Day 3, 4 &5

I came in on Thursday and Friday but they were such short days that I didn't think they warranted their own entry.

Thursday: I made an "Open" and "Close" sign for my 2 doors. This means I made a word document and printed them out, traced the BIG letters since I was making a BIG sign. I don't think the bold option on Word makes it bold enough... I colored them in as talked with random children and teachers who came in.

I talked with my boss for a little while. She is supportive of any BIG sign idea I have which is nice. We talked about a child who was here the day before. He is misbehaving... but generally a good kid (I was told). We are very lenient with children. Mostly because we want them to come here, we want them to have some place to go. But the different conversations I've been having since then about this child (and other children) have all lead to the same question... How far do we let them go? How many times do we let them misbehave? How do we correct the behavior without kicking them out of the library? We all fear that we will lose them from the library system.

Friday: I came in for 2 hours. I dumped out mess behind my desk and attempted to organize it. I honestly don't know if I accomplished much since there is still mess. It looks a lot neater though...

Monday (today): I have already been here for 7 hours. I'm going on 15 something children in and out of here unsupervised... And I wonder why I haven't gotten anything done. I've finished up the signs... That's it. I don't like days like these. When there are 5-10 kids in here at a time and I am the only adult paying attention to them it is impossible to do anything else.

A mother came in with her 3 children in the late afternoon. This is when there were about 10 kids in here without a parent. She asked my most favorite question ever. Gently, quietly, politely, she asked "Where are there parents?" I wish I knew. I had a hard time explaining it to her though. And this is when I have to have different rules... If the unsupervised kids are getting in the way of the Mom, or being too wild around her children, they have to find something quiet(er) to do. This also goes along with the little kid/ big kid rule. Little kids rule the roost. They always win. Big kids have to stop what they're doing to allow the little kids to play.

During my lunch break I was outside for a moment with one of the clerks taking in the humid weather. 2 cops pull into the parking lot. Immediately we smirk and joke around that someone called them again. Children/ Teens have been making a habit of it, making 911 calls from the pay phone. It would have been all good and fine if the cop hadn't gotten an attitude with us. He assumed we didn't work there... once he figured it out he did change his tune though. Just another day in the neighborhood.

I have 40 minutes before I go. I am going to attempt to clean up the room but I'm thinking my chances are slim.