Krystal has been attending Kung Fu lessons for about the last 2 months. I originally contacted this school to sign Belle up, since I think she needs the physical outlet and discipline, but at the first orientation class she pretty much refused to participate. The instructor was absolutely fabulous with her and turned it into an OK experience for all, and they even agreed to doing a second class for her to see if maybe she just needed an extra week to warm up. Unfortunately, despite talking about it all week, she was even less participatory than the first class. Krystal, however, really impressed them, and she’s been going ever since. Last Saturday she even “double tested” and moved from white to orange, skipping over yellow.
When I enrolled Krystal after the first class they told me they thought she was good enough, and mature enough, to go into what they call the Basic class, for older kids and adults. But since at the time I was still hoping to get Belle involved, I elected to keep her in the kids class.
Over the course of the next few weeks, watching her with the other kids in the class, it became apparent to me that Krystal was far better than most of the other kids, despite their having higher shirt colors than her. So I started thinking about moving her to the Basic class, and then thought that might give me a chance to do it too. Of course, that still leaves my logistical challenge of finding someone to watch Belle, but I’d think about that later.
Tonight was my private orientation class, which they do for all new students. Now, I’ve watched Krystal do this every week for two months, so I had some idea what to expect. And there were no surprises as to what was covered. What was surprising was how good a workout it actually was. I even took a shower when I got home!
So, I signed up. I’m quite sure we can’t afford it, and I still don’t have a sitter lined up to watch Belle while Krystal and I train 1-2 times per week, but I think it will be good for me, good for Krystal, and good for the two of us to do this together. And I hope that sooner rather than later, Belle will be ready, willing and able to do it too.
Niceties and Nasties from New England 
that’s a great idea, finding something you can do together. I’m not so certain we’d actually seek something like that out, though we have participated plenty in parent/toddler classes and that sort of thing before.
Maybe when Belle sees both of you participating, she’ll be more interested. I’ve chosen not to have DeBoy in dance this term because he just isn’t that interested. We’re waiting till fall and we’ll try it again. And if he doesn’t like it then, that’s ok. We tried.
You’re a better woman than I am. I tried Kung Fu (or Tae Kwon Do or something) in my 20s, and I wasn’t at all comfortable with the yelling and physical contact with people I didn’t know.