We love the Y.

For the last eight months Avery & I have been going to the local YMCA during the daytime. Five days a week Avery gets to socialize with other children and I get my fitness on. A perfect time for this Momma to clear her mind & Avery absolutely loves the stimulation! She fell in love with not only the children, but the educators. {and I'm pretty sure they love her sweetness right back} I don't like to refer to them as a daycare, because they are much more: they interact with the children one-on-one, they craft with the older ones, sing and dance, and even show affection for each and every child. They pay attention to every child's needs and they know them like the back of their hand! Children younger than one have a time limit of one hour. So for months I had to make a routine in the gym that was pretty precise and quick. Plus an hour was really all she could handle for the longest time; it was like her breaking point of too much stimulation and nap time quickly followed. Suddenly this big girl is taking over the kids zone! She is never ready to leave when I get done working out. She is aloud two hours now in the kids zone since she is over the age of one and I have a hard time breaking my routine and extending it. However, I'm going to work a lot harder at taking more time for myself because this girl is NOT ready to head home after one hour! She used to run to me quickly with tired eyes and an exhausted little body, now she takes a glance at her Momma, smiles and runs back to her activities. It's so adorable and I'm really proud of her interaction skills! She is learning to share, play nice, and even communicate with other children. I wouldn't change this experience for the world! I worried that as a stay at home mom and not having many friends with children, that Avery would be lacking in childhood interaction, but this little girl was born a social butterfly!

Love,
Jayme