Enroll for Summer or Fall classes and enter a raffle to win a free birthday party at The Little Gym!

We just finished a two-week priority Enrollment period in which current The Little Gym members got first pick of spots in Summer and Fall semester classes. After the conclusion of Priority Enrollment, starting this week, we are offering an "Early Bird Enrollment Period" for current members, inactive members, and non-members. It is extremely beneficial for us to know NOW how many students will be in Summer classes so we can work on our instructor schedule and recruiting plans - so this is our way of saying "thank you" for enrolling early.

All Summer and Fall class enrollees (including those of you who signed up during Priority Enrollment) will be entered into a drawing towards a free birthday party at The Little Gym of Lake Oswego!

Early Bird enrollment will be open until May 8th when we draw and announce the winner. Early Bird Enrollment is available for all classes that are still open after Priority Enrollment. Several of our Saturday classes are almost full!!

You may register by telephone at (503) 595-9702, in person, or online. Please call if you have any questions!

It gets easier!

A friend of ours once told my wife and I, “Little kids… little problems. Big kids… big problems.” I think she and her husband were helping their child with mortgage payments at the time. One of my little problems back then was that it seemed that I had to be holding my child ALL the time. I thought my arms were going to fall off. I asked someone else, “When will I no longer have to hold my child?” They said, “When you can’t.”


But it does get easier. We had two couples over the house recently on a Saturday night. My kids are 5 and 8 years old. They brought over two 8 year old boys and a 5 year old girl. We prepared a gourmet meal (re-heated Market of Choice delicacies) and hung out with the other adults in our dining room for 3 hours. Our kids played in and around the house until it got dark. The kids finally came in when they were to cold to play outside. Every once in a while, when we couldn’t see one of them outside, one of us would get up to see what they were up to.

It was an amazing night. Three hours of adult conversation. Pure bliss. And after brushing teeth (we skipped it for our 5 year old), our kids were asleep in minutes, completely worn out.

So yes, it does get easier. Thankfully, they’re too young to need help with mortgage payments.

Hey, come join us on Facebook, or visit The Little Gym of Lake Oswego/Tualatin's homepage and schedule an introductory visit if you haven't visited in a while!  We're now enrolling for summer & fall classes and summer camps!

Happy Handstands!
 -Teacher Ron

Should I buy stilts for my daughter?

This morning, my 8-year old daughter asked my wife and me if we could get her some stilts.  She had been using some "As seen on TV" exercise equipment in stilt-like fashion recently.  I told her that if she wanted to invest some of her allowance, I'd be willing to invest some of my money too in some stilts.  I figured that if she is showing interest in an activity, I should probably encourage it.  And walking on stilts is a physical activity that would help with her balance and it's a fun, unique skill to acquire.

Freya said to us that a girl in school had stilts.  I said, "How do you know? Did she bring them in to school?"  And Freya said, "Yes. She uses them everyday.  She has a broken leg."

So, yes, Freya meant that she wanted some crutches to play with, not stilts.  This got me thinking, how many activities should you encourage your child to do?  What's appropriate?

I believe that the answer to that is different for every parent and every family.  In our family, we offer choices to our children and allow them to decide.  Our two children have tried horseback riding, various sports, karate, art, music, and of course gymnastics. Although our children are never going to be Olympic gymnasts, we have kept them in gymnastics to help develop their strength, coordination, flexibility and balance.  The outcome is that they are able to keep up with their peers on the playground and on the sports field.  And when I see my daughter swing across a long set of monkey bars, or my son running around third base, I am overwhelmed by my pride in them, and happy that they're able to be proud of themselves too.

Summer & Fall "Priority Enrollment" for members -- update

Starting on Monday, members have a 2-week window to enroll for summer and/or fall classes before enrollment opens to the general public. 

The daily drawings are:

• Apr 12: One free Parents’ Survival Night at The Little Gym ($21 value)
• Apr 13: The Little Gym CD, Water Bottle & T-Shirt ($23.50 value)
• Apr 14: One The Little Gym Summer Camp ($21 value)
• Apr 15: The Little Gym t-shirt, slo-mo ball and Foam Flyer ($27.50 value)
• Apr 16: The Little Gym Annual Family Membership renewal ($35 value)
• Apr 17: (1) $25 gift certificate from Bamboo Grove Hawaiian Grill, or (2) One free Parent’s Survival Night ($21 value) (two separate drawings)
• Apr 19: The Little Gym CD, Water Bottle & T-Shirt ($23.50 value)
• Apr 20: One The Little Gym Summer Camp ($26 value)
• Apr 21: (1) $25 gift certificate to Larsen Family Farm in Wilsonville, or (2) The Little Gym Annual Family membership ($35 value) (two separate drawings)
• Apr 22: Two Pilates classes at Flourish Pilates, West Linn ($50-60 value)
• Apr 23: $30 gift certificate from Pampered Chef consultant, Angelika Heidelberger
• Apr 24: Grand Prize – free Winter/Spring 2011 semester of classes! ($350+ value)

 We're excited to start passing out beach balls and The Little Gym baseball caps this Monday too!  (And to start seeing your children wearing them!)

Spring Break Musings

Spring break ended a week ago. This was the first year in over 4 years that we did not run classes at The Little Gym during the local school break. We ran camps for 3-8 year olds and I hope your children who were able to get spots in those camps had a blast.

I know I often say how great my staff is at The Little Gym of Lake Oswego. It was fantastic to be able to take the week off and spend time with my family and be able to come back to a sparkling clean and tidy gym, with everything in place for a great “Super Fast Action” week.

Usually during Spring Break, my wife and I work, and our kids are scheduled in various camps or activities with friends. This year, with me able to take some time off, we made the pilgrimage to Disneyland. We “killed two birds” with this trip. We knocked Disney off the “must-do” list. Plus we flew my 12 year old niece out from Boston to join us. Her 2 older sisters had made the trip when they were younger, so it was finally Juliette’s turn.

So three kids at Disney – age 5, 8, and 12. My little guy wasn’t quite thrilled with going on any of the fast rides, even with bribes, so he and I stuck to the tame ones. But Freya and Juliette went on the Matterhorn, Splash Mountain, California Screaming, and Space Mountain, by themselves, calling me on my cell phone when they were ready to meet.

I was asked several times this past week if I had fun at Disney. Sure it’s stressful, managing 3 kids with different needs/requirements at Disney, plus navigating LAX (yuck!). And I did make sure the kids saw “It’s a small world,” and went to some of the “show” attractions. But probably what they’ll remember the most, was making up fun games to play while waiting in line for 30 minutes for their lunch, or making up fun songs (about throw-up) while waiting in rush hour traffic on the way back from Legoland, or making up fun things to do in the pool during Thursday afternoon’s break from walking.

Maybe next vacation, we’ll just invite a cousin or friend, or two, and get in the car and just drive somewhere -- so the kids can be kids and we can all make up silly songs about throw-up and create some great memories (and possibly see something that I can cross off our list of “must-do’s”).