Public(x)

Around here Thursday is library day. This means that we go to the library every Thursday. You see, our county checks out videos for one week. Books for three weeks. So this means I have things due every Thursday. I try to never (ever!) check things out on another day of the week, thus making it more complicated for my brain and body to get things back on time. I check the status of my account on the computer before I go, make sure I load up everything that's due, and so it goes every week. (Ever since I racked up $26 of fines while in the hospital when Libby was born, I'm quite careful.) Jimmy likes to go too, so many times we head out after dinner. You would think I'd go alone or just with Jackson, so as to accomplish much more without breaking any decibel barriers, but that's just not how we roll.

Tonight I felt as if I was officially a home school parent when I attached only one seat into my double stroller and filled the rest of it up with books. I usually have a list of things I'm looking for in addition to just getting fun books for the kids to read. It's quite an ordeal, keeping up with four kids, and keeping my mind enough to remember the alphabet so I can locate books. I am going through the alphabet in my head...COR...COS...shushing children...COT...eyeballing everyone..."No, don't pull out any books"...COTH...here it is... It is a crazy process and I don't know how I haven't been kicked out of numerous library branches. I should be banned from the county library system but hey, it's public.

And public it is. Tonight we had to endure a group of teenage boys sitting in the children's area using words that should not be said in the children's area. I don't like to think of the germs we are exposing ourselves to...but aren't library germs more educational or something?? And tonight I had to pick up a DVD and the attendant (whose nationality I will not disclose) seemed to barely speak english and I had to write down what I was looking for. When I was standing in line I was all of a sudden burning up and just felt generally nauseaus. I looked at my watch. 7:15. Like clockwork. I have some sort of 12 hour "maximum time alloted to be a mom" because once I hit this limit I am a time bomb. My patience and energy begins to lessen at an amazingly fast rate.

So we finish the library but our day is not done. We need milk. Have to go to Publix. As we pull into the parking lot I tell Jimmy, "I could just go in..." but I need not finish. He likes to go in too. We all go in. That's how we roll. Taking Tallahassee by storm one errand at a time. So it's more of the same. Trying to use my brain power to figure out which is cheapest, remember what we need, all the while counting heads and uttering words that just come out like I'm a robot..."Stay by the cart"..."Come back"..."Walk with mommy"..."Watch out!"...

We get to the checkout and all of a sudden I'm done. I'm hot, still nauseaus, but can't remove my sweatshirt jacket because underneath is an embarrassing piece of "mommy" clothing I refuse to completely reveal in public(x). I have no more patience or energy. It has gone. Jimmy takes the kids to the car. I have Penelope but she is still small enough to be contained and/or distracted. I think she tried to eat a plastic bag but I didn't care. I revived enough on the ride home to gather enough energy to help get everyone to bed. And even though my brain and body are tired, I took a shower to wash off all my public germs and have now recorded our library day experience for posterity. Whew. I'm going to do my best to do nothing for the rest of the day. I'm ALL DONE! (I'm doing the sign language in my head.)