If you have been following my blog then you already know that I decided to have my family (specifically my sons) stretch a little bit outside their comfort zone. Our local gym wasn’t offering anything for my boy’s ages, but this Korean Karate class was available, so we decided to give it a go…

So here’s the update. I couldn’t figure out a way for Mr. L to like the class and that’s the long and short of it. I moved his daily schedule around, I tried to only offer the 2 day class once a week, I tried standing with him, and we tried having my husband sit in on a class to see if he could figure out any clues to help Mr. L participate. Turns out, it’s just not going to happen and that’s ok.

In the meantime Mr. L’s younger brother really seems to be taking to the class. It’s been bumpy for Mr. C but for the most part he is sticking with it. Did I mention this would stretch my boys?

Mr. C is busy in all forms of the word. His mind his lively, his body is bustling, his mouth is energetic and tireless. Basically he doesn’t stand still and his mouth needs to be firing on all cylinders, even if he’s used up all his words and has moved onto making sounds just to fill the void surrounding his ears.

I’m sure you can imagine how lovely that looks in a studio classroom full of people who have all taken the class previously who understand self control and silence as a form of respect. For the most part the adults ignore Mr. C or put their finger to their lips before return to their learning.

I promise I have talked with Mr. C before, after, and even during his classes about listening, talking out of turn, keeping his body still and learning how to read and follow what the others are doing. And SLOWLY but surely it is coming along.

Every visit he listens a little more, he jumps around like a Tasmanian Devil a little less, and the little girl around his age gives me less sideways glances and giggles because of his behaviors 🙈

The elderly instructor has been patient and his slightly younger counterpart is even more patient than he is. The only really weird thing that the teacher said (and he said it loudly in front of most of the class 😒) was that he “knew” Mr. C had ADHD and that I needed to medicate him…. 🤨

Yeah… No. Even if he did, no Karate gym teacher is certified to diagnose or recommend medication. My husband and I have spoken with his teachers and none of them seemed concerned. He can focus fine when asked to and can get a bunch of things done with out needing extra help.

I mentioned this to the gym class coordinator and he immediately was shocked and asked if I wanted him to speak with the Karate instructor and I said, nah. As long as that was the only really weird thing the guy did, it wasn’t a huge deal.

So twice a week I take my crew to the gym so Mr. C can learn self control and how to listen to others while my other two kiddos play Starfall (a learning website) on my laptop. It’s not a bad deal, and there are only three more weeks of it until their summer camps start up ✌️☀️