anyone a member of the family Y?

[mommyto2girls]

I am consdidering adding this to our budget - we have a realatively large one about 35 minutes away and a small branch of it about 20 minutes away. What are some reasons you got one (or why not?) and what things have you done with the Y?

Thanks!

[Lily]

We chose not to join the Y because it was too far away. Well, it's only 15 minutes, but when compared to our two other options - a family gym and a rec center, it was MORE expensive for membership and less likely to be used.

To make our choice, we got brochures and toured all three, then sat down and circled what we would use, what classes we would take....in the end, the rec center and local gym won out and it's been a good decision so far.

[mommyto2girls]

I wish we had more locally like that. Anything we join is going to be in the next city about 30-45 minutes. Here we are a small rural farm community (85% poverty - our entire PS gets free lunch) - we aren't real big on culture and family as a whole. Our recreation center has team sports and a few things, but nothing geared toward homeschoolers. I would like to do things that won't interfere so much with the family dinner. I don't mind for me and the children to eat lunch on the fly, but I would like for our evening meal with my husband to be more leisurely.

The only thing our rec center has that may be of interest when the kids are older are ceramics and quilting classes. We don't even have a community pool!

Who else?

[Ramona]

I loved swimming, summer day camp, ballet lessons and other Y activities when I was a kid! We're about 35 minutes from the nearest one and decided against it--we wouldn't take the time to go down there often enough to justify cost. We considered a rec ctr 15 minutes away, but it's very expensive and not kid-friendly. We do our own phys ed stuff at free parks, our church, and other places. We go ice skating with our homeschool support group once a year at the group rate. We put our kids in swimming lessons at a nearby school for a few weeks when they got way behind on learning to swim by themselves.

Ramona

[StellarStory]

We used to. I used to swim at least once a day. It saved my sanity.

We also used to have swim parties for birthdays. You can invite a LOT of people and my girl always wanted to invite everyone! *L*

The kids did T ball, Soccer, Martial Arts, Gymnastics and Swimming there.

But after a while we didn't use our membership anymore. The kids got older. Swimming was bad on my sinuses.

So we quit.

[mommyto2girls]

I think we could definitely go once a week, especially if they offered programs the kids were interested in. I would rather spend one long afternoon there where I can take advantage of some things too than several afternoons occupied in other lessons/activities.

Thanks!

[tsmama24]

We have been members of the Y for about 5 years now. It has been really good for us and provides a terrific PE "outlet", especially on cold and/or rainy days. We usually swim once a week, although we used to swim more when the boys were younger. They are old enough now to use the cardio equipment in the workout room, which they still find novel enough to be fun. Off an on through the years, the Y has also had family fitness programs that we could all be part of. Also, if your budget is a real issue, the Y usually has at least partial scholarships for membership if you meet the criteria. We have used those on different years. My oldest son has Tourette Syndrome and the Y has truly been a place where he could go and feel totally accepted and able to be himself. It has been a positive experience for our family all around.
Kerry

[TxDadof8]

We've been members for about 4 years and we're fortunate enough to have one about a mile away. Due to the size of our family, we go in shifts and it works out great. We do PE there in addition to our HS co-op. It's good for us all. We enjoy it.

[merylvdm]

Ours is only about 7 mins away. We just joined last month. My daughters (9 and 19) and I take Zumba classes. My 16 yr old son does the circuits. My husband will probably do those too, and also use the pool

[TheresaHPIR]

We just joined our local YMCA. It's really the only facility in our area of that nature.

The main reason I joined was because my son loves the water and I thought he could benefit from going swimming...and he has, lol. We've gone swimming nearly every day and he loves it. Mommy loves it too. I love to be able to go swimming in the middle of winter if I want.

I can also work out in the gym, and if I can't find a babysitter, they have a great staff there available for child care.

I'm also looking at long term benefits. Members have discounted access to the preschool program there, which is great. I also want to get my son involved in swimming lessons--we've got about 8 months to go, though, before he's old enough. When he's older, there's a variety of sports and martial arts classes he can choose from. And, if we do go the homeschool route like I'm planning, they have a homeschool PE program.

[Juniper]

We are active members at the Y. We joined for several reasons: Huge family. Husband can work on losing weight. I am training for a 10K. One daughter is a second degree black belt and works to keep in shape The other daughter is, at 18, a professional ballerina and works out at the Y to keep fit. Son, goes there to destress. Future son-in-law loves to swim there. Grandson has activities. Good value for us; 10 minutes away in our rural area.