A (Wintery) Teddy Bear Picnic-A Handmade Childhood

Every Wednesday we travel to the next town to attend library story time. As we are relatively new to the (very rural) area and also very new to homeschooling we are struggling with establishing regular play-times with other children. So, for this and many reasons Wednesday’s story hour is very much looked forward to! This week the fabulous children’s librarian hosted a teddy bear picnic. With much excitement our little library goer asked her bears and stuffed animals who would like to go with her. It was carefully decided that “Oatmeal” should like to attend. (“He is named “Oatmeal” because he looks just like oatmeal” she explained (with emphatic hand gestures) to the librarians…each librarian!!!)

So…we braved this….

to attend our very first Teddy Bear Picnic. It was a Momma-daughter-bear outing as our little man cub stayed home to take a nap while Daddy worked. (It turned out he didn’t take a nap…so I’m not sure if Daddy did work after all!) So with a bag of books, my regular “momma’s” bag, and my knitting bag, we set out for a marvelous time…and a marvelous time was had by all.

You see…while the stories are being read I am left with many consecutive minutes with which I can do as I please! There is not much more a Momma asks for! I delve into the childrens books with a passion carefully choosing a wide variety of illustrative styles, folklores and fairytales, fiction and nonfictions, and our newest loves…biographies. After all…if I’m going to be reading them over and over again every day for a week or two there must be quite a few that I love!! Did you know that there are many fabulous biographies written of truly remarkable people for very young children? Definitely check out the biography section on your next trip to the library!

I like to sit in the big captains chairs and knit while I listen to the story hour (and often chuckle at my daughters contributions!…she is not shy). I confess I also like to eavesdrop on the group of tables close to my knitting spot that are used by tutors for students of all ages. I have learned quite a bit by the way they introduce, explain, and elaborate on what they are working on. Constructive eavesdropping is acceptable right?!?!