Last night, I got to watch my son at his best. We went to his karate class, and he just shined. He’s been taking karate for a couple of years now, and believe me when I say that not every class is stellar. He has to be in the mood for it. I bring him to class regardless of his mood, because 9 times out of 10, he’ll end up participating and enjoying himself. Karate is a great way for him to let off steam and get out some of his energy.
Recently, my son has joined an older class of karate students. He was ready to move up, and so I gave him the little push to do it. The older classes are a little more serious and offer more skills to learn. My son has been a little intimidated by the older students, but last night, he worked so hard. There was none of his normal goofy banter….he just tried every task that was given to him and did a pretty good job, too.
The karate teacher recognized his awesome attitude and effort and asked to see him after class. Next week, the students will be earning a red stripe on their belts. They need this in order to earn their next color belt at karate graduation in a couple of weeks. Well, last night, my son got his stripe early. The karate teacher doesn’t hand out early stripes too often, but in this case, my son totally deserved it. He stepped up to the plate, and truly, I am so proud of him and feel blessed that his karate teacher took a moment to reward his achievement and effort. For a kid who often times gets in trouble, this positive reinforcement was just awesome!
So today, I am “Turning the Town Red” with Elvis Costello in honor of my son’s red stripe. I love Elvis Costello though somehow, his music seems to slip through the cracks for me. It’s music I always enjoy but somehow forget about. ”Turning the Town Red” was actually a theme song from a late 1980′s tv show called “Scully.” Click HERE to hear it on Youtube. It’s kind of an obscure song, but I like it’s upbeat melody, which seems appropriate for an upbeat story about my sweet little boy. Way to go, kiddo! Mommy’s so proud!
