It's Fun to Play at the YMCA

Young man, there's no need to feel down.
I said, young man, pick yourself off the ground.
I said, young man, 'cause you're in a new town
There's no need to be unhappy.

It's fun to stay at the y-m-c-a.
It's fun to stay at the y-m-c-a. 

Go ahead, do the arm motions.  You know you want to. 

Punky and I went home this past weekend for my nephew's sixth birthday party.  It seems like just yesterday I listened to his birth on speaker phone, my office packed with colleagues all waiting with me to hear that first sweet cry.  Six years ago.  I can hardly believe it.  Anyway, it was a quick trip for Punky and I, down on Saturday and back on Sunday, but well worth the drive. 

My sister had his party at the YMCA.  Now that he's in kindergarten, with a class full of kids to invite, she opted to keep the madness out of her house.  Wise choice.  Time constraints aside, the Y turned out to be a great place for the party.  

For the first hour, the kids ran around like a pack of wild animals.  Two huge bins of balls provided plenty of entertainment, and they made sure every single one was in play.  The gym floor was a sea of colorful, round objects as balls were rolled, kicked, and hurled in every direction.  Big balls, little balls, basketballs, soccer balls, beach balls, bouncy balls, and even footballs.  And nobody managed to take one in the face.  Unbelievable.

A coach from the Y took over the second hour of the party.  Armed with only a whistle, this brave man stopped the chaos and managed to get all the kids to clean up the balls, line up against the wall, and be quiet.  I was impressed.  Then the real fun began.  One full hour of extreme physical activity cleverly disguised as fun, that is.  Game after game, race after race, activity after activity, those kids were in constant motion.  

Red light/green light left them running, and jumping, and dancing, and crawling, and spinning.  A version of tag made them chase each other in circles in an attempt to steal flags from one another.  As they raced back and forth on gym scooters, they were forced to rely on those hidden leg muscles that you don't even know exist until you pull one.  And just when they seemed to be running out of steam, he pulled out an enormous parachute to refuel their excitement and make them run some more.  Fun and games my ass, these kids got a total body workout.

Punky and Emmy, ready to race the big kids

And my little girl kept up with them.  She listened to the coach and followed his instructions.  She played the games, and ran her tiny butt off, and didn't get discouraged when she was the last one across the gym, or when she had her flag stolen first, or when she fell off her scooter and cracked her head on the floor.  It didn't matter that most of the other kids were four years older, she was in it to win it.  She had a great time and I'm so proud of her.