me.  I have been:

* Working on my first art showing.

* Wrapping up the coursework for the class I'm taking this semester (writing my first and hopefully last schema).

* Still in extreme limbo with work in every way imaginable, which has been depleting a lot of my energy and time.

* Giving what may be my last programs, which has been an emotional roller coaster.  I already get all the feels toward the end of a season, because kids grow up so fast and go from singing songs with me at storytime one day to driving away to college the next.  But with the extra uncertainty and the extra long break for the organizational change, I find myself just barely holding back the water works each time we sing our goodbye train song.  Though we're all singing, "We'll say goodbye til' next time, see you soon choo choo," inside I'm singing, please don't forget to visit me at the library this summer 😭😭😭.  I would say you've never heard such a sad choo choo in you life, but thankfully my choo choos are drowned out by kids who are blissfully unaware of how fast they grow up.  I'm pretty sure I remember time moving particularly slowly sometimes when I was a kid.

* Revisiting my stomach problems of the past.  Apparently SIBO just keeps coming back???  And sometimes it means something else???

* Still managing to enjoy this beautiful spring we're having here with lots of reading on our front porch. We bought new chairs for the porch with footrests.  It's the perfect way to procrastinate anything related to adulting and sometimes fall asleep.

I feel like the books I've read so far in 2024 have been particularly good.  Really, I'm almost overwhelmed by them.  I made a commitment a few years back to write reviews for all 4 & 5 star books I read.  It was an easy commitment until this year.  Now, when I pick up a book and get a few pages in, I feel the flush of both excitement and exasperation.  "Another good book?  How dare you immediately ensnare me in the first few pages and rob what little sleep I'm already getting!"  And yes, if this sounds like bragging, you're totally right.  

Here are a few reviews:

Scurry by Mac Smith (Juvenile Graphic Novel)

  

Intense dystopian world ruled by animals due to humans being wiped out by human wars. Survival is of utmost importance but friendships, allies, and helping one another stay alive and avoid the killers of the forest (hawks, wolves, and cats) are equally important. The artwork is incredibly bleak but also atmospheric and rich. It's a dystopian world that makes you feel just as cold, terrified, and determined to survive as the characters. Included in the back is a list of characters (so many but easy to remember thanks to complex characters), discussion guide, and activity guide. If there's an illustrator who makes you want to drop everything in your life to create art and tiny worlds centered around life's biggest themes, Mac Smith is it.

Awesome Orange Birthday by Mitali Banerjee Ruths and illustrated by Aaliya Jaleel (Juvenile Fiction - Transitional Chapter Book)

This book is so much fun! Priya has a knack for organization, planning parties, making DIY crafts, and caring for others and animals. I love how this book was organized. There was a character map at the beginning, an additional map of the neighborhood, all kinds of lists, and cute touches everywhere, including illustrations of washi tape. I also appreciate how self-aware Priya is! She has a great grasp of her strengths and weaknesses and strives to work with them rather than against them. I am so excited to read more in this series and hear what kids think about Priya's life!

Lucille Ball Had No Eyebrows? by Dan Gutman

It looks like the Who Was/Is series has a serious competitor! I'm super impressed with this book. The back-and-forth interview style with two "kids" sharing information and asking questions is such a clever idea. This style tastefully and appropriately exposes how ridiculous some of the ideas were during the early twentieth century. While I love the Who Was/Is series, it doesn't shine a light on historical events with a modern lens/perspective. This book is also written well, filled with lots of juicy information, and still contains the biography essentials: timeline and main life events. My only gripe is that it's missing a page listing extra reading recommendations. There's only a tiny nudge to look up YouTube videos about Lucille Ball. It's only a small gripe though. I can't wait to read more books in this series!

storytime update

This is possibly my last season of storytimes.  Due to a reorganization of staff at my library system, my job will either be a patron support specialist (A.K.A. manning the desk) or a program support specialist (A.K.A. facilitating library programs).  Currently I do both and love the heck out of the variety of work and patrons I serve.

This reorganization started last August, and it has been a waiting game since then.  I thought fall may be my last storytimes, and now again this spring.  But it is now official.  We aren't having any staff-led programming this summer.  From May-August, all the connections I've built with not just storytime families, but also tween book club families will cease to exist either temporarily or permanently.  Dramatic, yes, but kids grow up.  The end of each season is already tough with at least one storytime family proudly announcing their child is going to preschool the following season. 

And tweens become teens, who then become adults.  I also do not know the outcome of the teen volunteer program, which my branch has been lucky enough to offer year-round.  Two of the six kids who volunteer are graduating, and summer is always the time to get them excited about maybe continuing during their school year.  This summer my branch is not opening up the opportunity to new teen volunteers.  I'm thrilled we get to keep the teen volunteers we currently have but sad that the future of the program is unknown.

I do not know if I will continue to work at my branch, whether I will get to work with kids at all, and what position I will be in.  It's a lot of uncertainty.  I still feel so fortunate to have even found where I belong, and not only that, but to work my dream job for over six years.  And who knows, maybe I'll love wherever I'm at as much as I love this current position. 

