Or maybe he's a rook.
Anyway, Joan Aiken's books about Arabel and Mortimer have got to be the funniest kids' books ever written. I had forgotten just how precisely delightful they are until we started reading them again last night.
TKD is closed through Saturday because the Master has a nasty flu. The only exception is the kids' after-school club, which must go on (because where else are they gonna go?) so I'm handling that. The kids were very good for me today, but when the last one's mom came to pick him up, he turned into a complete snot. I couldn't believe what a brat he became. She let him walk all over her, too, which was both embarrassing and frustrating to watch. I need to talk to the Master about the idea of adding some sort of off-the-mat behaviour tip as a testing requirement.
Speaking of testing, black belt testing time has rolled around again, and our test is in a little over 3 weeks. This will be the first of 6 bi-annual tests toward my 2nd Dan. Not looking forward. :-P But I'll probably live through it. MuNKi, Mollusc and Sluggie are testing too.
I'm on a roll of seemingly getting nothing done at home, so I'll probably be scarce for a while.
Later, taters!
7 comments:
Good luck with the testing.
You know people are afraid of their own kids. They want to be friends with their kids. They don't get the whole limits and structure thing. The kids know they can't do that shit at the TKO school.
Good luck with the 2nd Dan!!! We have a testing in February and my instructor was working with me on my form last night and told me that she's pretty sure I'll be ready to test in Feb! Eeek! I don't feel ready!
From what I've observed at my TKD school, off-the-mat behaviour is something that the instructors look at to allow people to test. One kid didn't get to test because, along with general disruption, he continued to use his belt as a jump rope before class.
Claire - thank you! :) Yes, sadly, too many parents are terrified that their children will hate them if they use any kind of discipline.
Armie - thank you, too. :) If I pass this one and all the others, it wil take me 3.5 more years to reach 2nd Dan. That seems so crazy! I don't think that as a teen, when I first took TKD, I ever even imagined that I could reach 1st. It just seemed so unnattainable.
The Master definitely does factor in at-home behaviour, but I'm hoping we can add something more tangible that the kids can earn. Right now the red tip is kind of used for that. But it's also for coming to sparring the minimum required # of times, and you only need a red tip once you get to Sr. Yellow, because that's when he requires people to start sparring. This kid is only a white belt. I SO would have cut off his red tip last night if he'd been a high enough belt to have one.
I'm not familiar with those books. I'll admit to reading Junie B. Jones as a guilty pleasure though.
Good luck with the testing! I can't wait to read your exhausted tales!
As for the kids being snots to their parents, it just astounds me that parents let that happen. I haven't had a problem with any of my kids being disrespectful to me, so maybe I am crazy/don't have a clue what I am talking about, but I think if you don't allow it, it won't happen.
Every time I read about your TKD exploits, I am reminded to stop messing with you. My you wrote a nice post today...
Diesel - "Guilty pleasure" I love that! ^_^ If you can get your hands on these, I bet your sides will hurt. :)
Tori - Thanks! The time is already flying by. Yikes.
Yes, it just blows me away that people let their kids treat them like that. I mean how are they supposed to learn that that's NOT OK if they allow it? O_O When they're learning to read, you don't let them read just rubbish, made-up words and nod and pretend they're doing it right. Why is learning to behave any different? Blah. You're absolutely right. It's not allaowed here, either, so it just doesn't happen.
Micahel - Ha! You can mess with me. I would never hurt a nice person. Especially one that butters me up like that. ^_^
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