Farewell Little Gym

I’m feeling a little sad today, so I’m going to try and blog this one out.  Forgive me as I use you as my therapy.

About 18 months ago I was looking for an activity to do with Greenleigh over the weekends.  I wasn’t sure what exactly, I just wanted to get out of the house and do something fun – after all, sleeping in was a thing of the past.  In my search I happened to find The Little Gym, which offered a free introductory class.  I figured, what could it hurt?  I didn’t really think my 13 month old could do gymnastics, but why not try it out.  It’s free, right?  Turned out to be one of the best decisions I could have made.

During our first class I was overwhelmed by how friendly everyone was.  I knew we had found a home when the instructor, Mr. Herby, told me to let Greenleigh explore on her own.  I had been trying to get her to sit with me and it probably looked a lot more like wrangling a 22 pound bag of snakes than mommy and me time.  Once “released” she was much happier and really seemed to enjoy the program.  The class fed her desire for independence, but gave her the comfort of knowing I was nearby.  Forty five minutes went by all to quickly.  Needless to say, I signed Greenleigh up for the summer session and left with excitement for our next class.  A week later, I was able to convince Erajh to come with us and before we knew it, going to The Little Gym on Saturday mornings became a family ritual.

In the "Birds" Class, 2010

As the weeks went on, we made friends with the other families in the class.  We occasionally socialized with them outside of the gym.  We invited kids in the class to Greenleigh’s birthday parties, which, coincidentally were also at The Little Gym.  We watched each other’s kids grow and attempted to help other parents with advice and supportive words if they were going through a rough phase.  We teased and joked about the funny things our kids said and did.  We became a family.  The gym was our meeting place to come together each week.

Our Little Gym family shared in the joy of my pregnancy with Hazeline and her birth this past March.  News of Hazeline’s arrival was posted on their Facebook page, complete with pictures.  We had planned to sign Hazeline for her first class in January, and maybe even have her birthday there.

Hazeline Visiting Greenleigh's Class, April 2011

Today I’m sad because this evening was our last class at The Little Gym.  Due to extreme financial difficulty, they are shutting their doors on Wednesday.  While The Little Gym is a franchise, I know that the people who own it are losing their business and the employees who work there are losing their jobs…just in time for the holidays.  I’m heartbroken for them.  I wish I could say that this is the first business I have seen go under in the past few months, but it isn’t.

I suppose I’m also that we are losing our place for family time once a week.  Sure you can choose to go to the park or set time aside each week to be a family, but it’s more difficult when you don’t have a set date, time, and location.  I occasionally have to work on the weekends, but for the last 18 months I’ve made it know that those forty five minutes on Saturday mornings are off limits.  I have moved depositions and changed the time of inspections.  That’s our family time and it’s not to be trifled with.  It’s our time to be silly and spend with our children.

Greenleigh working on a new skill this past Saturday

So I suppose, rather than wallowing in the sadness I feel, I should look for the positive in all of this.  We had 18 wonderful months of family time at The Little Gym.  We’ve enjoyed the holiday parties they’ve hosted, the storytime sessions, and the birthday parties we’ve been invited to.   We met wonderful people, most of which we will try to keep in touch with.  We watched so many little kids grow and develop amazing skills.  The Little Gym motto is “Guilding Skills and Confidence”, and it definitely did that for us.  In our 18 months there Greenleigh learned so much.  She started jumping, running, and doing somersaults much earlier than most kids I know.  As I’ve said before, Greenleigh has no fear, but The Little Gym helped develop that in a positive way.  We made wonderful memories at The Little Gym that I will cherish.

Greenleigh getting the Most Adventurous Award, June 2011

I simply don’t know what we are going to do without our Little Gym family in our lives.