Andrew and I have started taking the kids to the library on a weekly basis. It’s amazing that it took us this long to finally start taking them there considering how much they both like to read. Isabelle used to read one book at bedtime which was usually Goodnight Moon but then she got bored of it so we switched to Goodnight Gorilla. We initially tried to establish these as bedtime books only while we were trying to set up a bedtime routine for her. When she was finally a good sleeper, Andrew started to stray away from the typical bedtime books and introduced other books to her at bedtime. Well, soon after she wanted to read every book possible before bedtime so now there are always a bunch of books that are in our little reading nook.

We used to take them to Barnes & Noble a lot on the weekends to get new books so I think that’s why we never thought seriously about taking them to the library. The library ceased to exist in our minds since Andrew hasn’t been to a library for recreation since his early college years and I haven’t been since my little incident with unnecessarily due fines in high school. (For the record, I have a little problem with the fines on my card and so I stopped using my library card to avoid having to pay the fines. It all resulted from my already paying the overdue fines when I went back once to return the books and then being charged another overdue fine even though I had returned the books on time. It’s all really silly now, but I was a poor high school student before and it’s really the principal of the matter for me.)

So we finally took them to the local library and Andrew signed up for his very first library card since he was a kid. I don’t know if all libraries are like this now, but ours is very advanced now compared to what we were used to in its check-in/check-out system. No longer must we scan bar codes in order to check-out our books. They have coolest thing where you just put the books on it and it automatically detects which books you’re checking out. There’s also a cool conveyor belt that takes your books when you return them. It’s definitely a fun process for Jadon to help with.

I had forgotten how much I enjoyed hanging out in a library. I only remembered on our first visit there while I was just sitting there with the kids while Andrew read them books and it was all very nostalgic for me. I forgot that I could actually borrow a book from the library versus actually buying the book and how it’s fun to try out so many different books. So my first book I checked out was a travel guide for Disneyworld since we plan on visiting soon. I’m a sucker for travel guides and I like being prepared so that was perfect. Jadon has lots of fun in the movie section and picks out a variety of shows for him and Isabelle to watch. We’ve started watching more family movies with the kids and it’s fun to share our favorite films with them.

Andrew has yet to check anything out for himself, but he also hasn’t really looked. I wonder what his first choice will be. He hasn’t been reading much at all with work and kids, but I think we’re going to try to fit in more reading time since we both like to read. Andrew even surprised me with an Amazon Kindle E-Reader for Valentine’s day. He caught me off guard since we weren’t planning on exchanging presents this year, but he definitely did a good job of surprising me. I guess I’ve been talking off and on about wanting one so that I could read more easily and so he went out and got one when I was out getting Jadon from school. So far, I haven’t downloaded much to it other than free books since it’ll take me awhile to totally defer away from the real thing, but I think I’ll slowly get there. (Heck, I’m finally getting around to the idea of downloading music but ever so slightly since I still haven’t really downloaded anything yet. I enjoy having a physical copy of things.) I’m re-reading Pride and Prejudice now and Andrew likes to sit in and read every now and then too. I’m definitely loving the ease of the Kindle though. It’s definitely been easy to read since I don’t have to hold it all the time. I can just put it on my lap and read away.

We’ll be heading back to the library fairly often now and I think the kids have really enjoyed trying out all of the different books. They have yet to get their own cards, but the limit on Andrew’s card has never been close to maxing out so I think we’re good for now. Maybe one day I’ll even dig my card out of its overdue fine jail, but probably not since I’ve somehow persuaded Andrew to come over to my way of thinking of it.