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Washington Babies
Little Gym Fail - Now what?
So I have taken Syd to two complementary classes at the Little Gym. Two you ask? I thought they only gave you one...WELL the first time we went she freaked out about 15 minutes into it when they brought out the air track (it makes a big noise!!), so they gave us another free class since "the shy ones sometimes need an extra class to decide if it's something they want to do". Yeah...she wouldn't even go in this time. Finally at the end of class one of the teachers took her around to all of the stations and try out the equipment and she loved it. When I ask her if she had fun she'll say yes, but when I ask her if she wants to go back she'll say no. She loves the teachers and playing on the equipment but she doesn't like being in big groups and she doesn't like loud noises.
Meanwhile...I have a Groupon for the Little Gym that needs to be used by August. I want her to spend some time around other kids because CLEARLY she needs to get some social interaction but I also don't want to push her. Nor do I want to waste money on a class where she spends 95% of the time sitting in my lap. So now what? I don't like their baby classes and they are a little impractical for us right now, so I don't want to use the Groupon for Sarah.
Sigh...guess I'm just venting. It's hard having a shy child. Anybody want to take the Groupon off my hands so it's a non-issue? 
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Re: Little Gym Fail - Now what?
I'd use them for Sarah - is she walking yet? If not, she will be by August... We LOVED going when Ben was around 1 or 1.5... we did it til he was 3.5.
Were you trying to do one with Syd where the parents don't go in? That's hard for a lot of kids, especially if you haven't been doing those classes before.
If you really want to use them with Syd, I'd wait til June and try again. Give her a break and go back. And ask the Little Gym people what you should do if you sign Syd up and she hates it. Ask if thye'll give you a credit to use later with Sarah for instance. They're usually really nice and undersatnding about situations...
What about one of their dance classes or asking which classes are smaller groups. We loved little gym, and I have the groupon to use with W, I plan to sign him up for the fall.
M's favorite part was the air track, lol. Shows you how different girls and boys can be.
yeah ben loved the air track too! but at first he didnt like riding it as they inflated it,
S is going on her 2nd semester with Little Gym and we are still working on it. She definitely doesn't run into class like the other kids and she runs out a lot. We moved from the West Seattle class to the Bellevue gym and she was pretty unsure of the new teachers and kids- it got so bad this semester that I gave up and refused to bring her anymore.
So the next week my husband took her and sat in class with her (against the wall, out of the way) and he progressively makes sure that she does better each week- he's super analytical so he is tracking progress based on # of checks on dad, amt of time listening to teachers, etc. He's been taking her this semester and she's loving it again. She's still not the same as some of the other kids in the class in terms of listening/following directions/etc. But she is much more coordinated than she used to be, she's taught her younger brother to do somersaults, and she talks about class all the time.
We decided that to push her a little. She kept saying that she wanted to go back, even though when we were there she'd rebel. We decided that if she said she didn't want to go (and we asked her with no judgment) that she'd be done. But now she loves her daddy time and is so proud to tell me each week how well she did. We also switched her to a different class time with one of the teachers she loved from West Seattle.
If you wanted to try a class with another 'challenging' kid- or talk more with my DH at the class- I'd be happy to tell you which class she goes to!
If you have a flexible schedule, maybe you could call and schedule to try a smaller class? I think the ratio is 7:1, that might feel less intimidating. There is a consistent lesson plan every week - they should be able to tell you what the group activity is that week and you could avoid air track day until she is feeling more comfortable or at least she would know to expect it.