it felt so good ... it felt so right

i sang silly songs ... and i liked it! there ... i said it ... i AM cute!

have i shocked you to the core, dear blog readers? that's right, monday i did back-to-back story times (one all ages and one "baby time") and i sang cutesy songs and not only did the kids enjoy it, but i too enjoyed it. (many of you may know that i do in fact have a lovely singing voice)

i sang a song about saying hello. i sang a song about shaking out wiggles (sans monkey puppet. i'm so sorry monkey, but it's over between us!). i sang songs about having your hands on your head and about old women swallowing insects and animals, and songs about going round and round, either in a ring-ed rosey or in a fictitious red wagon. my god, i was on fire.

here's how it all went down: i started my first story time and a little precocious girl interrogated me about where "the other teacher" was. i repeatedly assured her that i would be doing story time and that i would be just as good as the "other teacher" (we're librarians, damnit!) she was unmoved, and sat on the round carpet with her arms crossed. but she was soon won over by my charms and was doing my bidding! my bidding being making animals sounds at the proper times and shouting out the colors of the rainbow when need be.

now, i am all about the books my friends, so i am pushing way more books at these kids than the other children's librarian. but with the addition of the silly songs, the children were accepting this bibliophilic onslaught. one of the books i read to them was this new book called "the foggy foggy forest." it's SO cool. it has these opaque pages with black silhouettes and you have to guess what is going on in said foggy foggy forest, but it's never what you think it's going to be! typically you'll turn the page and see silly things like a fairy queen on a trampoline or an ogre doing yoga (not quite a rhyme but i'll let it slide ... this time.)

baby time went a little less smoothly, but pretty well considering i've never done a baby time and i kind of fear children under the age of 2 (seriously, how did i get into this racket? does anyone remember?) so we sang songs and did lap bounces. i had to mime having a baby, using a cat doll. the bolshevik had a field day with this information. anyhoo, it went okay until i realized that i was out of material and only 12 minutes had passed. so i just ended the program like i had intended it to be only 12 minutes long. then one mother called me out, asking "isn't this supposed to go until 11:30," she asked. apparently she was not satisfied only being entertained from 11 to 11:12. so i told her that unfortunately we moved through all the material "too quickly," you know, cause these babies are super advanced and shit. then i suggested she sit on the carpet and read some board books. so all the moms sat with the babies and read board books. that's lovely, right? way better than watching me pretend to bounce a fictitious baby on my lap while singing about horses riding into town, no?

so that's that my friends. i am now a baby time expert.