I started my job as a Youth Services Assistant at LPL a few months ago. It’s my first time working in Children’s, and it shows (a little). Needless to say, children are fascinating—my first few months at LPL have been a people-watching gold mine. Every time something outrageously funny happens in Children’s, I record it in my brain for regurgitating to my partner upon my return home, or, if I can’t risk losing it among the depths of my feeble mind, I send it to my partner as a message immediately. This has occurred many times.
The lines that follow are a curated collection of child antics which I have personally witnessed during my first few months at LPL. Having preserved their original (as-messaged-to-my-partner) form as much as possible, it is my greatest hope that these snapshots may portray the true essence of the delightfully rambunctious child.
"I know where all the secret Pokemon books are."
*
A little boy asked me my name and got excited when I said it was Mary (I guess he knows another Mary). He showed me his Batman train and then asked me if I wanted to come over to his house.
[The same] child showed me the book he picked out to read with his dad
It has trains
*
A little girl asked if the prize flashlight¹ would be good for caving
Very serious expression
¹One of the summer reading prizes for kids was a two-in-one lantern/flashlight.
*
Little baby keeps coming up to me lol
He babbled to me
And he would just come up to me and look at me
His mom says he likes me a lot
He's either very share or he's the opposite
shy*
He's showing me his trains
*
We have some very good child sopranos today
Like they yell the highest note I've ever heard
So clearly
*
Spoken during a puppet show - "Go away or I will punch you"
Police siren sound - "nee noo nee noo nee noo"
This is going downhill fast
A song is happening
“The puppet show is over, the puppet show is over, and would you like some ice cream? And which kind of flavor would you like?
I can drop it in your mouth, then it is so delicious,” etc.
*
Little baby is entranced by the fish
*
A little girl finished her summer reading and told me she read a book about a witch. She asked me if I liked witches, and I said yes. I asked her, and she said they're kinda scary.
*
A child just asked me - Librarian, are you cool?
I said I think so
*
Child pointing to Mars² - I saw the firefighter!
And he kept pointing to Mars and the Sun, and was like - Hot! - and waving his face to cool down
²This year, summer reading was spaced-themed, and we had planets hanging from the ceiling.
*
"We have made a jumping show!"
*
A child just gushed to me about how much he loves Godzilla
*
"Texas is my life"
*
A child is arguing with his Hulk action figure
He was trying to keep the Hulk from doing backflips - no dice
*
A little boy just came into the play room and exclaimed "Oh no!" because the legos had been cleaned into the bins and weren't scattered around the table.
He then said they had to take off their hats because "that's safety"
*
A child is singing the ABCs with the most enthusiasm I've ever heard it performed
*
Little kid looking at the fish with his mom - "And they have wings, right?" over and over
*
I'm at the back desk right now, and this little boy is singing and playing. I told his mom that I like his singing, and she's like - it's constant, it only stops when he sleeps. And then she was like - oh wait, he sang in his sleep last night. "A butterfly, I saw it, so pretty, Mommy"
She said it makes the meltdowns worth it.
*
Naruto running sighted³
³In an anime series called Naruto, the title character has a unique style of running in which he sprints while holding his arms straight behind him. Naruto running is said to make one go faster.
-Mary Wahlmeier is a Youth Services Assistant at Lawrence Public Library.
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