I feel like Barbara Manatee!

In that I feel like singing, "Will you take me to the ball?"

That's right, friends, we are almost at the end of Fairy Tale Festival month, and it has been pretty awesome. It's times like this when I really am glad that I work as a children's librarian. Last week at our library, we had the fairy tale ball. What a swell event!

First of all, the whole staff got into it, even the people who weren't coming to the ball. Here we all are in our finery, hours before the whole thing started.


The ball started off with storytelling (Rapunzel!), and then went on to the dance portion of the event. The kids were so adorable! We had live music (a string trio), and the kids twirled in circles for about 15 minutes. The little boys weren't as into it, but almost all of the girls were wearing princess costumes. The boys who came claimed not to be princes-they were knights or wizards.

We also had crafts for the kids to do. I was in charge of making crowns, which seemed like it would be easy, but it was really quite stressful. Good times. They could also make a wand and decorate a shield, but my table was the most popular (yeah, I'm cool!). Or maybe mine just took the longest and so it looked the most popular. Either way.


Then, our piece de resistance! We were visited by actual royalty! Princess Presto from Super Why! I didn't actually know what this was, but most of the kids were very excited about it. I actually looked her up, so as not to betray my ignorance. And I must say, anyone who is on PBS is okay by me! So, I got my picture taken with her!


The kids were so excited when she came out, except, of course, for the two who got really freaked out. Well, she was really big. That can be a little scary!

All in all, it was a lovely and tiring way to spend a Saturday morning. And honestly, any excuse to dress like this at work is okay by me! I am a fairy princess!

Truths I have learned at the library (today)

1. It is much harder to discipline a child who is being loud and/or naughty when their parents are right there with them. Not providing the discipline. And being a big part of the problem.

2. The last hour of work goes through phases: the long phase (when people are still around, using the computers and making messes. This is also know as the phase we don't like) and the short, but not nearly short enough, phase, once the computers shut down and the people start to leave. I call this one sweet freedom! And if I can last for 10 more minutes, it will be mine!

3. If I eat breakfast at 10, have a snack at 2, and eat "lunch" at 4, then by 7:15, I'm hungry enough to eat a small library patron, although I do not endorse cannibalism. Here's the real question. If I eat a snack at institute at 8:30 and get home at 9:15ish, is it too late for dinner?

4. When everyone in the Children's section is speaking Spanish (except you), you really start to reevaluate your decision in junior high, high school, and then college to take French as your foreign language. How could you have made this mistake 3 times? You console yourself by realizing that even if everyone in Children's was speaking French, you still probably would have no idea what they were saying.