To Crunch or not to Crunch

No, I'm not talking about the abdominal "crunch".  I don't do those, and I probably never will again.  There's a whole lot more interesting ways to work those abs than crunches.

I'm talking about the new gym that opened up in town.  I thought I'd go take a peek yesterday, but I told myself that I wouldn't make a decision to join the very first time I stepped in, since I had already re-upped my membership at my other gym.

Yadda yadda yadda (to quote Elaine on "Seinfeld"), I signed up, got the free gym bag and multivitamins, went home and regretted my decision.  I felt like I was being frivolous, considering I had just paid for a full year for my other gym membership.  I had to call my trainer.

"I think it's great," I heard on the other side of the phone, "You can go there after boxing class and do your lifting."

"But don't you think it's too much?  It is a very pretty gym, and the machines are state-of-the-art, but I don't need it.  I'm already getting flack from people telling me I'm working out too much as it is ... and now to join a second gym, how would it look?!"

"Those people are called 'haters'," was all I needed to hear from my trainer in order to feel better about my decision.  The fact is, I love certain things about my "old" gym: the people, the classes, the locker room (yes, it's comfortable, not sterile).  I am also going to really enjoy some things about the new gym: the cool new machines, getting out of my comfort zone, pushing myself to make new friends/workout buddies, new classes, and a fresh environment for my girls in child care.

Honestly, I think it is a good move for me and my girls.  Instead of spending 10 hours/week in only one gym, where the girls are most often watching cartoons and not really playing too much, I'll split my time between the two, where the girls will meet new kids and also play a bit more in the new gym (there's no tv in there, if I recall).

I'm writing all of this down to show that there are lots of factors that go into the decision of where/how to divide our time when we are stay-at-home moms.  We do think of ourselves and our own needs sometimes, but we also must factor in the children's needs.  After all, that's our job, right?  My decision to join was primarily for me, but it fits in well with my allotted workout time and also should be a good thing for the kids.

So, let's see how it all works out.  I'm pretty sure it will be just fine.