Nov
19
Here is a somewhat unexpected delight in my life right now: volunteering at the middle school library. I say somewhat unexpected because I did it last year and it was agreed that I would do it this year as well, so it’s not like Wow I had no idea that I would enjoy the thing I enjoyed several months ago, what a shocking turn of events what will happen next do you think I will also enjoy the same foods I have always enjoyed OH MY GOD I STILL LOVE POTATO CHIPS!!! However, I am more involved than I was last year, and that has deepened my enjoyment, and I am there more often, which means more enjoyment more frequently, and all of this is very very enjoyable, and I will really try to stop using variations of the word “enjoy” now.
On Tuesdays and Wednesdays I come for the first and second lunch hours (there are two lunch times at our middle school, which from my standpoint is not remotely ideal but I assume it’s done because the student body is big enough, or the student/staff ratio is small enough, that the logistics would be overwhelming if everyone had lunch at the same time) and just kind of help out. After they eat, kids are allowed to hang out in the library if they want, and last year I was foolish enough to think they came in to read. I actually put my hand over my heart and told the library lady how absolutely thrilled I was to be around so many young readers, and she was kind enough not to drop to the floor in hysterical laughter, because NO ONE READS IN THE LIBRARY. Okay, maybe one or two kids will actually look at a book, but the vast majority get in groups and engage in the somewhat-depressing modern socializing where everyone is completely engrossed in their phone/tablet but by some foreign-to-me multitasking ability they are also giggling about things together.
Anyway, the library is basically social hour and I am there to infrequently check out books but mostly to provide crowd control. There’s only one library staff member and she is the most incredibly gentle and mild person, and I think the only reason the kids haven’t eaten her alive is because she truly does not seem to have a mean bone in her body. But they can be noisy and rude and annoying and require some good old-fashioned Stern Beetle-Browed shhh-ing, although that’s on a bad day. On a good day, I find myself mingling a bit, now that I know more of the kids. I’ll chitchat here and there, check in with this group, ask that one kid what he ended up getting for his birthday, and so on.
It can be a real delight to spend time with the kids, when they aren’t being too teenagery (the 6th graders tend to provide better emotional ROI than the 8th graders), but what I really like is the peaceful period before or after lunches when I go around with a feather duster and shelve books and organize things. Oftentimes I’ll pause with a book and get lost in the pages for a bit, which feels more than a little magical. I remember how transported by books I was when I was a kid; I totally understand the siren call of the screens because I succumb to it so often myself, but what a loss to not be a reader. My own kids don’t read for pleasure — how on earth did that happen?
While there are precious few kids who spend their lunch hour reading (I suppose that isn’t so surprising, I can only vaguely remember my own middle school lunch breaks but I’m certain those times were spent with friends rather than novels, and I was a big reader) there are still some who choose to participate in OBOB, which is a state competition here in Oregon based on a selection of books, and that’s what I do in the library on Thursdays: OBOB coaching. Coaching sounds very official but it’s really just sitting with a group of kids and helping them try and prepare for the OBOB “battles,” which are far enough off right now that we are mostly in the who’s-going-to-read-what stage. For one group, for various reasons it seems unlikely that any of the books will be read to completion, so we just … talk. About the books, a little, but also about, well, whatever. One of the kids is devoted to Stranger Things, so we had a good discussion about Hop’s fate after that season 3 finale.
It is an enormous luxury to be able to spend part of my day at the school in this way, and I am so grateful for it. I never in a MILLION YEARS could have seen myself being a devoted library helper, in middle school no less. Holy shit, I might have said, had I been given the chance to peer into my own future. Is that a FEATHER DUSTER, who even uses those aside from BDSM enthusiasts? Heh. But also: How is that middle-aged lady surrounded by children me, when there is a big part of me that is mentally forever in 7th grade and middle schoolers are not children at all but peers, some of whom are intensely intimidating for social hierarchy reasons?
I observe all that social crap unfolding in ways both familiar and not among the kids today, and it’s like I watched some movie that made a HUGE impression on me all those years ago and now I can see how it was nothing but light projected on a screen. I wish I could convince my own kids that there is truly almost nothing less important than worrying about what other people think, but they of course are still seeing the movie. Aging is such a weird mix of loss and gain, loss and gain.
Well. My point is, I like my library gig an awful lot, and I think my favorite part of all is that it’s well-appreciated but not paid. If I can’t show up, no biggie. If I want to come in more, awesome! — but also not expected. And if I want to linger in the aisles and visit old friends like Island of the Blue Dolphins or Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH or The Indian in the Cupboard, that’s perfectly okay.
Oct
29
It’s getting to be that special time of year, when you either 1) descend into a sparkle-light-filled state of holiday bliss because your life is a precious snow globe of wonder and joy or 2) begin to freak the fuck out because November is just one long pressure cooker simmer until the hellish flop-sweat panic of December when you’re inevitably paying out the ass for last-minute shipping fees and wishing you could deck that smug matching-pajamas family along with the walls.
Ha ha, of course I am just kidding, the holidays are always AMAZING and not at all a teeth-grinding endurance challenge featuring a depressing spiral into rabid commercialism and culminating in a series of offensive dinner table jokes. Ha ha!
Okay, I really do love Christmas, but I also acknowledge the less-pleasant side of things, which is why I’m sharing a few gift ideas that have been successful for me in the past. I don’t have the easiest list to shop for and who knows, maybe something here will alleviate a tiny bit of holiday-induced stress for one or two of you.
For the person who is IMPOSSIBLE to buy for:
This bag from LL Bean, monogrammed with their initials. My mother-in-law loves the bag I got her and uses it all the time while traveling.
For the person who likes to bake:
This cute stamp customized with their name, which can accompany bags of cookies and treats and whatnot. My sister-in-law, who makes unbelievable cakes, was very charmed with her stamp.
For the person who likes to entertain:
A pretty cutting board, customized with their name. Another gift for my sister-in-law, who’s much better at hosting dinners and things than I will ever be.
For the person who likes to grill:
They probably have a lot of grill tools, but do they have a fancy Himalayan salt plate? I got this for my brother-in-law and he seemed pretty excited to try it out.
For the person who likes to write, or at least likes to reminisce:
A subscription to Storyworth. This is not a slam-dunk gift, it was a giant fail for both John and his dad (I gifted to him, he gifted to his dad) in that neither felt they had the time/attention to write every week, so the questions piled up or the answers were very brief. But the reason I will keep recommending this forever is because my mom treated her subscription like a true creative prompt and sent SO many wonderful, amazing, illuminating stories that are absolutely priceless to me. I will soon have a printed book of all her essays and it will be one of those rescue-from-the-house-fire items, just an unbelievably wonderful experience and a lovely way to preserve her memories for my boys and even their children.
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