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”).

Summer and Fall semester enrollments for members only (Priority Enrollment) starts April 12th!

In the past, we've had separate "Priority Enrollment" periods for summer and fall, in which only members may enroll in classes for the two weeks before Open Enrollment.  This year, we're going to combine the enrollment periods into a super-uber Priority Enrollment.  We're taking the best of past Priority Enrollment "celebrations" and adding to them. 

Starting on April 12th, members of The Little Gym who are currently enrolled in classes may reserve spots in both summer and fall semesters of classes.  Enrollments may be done in person, by phone or online.  Starting April 19th, any member (e.g. siblings, or members who are not currently in classes) may enroll for summer and fall classes.

We have just about 500 students enrolled in classes, with many classes having long wait lists. So our popular classes and times may fill during or just after Priority Enrollment.

How to enroll online:  To enroll online, you need to log into your account on our website. 

• Go to the "Schedule" area of our website and choose the semester you want to enroll in
• If a class is higlighted, you can click on it to enroll. If it is not highlighted, the class is either an invitation-only advanced class, or it has one or zero spots left.
• After you select "Enroll", you will be promted to login with your email address and password.  If you haven't set up an email & password on our website yet, you can select "register" to do so.  When you register, you will be asked if you've been here before (select yes), and then you will either need to type in your Member Milestones number and PIN (from your Member Milestones card), or you can call the gym for your "Magic Number".  The Magic Number is your Family ID in our system.  We'd be happy to give you either your Family ID or your Member Milestones number and PIN.
• Once you've logged in, you can select classes for all of your children, and select your payment option.

During Priority Enrollment:

• Every day we will be serving coffee, juice, and other assorted refreshments before, during, and after each class.
• Every child who enrolls will get their name on a “Future The Little Gym Stars” chart to be displayed in our lobby.
• Every child who enrolls will be entered into daily raffle drawings towards The Little Gym t-shirts and merchandise, free membership renewals, free summer camps, gift certificates to local family-friendly businesses, and the grand prize of a semester of classes for Winter/Spring 2011 at The Little Gym! And yes, as soon as you enroll, you are eligible to win every daily prize!
• Every child who enrolls will receive Member Milestone points - up to 500 points for Summer and up to 600 points for Fall! (Some of you may already be close to earning a free semester of classes!)
• Enroll during Priority Enrollment for Summer classes and your child will receive a pretty cool summer gift -- a The Little Gym beach ball!
• Enroll during Priority Enrollment for Fall classes and your child will receive a different (really awesome) gift -- a The Little Gym baseball cap!
• Enroll during Priority Enrollment for both Summer and Fall classes and your child will receive both special gifts from us, and you will receive a $20 The Little Gym certificate*.
         *Promotional gift certificate can be used towards any future semester of classes (Winter/Spring 2011 and later), or towards any Parents’ Survival Night, summer or holiday camp, or Awesome Birthday Bash!

Payment options:

• You are welcome to pay in full and receive the Value Plan discount (approximately 10% off), or you can pay one installment of any of the installment plans.  
• Another option is you can pay one installment as a deposit towards the Value Plan.  The installment will hold your spot, and then the balance of the Value Plan would be charged on your credit card on the first day of the respective semester. That way, you'd get the 10% Value Plan discount, but only have to pay one installment now.
• If your plans change, you can switch classes as many times as you'd like, as long as there's space.
• If your plans *really* change, if you unenroll before the semester starts, you get a full refund of your tuition.  (If you unenroll during a semester, we prorate the refund.)

Sibling Discount update:

• To accommodate families with multiple children, we are increasing our sibling discounts. Starting with the Summer semester, for families with multiple children enrolled in a semester, you will receive a 20% discount for your second child, a 30% discount for your third child, and a 40% discount for your fourth and each additional child.

Summer Camp details:

• Our summer camps offer three hours of fun and activities for children ages 3-8. The specially developed camp curriculum is designed around themes, such as “Whales, Sharks & Mermaids!”, “Wild West!”, or “Time Travelers!,” and combines physical fitness and play with arts, crafts and special events. Our camps are scheduled for Monday, Wednesday, and Friday afternoons (1-4pm) and Tuesday and Thursday mornings (9am – noon). They are the perfect break for kids (and parents!) during the long summer months.
• You are welcome to choose any day or days during a week to come to camp.  Come to one, two, three, four or all five camps in a week. You pay for those individual camp days you come to.  For example, you can come to every other Tuesday, and the Monday & Thursday of the 4th week of the summer. You choose your days!
• We are enrolling *now* for summer camps.   Children do need to be potty-independent and between ages 3 and 8 as of their camp day.

Frequently Asked Questions:

Q: Should we do summer camps or classes?     Summer camps are 3 hours long, are designed to be fun and very active.  Our classes are 1-hour long and are focused on skill growth.  We recommend classes if your schedule works for them, so that your children can continue working on furthering their self-confidence and gymnastics skills.  However the 3-hour camps are a great way to keep your children active, building relationships with other children and teachers, and having a ton of fun!  We do gymnastics in our camps, however, the focus on really growing gymnastics skills would be in our classes.

Q:  I'm not a member of The Little Gym now.  How can I ensure I don't lose a spot in a class I want?   Prior to April 12th, you may join The Little Gym and be eligible to enroll starting April 19th.  Or if you enroll in classes now, you may enroll in summer or fall classest starting April 12th.  There are 12 weeks left in our current semester, so your cost and committment is less than a full 20-week semester.

If you have other questions, let us know!!!

 

 

 

Proud Parent Moments

We've been talking about Parental Pride recently at The Little Gym.  It's that feeling you get when your child does a "first" -- a first smile... says "Dada" or "Mama" the first time... goes potty on the big potty for the first time.   Having that feeling of pride in your child is one of those things that must top the list of every parent.

We all experience pride in our children from time-to-time.  And at The Little Gym, we provide the opportunity for you to feel that pride every week in every class.  We instructors also feel that pride in your child.  Today, for example, a child who was extremely reluctant to do a backwards roll allowed me to spot him through the roll.  When his face went from being very frightened to glowing with a big smile, I felt that same level of pride as his mom did, watching from the lobby.

This week was a pretty magical week for my family, personally.  This past weekend, our 8-year old rode a 2-wheeler for the first time.  She outgrew her bicycle that had training wheels so we picked up the next size bike.  Marie and I had different methods of helping her (Mom's technique won).  And within about 30 minutes, she was pedaling by herself.  (Still needs work, but it was a *huge* leap in her skills and confidence.)   Marie and I were beaming.

And on Monday night, while reading to my children before bed, our 5 year old son, just started sounding out words -- from Roald Dahl's The BFG -- and that book has some *hard* words.  (He did the easy ones, of course.)   Blaise has been doing this in Kindergarten, but this was the first time he did it for us.  I was pretty floored since I had never caught him actually *reading*before.   Huge dose of parental pride there.

We've started asking parents when they call us, "What was a time recently when you felt pride in your child?"  The answers we get are amazing. 

When have you recently felt pride in your child?  Did you tell them?  Feel free to post your most recent prideful moment here!