worry ... why do i let myself worry?

seriously, i get so worried and anxious before storytimes. i literally sit at my desk hoping the kids don't show up. they actually didn't show up yesterday because of rain, and there was much rejoicing by me. but then they came in today and as soon as they come in i really enjoy spending time with them. what is my problem? these kids are adorable and they all are so excited to see me. so we had a pretty good storytime. i was able to phase out the craft this time (the crafts take so much prep time) and just do more songs and activities. so here's what we did:

1. i had my monkey puppet, cleverly named Monkey greet the children
2. I'm the Biggest Thing in the Ocean by Kevin Sherry (this is a new book that is about a giant squid suffering from hubris)

3. If You Give a Pig a Pancake by Laura Numeroff (an old favorite, who doesn't love a tap dancing, maple syrup loving, prima donna pig?)

4. then we had a stretch break and did a round of "If You're Happy and You Know it"

5. I Ain't Gonna Paint No More by Karen Beaumont (the kids hadn't heard this one and they really got a kick out of it this kid painting himself. although they didn't pick up on the joke in the rhyme scheme "i'm such a nut, i'm gonna paint my ... what?!" think about it ... what rhymes with nut?)

6. then we did Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed, but with this velcro glove thing that holds little plush monkeys on it. afterwards the kids said they preferred seeing the book version because the momma monkey jumps on the bed in the end. live and learn.

7. then i busted out an extra large copy of Wheels on the Bus and we sang it as i flipped the pages and the kids did the little hand motions that go with it.

8. Old Black Fly by Jim Aylesworth

9. then i took a little storytime risk ... i have this beautiful book of Puff the Magic Dragon that comes with a CD and i flipped the pages of the book as the CD was playing and i sang along. i was hoping the kids would sing along too, but it turns out they didn't know the song. even though they had assured me that they did know the song. anyway, it was very sweet at first but damned that is a surprisingly long song. i got bored halfway through. so i will never do that again.

but afterwards i gave them all their sparkly new library cards and gave a little speech about with great power comes great responsibility. and then they all hugged Monkey goodbye and left. overall, it was very good. i am already freaking out about what i will do with them when they return in two weeks.