Storytime Drama

Yes, my life has been reduced to finding drama at Preschool Storytime hosted by the local public library.

Pathetic I know…but a decent blog post I reckon.

Yes, I just said reckon.

Just sounded right.

So today was Henry’s first day of Storytime.

Parents aren’t allowed in the story room, but they have to stay close in case your kid cries or misbehaves.

I get it.  No worries.

I have no interest in listening to Mother Goose anyway.

So I set the girls up with some puzzles and commenced texting with some friends.

Because apparently I’m 16 years old for as much as I text.

Evs.

A hispanic lady looked at me and asked “A boy and a girl?”

“No…two girls.”

Because I make it a habit to dress my boys in pink and sparkly shoes.

And then said hispanic lady starts talking to another lady in Spanish.

As if I didn’t understand every. single. word.

They weren’t really talking ish…but I still wanted to slap them.

What were they saying?

Just things like:

Oh, two girls!  The bigger one looks like a boy!  I thought it was a boy too! They are cute…but that one looks like a boy.

And then when I let Lucy out to walk around:

Oh look!  The big one walks!  She walks really well!  Why isn’t she taking the little blonde one out?  Maybe she can’t walk?  I wonder if she can’t walk?  No, she must not be able to walk yet.  She looks so little.  I wonder if she’s sick?  Yes, she looks sick.  There must be something wrong with her.

Oh. My.

The mama bear in me was about to rear its ugly head something fierce.

But I kept my cool.  I wasn’t going to make a scene.

I just kept my head down and texted some more.

Seeing red.

So I was already peeved when the librarian scolded me for taking pictures.

Of my son.

MY son.

Okay, she didn’t scold me…she was perfectly nice about it…

“No photography in the library please!”

WHAT THE…

Okay look, it’s not that big of a deal.

I was done anyway and I had gotten the pics I wanted.

Who cares, right?

But I have a really really REALLY hard time with stupid rules.

I get rules.

I’m fine with rules.

Just not stupid ones.

She didn’t say “No pictures during storytime…”

Even that I would get.  It’s distracting.  Fine.

(Although these were all taken before storytime even started.  We were just milling about waiting.)

NO PHOTOGRAPHY IN THE LIBRARY.

Excuse me?

Let me get this straight:

This is a government owned…tax payer funded…PUBLIC library…

and I can’t take a photo of my OWN child…with a super-quiet-the-flash-is-off-camera???!!!

Is someone going to now tell me I can’t take photos at the…

government owned, tax payer funded, public PARK???

Annoyed.

Fuming.

The inner rebel in me wanted to just start taking pictures of light sockets and electrical outlets until someone called security on me.

Because I just can.not understand the logic.

I know you guys probably think I’m being ridiculous.

It’s okay.

I’m not sure we’ll make it to next weeks’ storytime.

Not because of the photos or the stupid ladies…but after all was said and done, Henry didn’t seem to be in love with it.

And for as much work as it is to haul everyone out, load up, unload, double stroller, chase Lucy, listen to stupid people question your childrens’ development, and put up with stupid rules that make no sense…

if the kid isn’t jazzed about Preschool Storytime, I might just skip it altogether.

Rant over.

Thanks for listening to my pathetic life.

Hope you are having a nice day.

Kisses.

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jeannett
I'm a mom to four. A wife to one. I believe in story. I love telling you about mine and would love to hear yours. There's really no sense in wasting our suffering and not sharing in each other's joy. We're all in this together...even if it doesn't always feel like it.
jeannett
jeannett

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Comments

  1. 1

    you’re a better woman than i am. my younger brother has Vitiligo all over his body and i saw a grown woman look at him in the grocery store when we were both younger and i watched her make rude faces and comments about him. a. grown. woman. she made comments to her grown women friends and to their children.
    i turned and looked at her talking about my baby brother and said “Excuse me… mind your business or God may very well see fit that YOU are a perfect candidate for something humbling to happen to you, maybe ever your appearance.” she didn’t like that, but i sure did and so did Cody.

  2. 2

    Ohh I think I would have had to say something to those women, at least just a couple words in spanish so they knew you knew. I think they are all 3 adorable!

