Maybe I'm the One Who Needs to Go to Preschool

We're home from our first toddler storytime adventure. Maybe adventure isn't the right term for it -- more like gauntlet. And what did we learn? Lots, and not just from the picture books.

-- The library opens at 10:00. If you dawdle and pull into the parking lot at 10:02, you will have to park at the very back of the lot. However, this is OK if it's a windy day and the delicious smells waft over from Cool River, because then you will get to spend storytime figuring out ways to finagle a steak dinner.

-- You must have a ticket to enter the storytime room. If you do not have a ticket, you will have to get out of line and take the walk of shame back to counter. And this must be a quick walk, or you will lose your place to the people who actually parked AT Cool River and are now racing in the door.

-- You must sit criss-cross applesauce. And you must know what that means.

-- You must sing along, with the appropriate hand-motions, to songs that you should know by now if your son is 20 months old. If you do not know the songs, you must smile sheepishly as your son gapes at the woman next to you, who is doing all the motions and who has clearly done this before.

Really, it wasn't all that bad. The only really unsettling thing was that they have a puppet named Mimi who introduces the letter of the day and helps put the associated pictures up on the felt board. Not that unusual, right? Well, Mimi is a possum puppet. Long pink tail and all. I'm all for John learning the alphabet, but what am I going to tell him when he sees "Mimi" on the side of the road? Someone didn't think this through.

We've been starting to looking into preschools and mothers-day-out options for the fall. I have a couple places I'm looking into. But this experience -- what with the not knowing the words to the classic toddler songs and all -- made me think that I need to be looking harder, and sooner. Or else John might only know the words to some assorted Patty Griffin CDs and the Black Eyed Peas. And that probably won't make us any friends at storytime.