dear ham and juje.
being a personal assistant has many perks. but many draw backs. if i had to post my job description on a resume, i think the word "slave" would suffice. maybe that's besides the point. what i'm trying to say is, i don't mind it that much.
the other day, my boss took me to the new millcreek library/rec/community center. we were scheduled to take a tour of the building with the main architect so millie could blog about it and suzie could write an article for the upcoming valley journals. i was SO excited because i hadn't been to the center yet, and was going to get the sneak preview, the vip treatment, the backstage pass. but lo and behold, when we showed up i got put in charge of suzie and aimee's 7 darling, but rowdy children.
"just hang out in the library until we get back" the mothers said. "mae and oscar are the only ones that you really need to watch, they're the only ones that will give you trouble," was the passing statement. and off they went to take their tour, me silently steaming from the ears. so we sat, for about the time a 3 year old has an attention span then the older kids decided it would be a great idea to play hide and seek tag. OH NO. i was ruled out 7 to 1... and off they ran 1, 2, THREEEEE they screamed.
mae and i escaped to a far corner to read some books, she didn't want to play. every now and again i would hear the screech of a child, outbursts of laughter, and the occasional sob from being caught. i could also see out of the corner of my eye the librarian in the blue pants eying them down, obvsiouly looking for who was in charge of these sweet faces. mehh... i knew i needed to do something about these kids... they meant well, they were having a blast, but the library just isn't the place to play hide and seek tag, if you know what i mean. they'd already gotten busted once for using the wheelie chairs as a transportation device, therefore, blue pants librarian wasn't happy. at all.
suddenly ava comes running up to me and says, "sara, they're looking for our adult... i think we're in trouble." OH NO. what do i do now. i thought about it then sat back down and continued to read to mae mae. they weren't
really my kids, after all. soon though, i could feel the heat of the librarian's stare from across the room. so i took it upon myself to gather the children and take them outside. after 10 minutes we finally had them rounded up, just in time for blue pants librarian to come over and vehemently say, "ma'am, could you PLEASE take your children outside!!" i could've protested, but had a few visions about my library card being revoked and decided it was in my best interest to obey"
the trouble was, we didn't have anywhere to go. where would you take 7 rowdy children who were tired and hungry, half of whom had just barely met me 10 minutes before and had no desire to listen to me?! we wandered around the community center, but turns out you need a pass to go just about anywhere. "oh," i thought, "i'll take them to evergreen park!" brilliant. false. we get outside and the whole thing is fenced up for grass work. boo! we ended up in the gym, which we later found out was also prohibited... luckily after a quick text, "are you almost done, we just got kicked out of the library..." suzie came to our rescue and we went on our merry way.
i've been kicked out of a few places before, but never a public library. but i think the biggest question in my mind today is, do i honestly look old enough to have 7 children, the oldest being 11?
i am concerned.
even the sun sets in paradies, saraby.
