Gym Dandy

Let me tell you a bit about the suburb I live in. It is situated slightly north of "the city" (I say it like that because, although Des Moines is the biggest we've got, it doesn't fit "city" by my standards) and the majority of the inhabitants commute an average of 15 to 25 minutes to work each way. "Rush hour" traffic lasts about 20 minutes (again, I don't consider it rush hour as I used to sit in traffic for at least an hour in Minneapolis and Doug has horror stories of traffic in Dallas) and public transportation is a joke.

Thirty-five percent of this community is under 12. And that number is growing as people move in because of the great school system.

So could someone please tell me why there is not one gym in this town that has child care all day?

Doug & I went to check out the local offerings. Our first choice, which is the nicest gym in town, was immediately vetoed by me due to a significant lack of windows. Or maybe I should say NO WINDOWS. It is a window-less building. Stifiling. And small. Everything is jammed together one level. There is no basketball court or pool and the child care is only available part time. And for an additional fee. And for that they want $70 per month.

The second gym we checked didn't offer any child care. Not an option.

The third gym is the YMCA, which we used to belong to. The equipment there was mostly old and not well maintained. And there wasn't enough of it; I spent as much time waiting as I did exercising. Child care was only available if there was a class going on (because people with kids only take classes?), the pool was shared with the high school (which the Y is attached to) and there was no parking as the high school kids parked in the gym parking area. And for these inconveniences we paid $67 per month.

There are other options here- the "key entry" gym. You know the one- situated in a strip mall you have a pass key to get in the door and can work out 24 hours a day. Problem... You guessed it- no child care.

Now I suppose my standards for an exercise facility may be high as I belonged to Lifetime Fitness when I lived in Minneapolis. Talk about deluxe facilities. Two levels of space, lots of windows, tons of amenities, it could be busy but it didn't feel crowded, child care from 8am until 9pm... Yes, it costs more but I loved going there, I enjoyed exercising. And isn't that really what you need, a gym that you don't dread going to?

Alas, there is nothing within 10 miles that fits that description. And any farther than that, with the girls, is just too far. Which is why, I suppose, we decided to buy the home gym. Now I need an eliptical machine. And some time to exercise without "help" from the girls.