Storytimes are one of my favorite things about my job.  They are tiring!  And crazy!  And sometimes I'm still hearing the songs for hours afterwards, but the joy of being a part of storytimes and getting to know the littles and their families is unbeatable.

Last fall season I mostly did my family storytime, which I've done for a few seasons now.  I also subbed for several of my coworker's toddler storytimes and did two outreach storytimes at both a preschool and Montessori school - a wild and amazing experience.  It was a lot of storytimes!  I somehow managed to not get sick and made it to every one.  A storytime season with no illness despite drowning in oodles of germs.  

This season I'm doing both a toddler storytime and family storytime.  I tried to cleverly mix up the crowd favorites between the two storytimes.  At my first toddler storytime one of my family storytime songs was requested and in my family storytime, one of my toddler songs was requested.  The two separate storytime plans immediately became very smooshy, and so now I wake up and have no idea what plan I'm doing.

My go-to style of storytime is very family-oriented, with a couple things for babies and older kids and a lot of toddler components.  It's tough to do two very different storytimes that have such similar age groups and also have my family storytime regulars sprinkled fairly evenly between the two storytimes.  Some come to both!  It's that organic, see-what's-happening-each-storytime approach I've always wanted to feel more comfortable with, and now it's happening.  I'm enjoying every moment.  Even if it means I need more sleep on storytime nights. 😆

Here are some adorable moments I wanted to share:

* I was in the storytime room practicing for the first storytime of the season and I heard tapping on the glass.  I looked up and saw one of my families from the previous season.  They were at the library the moment it opened and could not wait to say hello.

* When I asked one storytime group what alligators do, one girl shouted, "They eat people!"

* While talking about bunnies, I asked the kids if they had long, floppy ears.  One grandpa shouted, "I do!"

* After a storytime, one of my regular kids introduced me to her My Little Pony toy and asked if I would sing the hello song to the toy.  I absolutely said yes.

* After singing our rainbow puzzle song and putting the puzzle together, a kid asked me why we weren't singing the song again as I took each color off the board.

* When I read Pete the Cat: I Love My White Shoes for one of my storytimes, two of the three sessions read and sang the entire book with me.  They knew all the words!  

I haven't been able to keep track of all the cute and special moments this season.  There are just too many.  Kids really do make the world a special place.  

New Mexico & Arizona Part 1

Robert, Margo, Josie and I just returned from a marvelous, restorative, and comforting trip filled with family, good food, and plenty of laughter.

The week before we left I battled a sinus infection but miraculously kept up with a particularly packed week.

I finished four out of the last five assignments for my two classes, gave three family storytimes, two toddler storytimes, two tween bookclubs, one dentist appointment, and got re-certified for CPR/AED.

Whew!  I was so proud of myself for keeping up with everything while feeling so poorly.  There were even beautiful moments where the world slowed down for just a bit.  Occasionally I get so busy, it's hard to savor all the joy and beautiful moments.  I was sick and busy, but still soaked up the joy.  This must be growth or luck or a little of both.

My coworker, Octavia jumped in to help with my laundry-themed family storytime.  Somehow it completely slipped my mind to do a Thanksgiving storytime.  I plan so far ahead.  No matter!  Octavia suggested I knock on the door to the staff office, which is adjacent to the storytime room, and invite her in when I got to the clothes dryer activities part of the storytime. So, for each storytime I told the kids I thought I had a friend who might like to join us. Then I would open the door and say, “Oh look it’s Octavia! And she brought her clothes dryer from home!” Then she would come in and help the kids match socks. We also sang an adorable clothes dryer song.  It was brilliant and hilarious.  I work with the best of the best.

Needless to say, I was pretty tired and a little concerned my sinus infection was going to get worse.  

But we threw caution to the wind and left after work on Saturday night.  I slept most of the way to Albuquerque.

I'll let the pictures tell the story.  Robert ran around like crazy on Saturday doing all the last minute things to get us ready for the trip.  He got the car packed up and the girls ready to go, and they picked me up at the library.

We spent a fair amount of time cuddling on this trip, soaking up all the fluff and comfort of our dogs.

There's a food theme for every trip we take.  Nashville has the best vegan biscuits, Anaheim has the best vegan donuts, and Albuquerque has the best vegan cookies?!?  I was expecting to live out of the food basket and cooler we brought with us.  If there's one food group I'm not down with it's authentic Mexican/South American food.  From my previous New Mexico journeys there never was the question of vegan/dairy free or everything else.  It was, "do you want red or green sauce?"  I think New Mexico maybe thinks this is a cute way to make authentic Mexican/South American food their own.  I don't really understand it.  Sorry not sorry NM!

We stumbled upon Mata G's the first day we were there and discovered the most delicious cookies (and other foods too).  But COOKIES?!?  I was so thrilled.  That's a food group I can get down with.  

