Yes Zone

Yesterday I found myself with a quick tongue and short temper with these two wee ones. They are beside themselves with energy, disrupted routine, treats and sweets, taunting wrapped gifts, and winter magic. Somehow all of this energy translates into a lot of shrieking, bouncing, fighting, and chaos. By 3:30 p.m. I was done. Totally done.So I took a few deep breaths, loaded everyone in the car, and started driving. We didn't have an exact destination in mind (earlier in the day the van pointed towards Harbison which was not the place for mamas and toddlers!). We ended up going to the library downtown with the added bonus of parking in front of our church. The kids were enthralled with the nativity scene and we spent about 10 minutes checking it out and discussing who was who.

Then we walked down the street to our library, my favorite YES zone in town these days. The kids requested books about superheroes , princesses, ballerinas, Christmas, and the Nutcracker. The 2 children's librarians knocked themselves out filling our book bag with 30 titles to lug home and enjoy. While they searched for books we settled in at the tables making paper ornaments and doing puzzles. Wesley enjoyed YES zone privileges to run and attack stuffed animals and to play with scissors. Clare had the YES zone free to punch holes in colored paper and glue make a glue stick mess. I had a YES zone magazine from the second floor to look at while they did their thing.
I even got a chance to check out a few books to bring home. While the kids slept last night and Mario went out hunting for stocking stuffers, I curled up on the couch to flip through my new books. In the end our little outing not only stopped the screaming in my head but also did a great job of refocusing all of our energy off of Christmas and on just being together.

*Added bonus: this morning they are loving the huge pile of books about things they love in the middle of the living room floor.