My favorite use of tax dollars

I walked to the library this morning with the kids (hooray for the Ergo! It's so much easier to deal with than the double stroller, and Cupcake likes it much better). We signed up for the summer reading program. I did it last year with D.L.F., and it was a lot of fun. For every 15 minutes (or whatever parents decide for their own children) of reading, you mark one space on the path of the child's game board (like Candy Land). There are several check-in points, where you take the gameboard back to the library and pick out a prize. When all the spaces are filled, the child gets to choose either a T-shirt or a gift certificate to a book store. I remember doing summer reading programs when I was a kid, and they were fun, but all we ever got were stickers to cover the spaces on the game board. I was always jealous of my friends who lived within city limits and got to participate in the city's summer reading program that had actual prizes. :-) I'm over it now.

Anyhow, we also unintentionally showed up just in time for storytime. We had never attended storytime before at this library, and D.L.F. had a great time. The librarian read books, sang songs, did fingerplays, blew bubbles, and handed out shakers for the kids to dance around with. The funniest part to me was when all the kids joined hands and walked around in a circle and sang "Ring Around the Rosie." D.L.F. sort of just stood there and allowed himself to be pulled along, but he didn't get that he was supposed to pick up his feet and go around in a circle. It was cute. :-) Cupcake seemed to enjoy watching all the big kids (it was a multi-age storytime for kids 0-6) . Pretty soon she'll be right in there with them!