I went to the gym really late on Friday - I figured it would be mostly empty and peaceful on a Friday night. I paid my dues to the elliptical gods and then thought I'd sweat out some more in the sauna with a book.
I mean, saunas are the epitome of relaxation, right?

Sidenote:
The YMCA has a women's locker room that says explicitly, for 18 and up that contains the sauna and steam room as well as showers and dressing area. There is a separate locker room for women with children with showers.

I relax in the sauna, enjoying my book. I hear kids in the shower and a woman talking to them, so I figured they'd be in/out.

But nooooooo.

Three girls (7-8ish) come out of the shower (while the mother is still in there) and start playing with the bathsuit drying machine (think salad spinner for bathing suits). Noisy machine that isn't meant to be kept going for 5+ minutes as they keep pouring water into the machine to keep their suits wet. I *try* to block them out.

Then they are running up and down the length of the area, screaming at each other. (What I didn't realize is that one of them had turned one of the shower heads to shoot a jet of water at them - completely soaking my gym bag that was hanging on a hook by the sauna. Had my MP3 player been in there, it would have been ruined)

Now the shower is still going with the adult woman in it...

Next, the girls start opening the door to the sauna. I ask (gently) to please shut the door, that they were letting the heat out. Door shuts. Door opens. Door opens wider. Door opens fully and they stand there and say "It's hot in here." I get up, tell them that this is for adults only and tell them (nicely) to stay out.

The go back to the bathing suit/salad spinner. The mom has been in the shower for more than 20 minutes now. I can't take it any more. So I shower and head back to the dressing area. The kids (and the adult woman) are there at this point. I didn't think it was appropriate to have them there and to dress in front of them, so I went to an area that is for dressing for the modest with a showercurtain.  I'm in there, shorts on, putting on my bra and  I can hear them running around the dressing area, screaming. Then one of them yanks open the curtain as I'm mid-bra. I said "GOD DAMMMIT!" And they went running away.

I got dressed and went up to the main desk on my way out and gave them a summary of the last 30 minutes. They were aghast and apologized.

I got an email Saturday morning saying the gym was closed until Monday due to a fire Friday night.
Gee, wonder if those little monsters had anything to do with it?

Now, I'm sure the woman in the shower (guessing she was their caretaker and not actually the mother) wanted a few moments of peace and quiet in the shower. But the disruption those three caused was inexcusable... Had I had any duct tape, it would have been utilized. They are going to be on America's Most Wanted and/or Cops in no time.