Activity Days

Last Saturday we took Camden to his first Gymboree class. It was the fastest, most psychologically and emotionally intense 45 minutes I've had in a while. There was padded ramps, floor mirrors, bouncy balls, an annoying group leader, and about 13 other babies and assorted parents. Camden seemed a little overwhelmed at times. His head was literally spinning trying to keep up with everything.There were periodic outbursts of singing from the group leader. She would break out in song to alternate us between free play and small and large group activities; come here, go there, now go back there all in sing-song.

The real highlight of the day were the off-handed comments. One parent said she had been concerned that her child was too small, but she felt better because Camden was really small. Thanks lady, now take your wide-bottomed child and play somewhere else. In addition to that, the group leader had some less than helpful advice about Camden needing more tummy time. She was clearly under the impression that being group leader made her some kind of developmental authority in my eyes. Well, I can certainly appreciate her unsolicited advice. You see, I too come from a long line of advice givers who were never asked to give it, but if this continues I may have to bust her little authority bubble. Really, it's not going to end well for her.

Those challenges aside, Camden did enjoy certain activities. He liked the parachute and the soccer game. I know it's too early to tell if this means anything, but I like to think he will be into either para trooping or soccer. He also seemed very interested in the other babies. At times, he would be very content to sit and watch the other babies almost as if he was making mental notes on the mechanics of crawling, or he could have just been sizing up the competition to reveal their weaknesses for complete annihilation at a later time. Maybe that last part was just me.

At any rate, we thought Gymboree would be a great place for Camden to gain the benefits from a weekly activity day, and by we I mean Theresa (just kidding honey). So, we signed him for three months. This week, Tee will be working so I have invited my mom to pinch hit. Let's see if parents can keep from making similar comment this week. I doubt it.