We made it to the library and back this morning, and the whole endeavor literally felt like climbing Everest. The parking within a 3 block radius of the library costs money, so we park 3 blocks away. I literally am not going to spend $2 in order to go to the public library. What is the good of living in a socialistcommunistfhsldhfjsldflsdkfh city if you have to PAY to go the library, I ask you? Where is all our tax money going, if not to allow mothers of two children to park adjacent to the public library for free? (Oh wait, I forgot.) But I digress. (I know I both over- and misused the word ‘literally’ in this paragraph, but I just needed to get it out.)
(Also, if you’re thinking, “What’s the big deal about parking 3 blocks away? Walking 3 blocks is so easy, I do that all the time.” What you don’t realize is that the simplest thing, with two small children added into the mix, instantly becomes the hardest thing of all time. Like I’m not trying to sound like a really bitter, angry person, but walking 3 blocks with a toddler while carrying 15 pounds of library books while pushing a stroller while carrying a screaming baby while having tonsillitis is a whole other thing than just walking 3 blocks. (And yes, I should have put the toddler in the stroller, yes, I should have. It would made the whole procedure much easier, but the precious child wanted to walk and hold my hand and look at leaves, and it was a sweet autumnal sort of moment, and I loved it and it was beautiful. But it was also a very laborious and challenging 3 blocks to walk.))
And then today there was a whole thing with finding a parking space, dealing with an Angry Northerner (sorry, people from the north, but seriously), parking in front of a fire hydrant and the Angry Northerner angrily telling me I’d get a ticket if I parked there, etc., and then (since both kids were already out of the car and Margaret was strapped to me in her baby carrier by the time the A. N. told me about the fire hydrant and the ticket) I shuffled Will onto the front seat and drove (with Margaret in the Ergo) into another spot in front of us. It was all of 10 feet, but I probably could have been thrown into prison for not having the kids in their car seats, and if someone had arrested me in that moment, I would have said, Thank you Jesus, I will happily go to jail and live there forever and you, Officer, can deal with getting both these children back in their carseats. And then you tell me you wouldn’t break the law egregiously just to not have to put them both in carseats one extra time.
So anyway, we made it to the library. And we got some books about castles and a lovely book called Bluebird that has the prettiest pictures I ever saw and I got some decorating books and Mitten Strings for God, which sounds like it will be hopelessly sappy but it’s supposed to be “reflections for moms in a hurry,” so if it can offer any small amount of wisdom about slowing down and taking deep breaths in the midst of these crazy days it’ll be worth it. (Has anyone read this one? Any thoughts?)
And then we made it home from the library. We actually did. There were points of hysterical screaming and crying from both the children, and I shed a few tears as well. It’s literally like going into battle and barely making it out alive, going to the library. But then we come home and we are victorious and Will pulls out a book from our bag and then this:
And it’s so very worth it.
We got:
Mitten Strings for God Katrina Kennison
The Perfectly Imperfect Home Deborah Needleman
Domino: The Book of Decorating
Bluebird Lindsey Yankey
Castle David Macauley (a Caldecott Honor book– gorgeous illustrations! John said he read this one when he was little!)
Good Night Yoga: A Pose by Pose bedtime Story Mariam Gates
Knights and Castles: Exploring History Through Art Alex Martin (learning about medieval life through actual medieval art? Yes please. Bayeaux Tapestry, etc!!!!)
Tending the Garden 