The Bub in the Belly

Ryan goes for a session at Gymboree every weekend where he gets to play on ramps, rockers, swings and slides. There are other activities like action songs and bubble play but the main feature of a Gymboree class is the physical exercises on their equipment. Ryan has started to creep and crawl about so we are getting more value out of the sessions now.

There are so many gyms for children in Singapore now - our children get their exercise and physical fun indoors, in tubs filled with colourful plastic balls and in inflatable bouncy castles, in sterilised rooms and in air-conditioned comfort. They do enjoy themselves and have lots of fun and their parents have the security of knowing that their children are in a controlled environment, safe and hygienic.

A friend commented to me yesterday that we didn't have such gyms during our time as children and children nowadays are so lucky. I thought about it and I'm not sure I can agree that our generation was unlucky or deprived. I remember myself as a child running about in the field outside my house, climbing the trees in my front garden, doing bicycle stunts on my BMX (the most popular being cycling without holding the handlebars), rollerskating (no inline skating then) up and down my street, standing on the swings in the playground and swinging higher and higher till I was almost horizontal. Those are some of the stand-out memories of my childhood - generally just being out and about in the sun (and rain) and the open air. I had a wonderful time so I'd say I was pretty lucky too.