I used to carry a bit of mom guilt around over not taking Kendall to the library. Oh sure, we tried it, like, once for a story time thing last summer. It was not a pleasant experience. Not pleasant enough to stick around and get a library card, for sure.
Friends would talk about taking their kids to the library on hot/cold/rainy days, participating in story time and city events. Truthfully, I’d rather let him stand in front of the TV and play Wii Sports. Did that make me a bad mom? I mean, he was just going to try to sword fight or run or jump off of things, anyway. It made more sense to encourage him to do that at home than to get mad at him for doing it at a library.
That’s not to say we didn’t read to him. We did that plenty. The boy has his own little library at home.
But still. A small part of me thought I wasn’t teaching him to love books and reading if I didn’t teach him to love the library.
Yesterday was stormy, the kids are on summer break between Mothers Day Out sessions, and Scott’s back to working from home. It’s been a challenge keeping the kids occupied the last few weeks, especially now that I have to keep them from hanging off his leg, whining for snacks while he’s on a conference call.
While Leyna napped, Kendall and I snuck off to the local library for the first time.
He’s 4.
It was perfect.
He got his own library card and the freedom to pick out any 5 books he wanted. He was responsible for carrying them in his backpack and keeping up with them so we can return them. He understood and appreciated the privilege, and he acted like an angel.
That’s not to say he’ll behave every time we go in, but I know I can expect as much from him now. My 17 month old? I can’t expect that from her, and I’m not going to add unnecessary stress to our trips by pretending I can. Kendall and I will go when Leyna can stay home.
My point is, the tiny bit of mom guilt is gone now, replaced by the feeling that I did the right thing. I waited until I knew my kid could handle it. It doesn’t matter if others could handle it younger. All kids are different. I listened to my gut (which was screaming THIS IS GOING TO BE A DISASTER for about 4 years), and I waited until he was old enough.
I didn’t rush it.
Are there any activities you’ve held off involving your children in because you were afraid they weren’t old enough?