We arrive at the library and scurry through all the weird looking people that seem to congregate there and go into the kids section. We make a bee-line to the boardbook section where I begin to grab as many books as I can before Victoria disappears for too long (if I can't hear her I'm worried). Then I do a search for Victoria, find her, drag her back to the board book section, grab some more books (who has time to look at titles) and then follow her around the kids section of the library for a few minutes before we're off to check-out or find Dad who is always in the art section three floors up.
When we get home we pull out our books and begin to read. Usually we go through them pretty quickly and out of the 10 to 20 books we've checked out there are two or three we like. We read those two or three books over the course of the next month so many times they are memorized and we wish we owned them cause we don't want to take them back. As for the rest of the books? Well, they sit on the shelf waiting to be returned to the library where they can be checked out by some other unsuspecting mother that will be disappointed she took all the trouble to carry them home. And I wonder, how in the world did someone manage to get such a stupid book published? Surely the publisher must have been tricked into printing something that so obviously wouldn't entertain a toddler. Surely next time I'll have to take more time in picking out the books, but how?
Then there are the times that I've wondered if it really was all worth it. Like when Victoria somehow got water all over a new library book and feeling guilty I decided I should pay for it-- $15 for a book neither of us liked! Holy smokes! I could have gotten 3 new books we like for that price!
Okay, so after all that I decided it is cheaper to buy books I like, than to buy ruined books I don't like from the library. I still like the library, I enjoy finding books to read and return and not keep, but I want some at home that we will read over and over again. Then my old roommate showed me these Usborne books that she sells, and I really liked a lot of them. They aren't too pricey and kids definitely like them. I decided to learn more about them and she talked me into joining up to sell them. So I did. Then I remembered... I AM NOT A SALESPERSON!
I signed up to sell these books over a week ago and have been too embarrassed to even talk about it much to anyone besides my mom and sisters. Why am I embarrassed? I don't know... I do really like the books. I guess it's cause I've gone to "parties" for things like tupperware or Mary Kay and even though I don't really have the money to buy anything, I've felt obligated to buy something because it is my friend. I would never want someone to feel obligated to buy something I'm selling just because they are my friend. My kickoff show is on Thursday the 26th and I haven't invited anyone yet. Hmmm... this should be interesting. Last night I was doing my complaining to Stoyan and he basically told me that I signed up to play the game, I might as well do it. I decided he is right, I should just swallow my pride and say, "Hey here are some really fun, educational books for kids. Do you want some?" So there you go, I said it. If anyone actually read this far into the blog and is interested in some really fun, cute, educational, entertaining, books for kids of all ages you can come to my party on Thursday March 26 at 7:00 p.m. I promise- if you come I will not be at all disappointed if you don't buy anything. I will be happy if anyone comes at all. If you are interested just leave me a comment so I can give you my address, or if you are interested but can't come, the title of this post is linked to the website where you can look at/buy the books online. So here are the books that arrived in my start up packet. Victoria and I have really enjoyed most of them, though neither of us are really into forensic science, or medieval knights. (I didn't get to pick which books we got.)
My favorite book is Princess Stories. The pictures are so fun to look at, and there is a little yellow duck hiding on every page so it's fun for Victoria too. The stories really made me laugh... not your typical little princess. Victoria really likes, That's not my monkey. It's a touchy feely book and the wording is easy enough she can "read" with me and say the words like "velvety" when she touches the velvety tail.
So there's my spill. The End.
