Monday night was the Bunker Monkey’s second Tae Kwon Do class. It went fairly well last week, so I assumed things would go about the same this week.
Oh. My. God. I couldn’t have been more wrong.
He did everything he wasn’t supposed to. He stood up when he was supposed to sit down. He punched when he was supposed to kick. He even ran over to my chair a couple of times, which is a BIG no-no. Every time the instructor said his name, I cringed. It was…not exACTly a nightmare, but it was about as close as I’ve come while still conscious.
And I had such high hopes for this time around. See, Bunker Monkey has been in Tae Kwon Do before – about a year ago he tried it out, and it was an unmitigated disaster. DISASTER. After two classes, he told us he didn’t want to go anymore because it was too loud (one of his sensory issues is with loud noises – he’s more sensitive to them than most kids his age), and I was MORE than fine with that.
This year, though, he said he would be okay with the noise, and I thought he probably would be, because it’s been much less of an issue than in the past. Well, he was right – the noise wasn’t an issue. Now, it’s his focus – or lack thereof.
But we’re going back. Why? Not because I’m a sadist – or a masochist. No, we’re going back because I know he does enjoy it, and because it’d be really good for him to have this opportunity to improve his focus and discipline. As for the embarrassment when he misbehaves? Well, I guess I can live with that. After all, there’s worse things than a little embarrasment, right?
Yeh, I know – I’m totally screwed.
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When my DD was about four, she wanted to be on a soccer team. Our small town’s rec dept had tiny-kid groups so we signed her up. At the first and only practice, sha ran around with the other kids, lagging a bit, but seeming to mostly enjoy it. First game however, she lagged more and more as the others ran around doing “amoeba ball”, as a friend calls that age’s efforts. Finally, she sat down in the middle of the field and started picking at the grass
I was mortified, needless to say. That was pretty much the last time for several years that she tried team sports 
Later on however, she went on to co-found and co-captain her boarding school in India’s winning soccer team, and now referees for little kids’ soccer where she’s living in OR.
Moral of the story? There’s hope!