A library lesson
We broke the rules at the library the other day.
A librarian reluctantly came up to me and informed me that we were violating library policy because Evie, playing happily in the bright, cheerful children's area at the brand-new library, did not have shoes on.
"It's the rule that if they can walk, they have to have shoes on," she told me.
Although Evie's not really walking yet, she was certainly supporting herself on the kid tables and scooting around, and I wasn't going to argue the point. The problem is that Evie's Robeez were still all wet and dirty from sprinkler time in the yard yesterday, and the shoes I had put on her that morning have velcro that she is easily able to undo. Those shoes had been tossed off somewhere in the car about two minutes after we left the house that morning and I just hadn't bothered to keep putting them back on.
"Ummm...are we going to have to leave if she doesn't have them?" I said in what I hoped was a really pathetic voice.
"Well, you could hold her. To keep her feet off the floor," the librarian told me, and I inwardly scoffed at the idea of keeping Little Miss Squirmy in my arms all throughout storytime, and told my girls in a voice that I hope wasn't too bitter that we had to go out to the car and get Evie's shoes now. "I know, I raised kids too," Library lady said as she watched me gather kids and book bags and diaper bags and prepare to head out. "It's just to protect their feet!"
At which I thought Protect their feet? From what? The nice soft carpet? but went and got the shoes anyway.
Then at storytime (during which Evie removed her shoes three times and I put them back on each time), the other librarian, in the course of looking at a picture that included a close-up of a flea, casually asked the kids if they knew what a flea was.
"Does your dog or cat ever get fleas? Or do you ever get them in the carpet?" he asked the crowd of assembled preschoolers. "Over at the old library we used to get fleas in the carpet about once a year or so and then all of the staff would end up with bites all over their ankles."
And then he laughed merrily and kept right on with the storytime.
Umm...Eeeew! Eeew, eeew, eeew!
Now I know what the library people are protecting my children's feet from. And I will never question that policy again.
A librarian reluctantly came up to me and informed me that we were violating library policy because Evie, playing happily in the bright, cheerful children's area at the brand-new library, did not have shoes on.
"It's the rule that if they can walk, they have to have shoes on," she told me.
Although Evie's not really walking yet, she was certainly supporting herself on the kid tables and scooting around, and I wasn't going to argue the point. The problem is that Evie's Robeez were still all wet and dirty from sprinkler time in the yard yesterday, and the shoes I had put on her that morning have velcro that she is easily able to undo. Those shoes had been tossed off somewhere in the car about two minutes after we left the house that morning and I just hadn't bothered to keep putting them back on.
"Ummm...are we going to have to leave if she doesn't have them?" I said in what I hoped was a really pathetic voice.
"Well, you could hold her. To keep her feet off the floor," the librarian told me, and I inwardly scoffed at the idea of keeping Little Miss Squirmy in my arms all throughout storytime, and told my girls in a voice that I hope wasn't too bitter that we had to go out to the car and get Evie's shoes now. "I know, I raised kids too," Library lady said as she watched me gather kids and book bags and diaper bags and prepare to head out. "It's just to protect their feet!"
At which I thought Protect their feet? From what? The nice soft carpet? but went and got the shoes anyway.
Then at storytime (during which Evie removed her shoes three times and I put them back on each time), the other librarian, in the course of looking at a picture that included a close-up of a flea, casually asked the kids if they knew what a flea was.
"Does your dog or cat ever get fleas? Or do you ever get them in the carpet?" he asked the crowd of assembled preschoolers. "Over at the old library we used to get fleas in the carpet about once a year or so and then all of the staff would end up with bites all over their ankles."
And then he laughed merrily and kept right on with the storytime.
Umm...Eeeew! Eeew, eeew, eeew!
Now I know what the library people are protecting my children's feet from. And I will never question that policy again.
4 comments:
but really that's ridiculous! Of course I don't want Evie to get flea bites. :) You're a good sport Jen!
~C
Ok, so does a crawling child have to wear gloves or shoes or something? What about the fact the your child's hands are all over the carpet, and then possibly in her mouth, I think the shoe thing is a little silly when you think of kids crawling on it barefoot.... hmm.
Oh and when Lillie was walking she didn't have any shoes that fit for a long time because her feet were awkward, or maybe that was Malaki... I don't know, but one of them couldn't wear shoes! lol
It seems like the librarians now all seem to pick the dumbest rules to enforce. I don't go there that often anymore because of how impersonal and rude the staff seem to have gotten when they moved across the street.
That rule is the most ridiculous rule I have ever heard of. Seriously! What kind of people are we becoming? What are we all so afraid of?
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