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‘ The best kept secret in Hot Springs’

A s even non-parents know, parenthood is a full-time job in and of itself. All parents, no matter their children’s ages, occasionally need a well-deserved night to themselves. Luckily, the Hot Springs YMCA is here to help with not one, but two programs created specifically to provide this much-needed support: Parents Night out and Toddlers Night Out.

Parents Night Out takes place every Friday and Toddlers Night Out takes place on the first and third Friday of each month. These programs have two goals: to create a safe, fun environment for kids and to give parents an opportunity to rest, go on a date night, run errands, do chores, or as child care director Amy Brown-Westmoreland said laughingly, take a shower.

Though she is currently the child care director at the Hot Springs YMCA, Brown-Westmoreland utilized the program in the past before she was ever professionally involved with the institution.

“I never thought I would be the parent that would drop her kids off somewhere to go on a date … but that was before I was a parent. We loved the YMCA; we knew the staff was highly trained and that there were lots of other kids there for them to play with,” she said.

Brown-Westmoreland said she feels that if they feel so inclined, parents should certainly utilize these tools at their disposal. She also said she believes that programs like these help keep parents sane and families strong, while also encouraging a sense of camaraderie between parents that may be in an otherwise isolating situation (especially when their children are still very young).

The Parents and Toddlers Night Out Programs were not just created with parents’ needs in mind. The kids have a blast, too. These special nights include pizza, a dessert craft, playtime in the beloved indoor playground affectionately dubbed “Play Palooza,” a kid-friendly movie for both groups

if time allows, and a craft to encourage motor skills development.

“Parents Night Out is to help your parents so they can get some time and its always fun for kids because they get to go to the indoor playground and eat pizza. Then after the indoor playground, we get to make a craft with sweets,” said regular Parents Night Out participant, Adrianna Ransom, 9.

She claims that Parents Night Out is not just fun for her, but important for her parents, as well. She also mentioned that she has made many new friends thanks to the program and always looks forward to these nights. She plans to let her kids participate in the program in the future when she is a parent.

Presley Bledsoe, 8, shared her thoughts right before her first Parents Night Out. She had been at the YMCA since the end of school that day but decided that she wanted to stay for Parents Night Out, too, because she heard it was so fun. Bledsoe said that she was excited about the program mostly for the pizza and wanted to “play in Play Palooza the whole time,” but was also eager to build her first gingerbread house. She feels that Parents Nights Out is a good break for school-age kids too, citing the fact that she often has at least two hours of homework on school nights. “Kids need breaks, too,” she said. The two programs are very similar and only differ in the types of activity specific to the age of the children in attendance. The YMCA defines a toddler as any child that is a strong walker to pre-K. The toddler age group is not allowed in the pool at all, and child care specialists for this age group from the YMCA’s Child Watch are on site.

Parents Night Out is geared toward older children: kindergarten to 12 years old. This age group is allowed to swim in the indoor pool under supervision. The Hot Springs YMCA is also within sight of CHI St. Vincent Hospital, which is no doubt an added level of comfort to parents trying to enjoy a night off.

Brown-Westmoreland encourages anyone who is interested in taking advantage of one of the Parents or Toddlers Night Out programs to give the Hot Springs YMCA a call and ask any questions that they might have about those or any other programs. Membership is not necessary to participate but they do offer discounts for members and discounts for multiple children attending from the same household, with or without a membership. Drop-ins are always welcome to participate in these programs, but filling out a registration form is required.

Brown-Westmoreland added that there multiple scholarships available for people to cover the cost of their membership and/or attendance fees.

“We never want to turn someone away for financial reasons. The YMCA is for everyone, the whole community. That is so important to us here at the “Y” — community,” she said.

To her, the Parents and Toddlers Night Outs programs are helping to build a stronger community. Indeed, the emphasis that the YMCA places on the community is literally written on the wall, right next to the child-covered and laughter-filled Play Palooza: “Community: It’s a wonderful place to be.”