Don’t Tempt The Kid
Posted By jayna on January 20, 2009
In a desperate attempt to not go completely insane from being cooped up in this house during our temporary (or seemingly endless) stay, I’ve been scouring the internet for any form of toddler entertainment I can get my hands on.
It’s incredibly weird to find out that none of the malls within an hour radius have a play place or soft play or whatever. Especially considering the fact that both malls in Savannah had kickin’ ones. What sense does that make, that the place where it’s flip flop weather year round has more indoor play options than the entire Northeastern Ohio area?
We discovered that the next town over, the growing suburb filled with doctors, lawyers and other mildly wealthy individuals offers a ton of resources. The rec center is free for military, so we’ve been taking complete advantage of that before our IDs expire. Babysitting services, top notch machines, a kick-ass pool . . . I’m going to cry on the 31st when I actually have to pay the day charge to get in.
The next option I found was across the street, at the library. Yes, the library. That can only mean one thing – story time.
Major apprehension was going on this morning before I braved it with the kid.
After a brief meltdown in relation to actually putting clothes on before we went somewhere, E and I headed out. We got to the library and walked in, following the mild screeching that was a sure sign toddlers were around. Jackets were tossed about, name tags were written and everyone was herded into the story room. Everything was going smoothly, parents dragging their toddlers into a semi circle, and then the story teller came into the room.
She had three stuffed cats.
And we all know that cats are just about tops on E’s list of favorite things.
The lady walked around the circle, encouraging the kids to all pet the cats. Miss E, of course, reached out and snatched one right out of her hands and had that thing in a full body hug within seconds.
Leave it to a damn stuffed cat to make me start sweating about the coming meltdown.
We got the thing pried out of her hands, and story time began. With the three cats sitting at the story teller’s feet, directly across from out spot on the floor. And man, oh man, did E want those cats. All the dancing and clapping and bell shaking and hokey pokey spinning between stories did nothing to take her attention away from them. Two stories and five dancing songs later, and all the kids got to go up and get a stamp on their hands. E seized the moment, snatching two of the un-guarded stuffies. Snuggling each of them, she walked up to get her stamp, happy as could be.
And then the story teller told her to put the kitties back because they weren’t hers.
All I know is that the great purse Gods were smiling down on me, because smushed down under water bottles, diapers and blankies, was an itty bitty stuffed cat of our own.
A damn good thing, because I doubt we would have been allowed back in the library had it not been for the bait and switch I pulled on the kid.
haha – Lyd is that way with baby dolls.
Our youngest is like that with remote controls. Yep, it's a boy thing. Glad you made it out of there with no meltdowns!