Remembering Why

So it was one of those library trips where I was really regretting going.  We were pushing close to past bed time and Momma was tired.  But, I knew there were some books on the hold shelf waiting for me and I had two bags of books in the van to return, so I figured we’d run in “real quick.” 

But, of course, it wasn’t real quick.  I had to help my Kindergartner find a book on cats for her science book.  And I wanted to grab the reading book my first grader was going to need for school next week.  My third grader wanted to see if they had the next book in his current series… and so they all disappeared to find the books they wanted while I tried to find the ones we needed and well my 2 year old was the wild card tonight.  (as 2 year olds often are).   He typically likes to look for choo choo books and beg to take home as many as he can find.  But tonight his pleasure seemed to be in running through the stacks giggling. 

No amount of quiet reminders to “use his library voice” and stop running seemed to be working.  And unlike the after school hours, the library at 8:00 in the evening is deathly quiet. 

Except for the circus fam.

So, I did my best to hike all 30 lbs of him on one hip while I threw my purse around the other shoulder and carried my bag of books and searched the stacks for “Bread and Jam for Frances.”   After finding it, I rounded the corner to see where the rest of my brood had gone to.  

And when I rounded the corner, the sight I saw literally made me gasp.

 

And I remembered why I keep going back week after week.  Why I endure the stares from the librarians, the overdue fines, the chasing of the giggling toddler through the rows and rows of books, why I lug the heavy bags of books  to the van and into the house and then scattered around the house, and regathered and re lugged into the van and out of the van and into the library again…and of course the over due fines… 

This is why… and it’s so, so, very worth it all.  Sometimes Mommas just need to be reminded why.