Strike Two

Amelia did it again, she bit at they gym's daycare today. So, as of right now, we are "suspended" for 3 days. I'm pretty angry and the last incident was over 2 months ago. I don't condone my daughter biting but it is normal for a child who is 2. I called around to other gym's today they are hungry for my business giving me free day passes to try out their facilities. I love my gym, I really do but the incidents in child care are a huge hurdle for me. Here is a letter I emailed the gym manager, you're feedback is appreciated.



Dear John and management team,

I spoke with you this morning regarding the daycare situation with my daughter Amelia. As you probably could tell, I was very upset that Amelia was being suspended for 3 days and even more upset about the policy the Gold’s Gym Oakdale kid’s club follows. I recognize my child had inappropriate behavior today and do not support the fact that she bit another child. However, I believe that not allowing me to utilize the kid’s club facility is essentially not allowing me to utilize my Gold’s Gym membership. I am not happy about paying for services that I can not fully utilize and I disagree with the policy it’s self. I understand that rules are needed to keep all members safe and treated fairly. However, there have been multiple times, that I’ve come into the kid’s gym and seen older kid’s ruff housing and play fighting. It is just as likely these kids could hurt someone, themselves, each other or a younger child. Are these incidents written up and their parents signing incident forms with consequences? As I understand the policy, each time a child bites there is an incident report and the child is suspended. After the third incident, the child can no longer come back to the kid’s club.

I’ve spent the afternoon calling around to other local gym facilities, including Brenda Athletic Clubs, In Shape City to see what their policy is regarding children who bite. Both Gyms have told me that the first time is a warning and a time out for the child. The parent is notified but not necessarily asked to pick up their child. Brenda Athletic Clubs told me that they do not suspend children and instead try working with the child and parent to prevent the problem from occurring. In Shape City said that on a rare occasion a child will be required to stay home for a few days. This would happen if and only if the child is a continual bitter and bites at almost every visit to the kid’s club. Additionally, I called Gold’s Gym Roseville. Gold’s Gym Roseville’s policy is more similar to Brenda Athletic Clubs and In Shape City’s than to Gold’s Gym Oakdale. All the gyms I contacted agreed that biting twice in over 2 months is not significant enough to receive a suspension.

The staff in the kid’s club care about Amelia. Amelia looks forward to going to the gym just as I do. However, I know when there are group exercise classes the staff gets very busy checking in parents and kids. There are a lot of kid’s with usually 1 or 2 staff. It’s very easy for things to get overlooked (like two children fighting with a toy) and for a child to get hurt (bitten) when this may have been preventable if an adult could have intervened earlier.

As you know, I enjoy going to the gym and go almost daily. I enjoy that Gold’s Gym Oakdale is local, has quality services, and nice equipment. However, it is equally important to me, if not more important, that my child be adequately cared for, supervised and that I feel the staff is willing to work with me as a parent through any problems that may arise. I need this problem worked out immediately, or I will be forced to look else where for my fitness needs.


Thank you,


Weightless