other parents
Harvey and I were in the library this morning, as we are many mornings, and it came to our attention that "story time" was happening somewhere in the building. Rather than enjoying the emptiness of the children's room, we decided to go check it out, and caught the second half of the proceedings. I think it's safe to say that we both found it... interesting. I was not the youngest parent there, and I wasn't (quite) the only dad, but I may have been the least inclined to, for example, get up and do the "Peel Peel Banana" dance. It's not that I'm shy about dancing in public—the last wedding Leah and I went to we were totally the only ones out on the dance floor for quite some time—it's that I'm just not a fan of that sort of semi-music. Just because they're kids doesn't mean they have no taste!
So instead I stayed right where I was on the floor, and I'm sure Harvey preferred it that way. He, too, seemed a little nonplussed by the goings-on, mainly wondering why everybody else was making so much noise. It may surprise you to hear it, Leah, but it turns out we have a pretty quiet baby! In the end, though, while we might have had more fun hanging out with the puppets and the board books, I think it's nice for Harvey to see what other kids are like every once and a while—it's important for him to be able to realize how advanced he is. And I didn't mind, because just like in middle school I was reading a book the whole time, one I picked up from the new books stacks on the way in called Hell Is Other Parents. Good thing it was a paperback so I could keep the cover folded back as I read: I wouldn't have wanted the other folks in the room to think I meant it as any sort of personal reflection!