I’m craving sugar. Last night I mowed through a box of Japanese liquor chocolates that Al sent. Today, I’ve been raiding the circ desk’s gummi bear stash.
I was changing out the display in the case in the children’s room, and briefly pondered eating the crafts. I mean, they were airplanes made out of candy, but still. They were at least 5 months old (when my predecessor left).
I’m looking at them right now. Still looking.
I’ve been looking up rhymes, songs, and finger plays to do for storytime. I know a lot of Girl Scout camp songs which about girly things or death, primarily. I know I know nursery rhymes, but I feel rusty. I’ve been looking up books with lyrics, and that’s been helpful, but I find when we do them during storytime, the kids and parents know them better than I do. And apparently, the version on the video everyone ELSE had seen went a little different.
Rar.
I don’t want to spend my evenings watching kids videos over and over, to perfect my tune to match the Disney version. I suppose that kind of thing happens once you have children, listening to Raffi CDs in the car and whatnot, but I struggle with it now.
This is my desk at work. Today it has flowers on it. My parents sent an awesome plantgift, with flowers (my mom would often buy flowers for my birthday, because the dead of winter is a good time to have fresh flowers in the house) and potted plants, so I’ll have something that lives.
The crocus is from Juanita, the assistant director.
I brought doughnuts to work today. I had a Boston cream, which is suitable. I had a FANTASTIC lunch, complete with chocolate cheesecake with cherries (ooh, alliterative). Jason picked me up after work, and brought me home to …
This is one of my comfort foods. It’s called Italian soup, and Jason got the recipe from my mom so he coud make it for me. We both ate way too much, and I took this picture AFTER we had eaten. The rest is in freezer bags. I have a feeling we’ll have more cold weather, and this will be perfect.
After dinner, we went to see The Queen. I highly enjoyed the movie. I have a tiny bit of Anglophile in me, and I took full appreciation for the perspectives of the royal family and of the prime minister.
I’m exhausted from being a birthday princess, so I will now go to bed.
In reality, I’m 28. It’s great. I’ll celebrate with my mate tonight at … six.
I got a birthday pigeon from Anarchy Ann:
I also got flowers from family and friends, cards, emails, e-card, and a tight-lipped beau who’s picking me up from work tonight. I’ll post more later after I finish my day of birth celebration.
Mom, Dad, feel free to post a comment with my birthday story. You know, how you almost named me Abigayle, and you saw Superman, and you thought Dad was driving over the rail road tracks too fast, but it turns out you were in labor, and there was a blizzard, and I was the first laboye? baby born at Dewitt Hospital and I was cute and fat. That stuff. Talk about that stuff.
Yesterday I was hanging out in the children’s section after storytime with the kiddoos. A small patron asked if I’d read her a story. She had pulled a volume of a phonics set, so we read a book about the letter V. At the end, there was a full-page spread of illustrations. Every item started with V, so we started naming them. Violin, flowers (no, violets), vegetables, etc. I asked for some more V words. This tiny patron thought for a second and said in a clear, high voice, “vagina.”
Voila.
Storytime yesterday was only about 20 minutes (before free play), and I’ve been trying to figure out a way to fill the full 45 minutes without totally losing the kids’ interest. They’re mostly under three, so it’s a bit hard. Then again, I’ve been avoiding repeating song and rhymes, but tikes crave repetition, so I should be able to pad with that.
Anyway, I decided even though it’s a full week till Valentine’s Day, I’d do a V-day theme. I’ve always loved Valentine’s Day (despite the blatant commercialism) because TODAY IS MY BIRTHDAY (and will get it’s own post later tonight) and I loved dressing thematically.
So, here’s the program: (I gave the kids Valentine’s stickers – ones big enough that they couldn’t quite swallow them in one bite)
1. I’m a Little Valentine (to the tune of “I’m a Little Teapot”)
I’m a little valentine,
Red and white,
With ribbons and lace
I’m a beautiful sight.
I can say, “I love you,”
On Valentine’s Day.
Just put me in an envelope
And give me away!
2. Things I Love – you raise your hand if I name something you love, like he color green, petting kittens, eating ice cream.
3. The Hokey Pokey
4. Valentine Mice!, by Bethany Roberts (Author), Doug Cushman (Illustrator)
5. The Aardvark Song (I sang this to them, because it’s long and random enough to be difficult to teach to those who don’t know their address yet)
There is a large, dark aardvark in the park
They say he’s missing from the zoo
The police are searching high and low
But they cannot find them, can you? Peek-a-boo!
Why did the go? Oh, I’ll tell you the reason!
