Proud Mommy Moment / Horrified Mommy Moment

He earned his orange belt in Pre-karate! I’m so proud of him! The last time he tested, last spring, he was a totally different kid. He was scared to get out there in front of all the parents, students, and teachers. He hid behind the chairs and cried when I tried to coax him out. They very nicely gave him his belt when he agreed to come out at the end to accept it, but it was a tough evening for all of us!

We went through a long period of whining and crying just to get him to go to karate. I had thoughts of canceling his class, but he loves it once he’s there. And I really think what they teach and how they teach it there is so good for him! They have wonderful talks about safety, respect, self control, confidence, etc. Being so shy, it has helped him come out of his shell and feel more confident. Also he’s like I was, a bit of a magnet for bullies, since he’s quiet and uncomfortable speaking up. This has helped him know how to deal with those situations already!

I’m glad we stuck with it, because he went back to loving it again, and is now always eager to go. This time he ran up the stairs and into the dojo before me. When I got to the top of the steps, after painfully waiting for my two year old to “do it herself!” one slow step at a time all the way up the long steep staircase, he was talking with his friends and then started practicing with one of his favorite teachers. He followed the instructions with his class mates and got out there and did his moves perfectly! He was thrilled to get his orange belt and actually let me take two pictures! Yes, Two whole pictures with a smile and standing still! No hiding or jumping around like the silly boy he is! That was the limit, though.

On the other hand, my daughter, who was difficult the last time we took her, but I was thinking she’d be fine this time as she’d just had a long nap….was not pleased to have to sit still quietly. She was whining and being obnoxious the whole time! We tried to keep her busy with books, toys, games on my smartphone, my husband took her out to the lobby for a while and came back in when he knew our son would be up soon. I missed the first time he was up to do some moves because my daughter suddenly had to go potty, even though I had just taken her. She didn’t go, but just wanted to play in the bathroom. I rushed her back into the dojo just when my son was sitting back down. Then suddenly, she pooped her pants and I scooped her up and ran her back to the bathroom. Of course I left the diaper bag in the dojo and we were seated on the far side, so every time we were in or out, I had to walk back in front of everyone!

Luckily, only her undies were soiled and not her pants, so I just had her go camo after cleaning her up, but she was not okay with this! She started screaming, “I need to change! I need to change!” I finally got her to quiet down enough to explain that I needed her to be quiet long enough to go get her change of clothes across the room! She did somewhat, but by the time we got there she was distracted and no longer cared about her clothes. Then she started up about something else and finally my husband took her out to the car just after watching our son’s last time up. He just missed him accepting his new belt, but I took pics. We both agree that we never, ever want to take her to karate testing again! Of course I said that the last time, too.