  3. 3
    Rachel Slagle says:

    you should have totally started talking to them in spanish – at least said something to them as you were leaving, like telling them to have a nice day or something that would have let them know that you knew what they were saying – maybe they would think twice next time they wanted to be rude.
    and seriously – the no photo rule is ridiculous. when i worked at the LM library we would totally take pictures all the time :) i could see if maybe you were trying to take a picture of the inside of a book or something – but of your kid – totally stupid rule!
    (and those ladies must be blind because your cute little girlies don’t look like boys!)

  4. 4

    Maybe it’s just me, but I was daydreaming you got ready to go, told the hispanic ladies a little something something in Spanish, and snap a pic of the storytime lady with full on flash. My bad, did I just say that?

    Course I’m Mexican and DON’T know Spanish and my aunts used to talk about me in Spanish. all. the. time. Guess, I’m a tad bitter.

  5. 5

    I would have flipped! Good for you for holding your tongue!

  6. 6

    Omg, that is hilarious/lame and I totally get your angst. Maybe if you’re going to load up the tots and go to all that effort, you should come to AG and walk w/Tracy and I (we walk 2 mornings a week) and we can have the kids play at the park or something. Snacks, Starbucks, and/or chocolate may or may not be consumed during said event.

  7. 7

    I CANNOT believe how rude those ladies were!! To assume you couldn’t understand them and then talk right in front of you? I am SO impressed you kept your cool, as I don’t think I would have been able to. No photos in the library? What a joke. I hope your day got better after that. :-)

  8. 8

    Wow! I totally would’ve told those ladies to stop being so rude, in Spanish. Besides the fact that we are in America- SPEAK English, I personally feel that it is truly inappropriate to be speaking a foreign language in such a setting, where others may feel (and would be RIGHT this time) that you are speaking about THEM! That is one of the reasons I hate nail salons, I hate sitting there as the ladies working all talk amongst themselves- like I don’t exist and its the social hour- in some other language…for me thats the most I have really experienced.
    And I so agree, stupid rules!! I am a stickler for following the rules, but when it comes to stupid ones I do get a little rebellious myself! :)
    Crystal´s last blog post ..Working with Jeff

  9. 9

    I hate stupid rules. My favorite stupid library rule was in PA where adults weren’t allowed to use the computers in the kid’s part of the library, even if it was to look up books for my own kids or to print educational resources to use for my children. NO. I had to go to the adult section (on a different floor), make a reservation to use a computer, wait 30 min and sit down next to a man watching graphic gangsta rap videos … with my 3 children. The reason for this lame rule? to protect the children from pervert adults that were using the computers in the kids section to watch lewd things. Wonder what their reasons are for no pictures in the library? I feel like making a trip to Santa Maria with a camera …

  10. 10

    LOVE IT!

    Oh how I hate stupid rules.

    Tell me the principle. I will apply the principle to my situation and be sure everything is cool.

    But, making up rule because one person did one stupid thing 10 years ago that caused another person to complain is… well… stupid!

    And you expressed it so well. Kisses right back at ya.
    Eyvonne´s last blog post ..I did not want to go

  11. 11

    Rules are rules, we adults understand that – but really – stupid rules are just, well, STUPID! Too bad we can’t tell our kids there ARE such thing as stupid rules….can you imagine if we did?

    And I would have TOTALLY said a “Bye, have a nice day” in Spanish on your way out – they would have been mortified, I’m sure.

    Personal question for you (and don’t feel the need to answer if you’d rather not) – do you have an “official” diagnosis of CP for Jill? I only ask because my doctor isn’t quick to hand that off quite yet. He keeps beating around the bush a little – he seems to be waiting for something and I don’t know what that something is. Apparently hypOtonia and cp just isn’t that common. I get that, but have you been told that there is one (or more) concrete thing(s) they have to have before being diagnosed? I’ve tried to research this stuff but there isn’t too much out there…that I’ve found, anyway.
    Lindsay´s last blog post ..PS22 Chorus

  12. 12

    i used to be an elementary teacher, so story time has never lived up to my expectations, and that makes me sad. recently discovering your blog, however, makes me happy! :)