My boys might say I'm that mom, the one who cringes at even small acts of violence. Ants, although quite tiny, don't deserve to be stomped. Also, I question Nerf bullets and paintball parties. "You want to play Supersmash Brothers? You're brothers. Why would want to smash each other?" Still, I didn't raise them in a cave, and once I saw the neighborhood children whip out their bazooka-shaped sticks on the playground, I learned early on that a simple boycott of Hasbro did not equal character education.
I might say my youngest is that kid, the one who mastered "pew, pew, pew!" sounds as a toddler. To him, wild dragons are more interesting than trained ones. He backseat-lectures me about which animal is more deadly, the octopus or the squid--predators are always more interesting than prey. "Can't I play Fortnite?" he now asks on a regular basis, despite my routine response, "Nope." And since I'm not raising him in a cave, he dances the floss as well as any kid around.
It appears we have found a compromise in the form of tae kwon do. When Grand Master Jhoon Rhee's ad campaign was flooding the airwaves in the 1980's, didn't we all think that "Nobody bothers me," meant we could and should flip our opponents when they crossed us? As it turns out, the words "Might For Right" mean more than that.
He's only one month in, but my predator-loving kid has been bowing in for twice weekly practice. It might be the jump kicks that pique his interest, but his eyes are locked on instructors when they expound on the importance of kindness. He loves to wear the boxing gloves, but he's also a champ at handing items with two hands to two-handed recipients. After they punch the guts out of a punching bag, they applaud one another for good grades and notes about good habits and recite these words:
To build true confidence through strength in my
body, honesty in my heart, and knowledge in
my mind. To keep friendship with one another
and to build a strong and happy community.
Never fight to achieve selfish ends, but to develop
Might For Right!
Because I'm that mom, I have to wonder why we're still talking about fighting. Because he's a kid, this sure looks like a fine way to pass the time.
Because I’m that reader I really like this post because it captures the two of you so well.
ReplyDeleteA great piece! I like the line, "my predator-loving kid has been bowing in for twice weekly practice."
ReplyDeletewow - love the thoughtful way you handle this dissonance. You are that amazing mom!
ReplyDeleteHaving only raised girls, I enjoyed reading this piece about your boys. And I so remember that commercial and glad you deepened my knowledge about this sport.
ReplyDeleteYay! I love that you don’t stop with your authoritative “nope“ but so healthily channel and hone his natural instincts! Character building, indeed!
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