Binkies and Briefcases

Friday night after the kids were asleep Eddie & I watched a Quentin Tarantino movie about fighting Nazis. After the first few scenes I told Eddie I am so grateful that we live in a country where we don’t have to worry about things like that. There is no place on Earth I’d rather raise my children than here in America, so we want to keep that in mind and appreciate the sacrifices that were made to give us these opportunities this Memorial Day weekend.

My children live in a place where they have the freedom to have a magical childhood, and we intend to take full advantage of the opportunity.

By giving babies airplane rides through sunny skies

 and running through sprinklers and jumping on trampolines

and picking fresh strawberries from the farm up the road

and spending time with family

and eating ice cream and steamed crabs

and buying foosball tables

and going to church this morning, not just because we should, but because we can, and we do so freely with out having to hide under floor boards for fear of violent government officials.

There are people who died and are still dying (33 NATO soldiers this month in Afghanistan) so our families and others around the world can do these things. This weekend is for them. 

Once upon a time there was a little girl named Stephie.

She was starting the second grade in a new school and getting ready to move to a new house. Stephie was very, very shy. She did not like talking to people she didn’t know, especially kids. Grown ups were okay because they were usually nice, but kids could be mean.

Stephie’s birthday was in September, right at the beginning of the school year. On her birthday, just like every other day so far at the new school, she played by herself at recess. She didn’t really mind playing by herself, but there was a little girl in her class named Lauren who thought it was just too sad for someone to be all alone at recess on their birthday.

So that day Lauren offered to share her My Little Ponies. The two girls became best friends. From that day on they did everything together. They made up a special language, bought matching necklaces, had sleepovers, started a stuffed animal cleaning business, and even pretended to get in a big fight to see if their teacher would move their desks together to try to get them to make up. (It actually worked.)

And the little girls grew. They grew and they grew and they grew. They grew until they were teenagers.

They had fun times like going on the school trip to France, and cheerleading camp, and finally getting lead rolls in the dance recital. And they went through very hard times like losing Lauren’s mom.

(That’s Lauren holding one of my feet and Eddie holding the other)

And those teenagers grew. They grew and they grew and they grew. They grew up and went off to college.

Even though they went to different schools, Steph and Lauren stayed very good friends.

 

 

  

 and to give Steph’s kids fun life experiences, like taking a train to a pumpkin farm

and to invite herself (very welcomed) on family vacations to help keep an eye on the kids at the beach

My kids and I have been singing the Village People song all week because this week we actually did join our local YMCA.

I’ve been wanting to join a gym with child care ever since I had a hard time losing my baby weight from Abby. So, for about 3 years.

I looked into the larger gyms in our area, but the average price was about $60/month per  person and the childcare costs were extra and there was an additional fee if you wanted access to classes, blah blah blah. Eddie wanted a membership too if we were going to be joining a gym, which meant the cost for our family was going to be almost $200 per month. No thank you.

I joined the budget gym where they only charge $10/month, but I literally only went 3 times and we paid for my membership for over a year. They didn’t offer childcare or any of the zumba/yoga/pilates classes I like.

My aunt told me my cousins belonged to the y and I remember thinking “I should look into that” but for some reason I never did.

Then this month we decided to downgrade my cell phone because we’re paying for me to have a Blackberry with a data plan even though I only use my phone to make calls and I average less than 5 minutes a month, so it’s pretty dumb for us to be paying for that. We should be able to save at least $45 a month taking away my data plan and getting a less fancy phone. 

I told Eddie that if we downgraded my phone I wanted to look into getting a gym membership again.

After some Googling, I found out the y in our area only charges $44/month for a family membership that INCLUDES childcare and the classes I missed at the other gym. Plus we have access to several locations in our city and the aquatic center as part of our membership. And 50% off youth sports if we want to sign the kids up for those.

Say what?

Yup, now our whole family has a membership and we’re actually saving $1/month once we downgrade my dumb phone. (I still want to have a phone for emergencies)

We were there yesterday and I actually got to work out and shower while someone watched my kids!!! I didn’t even care that it was in a dorm-style shower where I had to wear flip flops. 

I’m starting a yoga class this morning.

Plus I love that it’s a Christian environment. 

Here’s hoping that the rest of this baby weight comes off soon, but even if it doesn’t I’m still excited to be setting a good example of healthy living for my kids.

Yay!