Bittersweet

Tuesday...Tuesday was my last day at Little Tykes. I was a bit nervous going in because of the chaos of the Tuesday before, but I had hopes that everything would be okay. We talked about farm animals today, which I was pretty sure would be a hit. We read some stories and I was surprised because the kids pretty much only wanted to read books today. Usually, they sort of zone out and don't pay all too much attention when I'm reading, but today they were better. So we read three books, with a short break for some Old MacDonald singing. They were not as excited about the singing as anticipated - I thought they'd love the chance to name some animals and make some animal noises. And they did enjoy making the animal sounds, but only when we were reading the books. It was just a bit odd. After the books, we did some coloring. They all had cow pictures to color and they seemed rather content with that. I was happy that a lot of them kept calling me over to look at their pictures and show off for me. I think it was the first time that I felt like they cared about my being there. There were some very creative cows - lots of rainbow colored ones. Then I gave them each a sticker (and mine them line up in hopes that it would lessen griping about which sticker they got) and said goodbye. It's really weird to think that I won't be doing this every week anymore. But, at the same time, I'm glad it's over. It was pretty trying at times and it gives me a lot to think about in terms of off-site programming for the future.

Back at the library, I had a pretty slow afternoon. I sat at the desk and helped with a few reference questions but mostly worked on the shelf label project. I did have quite a good time watching the teen scavenger hunt that went on. I think scavenger hunts are something that you never grow out of. In fact, I was a bit jealous that I wasn't playing along! It seemed to go pretty well, although I did notice a little bit of intra-team drama. I was impressed by the fact that the whole thing was organized mainly by one of the teens. He seemed really pleased with the way it came together and I didn't notice any glitches really. Aside from watching the teens traipse around for clues, I really just worked on shelf labels all afternoon. I'm almost done J non-fiction and then I need to try to find some more magnets so I can do the fiction section. I'm really hoping to get it done before I leave and with no more Little Tykes, I think I can.

I can't believe I only have one week left!