Eleanor’s First Story Time

I took Eleanor to story time at our local Barnes & Noble yesterday. I was very concerned about how she would do. I expected there to be a lot of older kids who knew how to sit still and listen to a story. I expected her to be so excited about the other kids that she would disturb them by poking and prodding them and talking to them and telling them about Elmo and poo poo in the potty. I expected to have to take her out early.

As it turned out, Eleanor wasn’t the only baby with the attention span of, well, a baby. The only baby who seemed to pay attention to the story past the first 30 seconds was the one who wasn’t walking yet.

I thought that there would be a larger and older crowd, but there were only four other babies and the oldest was only a month older than Eleanor. Throughout the stories the kids wandered around the children’s section looking at other books and each other. I felt bad for the woman who was not a B&N employee, but a volunteer, who read to these uninterested children out of the kindness of her heart.

Although the other children did not seem interested in the story Eleanor was the only one who talked through it. All the other parents commented on how much she talked and how big her vocabulary was. I think they were just being polite. I’m sure what they were thinking was “Does this girl ever stop talking?” The answer by the way is no, unless she’s eating or watching Curious George.

Eleanor did at least pay some attention when she walked up on the stage and acted as if she was the only child being read to, completely blocking the view of all the other children.

Then she decided that she should sit with our storyteller and help read to the other children.

Of course Eleanor’s favorite part was the other babies. She especially liked this little one. She kept telling her “up, up.” I’m not sure if she wanted to pick her up or vice versa. They got along pretty well until Eleanor poked her in the eye when the story lady asked the baby where her eye was. Eleanor was just being helpful.

Eleanor also made another baby cry by touching his shoulder. I don’t think she was being rough, I just think he was a little sensitive, and she can be pretty intimidating. Poor little boys can’t handle my big bold, aggressive girl.