Stuffed Animal Sleepover
Zarrow Regional Library
Last Friday, while all the offspring were at school, I was able to carve out a couple of hours all to myself to sit at Starbucks and read. Though I brough a couple of library books with me I’ve been anxious to dig into, I first scoured through the latest issue of TulsaKids to see what’s going on around town. I like to look at the list at the beginning of the month (or middle as it seems this time around) and mark the activities I hope to check out. True to my eyes-are-bigger-than-my-stomach personality, I often mark way more than we can possibly fit in to our already busy schedule, but I keep my hopes high.
One thing I knew I wanted to make time for was the Stuffed-Animal Sleepover. Show up for story time in your pajamas, leave your stuffed friend overnight, and come back for pre-school storytime the next morning to pick them up and see pictures of their night of fun! Are you kidding me?! What a clever idea. I could not pass this up, and might have been more excited than the kiddos.
It was a busy Tuesday night and I knew we’d be late because we were trying out a dance class at 5:00 and the storytime started at 6:00 clear across town. I called and they told me we could still leave Hippo and Madison even if we were late. Thanks!
If you’ve never been to Zarrow Library, near 51st and Union, it’s a great facility. Here are the boys in front of the blue bison, which they wanted to ride, which I repeatedly told them they could NOT do.
We showed up at the very tail end of the storytime. Look at these little princesses all dressed up in their jams!
We got to make name tage for our furry pals, “Mommy, how do you spell Madison’s name?”
I’m so proud of my kindergartener’s handwriting skills. I know; I’m partial. I asked Aidan what Madison’s favorite hobbies were and filled in that part. Too cute!
Shelly had put together an adorable little “bed” for the animals.
Alec put a sticker on Hippo’s (aka Hippie or Mr. Momo) belly and made sure his name tag was straight,
then gave him good night kisses and tucked him in.
Aidan gave Madison (who was my bear, given to me when I was his age) one last hug and we said good bye.
I don’t think it hit them until we walked to the car that their stuffed-animals were not coming home with them. Alec pouted, “I’m going to have to sleep by myself tonight!” Then Aidan chimed in, “Yeah, but you have Blue Blankie too. I don’t even have a blankie! Mom, can we sleep with you?” “Sure,” I answered. I figured we could make an exception for one night (truth be told I make exceptions on many other occasions).
The next day, storytime was at 10:30 in the morning, when both of the littles were in school, so I had to go on my own to retrieve our friends. If I’m honest, I was a little anxious about Madison being gone myself! Shelly did tell me that we could come any time that next day to get the stuffed-animals, which I thought was nice. I love it when there are activities for kids during times when working mamas and dads are able to participate as well.
We sang counting songs,
got our wiggles out and read a few stories.
Then, we picked up our friends and saw all they’d been up to the night before. This is one of the cutest things I’ve seen in a long time. Each picture shows the stuffed animals in a different location: on the choo choo train, perusing the DVD collection, taking a ride on the book cart, and even sitting around a table playing Candy Land.
Alec was the first to hear the news since I pick him up from Pre-K at 11:30 in the morning. His face was PRICELESS!
I listened to Alec in the backseat, “Mr. Momo! How did you get down off the bed? Oh, Hippie, you played CANDY LAND?! I LOVE Candy Land!” Then later, when we picked Aidan, he asked Madison extensive questions about how he got down off of the choo choo train, and if he was scared climbing up on the book shelves. Too cute!
If you missed Stuffed-Animal Sleepover at Zarrow Library, there is another one coming up in Broken Arrow on October 3rd. Who’s in?
See you around town!
Missy
