December 2005
Spotlight: A Different Kind of Jungle Opens for Parents and Kids
Urban Monkeys opened this fall in the South Lake Union area of Seattle as “a jungle for kids and an oasis for grownups.” Parents can take classes with their children or relax in a lounge or enjoy spa services while their little ones play.
Classes for children from birth to age 6 fall into four categories: movement, dance, yoga and music, although kids get up and go in all classes. “We wanted movement that wasn’t just dance,” says Gina Hadley, one of the founders. “We’re advocates of a healthy lifestyle, and we want to imprint that from an early age.” Some classes – such as Mama and Baby Belly Dance and Daddy and Monkey Yoga – are for parents and children together. Most are for children, grouped by age.
“It’s a good place to come and let your monkeys release energy,” Hadley says. “As daylight shrinks, our hours will grow,” she adds. Weekday classes begin at staggered times, between 9:15 a.m. and 10:15 a.m.; open gym is 1 -5 p.m.; and afternoon classes end at various times. The facility is currently open until 7 p.m. on Tuesdays to accommodate working parents. Saturday morning family classes in music and yoga allow parents, children and all siblings to attend a class together.
Urban Monkeys was born when Hadley and co-founder Jeanna Peterson met at a dinner party. Hadley had long been carrying the idea of a place that offered classes for children and respite for parents, and was running the idea by some of the other guests. Peterson overheard, and their exchange of ideas grew more and more excited, to the point that Peterson pledged to quit her job with Microsoft to make it work. The two opened the 8,000-square-foot facility in September, and they already have plans for expansion to other West Coast cities. They offer birthday parties and corporate hosting, and they’ll be expanding their services as their parents ask for them.
The two women strive for a gender-neutral environment, and there are no obvious gender divisions in the class names, no sports-and-princesses schism. “Even the classes we expected to be boycentric turned out to be not so much,” Hadley says, pleased. “A lot of dance classes have general titles, so it would be as attractive to moms of boys and dads of girls.” They also keep competition out of their classes and don’t hold recitals. “We want to get kids up and moving,” she explains. “We just want kids to enjoy the 45 minutes. Nobody expects you to do anything here except take your shoes off.”
In the same vein, they embrace all kinds of families. When class leaders talk about a new child entering a family, they focus on parents and not specifically on the birthing process, so that families created by adoption are not alienated. Yoga classes involving infants and parents don’t just focus on breastfeeding and postnatal recovery.
While children are taking classes, parents can spend time in a lounge with a flat-screen TV and a loose grouping of chairs and couches where they can sit and read, breastfeed or just enjoy a moment of adult conversation. The facility is also equipped with wireless access and a computer bar. “We wanted to address moms with flex time,” Peterson explains. “Even with flex time, there are expectations. The division of work and family is much more a blended unit now.”
Urban Monkeys also has spa services, ranging from a 15-minute chair massage to an hour-long deep muscle treatment with aromatherapy, as well as manicures, pedicures and facials. The oasis is not just for adults: Kids can get manicures and pedicures too.
Urban Monkeys is located at 1124 Harrison St. in Seattle. You can learn more by calling 206-262-9282, or visiting www.gourbanmonkeys.com.
Breanne Boland is a Seattle freelancer writer and still a bit of an “urban monkey.”
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