We visited four bookstores and three libraries in the Albuquerque/Sante Fe area, and when I returned home I discovered I didn't have any shelf room available.  So it's official.  I am now making bookshelves out of books, so I have a place for my books.  It's one of the best problems I've ever had in my life. 

It also looks like our winter hats/gloves drawer is going to be sacrificed so I have another drawer for library bags.  Not sure we really need winter hats/gloves.  What do you think, Robert?

We had three bucket list items for the New Mexico part of our journey: driving the mostly nonexistent Route 66 as it jogs through Sante Fe (check), visiting the Albuquerque Botanic Garden (check but maybe going back on the list), and well, you'll see the third in just a moment!

The Albuquerque Botanic Garden was cold with a whole lot of dead beauty, everything dormant and ablaze with autumn color.  It was a quiet, restorative, and short visit.

We visited two Albuquerque libraries and Santa Fe's Southside Branch, which was the clear winner.

One of the featured artists was Leigh Oviatt, who will take your breath away.  She's a brilliant fiber artist and photographer.  Her work stops people in their tracks.  Watching others soak up her work is almost as wild as pretending to shrink and walk her endless pom pom paths.  

The children's area was mostly empty thanks to the holidays, but it was cozy and inviting.

Check out this thoughtful and intergenerational display complete with author flaps!

More books! We visited Book Mountain in Santa Fe, and the gentleman there gave us a thorough and hilarious book tour of the well-organized store. At one point after pointing out the crafts, hobbies, homemaking, and gardening section, he said, "this is pretty much for anyone who's tired of YouTube."

Our big reason for going to Santa Fe involved a super special embroidery project I've been working on.  A family member of Robert's reached out to me on Facebook about making a piece inspired by the curtains hanging in her newborn granddaughter's nursery.  She wanted to give this piece to her daughter and daughter-in-law for a holiday present.  I was so thrilled to be asked!  

Here is the closeup of the curtains I referenced for the piece:

And here's the piece!

I decided to try out felt for this piece because I felt pretty confident it would have some heavy bead elements.  I loved using felt.  Though it was nearly impossible to undo a stitch, the strength of the felt outweighed the many times it took to cut things out and start over.  I quickly learned to do shorter bursts so that I wouldn't have to redo as much if I needed to cut a snag out and start over.  I also used a couple pieces of trim for the wings and anchored them with beads.  Making the wings was the most tedious but also the most soothing part of the journey.

Like most folks, I don't remember a lot before the age of five, but I do remember long moments before sleep when I rested my eyes on things of beauty in whatever room I was in.  I hope baby Octavia does the same and enjoys the sparkle of this piece.  Yes, her name is Octavia too!  I bet you didn't think you would ever see that name twice in one blog post.

When I reached out to Robert's relative about where she wanted me to mail the moths piece and she responded with an address in Santa Fe, NM, I was SO excited.  I asked if she wanted us to hand deliver the piece, and she gave us the green light.  I was overjoyed to meet the couple and their brand new baby.  They went a step further, invited us in, showed us the nursery, and told us they had the go-ahead to open the piece.  I've already been thinking how wonderful it would be to meet up with them again.  They were so welcoming, interesting, with a home that reflected so much love and beauty.  

The next day (Wednesday) we drove to White Sands (Surprise! Our remaining bucket list item!).  We couldn't find a restroom to save our lives, but we did find this:

We went sledding at White Sand years ago.  Sixteen years as it turns out.  We went with my mom and Robert's childhood friend, Josh, who he now works with!  We loved White Sands so much we added it to the bucket list again.  Dear younger HJ, you will go back, and it will be just as magical as the first time! 

Here are a few pics from 2007!  We are so cute I can't even stand it.  

I never would have dreamed we could take the dogs.  When they hopped out of the car, they were the most excited I have ever seen them.  It was like we had given them the greatest gift ever.

Margo dug a lot of sand holes to help climb up the hills, but a lot of times she pooped herself out and flopped into her creations.

Stay tuned for Part 2 of our epic NM/AZ trip!

Choo Choo

When I'm off desk at work, I sometimes like to sit in the youth services office with the door open so I can see and hear patrons.  I was sitting in the office a few days ago with the door open and lights off.  I was fully immersed in emails, but I distinctly heard a child say, "choo choo."

I looked up and there was one of my storytime regulars, an 18-24-month old who often regards with me with serious contemplation.  With that same serious look, she pointed at me and said those magical words again.  "Choo choo."  Her grandma was just steps behind her, and said, "yes that's the choo choo lady."  We exchanged smiles and then said our hellos.

I asked my little storytime regular if she wanted to sing the Goodbye Train song that day at storytime, and she gave a serious nod and toddled away.

That Goodbye Train song may get stuck in my head and become especially loud as I'm trying to fall asleep, but what my brain interprets as an unholy racket, another brain interprets as pure magic.

comfort

This recent gratitude journal entry is too lovely to hide away in the pages of a journal.  

