....because I know that this decision will be a source of unlimited pissed-offedness.
We joined the YMCA today.
Not exactly earth-shattering news, I know. Except that just two short years ago, I cancelled my membership and told the Director that she would be ice-skating in Hades before she got another penny from me.
What can I say? I'm a hypocrite! (besides - that Director got fired last year, so at least I don't have to face her)
"But Mindi - what is your problem with the Y?"
Hey! Glad you asked!
It's a fairly new one. Construction finished and they opened Memorial Day Weekend 4 years ago. It was beautiful....huge fitness center, a zero-entry indoor and outdoor pool and it was sparkly-shiny new. At $850 for the whole year, we considered it a bargain compared to the $500 we had spent the previous year on a pool membership that only lasted 3 months. And so we joined.
And then the crowds came. And then more crowds came. And by the 1-year anniversary of it being open, they had sold more than double the memberships that they promised. Bottom line? It was just too damn crowded (and I REALLY hate crowds. It isn't that I'm phobic, it's just that I generally don't like people, especially in large concentrations). Oh - and there wasthat whole thing about incompetent lifeguards who thought my son was "playing" as he went under the water time and again screaming "help!" as I was running to him from the other side of the pool screaming "somebody please help him!!!" (it's a long story, but I promise it wasn't because I was ignoring or neglecting him!). I was so pissed off I quit that day. In the middle of a heatwave. In August.
Fast forward 2 years and from what I have heard they expanded the pool and fitness center so that it isn't as crowded and they stopped hiring 16-year old stoners for lifeguards. In the meantime, both Princes have been to parties there and constantly ask why they can't go. We sat down and figured out that if they gave up their regular karate ($170/month for the two of them) and started taking karate at the Y ($60/month for the two of them), we would still be ahead after paying the $85/month membership fee. And so we joined this morning.
I think I was just getting tired of the constant begging and whining from the Princes to go back to "pool school" (what Prince #1 calls it, since when we were members before he took swimming lessons). While The Queen was younger I could blow them off with "But The Queen is too little right now". She turns two in 12 days and the boys are too smart to fall for that line any longer.
So I will start braving the crowds tomorrow morning (weather permitting). It is supposed to be unGodlyHot this weekend and the place should be packed.
And I need to make sure that I get the boys signed up for the next session of swim lessons.
Karen
You had me at...
"it’s just that I generally don’t like people".
We say that all the time in our family!
Good luck with the crowds. Today was the last day for our kids so the pool was packed this afternoon and I told my neighbor I was praying all those kids were signed up for camp for the rest of the summer.
[today (Saturday) was the first chance that we had to go since joining...the weather has been crappy. It was fun, but now I look like a lobster! - Mindi]
Say What?
But how is the parking lot? The lot at our Y gets my vote for the worst parking lot in Butler County. It is the worst designed piece of crap evah!
And yeah, I hear ya on the crowds! They did the same type of membership overselling at our Y and and it is always crowded.
They totally screwed up when they built the FAMILY locker room. 4 changing rooms - 4. And if your child of the opposite sex is over the age of 6 you can't bring them into "your sex" locker room. Well, I had a hard time letting a 6 year old go into the mens locker room by himself so I had to battle the family room where there are tons of people who have the same issue. Not to mention the senior citizens who think it should be their locker room because each of the changing rooms in there has its own toilet and shower and the door locks.
Ahhh, the joys of the Y.
[I found out that our locker rooms have a "no children between the ages of 4 and 12" in them rule. Not that big a deal since there are 6 family changing rooms/bathrooms. The parking lot was a big problem when they first opened, but by the end of the first summer they had already started doubling it! - Mindi]
Darla
Our Y SUCKS! For the longest time the road just to get there was so trecherous it was better to take the ditch (not kidding!).
And ours is not set up for parent's to stay with their kids at swim lessons (5 chairs for 30 parents to share - niiiiiice). They just expect you to drop your kid off and come back, wha????
With THOSE lousy stoned (we still have the stoned ones) lifeguards? NOTHANKYOU!
Good luck. We won't be joining ours in this lifetime.
[we went this AM and I was pleasantly surprised! They do/did encourage "drop off" swim lessons, but I can almost understand that after karate being "parents can't stay unless it is the first class" . I guess that is so that the instructor can assert their authority and the kids cant fall back on mom. - Mindi]
fightingwindmills
May your summer be free of offensive stray pubes. (Not An Irish Proverb)
[it wasn't that bad...although there were a SHOCKING number of women wearing a bikini that really had no business being in one! - Mindi]
daisybug
Like it in principle - but this:
"We sat down and figured out that if they gave up their regular karate ($170/month for the two of them) "
Horrible idea. Hope you are not wildly disappointed.
No Y for us here. It is not close enough, for one thing.
[I plan on having them take karate at the Y. I haven't found out if they have the whole testing thing like they have at their current dojo, but there are 2 programs...one that it specifically for kids and is for fun and one that is for the serious karate person. They are finishing up June at their current karate school and then starting at the Y mid-July. If they don't like it I can always send them back to their "first school". I just may have to sell a kidney to afford it! - Mindi]