In March 2009, my mom suggested that Jessie would probably benefit from an activity with other children her age. What? Jessie doesn’t get enough interaction from watching me work at home?
Mom’s suggestion was Gymboree. It sounded like a good idea to me. I looked up the website and found the location nearest to me. Oh my! The nearest location is about an hour away. That’s okay; we’ll just go try the class. Little did I know that I would love Gymboree. The jury was still out for Jessie, but enough parents told me that sitting and watching was common for the first several classes.
Jessie did warm up. She had started walking shortly before joining Gymboree and she found the playroom to be the perfect place to hone her new skill. Even still, she didn’t venture very far from me and didn’t interact much with the other children.
In June we learned that we would be able to proceed with adopting Jessie. What marvelous news! Jessie was a year-and-a-half old at the time, and the status change made a change in her. She started to leave me and was more daring on the apparatuses at the center. She found a confidence.
It has been such a joy to watch Jessie grow and change with the Gymboree classes. She is outgoing and active. She loves playing with other children. She’s advanced through three levels of classes since she started. Jessie is proof that Gymboree works.
Unfortunately, the next level class has only two times available and neither is convenient, especially considering how far we drive to get there. There’s a new location opening in the next few months or so. Maybe there will be a wider selection of class times by age group. It’s probably the same distance from our house, so it could work. In the meantime, Jessie will stay in the class she’s been in with the other children who should have moved up.