I gave my husband a gym membership for Christmas. He loves to swim, and so I had called around to various places around our home, and had tentatively selected a gym with a pool that was open until midnight. In our apartment in NYC, he used to go down to the building gym after the kids went to sleep, so I had that model in mind.
I wanted him to check it out first, though, before I signed him up, and it’s a good thing he did go visit, because he didn’t really like the particular facility I’d selected. He also visited my back-up option, which was a nicer gym, but one where the pool was only open until 9 or so. That didn’t seem like a great fit either. Then we got to thinking, what about the Y? I’d not chosen that, initially, because I was thinking just he would join, and the lap swimming options at our local branch don’t fit with late night swims. But you can join the Y as a family, they have family swim times, plus free drop-in babysitting during certain hours.
So we went for that and, wow, what a hit! My Christmas gift to him has become a gift for me too. We all went Friday night. The “Kid Zone” turned out not to be open when we thought it was, but I entertained the kids for 20 minutes while my husband swam laps, and then we all did family swim as soon as that opened. Saturday, my husband and I got a work-out in while the kids played in the Kid Zone for 40 minutes, and today, after a tip from someone at church about a really big indoor pool (with a water slide!) at a Y branch about 25 minutes away, he took the older two. He did a half-hour run, then they all swam together. Since the point of the gym membership was to get my husband working out again, and he did three workouts this weekend, I’d say that was a success. And now I have an option for classes and the occasional indoor workout when life calms down a little bit. With babysitting! In high school, I had a summer job working in the kid room at a gym, and I was a wee bit taken aback by some patrons who’d bring in their large families every night, but now I kind of get it.
We celebrated my daughter’s baptism this weekend, and had both my brothers and their families, plus my parents visiting. We cooked steak on the grill Saturday night — because it was unseasonably warm — and had cinnamon rolls for breakfast and bagels with assorted lox and cream cheeses for brunch. It’s good to have company over because the food is much better than it otherwise would be! My little girl wiggled and howled quite a bit during the ceremony but she was so into her dress. I tried it on her on Saturday for the first time (I’d ordered it online) and she just stood there preening and smiling and feeling the poof of the skirt. When I tried to take it off her, she screamed. For someone who knows a grand total of 10 words, she has a way of making her opinions known.
How was your weekend? Did you plan any anchor events?
In other news:
Julia K. Garza reviews What the Most Successful People Do on the Weekend, The book came at a good time for Garza, because she writes, “One of Vanderkam’s closing thoughts really resonated with me. ‘The impulse to do nothing leads to feeling like we’re missing out on our own lives.’ I’ll admit to loathing a lot the past couple of weekends. Part of it is probably because it’s a slow time of year, with everyone recovering from the holidays. Part of it, too, is me giving into my impulse not to plan anything for the simple reason that it’s been a long time since I’ve had a real weekend on a consistent basis. Whatever the reason, it’s left me unfulfilled on Sunday night.” So she’s putting the tips from the ebook into practice and seeing if she can make some #greatweekends happen.
Over at CEO.com, I write about 5 ways to make your team more brilliant. Why not take a MOOC together?
At CBS.com, I interview retired race car driver Sarah Fisher, and write that Building community is a smart use of time. I write about Cali Williams Yost’s new book, Tweak It, and report that Little tweaks add up to big changes. I also write about Marci Alboher’s new book, the Encore Career Handbook, and ask, Does your career need a second act?
Photo courtesy flickr user maxintosh
For the past two weeks, we’ve been using Family Skate afternoons at our local ice skating rink as an anchor event. Our kids (ages 4 + 8) had never been skating before, but my husband and I love it. The 8 year old picked it up quickly, and the 4 year old hasn’t been too far behind. I love the idea of anchor events, and this one is a win on all fronts – we all get some exercise and fresh air in the winter, plus we can spend time together doing something that seems to be fun for all of us. Our Sundays used to drift by in a blur of laundry and errands. Taking two hours for something fulfilling has been great.
@Abby- what a great idea for weekend fun! It is nice to take two hours for something enjoyable on Sundays. The chores can wait.
We love the Y. It’s funny how it can be one of those “hidden in plain sight” American fitness options that is easy to forget about, but what a gem when it works. Our local Y has great camps for school-aged kids for when school is not in session.
@hush – the Y is truly awesome. It’s almost funny that we hadn’t joined until now. We may set a new record for most family uses of the Y in the first week of membership (4 of us were there again tonight). I also like that it’s a nice, diverse group of people using the space, so less of the show-off aspect of many gyms.