I am still so amazed at how much my oldest daughter is growing. She has always been a shy kid, never did very well in new situations and was always really timid around new people and never really likes any attention on her.
Ever since she started kindergarten and I’ve been home, I feel like she’s been maturing, growing up and becoming a little more comfortable with herself. I love watching her be the older sister. . taking care of her sister. Sometimes I even see a little sass in her. . especially when she’s singing and dancing. She’s very loving, sweet and girly.
So, it surprised me when she came home from pre-K one day telling me she wanted to sign up for Karate classes. Turns out, her friend Maya taught her how to kick and say “hi-yah!” Which she loved.
So, off we went.
As with all new things, Phoebe didn’t want to even go in on her first day of Karate. She sat outside the gym room pouting and my husband finally convinced her to go in and participate for the last 15 minutes. Promising her ice cream seemed to do the trick.
Five or six months later + passing her belt test and graduating to the YELLOW BELT (Booyah!), Phoebe still doesn’t like the dodgeball part of class (yes, dodgeball in a Karate class. Teaches them to be quick?) but she does it. Begrudgingly. In her pink helmet. In fact, she participates for the entire class now (for the most part) without complaining and really enjoys the class and her teachers.
I really love that this class is also teaching her about self-esteem, how to protect yourself, how to be aware of strangers and responsibility. At the end of each class, they all sit around in a circle and talk. I love it.
I thought we were just signing her up for Karate, but this is teaching her so much more. I look forward to seeing her mature and grow more and more.
