Kickin' It With the Kid

Tonight I kicked, punched and yelled and loved every minute of it. Sounds like I'm fit to be tied right? Yes indeed; tied with a white belt! This week I joined my son's tae kwon do class. My son; the orange belt. I lived through the first week of class and so far I haven't done anything to embarrass him.

Since we form up according to rank, my son is toward the front of the room, and I am in the back. This may be a problem. He keeps turning around to check on the old lady. He is coaching me at every turn and giving me the thumbs up when I do well. It's very cute, but he needs to be looking at the teacher and not at me, and it's harder to block what you don't see coming because you're not looking. However, I'm going to have to trust the teacher to handle that because in class I'm just another student; not mom.

I'll admit it is incredibly sweet of him to make sure I'm okay, coach me during breaks, and tell me I'm doing a good job when I get it right. But there is one area where I've got the little tykes, mine included, absolutely beat! I'm stubborn and don't like to be defeated. The young pups sure do whine, moan, pant and puff when they have to run, do sit-ups, jumping jacks or push-ups. Oh please.

You'd think they were making them run a marathon! Since I've actually WALKED (note I did not say run) a marathon; and, though I've been AWOL lately, have been a cross-fitter; I can do the little bit of 'work' required without kvetching. Okay, so I came in last while running lines, but I completed the push-ups and sit-ups; not that I'm calling the young ones out or anything. Oh alright I am calling them out. I mean back when I was a kid we had to run long distances in the snow, barefoot, up hill, dragging sleds full of... um, uh, well - siblings. The point is that back in the day we weren't wussies; were we?

Yep, I think this will be good fun for me and the boy. I'm just thrilled he actually wants me to do this with him. He's turning ten in a couple of days and I know, with the teen years in sight, it is quite possible my very existence alone could be cause for embarrassment at any given moment.

For now I'm going to play along with him and play with everything I've got. Maybe I'll get lucky and he will remain as proud of me as he is now, and I in turn will have multiple reasons to remain as proud of him as I am today. Wouldn't that be a kick?