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Tuesday, March 16, 2010
Son getting his kicks after school
In a matter of just three weeks, I watched my oldest son go from a nervous beginner to, literally, earning his stripes.
Well, a stripe.
An after school martial arts program is available for the students at his school.
Initially, we hesitated, wondering if he was really interested or just wanted to wear a gi like the Karate Kid.
We decided to let him try it out.
I went with him to the first class, signed him up and he was fitted for the proper attire. He did his best to keep up with the students who had been in the class for a while.
Nervously, Noah glanced over at me while he balanced as long as he possibly could on one wobbly leg while kicking out the other. I gave him the thumbs-up.
They did tumbles and rolls, kicks, jabs and stances. At the end of the hour, Noah ran to me and unhappily cried out, “I don’t want to do this anymore.”
Definitely my child. I had tried - and quit - the piano, tap dancing, tumbling, the clarinet and the trumpet before finally settling on horses at the age of 12.
“Why do you want to quit?” I asked Noah, at the same time wondering if I could get my check back.
He didn’t have a good answer. He just clung to me while we packed up his stuff.
“You need to give it another chance,” I said.
He did. And he liked it.
By the time class no. 2 came around, Noah was the proud owner of a gi and a snow white belt. He couldn’t wait for the next week.
“Don’t forget my suit,” he told me Wednesday night as we prepared his backpack for the next day.
“You like martial arts class now, huh?” I asked him.
“Yeah. I wasn’t so nervous last time because you weren’t there embarrassing me,” he said.
I intentionally didn’t attend his next class, wanting him to continue gaining confidence and doing an activity independently of dear old mom.
He’s turning into a big boy and I’m the one having growing pains. But by the end of class no. 3, the growing pains lessened.
“Mom! I earned my first stripe on my belt today!”
So did I.
Email this contributing writer at Motherhoodcolumn@yahoo.com.
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