Gymboree

So I signed Margaret up for Gymboree a few weeks ago, and she loves it. I find it maddening, however. Of course, at this age, it isn't about me, so I'm sucking it up. The woman who leads it talks in a very loud sing-song that hurts my throat just to hear it. In addition to that and the din of having 20 toddlers yelling and laughing, she also cranks up the annoying kids music, which I think is unnecessary since the kids aren't paying attention to it anyway. Margaret loves climbing and running and sliding, but at the end they do this thing with a big parachute that she hasn't warmed to: the parachute is laid out on the floor and the kids get in the middle while parents hold the ends and walk in a circle. So far, Margaret sticks with me during this part. Then we raise the parachute up in the air and get under it, then sit on it while the air keeps it aloft for a few minutes. The first time we did this, I thought Margaret must be claustrophobic because she was terrified. She's still not in love with it, but she no longer clings to me for dear life when we do this. Maybe by the time our 10 weeks are up, she'll enjoy it.

We went to the Ponce Branch of the Atlanta Library yesterday for Toddler Time, and it was pretty great. The woman read age-appropriate board books (instead of the longer story books the woman at Sandy Springs tried to read), and there were toys and books for the kids to look at, plus they got to plant sunflower seeds in little pots to take home. The theme was "yellow." I think they only have it a couple of times a month, but we'll definitely be back. I did think I was having deja vu this morning at Gymboree, though, because a woman and her 19-month old son were there and had been at the library the day before. Who knew Atlanta could be such a small world? Of course, it took me almost the entire Gymboree session to remember why it seemed like I had seen her more recently than last week, so I didn't talk to her. Maybe next time...