Goodbye Y

It's so strange navigating this week without factoring in trips to the Y.

We went to Swim Team as a family last Thursday (although, ironically Mona was the only one who didn't swim--her coaches threw a dance party).  Friday I did my laps as usual before work.  And that was it.  Now it's closed and we're not going back there anymore.

We've been going there for a long time.  Here are my kids in the playroom at the Y when we first signed up:









One of my favorite places to let the kids use up some energy was the racket ball court.  We never actually figured out how to play, we just always got as many balls as we could and let them all fly.  (Yes, occasionally someone got bonked, but life is like that.)

Fish out of Water

We found out today that our Y is closing at the end of the month.  It's thrown us for a loop because we've had such a nice routine going: We drop the kids off at school, head for the Y where I swim and Ian uses the gym, home by 9:30 with a little time to breathe before going to work around 10:00.

I've been trying all day to track down another place to swim.  The trouble with swimming as a chosen form of exercise is being dependent on someone having and maintaining a pool.  I wish I didn't loathe running or something that didn't require needing more than myself and maybe a decent pair of shoes to do it.  But I swim.  It's pretty much the only form of exercise I don't hate.  So I need a pool.

It looks like my only real option is going to be the local county pool, which is perfectly nice, except that they don't open until 9:00.  They also don't have anything for Ian, so we will have to split up to go exercise, which is too bad because we were able to help each other stick to the routine when we went together.  I haven't quite figured how this will work.  I may have to keep a hair dryer at the violin store since I will likely have to go straight there from the pool.  It's cutting it all very close, but again, I don't really have options. 

I'm more sad about Mona losing her Swim Team.  I don't know if I will be able to convince her to try a different one, and I will miss our whole family going to the Y on those two evenings a week.

Anyway, not the end of the world by any means, but disappointing.  Maybe once we figure it out it will be for the best.  The county pool and a gym membership will be cheaper than the Y, and both are much closer to home.

Still, I'll miss the Y.  We originally signed up when we were eligible for six months of free membership while Ian was deployed the first time.  It was a great place in the winter to let the kids all run around when I was going stir crazy at home.  We've enjoyed many a wacky hour in the racket ball courts, I appreciated the towel service, and every lifeguard was unfailingly nice.

We have until the 31st before they close their doors, so in the meantime we will just keep swimming.  Not too thrilled to have to give up a routine that's worked so well, but I'm sure we'll adapt.

Swim Team

Swimming is one of those basic skills I feel all of my kids should have a handle on before they grow up and leave my care.  We've done basic group lessons at the Y sporadically over the years, and my kids are comfortable in the water, but this last summer I decided I wanted them to have training in more specific strokes rather than just let them keep paddling around however.  We ended up enrolling them in private lessons, and that worked out really well.

The Y was nice about letting us sign up for the regular blocks of time and then splitting that time up amongst our various kids.  They each got at least two private lessons, and they advanced much more quickly than they would have in another group class.

The teacher was particularly impressed with Mona's abilities, and told me that she expected by the last lesson Mona would be ready for the Swim Team if she wanted to join.  The Swim Team met at the same time in the evenings as our private lessons so we could see it in action in the next couple of lanes.  All the kids were about Mona's age, happily doing laps and being coached by some young, energetic Y people.  It looked fun, so I introduced the idea to Mona and let her think about it.  She can be shy, so I knew it would need time to sink in before she'd consider giving it a go.