Yes, Sensei!

Andy got his orange belt in jujitsu this week. I am so proud of him for sticking with it. He's now progressed from white to yellow to orange so this is a big deal. Sure, he's a long way from black belt and everything, but he's making serious progress and we're all proud, mostly Andy. I will admit I never really got the martial arts thing. Sure, I was a huge fan of the Karate Kid. I mean, who doesn't love "wax on, wax off" and then he beats the mean bad guys? That's just classic (although, digression, we watched it recently. The show overall holds up and I love that Elisabeth Shue is built like a real woman, likely bigger than Ralph Macchio, our hero. I suspect if this were filmed today that they would find someone more petite which is a shame because she really rocks the roll).

Anyhoo, we started taking martial arts because Andy was feeling scared. He told me that a new kid was starting in his class last year and he was really worried, "What if Pablo hits me?" "Um, why would he hit you?" "I don't know. What if he doesn't like me?" I talked to some friends and realized he was feeling anxious about school so I wanted to find him something to help him overcome some of those anxieties. This has been a great fit. His sensei works with them on lots of confidence building exercises like using their voices and walking tall, that kind of stuff. He's also been working with them about bullying, explaining that with their training, it's expected that they will use their skills for good and to protect other kids and keep them from being bullied. I think that's been pretty powerful for him, too, to think of himself as a protector. It's really pretty cool.

Margaret was desperate to do jujitsu with her brother. Frankly, she's usually willing to anything her brother does. But we went for about a month and she just couldn't get the swing of things (i.e. let go of my arm). I tried just about everything. Mrs. Sensei tried everything else. But we're going to take a break. It's for the best.

Two other things are interesting - Bjorn starts his new job in a week. He's super excited. It's in a field he likes and an industry where he can really excel. And two, we booked our trip to Paris for the spring. We have been talking about going to Paris together since before we got married. I can't wait!