• Oh Gopey. Suffocating me with her long night of cuddles. But so dang cute and such a comfort. 

• First cool morning of the season. 

• Storytimes went pretty well. The Oge Mora book is hanging on by a thread (Saturday). It’s a bit too long but too good not to keep trying.  All the breathing exercises and zoooooms helped some. Grumpy Pants has been such a winner all week it’s just ridiculous. When I read the words, “hot chocolate” a little boy screeched, “CHOCOLATE” with such delight and enthusiasm a coworker, who was in the office next to the storytime room mentioned it later. This was also the same book that inspired a little girl from the Montessori outreach storytimes to tell me she pooped her pants and had to take a shower. Who knew a penguin could evoke so much emotion from children?

After storytime today, a patron approached me and told me how much her family loved my storytime. 

She asked me if I had a masters in library science. I said not yet. She then asked me if I had an education background. I said no. 

She said, "So it’s music then?" She didn’t give me a chance to respond. She flashed another smile and scooped up her child.

I was standing in a pile of foam letters from one of our storytime games, but I was speechless.  I have been thinking about our short conversation constantly.

I don't have any kind of official degree relating to my work.  Instead, my life is constant learning.  I think that's one of the greatest pleasures of my job.  The learning never ends.  

I major in enthusiasm, delight in the antics of children, and have a firm and unshakeable passion for being a part of a place where children can flourish and grow into themselves in a safe and nurturing environment.

One of my brothers shared a Mister Rogers snippet with me, and Mister Rogers says it best.

"I give an expression of care every day to each child."  

This is what we do at the library.  

Here I am going on and on again, giving all my thoughts to the white space like kids tossing foam letters onto the parachute.  😆

• I was a total zombie during lunch but glad I had my cozy car to hide away in until I became human again.  So thrilled to have my nap bag with my blanket and pillow.  

• A really easy and peaceful afternoon just getting my sh@# together. 

• Took four tries to find a free court with a backboard, but it was (undisclosed park) for the win today. Never had to work so hard to work so hard. I started to play tennis in the chilly air and my body was confused. It thought the hard work (finding a court) was over and it was time for hot chocolate. Thank goodness for new sneaks and socks. They gave me just enough juice to zombie sloth my way through some drills (the joy of experiencing tread again). All the while James Herriot was pattering on about cows and diseases and good ol’ hypocritical Siegfried.   I'm in the middle of his second book, and it's such a comforting place to hide while I pretend to be fierce and create white space for the next day.

A little bit of everything

I have been very busy with SO many things - preparing for fall programming at the library, starting my third semester of my MLS degree, a couple of all-consuming art projects, soaking up all the hot, evil weather I can before it turns, and working on compiling a chapbook.  

Here are a few special moments I don't want to let slip through the cracks.

First, I am behind on my thank-yous!  Thank you to Loch Raven Review for publishing Just as I Begin, Willows Wept Review for publishing Panorama, and The Phoenix for publishing Grandma's Kitchen and My Apology.  I have mentioned two of these journals prior to this post, but since then I have received physical copies, which is always so exciting.  This issue of Loch Raven Review will take a year for me to read it, but I am excited to dive in.  You can find it here.  You can find the issue of Willows Wept Review I am in here.

One last thing about this picture.  I look so much like my brother, Scott in this picture!  How cool is that?  Does anyone else get super excited when you see people you love the most in pictures of yourself?  It never gets old.

I told Robert I wanted to make a caterpillar that helped guide kids and their caregivers through storytime.  The face segment is the hello song and the last blue segment is the goodbye song (I've been calling it the bye-bye butt, but not in front of kids!).  In-between the hello and goodbye segments are three options and multiple copies of each - song, activity or book.  Not shown in this picture is the arrow, which will show patrons where we are at during storytimes.   Because storytimes are a little different each time, I'll be able to change up my caterpillar for each storytime.  Originally, my plan was to make laminated segments.  

Robert and our friend, Josh took it to a whole new level and made the segments on a 3D printer!

Tomorrow I give my first ever outreach storytime at a nearby day school.  I am both excited and terrified.  I have no idea what the space looks like and only a vague idea of how many sessions and the different age groups.  It will be a lesson in going with the flow for me!  I packed my traveling storytime bag (and my caterpillar just in case there's a whiteboard big enough).  It will be the first storytime of the season.  My library starts storytimes back up again next week, so I've been thinking about this outreach storytime like a really crazy practice run.

I have been meeting with the same poetry friends for almost ten years now!  I just realized this the last time we met, which is now virtually, so I captured a picture of us.  Four out of the seven of us who meet have been meeting for almost ten years, and one of our original four is in her nineties and writes exceptional poetry.  We transitioned to meeting virtually during the pandemic and have stayed virtual because three people in our group do not live in Kansas City!  Though my life can be crazy busy sometimes, I always look forward to sitting down and talking poetry with this special group of friends.

Margo has been sleeping with her tongue out recently.  It is the cutest thing.

