Books and Boas

Today was the Book Parade at school. Each child was encouraged to dress up like their favorite book character, and parents were invited to line the halls of the school and cheer them on. I couldn't go last year, because I was working. Now that I am semi-employed I was able to go!

Grant is a big fan of those "Diary of a Wimpy Kid" books, so he dressed up as the wimpy kid (not much of a costume, but easy.) Spencer's whole class was supporting the book "If You Give a Pig a Party," so they all dressed like pigs. We were hunting around this morning (because everything in my house is last minute) for a pink shirt for Spencer and white shoes for Grant, when Mia insisted on dressing up as well. Her favorite books right now are the Fancy Nancy books, about a little girl who likes to "kick things up a notch" and adorn her world with lace and feathers and glitter. Mia threw on a princess dress and a boa and was good to go.

It was so neat to be able to go to the book fair. I felt like a good, responsible parent. One that cared enough about their child to a support their education and build their self-esteem. Last year, I completely forgot about Spencer's Christmas program. I had gotten caught up in some project at the radio station and missed it. He was hurt. I was devastated. These are once-in-a-lifetime opportunities that I have the good fortune (if not actual cash) to be able to capture now.

The kids paraded past in their costumes holding up copies of their favorite books. Lots of Fancy Nancys. Lots of Harry Potters. A Darth Vader. A spy and a couple of kids big into war books decked out in camo. They were so excited to be on parade and to be a part of something fun. They almost forgot that what they were doing was educational, to promote a love of reading.

I decided to further the cause after the parade by taking Mia to the library. The Lincoln Public Library is a mom-on-a-budget's best friend: 1) You can get the kids out of the house for an hour and stop the constant squabbling and ever worsening cabin fever. 2) They can choose books to expand their minds and increase their intelligence and 3) It's free.

Except for our family. We owe the library so much money, its embarrassing. And yes, it is all my fault. We checked out a book a couple of months ago that had an accompanying cd which I did not know about. Of course the cd got out of the book and now is lost with all of the other important expensive things we can never find (glasses, remotes, scotch tape, scissors). That one cost us $18.00.

Mia opened up her own own library account and we used her card the last time we checked out books. These we just returned, a week late. I never can remember when books are due back. When you check out books now, they give you a receipt listing every book you check out and when they need to be returned. I lose the receipt before we even get back to the house. I miss the old days when the librarians stamped the card that was nestled o-so-snuggly in the front of the book. You could see right there in the book when it was due back. Now I just have to guess and pay the fee, $5.00 this time.

Fees paid. Dues up to date. We get ready to leave the library. I have a great dog book picked out for Spencer. Grant has been talking a lot lately about Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, so I got that for him. Mia, still in her Fancy Nancy costume, pink tulle sticking out of her winter coat, white feather boa floating in the air, grabs her kitty books and yells behind her, "Ha ha! See you later Suckers!" and takes off running.

Like we got away with something. And I guess we did. For $22.00 (even though it really should have been free), we got whole new worlds to explore. We got rich pictures to enjoy and stories to spur our own imaginations. And I just might get an entire afternoon with no fighting or whining, which is worth its weight in gold. Or feathers.