Purple Is The New Crazy

I actually returned to the library today with son in tow. Decided that I needed the damned books and decided that I was going to drive up and get them at the, well, drive-up window. Carter begged to go in and he promised to be good. He was. For the most part. He played on the computer and didn't freak out when it was time to get off. He did run away from me, but only half-assed. He wanted to do some things before he had to leave, so he was mad about going about getting them done - play with puppets, do butterfly puzzle, flop on beanbag chairs, go around and around bookcases until asked by librarian to stop, check out DVDs ("I'm looking..."), check out CDs ("here's a good one"...that I will randomly leave in a completely different place...), drag all the stuffed dog toys to the opposite side of the room because "this is where they live" and finally, dance on the lit-up glass flooring. All this in only 10 minutes.

Things only started to fray when we went to pick up my holds, pay the embarrassingly large fine of $16, pay for the DVDs we were checking out and check out Carter's new books. I forgot my library card, I didn't have any cash, they don't take plastic, and I didn't know a thing about getting my holds (they're shelved alphabetically and you're supposed to pick them up yourself; my librarian insisted on escorting me to the hold shelves and then to also insisted that she alone carry the books back to the desk for me). This was either the libraian's worst day or one of her best - I'm not sure if they enjoy helping people or not.

Somehow I made it through all of the above - OK, the librarian did everything and I just stood there, helpless. Meantime, Carter scooted around on his knees while pretending to be a puppy. I tried to reign him in while at the same time appear to be interested/participating in my check-out process. I did this by raising my eyebrows alot. I also sporatically dug through my purse in a fake attempt to find the library card I knew wasn't in it. Once I was nearly finished, Carter amazed me with the information that he had, with his hand and invisible red paint, painted the side of the check-out counter. That's cool. No. We can't leave yet, Mommy, because I need to paint it purple.