Back to school and Gymfinity

This is the time of year when kids are ready to go back to school. They have played all summer long and are ready to get back to the orderly day of school and after school activities. I remember as a child when the end of August rolled up that I was usually anxious to get back into classes, I may have acted more resistant to the notion but inside I was always ready to go.

I knew that I had a reason to get up in the morning, a schedule to follow and a plan for the day. You may think that kids are too young to have that understanding but I will tell you that children look for that order and structure. They like (often secretly) knowing what they’ll be doing at any given time and what they’ll be doing after school.  Kids need that order. Without an arranged schedule there is no purpose to the day. Sure it’s fun and kids love to have those days when anything can happen, there is no schedule and they are open to all possibilities. We all love those days, but the truth is that we also need, love it or not, the orderly and compartmentalized days.  As an adult I need to know that I have this block of time for e mails, this block for lunch and this one for coaching team. Another day, I have a block for business work, phone calls and meetings and another block for running errands. Without my blocked time I am lost and I feel non-productive.  Maybe it’s training I had as a kid. I had my sleep until noon days but I also had training blocks, play blocks and school blocks. That is why I loved school; it was a collection of sub-blocks.

Today children have scheduled days like adults do. They have school and it’s sub-blocks, after-school and it’s sub-blocks and activity blocks. Monday is play group, Tuesday is gymnastics, Wednesday is friends over, Thursday is fitness class and Friday is fun time with Mom. A few weeks ago I heard my 5 year old pull out his Blackberry and tell his friend “I got something at 3:30 but I’m open by 5:00, have your people call my people and we’ll make it a thing. OK, we’ll talk later, I’ll pencil you in…”  OK, that story is not true (he didn’t have a thing at 3:30) but the point is that kids are getting compartmentalized schedules and I don’t think it’s all bad.

At Gymfinity we have begun to ready the gym for many kids returning from their summer of open and free days back to school and scheduled activity.

Here I am vacuuming the empty pit.

We have cleaned the pits, cleaned the crevices, scrubbed the floors and painted the walls. We have new planters in front, new posters up and new lesson plans waiting to be taught. Our coaches have gone to training sessions here and away, keeping them at the top of the evolutionary chain of coaches. They are ready to resume

The pit emptied out for cleaning

 teaching the Madison area’s greatest kids. Gymnastics, tumbling and fitness are great options for kids to implement into their days. A good physical activity is essential for kids growing up healthy and appreciative of feeling fit.  We can’t wait to see all of our kids return. It’s like when we adults were in school and we lost touch with so many of our “school” friends. Then they come back and they seem so different, but still the same. We see kids return taller, tanner and more excited than ever about getting in the gym.  Its great to see them again. And now the gym is ready, we’re ready too. Bring on the kids!