Robert and I recently tried out Swimply and rented someone's pool who allowed dogs.  Margo and Josie mostly enjoyed Robert carrying them around on the raft.

A few more pictures of the girls in all their cuteness.

Margo doesn't even need to sleep in our bed to steal all the covers.  

I love coming up the stairs and seeing this.  It never gets old.  Her lovely face hanging over the steps.

The Devil Went Down to the Giraffe Farm

I have been quiet because I've been sick.  Oh joy oh rapture another sinus infection.  I was lucky this time and managed to not have anything leading up to it (strep, flu, etc.).  I'm not really sure how that works.  I had a day of bad mood (thankfully not a work day) and a day of sniffles and fatigue (I'm assuming allergies).  I was still productive on those days and enjoyed life (bad mood be damned).  So I only lost 3 days to a sinus infection, melancholy, and sleep.  

I've been feeling gross but alive again.  A dangerous combination, especially for facilitating storytimes. Actually, perfect for storytimes, because no one cares that I'm a little snotty, and there's no better way to come back to life than surrounding yourself with a crowd (huddle? parade? gaggle?) of squealing, laughing, singing, and sometimes screaming children.  

My first day back to work and I did three storytimes.  That tells you how much happiness there must be in storytimes.  Enough to buoy a mucus-ravaged soul bleary from three days of nothing but sleep and HGTV.  

Storytime Highlights (AKA the only way you'll figure out the meaning of my NyQuil-induced title):

* My first storytime opened with some squabbling brothers, whose grown-up herded them out the door at least once.  Their grown-up was a rockstar.  The twins were wild things and maybe needed some time away from each other.  But I remember how much I fought with one of my brothers and also how much I adored him and wanted to be with him every second of the day.  Love and togetherness and also being a toddler is tough!

But, I was able to engage with them a few times, and each time it was a beautiful thing.

* One of my storytime regulars handed me a little drawing before storytime.  Just sharing some gushiness to warm your heart.  

* I did a really silly song about sharing that I found at Jen in the Library, and it was a hit!  I saved sharing a wig with a pig for last, and it got laughs in each storytime.  I only make a couple new magnetic board activities each season, because I now have so many, and I also like to give them the time and attention they deserve.  This was a new magnetic board activity for me, and it's coming back soon.

* We only had time for two books in each storytime.  The books were both a little on the long and preachy side, so I wasn't sure how that was going to work out.  But everyone loved both books.  They really connected with Llama Llama Time to Share, which is about Llama Llama sharing with a new friend, Nelly the Gnu (an anthropomorphized wildebeest as I discovered on the always enlightening Wikipedia). And we had some excellent discussions about emotions and body language.

* I had an older kid in my second storytime, so I asked him to be my helper.  The first time I asked him for help, another kid hopped up and made it very clear that he was a helper too.  I don't always remember to ask the older kids to help, but today was a good reminder that we all like to be asked to help.  And many hands make less work for all!  Plus, cuteness!

* At the end of my first storytime a grown-up and her child approached me, and with some encouragement, the child "requested" that we do shaker eggs the next time.  I made a note of his name and told myself that no matter what, if a child shows up with that name, we're doing shaker eggs.  It's such a big deal to voice our wants and needs to anyone, let alone a loud storytime lady.  I hope I can remember!

* So yea, eggs.  The first two storytimes were all about the parachute.  In the third storytime we had two babies.  One baby made the most beautiful spit bubbles during our goodbye song.  We had just started singing it, and there the baby went with all her spit bubbles and raspberries, so we paused and maybe encouraged her some.  

* The third storytime was when the best moment of the day happened (in my humble, loud storytime lady opinion).  We had some extra time so I asked if they wanted to read a book or sing a song.  They voted for a song, and I asked what song they wanted to sing.  A child shouted, "The Devil Went Down to Georgia!"

I kid you not!!  As you can see I still have a job, so clearly (and sadly) we sang something else.  When I asked for another suggestion I was temporarily relieved when someone suggested Old MacDonald Had a Farm. Humble, loud, and foolish. A winning trifecta here.  

When I asked what animal we should sing about first, the same child who suggested the first song, shouted, "giraffe!" 

He did so gleefully too, I might add.

So what's the key to a darn-near perfect storytime? 

Is it llamas and gnus that really get you?  Having the record for the most Patrick Mahomes jerseys in one storytime? (Five alone in the first storytime btw.) Inappropriate song suggestions? A spit bubble encore? Or singing about giraffe farms?

their suspicions were confirmed muahahahaha

Last week's storytimes were a success! I took a couple days off work, so when I looked back at my storytime notes to jog my memory, I was surprised to see only one thing.  After my storytime the librarian at the desk (who is a little older than me) was helping a patron she clearly knew.  As I listened to their interaction I was flabbergasted to learn the patron was her second grade teacher!  Isn't that the best thing ever?  

As you can see the best thing about storytime wasn't actually storytime. 😂

Looks like I needed to write a few more notes!   

