Storytime with a Pre-Preschooler

Written by: Caroline

I’m returning to work full-time next week. It’s bitter-sweet. It means the kids are getting bigger and a bit more independent. But the biggest downside to going back to work full-time is that I won’t be able to spend as much time with them, which means no longer going to storytime at our local public library. 

Thanks to the pandemic and my full-time working schedule, Lilly hasn’t attended many storytimes. We’ve managed to attend a few virtual storytimes that my librarian friend has put on. Lilly paid attention to them, but she did not fully understand what was going on. After about 15 minutes she would lose interest and run away from the computer.

Once I got into the groove of both kids and part-time working life we started going to Movers and Shakers at the library near our house. It’s an interactive storytime that Lilly loves and doesn’t sit still through, but that’s ok. She likes shaking her rice-filled egg, running around the room, and dancing with the librarian. She’s starting to interact with the other children, though we’re mostly in the “parallel play” stage of toddlerhood. She doesn’t sit still for the books yet, which is surprising with how obsessed she is with reading at home. Maybe she wants to be closer to the books to better see what’s going on?

We also started going to Happy Hangout on Thursdays so we can visit their storytime if Lilly so chooses. (Read all about our experience at Happy Hangouts here.) Lilly was mildly interested in the musical instruments they brought out but became more interested in the snack that someone left on a table. Fortunately, she lost interest in stealing the snack and moved to explore all of the toddler-sized chairs in the room. We only made it about five minutes into storytime (and not even the start of a story) before Lilly ran for the little village. 

Lilly enjoys going to storytime and I’m glad it’s something that we’ve been able to do. I know she’s not getting the “full experience” since she’s still little (age-wise, not height-wise) but she’s learning more about herself and others by attending when we’re able to. I’m hopeful that we’ll be able to attend some throughout the year after I return to work, or when Elliot gets a bit bigger my mom will be able to take them. For now, I’ll get the kids ready to get out the door to enjoy our last storytime for who knows how long. At least we’ve still got storytime at home. It happens about every five minutes. Or whenever Lilly shoves a book in our hands, whichever happens first.

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