The baby class I enjoy

More than a month ago, with the beginning of the new school term, Cat and I joined the Gymboree’s GymCrawlers class and started going to the local library’s Story & Rhyme sessions for under 5s. Cat loved both types of new entertainment. I was impressed with the number of books and songs plus a craft activity the librarian manages to squash into 45 minutes sessions. It was fantastic to have a new place, toys and equipment for Cat to explore at the Gymboree while getting to hear more fun songs. And I loved seeing my child get so excited about being surrounded by other kids, having hundreds of books to pull of the shelf, loud fun songs, etc. But by the end of each 45 minute session I felt tired from too much noise, unfamiliar songs and the number of other kids.

Since we missed two Gymboree sessions while Cat was sick and the time of the usual session was becoming inconvenient as her morning (and the only one) nap was getting later, I decided to try another GymCrawlers session in later afternoon and a GymWalkers one in the early morning. There were 11 other children in the late Wednesday afternoon session plus 13 adults! It was too hot, too noisy, too crowded. I came out feeling dehydrated, exhausted and having a slight headache and in comparison our usual session and the library’s story time didn’t seem too bad.

On Thursday I worried that I won’t be organized enough to make it to 9:30 Friday morning Gymboree session. But as I’m usually brilliantly efficient in the mornings, we were the first ones there. There were only 5 other kids and 4 parents. The teacher was very sweet young woman, who I liked straightaway: she interacted well with the kids; had time enough to encourage and praise their attempts to crawl, walk, clap; played music at the normal not-loud volume, and managed to create very enjoyable experience for everyone. At the end of 45 minutes I came out happy and relaxed, feeling that I enjoyed my time there not only because it was enjoyable for my child. So hurray for “early” mornings.