My first traveling storytime went very well.  I was a little concerned about doing a storytime in the play area because of distractions and having my stuff on their level.  I kept everything contained in my bag, with the exception of my ukulele, which was on a stand, and there was only one grab for the ukulele.  That's it!  All of the furniture had wheels, so it took only seconds to set up the space.  About halfway through a few kids did wander off to explore things in the play area, but I feel good any time I can hold their attention, even if it's just for a book or song.  I just didn't want all the toddlers conspiring together and toddling off in revolt when I hit my first perfectly-off key note.

I don't use puppets every week, so last week was a little special.  About half the kids at the first storytime looked at me like I was crazy.  To be fair, I was not their usual storytime lady, so I had some puzzled looks for most of storytime as the group tried to size me up.

When I brought out the puppets, their suspicions were confirmed muahahahaha.

Half the group, however, were appropriately spellbound by my puppet friends.  A couple grownups had a nice chuckle listening to me caw to the melody of The Wheels on the Bus.  I practiced I swear!  So much so that Robert was considering a separation.  There's really no pleasing way to caw and sing at the same time though - the crows in the tree go CAW CAW CAW CAW CAW CAW CAW CAW CAW all day long.  You give it a try and see if you don't burst out laughing halfway through.

During my regular storytimes at my home branch I had a much better reaction to the puppets.  It felt like my crowd was thinking, "It took you long enough! We knew you had puppets somewhere!" 

I messed up a little on the ukulele at the branch I travelled to.  I was weirdly nervous, and there were a couple times the ukulele kept going even though my voice stopped or I kept singing even though my ukulele stopped. Each time it happened I just feigned puzzlement.  No idea why the ukulele stopped working folks.  No idea why I'm not still singing.

It's a wonder I can put one foot in front of the other some days.

One of my books was received so well I think it deserves a nod.  It's called, Knight Owl.  Check it out if you are in the mood to make a lot of whoosh and whoooo sounds.

Here is my traveling storytime bag.  I was too excited to make any kind of reasonable or normal face.  

Here is a peek at all the cool pockets in the bag.  

Gushy Storytime Joy

My second week of storytimes went really well!  I was having an awkward day and I was a little bumbly and wordy, but I don't think anyone noticed.  I also think it was a universally awkward and bumbly day.  

In my first storytime I had a toddler who just wasn't having it.  He kept hiding behind me and underneath my a-frame Magnetic board rolly cart (with wheels that locked).  He was also a shrieker who let out random piercing shrieks every now and then.  His grown-up was giving 110%, and the other kids were very much engaged in the storytime. So we carried on.   

My current storytime plan is still holding strong, and I'm just so stinkin' thrilled.  I am officially giving a more organic storytime, riding the waves, and changing things up when needed.  This approach has allowed me to be more present, engaged, and relaxed.  I'm proud of where I'm at in my storytime journey.

Favorite moments:

• Thanks to Robert, I went rogue.  I am all about following rules, but we've had a rush of patrons this season, and we've had to turn patrons away for our storytimes these first two weeks.  Currently we give two back-to-back storytimes at my branch.  It's the same storytime, but because we cap our storytimes at 24, it gives patrons two opportunities to make it.  I told Robert about the issue of turning patrons away, and he suggested a third storytime if there were people we turned away for the second storytime.  Because I try not to plan anything after storytimes, this was a surprisingly simple solution I didn't think of.  I talked to our wonderful librarian who covers the desk during my storytime and she was all for it, even coming up with a hand gesture she could give me through the window so I knew to be ready for a third storytime.  I was full my first two storytimes and had 16 in my third storytime.  Our system worked beautifully and two kids from the earlier storytimes came too.  One family came to my first and third storytime, which I think says a lot about how wonderful our space is.  The little girl actually approached me after my first storytime on the first week of storytimes and asked me if she could come to the second.  We were full of course, and I had to turn her away, even though she did such a wonderful job asking me.  Her mom handled it beautifully, and they both came back this week and were able to come to two storytimes.  I also made sure to let the third storytime know that I couldn't do it every week.  

• Because I had a few returning kids in my third storytime, they were excellent helpers and leaders because they remembered some of the content.  The best moment happened after our two beginning songs.  I reached for the first book, and one of the returning kids squealed when she saw it.  She was so excited to hear it again.  

• When we sang the song about waking up our ears, noses, etc. one child suggested our bottoms.  And then he didn't dance with me.  So I called him out on it.  And I got a little giggle.  We also woke up our bellies and cheeks, which was hilarious, because both are squishy and not really their own thing like arms or legs.  How do you wiggle your cheeks?  We had a good laugh trying.  I almost feel like I need a tool belt that has bottles of hand sanitizer and hand wipes, but I'm not sure about the optics of this.  

• We sang our second book, Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See.  The first crowd sang it loudly and beautifully with me, and that's a moment I'll carry for awhile.  

