Monday, October 10, 2011

Time Out

As many of you have figured out from reading about my family here, my Charlotte has a rather strong personality.  She has many opinions and she makes them very well known.  All.  The.  Time.  I work hard with Charlotte to teach her about how it is inappropriate to interrupt adults.

Last week at taekwon-do I found an ally.  Charlotte has been struggling with learning this new skill ever since she insisted that she was tired of dance and wanted to take martial arts instead.

There are a lot more rules in a martial arts class.  Respect and decorum are very important.  You must bow to your teacher and stand still and listen.  Charlotte decided she needed to talk over the teacher at her last lesson.  She then found herself sitting in the corner.   She never got a time out in dance class for fooling around and not paying attention.  I like this new teacher.  Charlotte is less than impressed and talks about how much she misses dance class.

I am trying very hard to encourage Charlotte and keep her motivated to come to this new class.  As with all new skills, she is on a learning curve and not to the point where she is having fun yet.  I need her to stick with this.  I need her to be in this class to learn some boundaries and manners.  I need her to see that I am not the only adult in her world that finds interruptions unacceptable.

I am hoping this new class can help channel her energy and fire and give it a productive place to grow.

Am I expecting too much?

3 comments:

Elly said...

Nope, not expecting too much. That's one of the reasons I like circus for Lobster. They expect her to listen and behave. If you don't you get in trouble because the results of not listening can be very serious when you are 15 feet off the ground.

Mariah said...

No. In fact many parents have told me that martial (not marital) arts are what drilled the respect for adults and patience into their kids -- and way more effectively than the parents could.

We're contemplating enrolling the big kids in it later this fall -- they have many sessions throughout the year.

Melissa said...

This actually opened up a door of research for me as a Momma, thanks! My son has autism, but that said with individual sports not only would it help with physical capabilities~ but good gracious; it will help with our kids self esteem! Hope she keeps going~ Let us know when she moves colors in belts!