We don’t live far from the library I went to when I was a little kid. I remember the day my grandma took my brother and me there to get our library cards. I was so excited and proud to have that little piece of plastic with my name on it. I hoped Annabel would feel the same way, and I’ve long been looking forward to the day I took her to get one. Annie has gone to a few libraries, but I decided that yesterday was finally the day to get her a card of her own.

When we got to the library, I told her we were getting her a card. She wanted to help me fill out the application.

signing up for a library card

She didn’t have the outwardly excited reaction to getting a card that I was expecting.

her new library card

Annie and her library card

I decided to blame that squarely on the other activities at the library. Who wants to get excited over a card when there are so many other things to do?

picking out books

looking at fish

putting on a puppet show

I let Annie pick out five books, then we went over to our favorite part of the library. I call it the “bear room” but Annie calls it the “stage room.”

a comfy spot to rest

Annie can’t resist a stage:

putting on a show

I have no idea where she gets it.

putting on a show

We did eventually check out some books, and when Mike got home later in the evening Annie was so excited to tell him about the library that she practically threw her books at him. But when she proudly showed him her library card and said, “This is my library card, Daddy! It has my name on it.” I got a little teary (hormones, man). I wonder if, thirty-one years from now, she’ll remember the day she got her own library card.

at the library