Sometimes things go right – no problems, no fights, no drama. It was like that yesterday evening.
Backstory: In my ongoing quest to be less of a man (weight-wise) I’ve been going to the gym. For the first time we joined one as a family: Lifetime Fitness, the coolest gym I’ve ever been to. Child care, pools (with waterslides), rock climbing walls, a cafe, and plenty of equipment. The kids are hooked. I’m hooked. The wife…well, not so much.
Yesterday afternoon I told the older two that if they get their homework and chores done they can come with me to the gym (my youngest was out sick with an ear infection). The only caveat was they’d have to hang out in child care while I worked out, then we would all rock climb.
When we left the house my Iz had a little homework left to do but she got it done there. After my workout we all went climbing – it was great to see Jack really working to get up walls he previously had trouble with. When we first started going he was a little nervous about going more than halfway up. Iz climbs up like a spider, then descends slowly using the auto-belayer, legs crossed, looking like she’s floating to the ground. Me, I made it up to the top once. My forearm strength to weight ratio is low compared to the kids’.
After that we ate dinner in the cafe. The kids ate pizza, Jack did not drink his peanut butter and pineapple yogurt shake (his choice of flavors), and we just sat around and chatted, watching sports and music videos on the TVs.
Everyone behaved and the plan went off without a hitch. Nobody melted, nobody whined. It doesn’t sound like much but it was very cool – like hanging out with normal people except they were my kids. I really really enjoyed it…I’m still basking the glow of an evening gone right.
And that’s why it’s good to be…me.