Change of Scenery

We're not really in a position to take a vacation to sunnier climes, so in lieu of that I thought changing things up a bit on the blog would be refreshing... If you like/don't like, feel free to leave a comment.

Mooch and I have made two (short) trips to the library this week. The first trip was relatively uneventful- we sat in the kids section for a bit, played hide and seek in the stacks, and went home with an armload of youngster fiction and a few fluff mysteries for me. The next day we returned, this time for tax forms that I hadn't realized I needed when I got the first stack. When we walked in the door, though, Mooch immediately made for the kid's section, where she discovered a young fellow (maybe five years old) who was busily adding to a pile of books he intended on taking home. There are seldom people there when we stop in, so this change in the routine called for some serious action. She followed the poor kid everywhere he went, stopping when he stopped and looking over each book he selected with interest. I finally broke up the game after about five minutes by enticing her into selecting a few books of her own, and at that point I discovered that we had a plumbing issue on our hands and needed to move along. In the rush to check out books and hurry the kiddo home I completely forgot to pick up the forms I needed, so it looks like we'll be back again before the end of the week. *laughs* The librarian will know us by name soon enough.

Besides drawing attention to my absent-mindedness, the trip made me think a bit about how little interaction the kiddo has with people her own size. She's never been to a daycare or playgroup, and none of my friends have youngsters she can play with. I don't know if this is good, bad, or a non-issue. I do know that she's spending far too much time in front of the television while I try to get things done around the apartment, but I'm at a bit of a loss as to how to keep her entertained without finding the place destroyed while I'm working. She does spend time playing with her toys unsupervised, which is great, but after a bit she gets bored and starts fingerpainting with lotion or pecking away at the computer, and there's only so much I can get done in the evening after she goes to bed. When I was her age I already had a little sister, so as far back as I can recall I always had someone around, and we entertained each other while mom was off doing her thing. Anyone with only child experience care to jump in here? I just really want to do the right thing by her, and I hate feeling like I'm falling short. It doesn't help that my mother called the other day and mentioned again about getting her baptised, but that's a whole other story that I don't even want to get into.

We're pushing bedtime, so I need to go mop the remains of ice cream sandwich off someone's face and get her tucked in for the evening. *smile*