Story Time at the Library

Each Thursday I take Coulson to our local library for "Discovery Time". During the 1/2 hour they choose a topic (today was Big Cats and the letter L) and then they read stories and dance and play games that revolve around that topic. It is quite fun and Cole enjoys playing with the other kids. Now, in situations like this where you have 15-20 kids ranging from 0-3 years of age you find that not everybody is always having a good day or behaving perfectly. Many kids throw temper tantrums, I've see one kid tackle another for taking his "scarf", and so many other things. Cole is notorious for messing up the CD player before I can wade through all the kids to grab him and always steals the giant stuffed bunny that they use for the first song everytime. The first several times we went he pretty much ran amok and wouldn't sit still for any of it but, over time he actually pays a little bit of attention here and there. Most mom's allow their kids to walk around and play a little because, come on, they are 0-3 year olds and the attention span is almost non-exsistant and they are still learning how to play well with others. Now, there is one little family, a mother of three girls that, sadly, in her attempt to make her children "behave" (because really honestly they are already pretty well behaved), she usually creates a HUGE scene because she nitpicks on her poor daughters. I feel bad because I know she is trying to avoid that exact scene but always causes it herself because she can't just let her 3 year old and 2 year just be kids. For example, today the girls chose to sit on the step right next to the 'teacher' to listen to the book. Nothing wrong with that, there were even several other kids doing just that. Well, the mom didn't think they could see so she told them to sit on the floor so they could see. When the girls said they were fine the mom marched over, (because obviously they were not listening to her and therefore misbehaving) standing right in the middle of everything, grabbed both girls, and sat them on the floor. The youngest just wanted to sit next to the teacher and resisted slightly. She then basically knocked her feet out from under her, drops her on her bum and then scolds her when she starts to cry! Sometimes I think that we forget that they are just kids and we need to allow them to be just that. Yes, there is always a time to keep them in check, and sometimes discipline is needed, but most of all we need to allow them to be silly, have fun, and explore the surrounding they are in. There I will now get off my soap box.