‘Cause it’s aardvark mating season!
So if two aardvarks have a date
Then they will slip right through those old zoo gates
So if you see two aardvarks necking in the park,
Do not break an aardvark’s heart!
Do not be a spy, you’re not the FBI,
Do not break and aardvark’s heart!
6. Skinnamarink – you know you know it.
7. Reprise of “I’m a Little Valentine”
8. Free play
Wadsbone, of all people, alerted me to this:
World Wide Knit In Public Day
Saturday, June 9. You get together with other knitters at a restaurant, cafe, mall, park, or whale museum, and knit. KIP stands for Knit In Public, and ‘to kip’ is a verb.
There isn’t a New Bedford or Fairhaven site yet, so I’m going to ask the folks at the UU knit tonight if they’d be down. I wonder where the best place should be. Hmmm. Oh, yes. Whaling museum. I don’t care if it’s not technically public.
I just had my first nice big storytime. All of them so far have been only one or two kids, so it was a big surprise when I had ELEVEN kids and seven parents. They ranged in ages from six months to four years (the storytime age is 1-3, but siblings come along) and although it was not a perfect storytime, it was damned good. If I do say. (But not in front of the children.)
The two main things I noticed the crowd doesn’t know my rhythm yet, so I tried to keep a steady pace, and announce what we’d be doing as we went. The other thing is that there was some lost concentration. That’s not surprising with the toddler crowd, but I didn’t recognize until we were in the middle of a story, and there were still about half the kids paying rapt attention, so I decided to finish the story out. The key is to switch up the plan if what you’re doing isn’t getting their attention, but with such a big age range, it was hard. I’m lucky in that the parents did a good job of trying to get their kids back in the zone. It’s not always possible, but I think you can only ask for so much from someone who can’t tell the difference between their shoes.
Here’s today’s lineup for bunny themed storytime:
*Frank discussion of what bunnies do (i.e. hop, wiggle their noses, move their ears, sit on their fluffy tails)
*Hickory Dickory Dock (regular speed, slow, fast)
*Row Row Row Your Boat
*Story: Carrot Soup by John Segal
*Patty Cake
*Row Row Row Your Boat
*Story: Five for a Little One by Chris Raschka
*Ring Around the Rosie
*Free play (wheeled out the basket of toys, and tried to keep chaos from erupting forth, spewing drool)
Jason’s out of town this weekend, and if there’s something I’ve learned about myself, it’s that if left to my own devices, I use those devices to make radical alterations to myself. You should be glad I’m not freshly tattood.
Click on thumbnails to see larger images. Plus there’s more on Flickr.
I only left the house today to go get hair dye. It’s a good thing I have work tomorrow, or I may never move.
I work every other Saturday, so I get an alternating Thursday and Monday off. I made a schedule for myself, and followed it diligently.
Sleep in.
Read until 1 p.m. or book is finished.*
Look up double brioche stitch, or something that will make a more interesting brim for a hat.
Set up local bank account.
Eat at No Problemo
Knit and watch TV all night.
The banking research had already been done, and in fact, we had such a positive experience I was looking forward to going back. Unfortunately, our account-signer-upper person rubbed me the wrong way. She referred to New Bedford as a big city, implying that it was scary. When we expressed no preference for who’s name should go first on the checks, Jason handed her our IDs face down, so she could randomly pick. She said, “Well, the man’s name usually goes first.” I turned to Wads with a look of horror, then said to her “I think that makes me want to do the opposite.” She did not hear me, or chose to ignore. Whatever. Wads’ name is first ironically.
Wadsbone and I found No Problemo as we searched out the potential neat places near our apartment. The menu is kind of like Chicago’s Picante – fresh and not too greasy. The fundamental difference, we found out, is that it’s run by white skater boys. And they have no horchata. And they close at 8. It’s good enough to go back to, but I still miss Picante.
I discovered something else exciting tonight. While looking for an elusive brioche stitch, I came across MagKnit’s Malagaiter. This will replace the hat I was about to knit. MagKnits is also responsible for the sweater I knit for Antron.
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THEN, E pointed me to this mittem idea for transit cards.
And E told me she’s wearing the arm warmers I made her last winter. I’m so full of knitting love that I may try to tackle the pattern problem I’m having on the sweater I’m nearly finished with.
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* Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency, by Douglas Adams. Not part of the Hitchhiker series, I can now understand why Adams’ fans are so peculiar. I really enjoyed the novel, but it messes up my sense of humor in a way that makes me unable to hang out with people who think Everybody Loves Raymond is funny, and I pride myself on my ability to cross clique lines unnoticed.