My oldest son is two years into his soccer career, has a year of tee ball under his belt, and is currently in the Kid Kwan Do class at the rec center.  In his first year of soccer he was very tentative and relatively ineffective, although, everybody else on his team was as well.  His second year went much better but he still hasn’t scored a goal.  Tee Ball went well and he really had a lot of fun playing it and he was arguably the best hitter on the team.  I’ll have to work with him on catching in the spring, that’s for sure.

He and his younger brother always talked about learning “karate” and when we saw the class being offered at the rec center we jumped all over it.  Their interest, however, has been lukewarm, I’d say.  It’s not unusual for one of them to say they don’t want to go, and we’re talking about a one-day-a-week, 45-minute class.  Still, they’ve not missed one, and they always seem to enjoy the class, so we’ve got that going for us, which is nice.

Tonight during a break in the class, I was minding my own business trying to find a sushi joint in Ann Arbor via Urbanspoon when I turned and saw the instructor sitting next to me.  Now, it’s scary enough that she could probably kill me with one of her well-manicured nails, but to have her stealthily appear inches from me gave me freaking goosebumps.  Anyway, she proceeded to tell me that my son belonged in the older kids’ class.  She said he’s quick to pick up on everything they do, that he listens well and seems like a natural with Tae Kwon Do, and he’s ready to move up.  He’s six.  The older kid class is 8 and up.

Needless to say, I was thrilled.  Visions of The Crane swept across my starry eyes.  I started humming “Sweep the Leg,” by No More Kings.  Unfortunately, the feeling wasn’t mutual with my son.  I called him over and asked him if he wanted to go to the big kids’ class, which was right after his class, and he flatly said no.  He had a busy day at school, so maybe he was just tired, but I really thought he’d be fired up about it.

Later, in the car, after we’d watched a bit of the big kids’ class, I asked him why he didn’t want to move up.  ”Well, maybe after I get a sticker in every column on my sheet for this class, then I’ll move up.”  He likes this class and I think he knows how well he’s doing.  I also think he’s got a thing for the instructor, between you and me.  He struggles with success sometimes, I think, because, honestly, he’s not the luckiest kid in the world.  His younger brother got the first spare when we went bowling.  His brother’s ticket won the pumpkin at the school dance.  It’s things like that that I think gets to him a bit, although you’d never know it by looking at him.

My son is such a good kid, and he deserves breaks, if for no other reason than for validation of how well he handles it when he can’t catch a break.  We’ll talk about Tae Kwon Do this weekend and make a final decision.  I’m pretty sure I already know what the answer will be, and I’m fine with whatever he chooses to do.