Adam has been begging for weeks to take Karate classes. The expense has been a hang up for me, so I was excited when a flyer for a new Martial Arts Academy appeared on my door. $50 a month for two classes a week with a $20 enrollment fee - a substantial savings.
I called to get more details, we went and checked out the place. Adam was so excited and Kate wanted to be in the class too. We decided we would come the following Monday for the Martial Arts Tumbling Class, a class for beginners to start learning how to move their bodies. Adam's 5th girlfiriend (I'll have to post about that one later) Paige was also coming along with her sister and it was going to be awesome!
The day of his first class he was asking all day if it was time to go. At the appointed hour we arrived and class began. He really got into the first few exercises and at one point you could hear Kate and Adam's voices echoing off the studio's cinderblock walls, "I LOVE THIS!"
I got distracted talking to another Mom and trying to keep Mason from riding the Razor scooter onto the rubber floor when suddenly Adam was by my side in near tears.
"I don't want to do karate," he said.
"What is wrong?," I inquired.
"The teacher keeps telling me what to do."
After a brief lecture about the role of a teacher and my insistence that he get back to class, he burst into tears and refused to go back and learn how to do a "shoulder roll." After a little physical coersion on my part he was back with the class. At this point I got a little distracted when Colin started crying and Mason decided it would be fun to roll an open water bottle across the floor. Adam seized the opportunity for escape and ran out the front door.
This prompted a brief phone call to Dad who in his manly way told his son to stop crying and get back in there. Adam lowered his head and turned to go back to class just as the yelling started. I forget the kiai or "yah" (and the "bam" and the "pow?") fighters use to intimidate the enemy and focus their power. Apparently the noise was too much and again the tears began to flow. I gave him one last chance.
"Are you sure you don't want to do karate?"
"Yes, I'm sure."
The sensei suggested we try again in a few months as developmental changes at this age may cause him to be more comfortable participating in the future.
That night Shem and I talked to Adam about what happened. Again we confirmed he didn't want to do karate right now. Thus ended, our short stint with martial arts.
That is until this morning when Adam asked, "Can I try Karate again on Monday?"
"No, son. Maybe we can try again in a few weeks."
"But if we wait a few weeks Paige is already going to be a Karate Master."
Sigh.
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6 comments:
growing up can be so hard.
These are such awesome memories! This will be a treasure for your whole family in years to come. I wish I had been so wise. It will be great to see how Adam develops from all of this.
I didn't mean to be anonymous . . . try this again.
Oh my goodness...what an evening. He sounds like Sienna, our five year old. I think they get excited and have their mind set on something, and when it's not what they expect their whole world is falling appart.
It's kind of nerve racking when a kid tries a new sport for the first time! I just never know what to expect and yet I have all these hopes of it being "worth the money" and it being a newfound love in the kids' lives. Mostly I think good or bad it all adds to our and their experience. :) I guess Adam can go back to devoting his time to his girlfriends for now. ;)
Ahh, the influence of righteous women. Jared decided to try church again after a girlfriend in jr high told him how cool it was. Maybe you should play the girlfriend card a little earlier next time- he might not be so quick to quit.
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