Helping others makes rec 'tree' grow

The best time time to plant a tree is 20 years ago.

The second best time is now.

Maybe a bit over the top, but the quote sums up how I feel about programs we have added to the YMCA, which benefit those families with younger children families despite my children now being older.

If we want our community to thrive, we need to be willing to sacrifice our desires for the good of others, develop programs we may never directly benefit from, or put something place which will last long after we are gone.

While you may think this applies only to sweeping, grand gestures, it is the little things which also matter...even something as simple as a space for birthday parties.

As most people know, I have seven children.

The oldest is now able to drink legally, while the youngest will enter double-digits next summer.

They are becoming more and more self-sufficient and the number of birthday parties I will organize which will include Spongebob or Barbie is quickly winding down.

Yet, during my family’s heyday of kid parties, the YMCA was not an option...a fact my friends and I lamented for years as we struggled to find something fun and unique for the birthdays.

It is difficult organizing party for a large gathering of young children, especially during the winter, when outside options are limited.

But the YMCA recently brought back a Birthday Party Room, which is available on Friday evenings and Saturday and Sunday afternoons, coordinating with recreational swim times.

While a party room may seem trivial, it is an important asset to the community — just ask any parent who is trying to figure out how to entertain a dozen seven year olds.

It has been more than a decade since the YMCA was able to host birthday parties.

The room dedicated to parties, as well as meetings, was transformed into a fitness room for the rYde program for indoor cycling.

The class was a great addition to the fitness schedule, but it left the YMCA without a place for birthday parties until another room was organized for birthday parties.

Why do we need a birthday party room?

For starters, it is a location which doesn’t require me to clean up my own house before or after the party.

Of course, parents are still required to clean up the YMCA’s party room after the kids leave, but I’d rather clean one room than trying to get my entire house in order. (I realize the kids are not going to notice my freshly scrubbed toilet, but it will still be done.)

The party room is a location which is large enough to house a dozen or more small children, which is not an option for many people.

And most importantly, there is the pool.

Very few of us have our own swimming pool, so your child has now had the best birthday ever - or at least for a few weeks.

This isn’t the first time the YMCA has begun a program which benefited those with younger children just as mine aged out.

A few years ago, the Y started Child Watch, a free child-care program for members to use while in the facility.

It is what enables some parents to play coed volleyball each spring and fall or a group of young moms to meet in the mornings for a Zumba class, knowing their children are being entertained for an hour or two.

There simply wasn’t space to offer child care until a few years ago, when programs changed at the Y.

Now, there are hours set aside for Child Watch throughout the week in both the mornings and the evenings, most coordinated with fitness classes.

As a community, we may not directly benefit from a program, but we must remember that others will be thankful that it is in place.

Ultimately, we need to look at the big picture and do things for others.

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And I’ll wrap up with another favorite tree quote:

“Society grows great when old men plant trees whose shade they know they shall never sit in.”

― Anonymous Greek Proverb.