Care centers offer parents time alone

Parents' Night Out catches on at health clubs and child-activity centers.
Parents line up to drop off their children Saturday night at the Gold's Gym day care.

Kurt Hegre / The Fresno Bee
By Felicia Cousart Matlosz / The Fresno Bee
(Updated Tuesday, May 9, 2006, 5:40 AM)

Many moms and dads are so busy these days taking care of their children's needs that grabbing some time of their own can seem like "Mission: Impossible."

But an option called Parents' Night Out is growing in popularity as health clubs and child-focused activity centers offer the alternative. For a fee, moms and dads can leave their children at a safe, familiar place while they grab a few hours for themselves.

More of these venues offer them to members and nonmembers alike. The sessions usually run about four hours, and the fee per child typically ranges from $12 to $30 for the night. They're also an appealing and reasonably-priced option when relatives do not live nearby or a baby sitter is hard to find.

Gold's Gym, on Fort Washington Road near Friant Road in northeast Fresno, offers child care services while parents work out in the gym. Gold's started its parents' night out about six months ago, and it proved so popular that the gym now offers a "night" every other week.
The gym's latest session was held Saturday. Young children, some dressed in pajamas, romp through the front door of the colorful child care center with little backpacks or blankets, as parents sign in for them.

"Time for ourselves, it's pretty rare," Tony DiCroce says as he and his wife, Aimee, drop off their son, 3-year-old Mason. Tony and Aimee are members, so Mason is familiar with the surroundings. Aimee says Mason gets excited when they tell him he'll be spending some time at the place: "He loves it. He loves coming here."

The idea for these evening programs is not new. The American Academy of Martial Arts in Clovis and Fresno has scheduled them for about eight years. Thomas Levesque, founder and owner, recalls what a young boy say when the academy offered its first one: "My mom really loves Parents' Night Out. Now she remembers why she married my dad."

These programs can offer a festive atmosphere — perhaps a barbecue or luau or a holiday theme. The night can include games, arts and crafts, and physical activities. Sandy Spears of Kerman drives her 9-year-old daughter, Jada Pemberton, for lessons at Gymnastics Beat in northwest Fresno because Spears says it's "the best place I've found" for Jada's involvement in gymnastics and cheerleading.

The gym, on Barstow Avenue just west of Golden State Boulevard, began offering Parents' Night Out last year, and now Spears says she marks "all of them" on her calendar. One was held on Valentine's Day, allowing Spears and her fiancé, Travis Frost, a date night for dinner and a movie, while Jada and older brother Zjean Spears enjoyed activities at the gym.
"We're always doing so much for the kids. To have a night to ourselves, it doesn't come easily," Spears says. "It was just really, really nice to be able to go out and spend some time with each other." And it works out well for the kids, too.

"It's great," Spears says. "They're so safe here. You can trust everyone who is working with your child. The kids love it. When you come back to pick them up, they don't want to leave."
At Fitwize 4 Kids, co-owner Tamara Pittenger says they call it Kids Night Out. The fitness gym at Shepherd and Chestnut avenues in northeast Fresno hosts one about every other month.
"For a lot of our parents, it's the only time they get out," Pittenger says. "It's also a great way for kids of members to play with other kids and have a chance to hang out with them."
The Golden State YMCA, headquartered in Visalia, has its own variation on a kids night out — it hosts a 12-hour New Year's Eve event at which children are treated to meals, games, movies and other fun activities.

"It lets the parents celebrate, knowing that the kids are safe. We had more than 200 kids this past New Year's," says Keri Litchfield, the Y's director of public relations. "I don't know who's more tired when they pick them up in the morning — the parents or the kids."
Litchfield says the annual program has been so successful that the YMCA plans a similar all-night event this summer.

Sam Shima, co-owner of Gymnastics Beat, says perhaps it's not so much a trend as a need, such as quality day care and after-school programs: "Parents are always looking for safety and security and quality all rolled up in one."

The reporter can be reached at fmatlosz@fresnobee.com or (559) 441-6428.