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Love Your Library!

Along with a few other celebrations, the month of February is proud host to Love Your Library month. Whether you're a parent with young children, a career-minded individual, a grandparent, or anyone in between, there are ample reasons to love your library!

True, libraries are no longer the only place to find abundant information. In a world of internet surfing and online books and magazines, one would think that libraries have lost a bit of their importance. Not so!

My husband remembers the library as the place he was forced to go when writing an arduous grade school paper or report. This was in the days before the internet, when people knew their way around card catalogs and librarians' fingers were perpetually smudged with ink from stamping the cards they unsheathed from the book pockets housed neatly under the front cover of each and every book. No bar codes, no scanners. Just those lovely, lovely cards, the simplicity of which I often remember fondly.

My memories of the library, however, are a bit more magical than my husband's. I loved to write, and I adored books. My dad would take us to the library on Saturdays where we not only got to throw pennies in the fountain in the main lobby area, but also got to wander the tall stacks of books, the bins of records, and the boxes of children's magazines. There was no rhyme or reason to my hunting when I was little, and yes, I did judge books by their covers and was drawn to the fanciful and artistic ones. I'd curl up in a corner and get lost in ancient kingdoms and far-off lands as my brothers searched for more mundane reading material. Guides about knot-tying and building tree houses, I would imagine.

Ah, but back to the topic at hand – libraries circa 2012. Apart from the countless books just waiting to be browsed, libraries are home to so much more. While printed books may be the mainstay of public libraries, you'll also find computers, Wi-Fi, downloadable e-books and audio books, and depending on your library, access to other online programs and subscriptions, such as World Book or Encyclopedia Britannica. Also, an increasing number of audio and music CDs and DVDs are added every year to library shelves.

Public libraries also offer us a sense of community with classes, programs, and reading hours for children. Looking for a fabulous place to partake in some free computer classes? Check out your public library's schedule of classes and events. Searching for some handy seminars, or hoping for a fun puppet show that might delight the grandkids? Yep – try the library!

In addition to stopping by and enjoying everything your local library has to offer, consider donating to your public library. Whether it's a gift of time (reading, tutoring, cleaning, nurturing plants), or money (a donation of books, magazine subscriptions, or cash), an investment in your public library is an investment in your community.

My kids have grown up browsing the bins of picture books at our public library, which makes for a fun and easy Saturday. Of course, my work has taken us to libraries far and wide, and my kids are not above requesting we drive a bit further so they can play with marionettes at one library or listen to their favorite story hour reader at another.

As I place another book on a teetering stack – this one demonstrating the finer points of decorating whimsical cupcakes for children – my kids hurry to show me their choices. My daughter has a book with accompanying CD that teaches kids to speak Russian through the use of children's songs. Along with a few comic books, my son has a flap book all about the inner workings of pirate ships. Of course, THEY have to slide their choices under the barcode scanner to check them out, because that's half the fun, you see. A fleeting memory of cards and stamps flits through my nostalgic mind as I let them divide my books and scan them.

Indulge your curiosity and try your hand at a new adventure. Visit your local library and become reacquainted with those lovely, lovely books!

A Visit from the Tooth Fairy

We lead fairly hectic lives in our household, and seem to always be on the go. That doesn’t, however, stop us from taking time to celebrate the small milestones. And especially while the kids are young and still believe in magical things, I do my best to play up those special moments for them. After all, far too soon they won't believe in magical things like Santa Claus and the Tooth Fairy.

 My daughter is funny about losing teeth. While we've never come at her with pliers to extract her wiggly pearly whites, she won't let my husband or me anywhere near her mouth. Rather, this job is for Grandma. Or, in this case, a ham sandwich.

Now, this isn't her first lost tooth. In fact, it marks number five. This time around, it was the lower right lateral incisor. (Yes, I had to look that up.) It's been wobbly for a good number of weeks now, and if Grandma isn't around to test its pulling readiness, she resorts to soft foods or trying to skip meals altogether so as not to accidentally dislodge the teetering tooth.

But alas, her rumbling tummy must have gotten the better of her, for she came home from school yesterday to announce that one bite into her sandwich found her loose tooth embedded in her bread.

When she lost her first tooth (her lower left central incisor), my husband and I decided it would be nifty if the Tooth Fairy brought her a big bright silver dollar. She wasn't as excited about this idea, confiding in her cousin that she wished the Tooth Fairy had brought her "real money," but seemed to warm to the concept when her aunts and uncles reassured her how totally awesome and cool it was to receive a big silver dollar. I was rather relieved, since I vividly remember being let down by the Tooth Fairy myself when I was in kindergarten. She brought me a quarter, but forgot to take the tooth. My mother, while giving my father a very pointed glare, explained to me that no, it wasn't that the Tooth Fairy didn't *want* my tooth, she just had a full satchel and would be back the following night to claim it.

And so, last night, my daughter carefully brushed her little incisor and placed it in her tooth pillow. Much later, after finishing up an article on an upcoming holiday, the Tooth Fairy closed her laptop and snuck into a darkened room to make the swap. A glittery note from the tooth-snatching sprite encouraged her to keep brushing. After all, fairies love things to sparkle!

This morning she gleefully announced that yes, the Tooth Fairy had brought her another fabulous silver dollar and a note! "I have to write her a thank you note tonight!" she gushed.

