Karate

I saw a coupon in the mail last week that read "KARATE-discipline to do chores, focus for better grades, confidence to make friends." The coupon was $20 for 2 one-on-one private lessons, a uniform, evaluation, and board breaking.  Josh has been saying that he wants to do Karate and this looked like a great opportunity.  I called the school, Bobby Lawrence, and asked for details.  The lady was super nice and said that she could fit Josh in for his first lesson later that day.  Really??  I hate having to wait.  When I want to do something, I want to do it NOW.  So when she said that, I immediately agreed.  It was definitely a sign, right?  I asked about pricing and she explained that it depended on what program we choose and they would tell us about it at the 2nd lesson.  Not a problem.  How expensive could it be.  When I told Josh the good news, he was ecstatic!  He could hardly wait the 3 hours til the lesson.  He survived and we met his instructor for the day, Mr. Brooks.  He was great.  Very outgoing, fun, nice and understanding.  We paid our money and Josh changed into his uniform.  Mr. Brooks asked what I wanted Josh to get out of Karate.  "Focus and Discipline" I practically yelled.  He nods and says that this is exactly what Karate can do.  I watch the first lesson and am almost in tears as Mr. Brooks yells "Attention!" and Josh responds with the correct position and a happy "YES SIR!"  The lesson ended and I was on cloud 9.  Yes, we found it!  This is exactly what Josh needs. As we set up our next lesson, I ask again about prices.  They try to put me off again but I really need to know what we're looking at.  He finally gives me an estimate.  It's about $10-13/lesson with 2-3 lessons a week.  WHAT?  People actually pay that?  $100 a month at least?
When I arrived home, Mike asked how it went. I gushed praises for the teacher and the program.  He then asked me about the price.  I told him the truth.  He was not impressed.  He kept saying that it was too expensive.  I agreed with him but then told him about Josh saying "YES SIR!"  Mike glared at me.  "I'm not going to pay $100 a month for him to say 'yes sir'.  We can teach him that at home for free."  Yeah but come on.  He doesn't listen to us at home, that's the whole problem.

The End of Spring Break

Despite everything that happened last week, I sure do miss spring break.  Yes, I know it's only the first day back and Josh hasn't even come home from school yet, but still.  We actually had to wake him up this morning while he was still snoring.  Poor guy.  He was not happy at breakfast and piano took forever.  We didn't even finish.  I told him that if he didn't finish that he would have to finish after school and that meant no friends, even when he is done.  Yeah, he didn't care.  He says it's too hard for him.  I told him "great!  'Cause WE do Hard Things!"  He wasn't impressed.  I did do amazingly well though and did not raise my voice to him even once.  I don't think he noticed.  We just found out that because of the new boundary changes, Josh will be going to the brand new school that will be finished by the end of the summer.  He's actually pretty excited.  He told me that he doesn't like his current school because he gets in trouble there.  He seems to think that by changing schools, all his troubles will be a thing of the past.  Umm??  He's not going to be happy when he finds out that he's the one causing the problems.  He did do great in Primary yesterday though.  I was very impressed.  Not once did I look back and see him out of his chair and laughing with friends.  His tie even stayed in place the whole time!