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I am not afraid of germs, I am not afraid of germs, I am not afraid of germs

Why are the germiest places the equivalent of giant kid magnets?

I am not a complete germ-o-phobe. At least I don’t think I am. Not like Matt Lauer germ-a-phobe anyway.

Okkaaay, so I might have germ-a-phone tendencies…. I have been known to take the longest route available while inside the mall just to avoid subjecting my child to the overwhelming temptation of the germ-infested indoor play yards. And to occasionally drench my kid in antibacterial gel in 30 second intervals when in a public setting where she is exposed to anything that another human being may have touched, spit, licked or sneezed upon. And I really don’t think it’s unusual that she applies said hand gel all the way up to her armpits… And teaching the Princess Cupcake to NEVER – and I mean NEVER – use her fingertip on the elevator buttons when a knuckle works just as well. Alright and YES, I will confess that I have avoided the library at all costs for fear of ….

the sticky books.

Ewwww.

It gives me the creepy crawlies.

So now you know more about me than you wanted to and you’ll be somewhat amused at this next life-changing event. (I presume so or else you would have stopped reading by now. :)) It happened in the strangest of ways. I was at the eye doctor – who happens to also live in my neighborhood. And we were talking about getting our kids together and she mentioned how nice the local library was and how much her son enjoyed going there on a regular basis and would we like to join them sometime?

My mouth said, “We’d love to.”  And my mind said, “Really? She takes her kid to the library?!” Because she’s one of those hip mommies and well…

My wheels started spinning. Hmmm. Maybe I am depriving my child of a world of opportunity. I mean, I loved reading as a child. After all, I won the BIG prize in the Read-A-Thon and got the coveted opportunity to have lunch with the OSU athletes. Not that I had a clue who any of them were… but anyway, it was very motivating. Even at 8 or 9 or however old I was. Okay so not really. My parents were proud anyway and that was enough for me.

I enjoyed reading as an adult. That is until I had a child and she immediately sucked up any free time that I may have had to read a book, let alone the ability to muster up the energy to keep my eyes open for more than 3 pages. Regardless, I do — or so I did — love to read.

And let me tell you my heart would sing if the Princess Cupcake were to ask to read books as often as she asks for the upteeth episode of Little Einsteins, Yo Gabba Gabba, or worse – My Little Pony.

So I pushed THAT memory of the harrowing weekend spent in the hospital with Princess Cupcake compliments of an acute febrile seizure that lasted the longest hour and a half of my life and was triggered by none-other-than a wayward virus she caught from – well, let’s just stop right there. I pushed IT and the strong likelihood that she’s have another marathon-long seizure to the far depths of my mind, armed myself with a fresh gallon of hand sanitizer, and resolved to embark on our new adventure that is the public library with a fully open mind. For this first foray, I chose the library that I literally drive past 4 times a day. That’s right, 4.

For the past 3 years. 5 days a week. I’m not kidding you that’s like 4,380 times.

Hand-in-freshly sanitized hand, we bravely ventured inside – a new world for both of us. I’ll again admit to having my imaginary black-light shining on every surface wondering how many buggers were swarming and lurking to infect my child with God-only knows what. I was soon forced to let go of that obsessive notion as I realized she was brimming over with excitement to be able to choose ANY book to bring home. And not only that, AS MANY as she wanted. I started to feel a little guilty of depriving her of this wonderland of imagination and creativity for so long.

She LOVED it. And geez, did you know it’s FREE?

Surprisingly I learned a week later, that she even got the concept of “borrowing” the books. There was no remorse at exchanging those books for new ones. In fact, she giggled with each hearty book shove down the return chute.

Another noteworthy observation: She is quick in the library. Unlike the vast amounts of time I’ve killed in the toy aisle at Target, there’s not a lot of discernment over what to choose and what not to. We are in and out, total trip in about 15 minutes.

Library voice however, is a concept we’re still working on. I’m guessing the librarians and other patrons forgive us thanks to the brevity of our now weekly visits.

There is a dark side to our newfound excursions: Libraries now have DVD’s. Boo.

And worse yet, those ARE sticky.

Before you go, here’s a movie review by the Princess Cupcake herself of one of her new favorite movies, “Barbie Island Princess.” 

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