Recently I was at the library with my older children and noticed that they were offering an infant story time program. The infant program was geared, according to the flyer, for infants up to 18 months of age.

I have to admit that I never took my older children to a story time program until they were about three years of age, but my son is such a social child and loves activity! I decided to try it.

Today, he went to his very first story time session. For most of the half hour session, he sat on my lap and truly wasn’t very interested in the story other than for a few seconds. What did interest him was all the other children! He spent a lot of time just watching them. During the music time, he shook his rattle and screamed with delight. He put the paper bear cutouts in his mouth instead of putting them on the paper during the craft time, but I expected as much.

He played in the toy area alongside of a few of the children who attended the story time session and smiled at some of the parents. He chewed on some of the books which seemed to make him very happy.

After story time, we rode the elevator a few times as he loves elevators and pressing buttons. He cried when it was time to go home which surprised me.

I have to admit, I had my doubts about taking a child so young to an organized activity at the library. After seeing how much he really enjoyed the whole experience, I believe that we’ll be attending every week so he can socialize with his peers. Well, socialize as much as a child of his age is able to socialize anyway. I also got to meet and mingle with some of the parents who attended with their children. That’s definitely an added bonus.

Of course, one of the best parts about the story time program? It’s free.

If you are looking for educational outing opportunities for your child, I’d encourage you to check out your local library to see if they offer such programs. I am glad that I did!

I am in continual wonder of the subculture I entered when I decided to stay home with my babies instead of heading back to work. Stay at home moms are a hearty breed of women, but it can be an awfully lonely occupation. Sometimes there are days when I don’t get to talk to another adult until my husband walks in the door, and then I assault the poor man with conversation.

I was watching a dad at a play area with his kids and I started to wonder if it’s even lonelier being a stay at home dad. At least with stay at home moms we can spot each other by the dazed looks on our faces and the kids circling around us. We can always strike up conversations with other SAHMs because we know that there will always be some common denominator to discuss: kids.

With dads, though, I wonder how much the gender issue comes into play. Are SAHDs afraid to approach women to chat because they are afraid the women will think it’s an attempt at flirting? Obviously, a SAHD probably can’t suggest a playdate at his house like a SAHM can to another woman…at least not without raising a couple of eyebrows.

My days are always more fun when I can get together with other SAHMs and let out kids play themselves into exhaustion. I wonder if SAHDs have the same resources as we do? They are definitely the minority, so it’s probably harder to find other men to hang out with who are in the same position.

Stay at home dads, I applaud you. I think it’s awesome that your kids have the benefit of having a parent at home, and I think it’s great that you can tackle a role traditionally held by women.

Rock on, SAHDs.