• There was a dad in the third storytime who began the storytime playing on his phone.  By the end of the storytime he was singing Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes louder than anyone in the room.  

Between all three storytimes, we read all three books and did every song and activity, including my back-up material.  It's nice to see all that planning and practicing really get some use.  Any time I have less than 30 minutes but more than 15 minutes I pick up a storytime book or my ukulele.  I've come to appreciate this time, and it's been a surprisingly good way to reset between larger things going on during the day.  And I get to see this effort and peace (and sometimes moments of hilarity when I'm learning something new) reflected back to me each week. I'm a part of other people's joy, and they are a big part of my joy.  

Next week is my first week giving storytimes at two branches, my home branch and a smaller branch that's actually closer to my home.  One of our beloved youth librarians moved away, leaving a vacant storytime position no one can ever fill.  But I am looking forward to a completely different storytime crowd, plus I will be giving the storytime in the play area rather than a conference/meeting room.  Will my ukulele and I get kicked out for being too loud?!?

I am also bringing out some puppet friends this week. I've been practicing with them and also came up with a cute way to transfer the puppets between branches.  One of the differences between doing a storytime in a room versus a play area is that I won't have a lot of places to put all of my gear.  So I've been figuring all that out.  There may be pictures with next week's storytime post if all goes to plan.  Heck, even if it's a disaster I will probably share too, because I find disasters irresistibly funny sometimes. Especially when they involve puppets.  

an awkwardness fueled by inspiration and enthusiasm

This week has been bananas, and I'm taking some much-needed time to pause and reflect today.  

We've been making arrangements for Robert's grandma, Carolyne, which has been tough, but I also think it's been cathartic for Robert and his mom, Audrey.  We've had some family time with extended family, which has been nice.  Heck, we even played Apples to Apples last night, which Robert and I haven't done in years.  Games that involve more than two people have completely gone out the window since the pandemic.  

It was also one of the craziest work weeks I've had in a long time.  Though I tried to schedule booktalks at a local middle school during a different week, it just couldn't happen due to scheduling.

So that's how I started the week.  I thought they went really well.  We had some engaged kids and two of the five classes were super into reading for personal pleasure.  The teacher also did something really cool that I haven't seen at booktalks before.  She gave each class some time at the end of our presentation to come up and look at the books we brought and ask questions.  As an introvert, I totally respected this and saw more kids write down titles at the end than they did during the booktalk.  I've been wondering if there's a way to incorporate this idea into future booktalks.

There were also moments when I recognized my own awkwardness and saw that the kids noticed it too.  The teacher also brought out a microphone, which was a first for me.  I thought I was projecting enough and though I'm in my thirties, I felt some embarrassment when she asked us to use it.

I have really good days where I feel connected to the world, and I have days where I awkwardly stumble through my interactions.  Whether it's a good day or an awkward day, 90% of the time I am wholeheartedly enthusiastic.  When I told Robert the booktalks went really well, but I was also struggling with the awkwardness and felt embarrassment about the microphone, he said something that has really stuck with me.  He said, "Don't undervalue your enthusiasm."  

I am not one for pep talks in the mirror, but anytime I felt inferior or I wasn't the best person for whatever task/program I was doing this past week, I thought about what Robert said.  And it helped me fluff up just enough to keep going, even when my voice was stuck in my throat or I was (enthusiastically) singing the wrong lyrics to a new storytime song.

And my life isn't about focusing on my moments of blunder.  Really, if I take a breath and pause, I can usually remind myself why I'm here, which is to observe and soak up the beauty of others.  And the reminders were everywhere this week!

I can't tell you how many times I've been inspired this week, but it's completely overwhelmed me a few times.  

This past week was also our first week for winter/spring programming.  We took a three-week break over the holidays.  This week was my first winter/spring storytime and my first ever in-person book club, which was a tween book club.  Bananas!

As always, the first storytimes had a lot of ups and downs.  Though it was only a three-week break, it gave me an opportunity to reevaluate my storytime plan, and I made a few changes.  I practiced those changes any time I had 15 minutes to spare (and even gave up some of my precious reading time), and I still made a couple mistakes.  That was tough for me, but the mistakes were small and patrons were still ecstatic and having a great time.  The good news is that the plan worked.  Unlike most past storytime plans, I won't be making any changes for next week.  I nailed it.  I love it when hard work pays off and I've also been observant enough to figure out what kind of hard work I need to embrace.

Here is my plan with the things I changed since last season highlighted.  If anyone wants specifics, just let me know.  

Hello song: Good morning to you (to the tune of Happy Birthday).  It's different than fall, but just as easy, and there's still an option to sing names if kids want to.   

Wake Up song. This is a quick song to sing about waking up different parts of ourselves without getting too crazy, and kids can help me pick out what we wake up (hands, feet, etc.).

Book #1

Fun but not-too-crazy activity relating to our book theme each week.