I know that Santa letters go to the North Pole, and a quick wink at the post mistress in town is all that's needed when the kids deliver their holiday wish lists. Now I just have to figure out where the Tooth Fairy lives…

The Best of Times, the Worst of Times: Happy Birthday, Charles Dickens!

Yesterday marked the 200^th birthday of Charles Dickens. Whether you're the literary sort or not, it's hard to escape the impact this English novelist made on society. Dubbed as the best writer of the Victorian period, Dickens not only penned a number of great novels, but also gifted the world with such iconic and enchanting characters as Oliver Twist, Ebenezer Scrooge, Nicholas Nickleby, and a host of others. Dickens novels and stories have been so popular that they haven't gone out of print since first being published in the mid-1800s.

Like most children, my first exposure to the works of Dickens was a holiday viewing of one of several film adaptations of A Christmas Carol. Most likely it was George C. Scott I saw mumbling "Bah! Humbug!" and being plagued by unwelcome ghosts. However, if I'm honest, I'm still most partial to Michael Caine's portrayal of Scrooge, opposite Kermit the Frog's Bob Cratchit. The Muppets, teamed up with classic literature, is a winning combination in my book, but that's just my humble opinion.

While I'd already tested the waters of other Dickens novels in middle school, it wasn’t until my freshman year of high school that my class was required to tackle Great Expectations. This was met with moans and groans and negative attitudes that would make Ebenezer himself proud – before his Yuletide transformation, of course. "We have to read a whole novel!" a classmate tried to commiserate with me. He didn't know I was a book nerd, I guess. I found myself thoroughly enthralled by the orphan Pip and the crazy old Miss Havisham who rambles around her dilapidated mansion still adorned in her wedding dress decades after her fellow stood her up at the altar.

In college, while pursuing a literature degree, I was required to read The Adventures of Oliver Twist, A Tale of Two Cities, and David Copperfield. "Who wants to read this old stuff?" demanded a girl in the work group to which my professor assigned me. The others of us just blinked a bit and exchanged bewildered looks. Were we not cutting edge? Were we uncool? Was it passé of me to think that books that had endured a century and a half of popularity were worth the read? Just as I began performing a self-check on my enthusiasm for literary classics, another student piped up. "You do realize it's Dickens who said, 'Tis love that makes the world go round,' right?" followed by another who offered, "Not to mention, 'Have a heart that never hardens, and a temper that never tires, and a touch that never hurts.'" Oh, camaraderie! Finally!

Yes, nearly 150 years later, language has changed a bit since the days of Dickens. But the themes of his novels are still relevant today and surely worth a revisit. This month, celebrate Charles Dickens' contribution to history and pick up one of his novels. For those of you who identify with Scrooge's miserly habits, might I suggest a trip to the library? It's free!

Birthday Thoughts

 

While receiving a good number of birthday wishes, a few gifts, some treats, and a lunch date with a coworker I also count as a good friend, the people in my life have all reminded me that it’s MY day. Relax, they tell me. Splurge. Treat yourself. Order take-out and indulge in a long bath. Even my kids instructed me to do something fun for my birthday, and then announced that would be ice skating with them.

Good ideas, indeed!

However, amid the well wishes, cards, and cake, the thought occurred to me that perhaps the person who should enjoy a bit of rest and rejuvenation in honor of this day is the lady responsible for my very existence. The one who lovingly and dutifully carried me for nine months and then, when I decided I’d much rather stay put where it was warm and cozy, endured my procrastination until she was finally induced. My mother.

I do love May. I love the Earth springing to new life with green grass and the riot of color the flowers bring. The days are milder and the outdoors offer a host of new activities. And while this bright and beautiful month may be the perfect time of year to honor our mothers, I can’t help but to chuckle when I think to myself that my mom had no such weather the day I graced the world with my entrance.

January in Minnesota is no friend to pregnant women. It’s cold. It’s icy and slippery. We have ice storms, sleet, slush, and snow. And for expectant moms who already battle an off-kilter sense of balance, pulling on boots and wading through snow is no picnic. For a nine-month pregnant woman, retrieving the mail at the curbside becomes a risky endeavor. Of course, she may just have to shovel a path there first!

Most of my siblings had the good sense to be born in warmer, snow-free months. Months like April, May, June, July and August. But two of my brothers and I were winter babies. We weren’t born on days that saw tulips opening or butterflies flitting from flower to flower. There was no lemonade on the front porch as the sun went down or children flying kites or racing around the yard with sparklers. There was snow, slippery roads, wind chills, and chapped hands. There was shoveling and snow blowing and waking up early to see if the school-aged children had a snow day or not. For my mom, there was bundling up three boys, ages 2 to 5, in snowsuits and parkas and boots and ski masks while working around a protruding belly.

I have two children of my own. While their birthdays are definitely their own special days, each year I remember very clearly the day each was born. I recall very specific details, right down to the fabric design on the nurses' scrubs. I know the same is true for my mom. She can still rattle off the hospital room numbers she was assigned to for each of us. Yes, children's birthdays are to be celebrated and remembered. But for moms, these milestones call to mind the days (or nights) these little ones came into the world.

Each January, when my birthday rolls around, I usually contend with a healthy dose of typical Minnesota winter weather. It's a nuisance and leaves plans hanging a bit. But after becoming a mother myself, I can't help but to be reminded of the love and self-sacrifice a mother braves to bring a baby into this world. And when the wind howls and the temperatures dip into the negatives, I think of the extra struggle winter moms dutifully endure.

I think perhaps my mom is the one who deserves the cake!