i was impressed and thrilled when i found out that the Fourways Megaclub of Planet Fitness in Douglasdale had a child care centre and they would look after the children while the parents worked out.. so it happened that my wife and i went to the gym today to work out.. we left our kids (9 & 3) at the centre.. firstly apparently the 9 year old is not allowed there because its only upto 4 years old, but then no one told us that when we signed the kids in plus we saw some entries for 5,6 year olds.. But their website (http://www.planetfitness.co.za/clubs.aspx?clubid=13)  states otherwsie..

anyway when we came downstairs both my girls were in tears and just wanted to get out from there.. when we asked them what happened, they said that the staff at the child care centre were extremely rude and did not bother to communicate or talk to them or even attempt to play with them.. when my 3 year old wandered off and headed for the door, she was accosted and they asked her rudely “hey where do you think you are going”.. they had only some building blocks, some coloring books and tv as activities..

while i appreciate the fact that this is not a regular child care centre, it is a great relief to a parent that someone will take care of their kids when they are trying to work out but if this the treatment that the kids get, then i dont think any parent would consider this option..

i have NEVER seen my kids so traumatised and they wouldnt stop crying for the next hour after we left the gym.. so NEVER AGAIN am i going to leave my kids in the care centre.. while the planet fitness facilities for fitness are good, if they are not able to sustain their other facilities, then i think that they should not offer the same to the clients..

if anyone has any other experiences, pls feel free to share it..

Filed under Category: child care, fitness, gym, Parenting and Tags: child care centre, fourways megaclub, gym, planet fitness by manaadiar || Date : 13th August 2008 ||