It's fun to play at the YMCA

Winter weekends can be hard in Chicago. It's usually too cold to play outside for very long (Molly lasted approximately 15 minutes helping me shovel snow today before seeking shelter inside) and playdates aren't always fun (we had one this morning and Molly spent half the time sulking when she thought she was going to lose at Trouble, jeez). But I feel like a bad parent if I let her do what she really wants to do, which is watch cartoons all weekend. This is the downside of having an only child...boredom! So, we decided to join the Y.

I'm kind of excited about the Y. They have family gym time in the mornings, where kids can jump around on mats and throw bouncy balls around. And then they have family swim time in the afternoons. We also get 2 free hours of childcare there any day except Sunday, which will come in handy if Jason and I ever want to work out together on weekends or if I want to go after work when he's traveling. 

Molly and I took advantage of family swim time today, which felt kind of crazy, since it was snowing and only about 15 degrees out. But I'm so glad we went. We ran into a couple of Molly's friends from school, so it ended up being pretty fun. Hopefully if we do this enough, Molly will be swimming, or at least be more confident in the water, by summer. It was also good timing to get a little swimming practice in...we're going to a water park in Wisconsin next weekend with friends. Bring on the slides!