Gymboree Review

The session JT and I were signed up for started at 1:15 and according to all the voicemails and emails I was supposed to show up 5 minutes early to meet the teacher. I woke JT up from his nap at noon so I could get out the door, 12:15 at the latest, and get there on time. While he was still snoozing I heated up a dog, cut up some cheese and threw it all in a bowl, got a bottle of milk ready and set out his clothes. Much to my surprise we were out the door at 12:09. As I backed up to turn around in the driveway I thought the car felt a little funny. I shrugged it off thinking it was just mud or dirt that had dried around the wheels or something. I put it in drive and headed down the drive. It seemed to pull a little to the left but nothing too crazy. I stopped at the end of our road, contemplated getting out and checking all the tires but didn't because it seemed to be back to normal. Off we went, drive drive drive. Turn left and then merge right onto 183 and move a little more to the left to make room for the family that has stopped on the road to take pictures of the baby buffalo that were grazing next to the fence. It's not often that they are resting that close to the fence but today was everyone's lucky day. Buffalo and Long Horns hanging out together. *singing* Oh give me a home.... Ten miles later I come to my first stop and since it was clear behind me and the light had just turned red, I popped it into Park and hopped out to peek at my tires and confirm that it was nothing. There was nothing right about the situation. Hubcapless and completely flat. I couldn't believe it! I have no idea if I drove 15 minutes on a complete flat or if it got progressively worse. Either way, it was 12:30 and I now had to get this tire changed. Folks, I am the queen of bad tires. I average a flat/bad valve/puncture at least once every 2 months. They made those Replacement Guarantees at Lamb's Tire and Discount Tire just for me. I get my monies worth and guarantee repeat business. I merged myself over into the left hand turn lane and wait at the light. I'm embarrassed and cursing to myself because now we're going to be late or miss the stupid class. Then I cursed some more because I knew the jack in my trunk was broken. Remember just a few months ago when I had a flat at Kevin's baseball game? The jack broke when we put the spare on that time. We had every intention to go get a hydraulic one for me but we forgot. (Guess what I'm buying tomorrow?) Thankfully I was at the intersection where there are two gas stations so I pulled into the gas station that was bigger. I called the home phone and knew it was sitting next to my computer and Kevin was back in his office. Sure enough, the voicemail came on and I left a message saying I had a flat and no jack and just great, I don't know what to do. Then I called his cell phone and remembered that it was laying in the kitchen when I left and I got the voicemail for that, too. Meanwhile, JT is babbling up a storm in the back seat and I'm sweating and feeling nauseous. After a few moments of wondering what to do I called Cingular. I have roadside assistance. I guess the 2.99 a month I've paid for two years is finally paying off but heck if I knew how I was supposed to utilize it. The lady on the other end was super nice, told me to dial #HELP and they would get me taken care of. I panicked a bit when I called and the IVR said to press 3 if you were calling to check on the status of your emergency (or something of that nature). Jason took my call, made sure I was in a safe place and said someone would call me back to let me know how long the wait was going to be. *sigh* I hauled JT inside the gas station and wandered around for a few minutes. A bustling convenience store in the middle of Republic of Texas Biker weekend is not a prime place for hanging out with your toddler. We got a few ooh's and ahh's but more often than not we were looked at like we were "those people". You know, the one that let's their brat run around, stepping on your shoes, poking everything eye level, screaming. It's not so easy to do, mind you, keeping an active kid corraled for an undefinite amount of time with no toys or food. [Note to self: pack emergency toys next to the jack] The cashier took pity on us and offered me a drink and a chair at subway. I'm going to bet that she doesn't have kids. I told her thanks but we need to get outside. I picked up a soda, sandwich and chips and hauled us out to the car for an in-car picnic. JT thought he was something special sitting in the front seat. He stood, he sat, he banged on the window, he turned off the radio. I leaned the seats back so he could climb from the front to the back and that turned out to be pretty cool, too. He also ground cheese and hotdog into the seats, flung soda from the straw and tried to balance on the emergency brake. Around that time I noticed a car had pulled up directly behind me and one in front of me. I started to get an attitude and then the trunk popped open and there was my man! They never called to tell me when they'd get to me but whatever. Less than 10 minutes I had my spare on and was strapping JT back in the car. I was putting him in and was reaching to get money to tip the guy and he left before I could get my sweaty body back out of the car. At 1:42 I left the gas station and headed to Lamb's to get my tire replaced. 1:45 Gymboree calls, "Hello! We noticed you weren't in class today.....did you want to reschedule?" I apologized for not being there or calling, explained my dilemna and got set up for another class in a couple of weeks. 2:00 I pull into Lamb's and see a packed parking lot. Not only are all but 1 space taken, but the garage is full and cars are parked outside the doors, too. I braced myself for another wait. I was hopeful this wouldn't take forever since we are friends with the manager. However, not even a good friend can get bumped up on a Saturday. We went upstairs since the chairs were filled up in the main waiting area and I knew there was a tv up there (perfect distraction) for JT and myself. There was also a box full of crayons and JT had his first go with them. Let me just say I have a neandrathal for a son. I had to scrape orange crayola off his teeth. In addition to snacking on the crayons, he has an impecable taste for the dark roast columbian K cup for the coffee maker. He chewed right through that cover and was striking gold with the grounds before I knew it. And the poor guy in the office - I'm soooooo sorry. JT must have made 15 trips in that office, he yelled at the stairs, shut the satellite tv off which made poor guy come out to fix it, JT threw crayons, pitched a fit when he couldn't go back to the office, ate some ice with me, kicked some tires downstairs and pounded on the windows. At 4:00 I leave Lamb's with a new tire and advice to stop at Hubcap Annie's up north where, more than likely, I'll buy my own hubcap back. I talked to Lisa a little after leaving there and tell her that Kevin told me to do something nice for myself after my tire got fixed. I laughed considering it's hard to do something like that with a little kid. She told me to drop JT off and go get my pedicure. I protested once and then turned myself around and headed back south. Even though it was only an hour or so to myself, it felt like 4. I used my birthday monies from Kevin's mom to buy myself a deluxe mani/pedi combo. Spa tub for the tootsies, massaging chair, not one, but two massage s on the feet, mud mask on arms and legs followed by a hot towel wrap. My back is still sore from the chair kneading into my back but the knot that was there is considerably less in size than before I got there. And that, my good readers, is my take on Gymboree.