Quieting Down Meditation (only if the activity ended up being crazier than I realized) 

Book #2 

Shaker Eggs/Scarves or the Parachute (if there aren't any babies on the floor or older patrons who've worked hard to get comfortable or are sitting in a chair)

Two Songs with Shaker Eggs/Scarves/Parachute

Quiet Song 

Book #3 (if we have time)

Goodbye Rhyme Magnetic Board Activity (if it's not too crazy and I have older kids who can be helpers)

Goodbye Song: The Goodbye Train is Leaving (to the tune of She'll Be Coming Around the Mountain). This will be a hit once we get it down.

Stamps (I forgot to do stamps after my first session, and it's surprisingly one of the best ways to engage with patrons) 

I also had a parent who took what I said a couple times during storytime and said it in a better way to her toddler.  I learn something new every day at work, and sometimes the things I learn impact others even more than myself.  For example, when I asked the kids to cross their arms and hold the parachute, this parent said, "crisscross."  Simple!  Obvious!  Wonderful!  Another time, when I asked the kids to gently toss their balls onto the parachute, the same parent told her toddler to "roll the ball onto the parachute."  Oh man, was I taking notes!  After storytime, I asked myself, "how do you still not know all these things?!?"  And then I remembered what Robert said about undervaluing my enthusiasm, and I felt comforted by that.

I also had my first tween book club this past week!  It was on the day of the first long and inspirational selection meeting for the library's teen literary magazine.  The meeting was a little long for me, but not for the teen editors who are the decision makers for the magazine, from everything to the content that goes into the magazine to how the magazine looks.

This is my first year on this committee, so I am definitely getting more out of it than I am contributing to it.  The teen editors for the magazine are thoughtful, articulate, and passionate about their roles.  They looked through the first two hundred submissions and plucked out the first 20ish acceptances.  We have another meeting where they will pluck out another 30 or so from 200-300 submissions.  It's incredible to watch them present a poem they think should go into the magazine, explain why, and listen to the comments from other editors.

What the heck was I doing during this meeting?  Inexpertly helping with the Submittable side of things along with three seasoned staff members who have been very patient with me while I learn Submittable and all the ins and outs of providing support for the teens.  I left that meeting feeling so jazzed up about life and headed directly to tween book club.

And I was blown away again.  I had seven tweens, 9-12, and we started the first tween book club by talking about favorite books we wanted to share (rather than discussing a book).  I wasn't sure about this book tasting idea.  I thought for sure I was going to be the only one talking the whole time, but I was so wrong!  These kids were so excited about reading and had much to share.  And they also had much to say about each other's books.  

When we started working on an acrostic poem activity with a favorite book title, they did not silently work on their own poems.  Oh no, not this talkative bunch.  They jumped in and helped each other out.  The only staff involvement on my part was making sure everyone was heard.  And surprisingly enough, they asked me questions too every now and then.  I'm always impressed when kids do this.  It's a skill that some adults I know struggle with.  But when they started talking about their pets, for example, they not only asked me about mine, but also what kind of dogs I have.  Amazing, right?  I'll admit it - I was nervous about this book group, mostly that no one would show up and if anyone did, they would be super quiet.  I'm thrilled I was wrong.  My plan for the tween book club was to have it divided up into a discussion and craft/activity to go along with the discussion.  I think these kids could spend the whole hour talking about books though!

Here is a picture of the books we talked about.  One of our teen volunteers helped me set up the room and run the first part of the book club.  She's a super shy teen volunteer, but she did a great job.  Eventually the kids took over the board where the teen volunteer was carefully writing down titles.  

So, crazy week, right?  Well, I have one more thing to throw at you.  I haven't said anything because of my fear of failure, but I started graduate school last week too.  Holy shit, right?  It doesn't officially start until next Wednesday, but I had an orientation and all my coursework dropped, which meant we could start working on it.  I haven't been in school in over ten years, and as much as I help patrons with their computer needs, I am sometimes hopeless with my own.

Thankfully, I chose to only take 5 credit hours this semester so I can ease back into the school mindset without drowning *crossing fingers*.  I don't have a focus, which is one of the reasons I chose the school where I'm getting my degree.  They don't require it.  My plan is to take whatever electives look interesting.  One of my electives this spring is time management (LOL 💩😂) .

I also don't have any plan to change my current job.  This may sound like a lack of ambition, but it's contentment.  I have crazy weeks, but I love the holy heck out of my work and life.  Kind of a weird but good time to toss something else onto the fire, huh?  If I get this degree, I will have options and we never know what paths our lives our going to take.

This morning I finished up my first assignment and submitted it.  It is also my day off, so I am pausing to reflect, and not let all the wonderful (though sometimes stressful) moments of the week pass me by.  Most of the beauty, as it so often happens for me, came from observing others in their moments of grace, composure, cleverness, and thoughtfulness.  Being in a position where the door to inspiration and beauty is always open is not something I ever take for granted.  

I race home to share it with Robert, and I also want to share it with the world and myself.  Especially on those awkward days where I'm enthusiastically bumbling my way through life.