2 Yellow Belts in the House!

Big Sister and I tested for our yellow belts in karate last week. We have been training for this since December.

And we were ready.

We spent the weeks before the test practicing; even had a private lesson the day before.

And it went really well. Better than I thought, actually.

I was expecting that each person would perform individually, which made me super nervous. All those parents watching! However, we tested as a group. It was still nerve wracking, but manageable.

Once again, I was so proud of my daughter, who performed almost flawlessly.

I got tripped up on one of the self-defense moves. The instructor had another student (whom I had never met) grab my shoulders from behind. I had to twist around, lock his arms up, then pretend to hit him in the stomach. I got three chances to do this move correctly, and I had to use all three. Really, honestly, the thing that got me on this move, was that I was so incredibly close (and suddenly somewhat intimate) with someone I didn't know.

That's something I'm going to have to get over. Being that close to someone I don't know. I guess I have personal space issues. It's just weird being that close to someone.

But looking back on it, it was a great evening. Big Sister and I set a goal and we ACCOMPLISHED that goal. We did it together. And now we know that we can do most anything!

On a different note, The Princess was swimming with a friend (who is 11 years old) and they were rough housing in the pool. He got frustrated with her and pushed her off the pool float. She was surprised and swam to the side and cried. I told him to apologize, and he did. Later that evening, I told Princess that if she is EVER pushed by a boy again she is to push him back (hard) then tell him he is never to push girls again. I told her boys who push girls are not respectful of women and she is to leave after she tells him no more pushing. She listened and agreed. We'll see what happens.