Like Boxing

. It was Robbie's 10th birthday Sunday. I can hardly believe I've been a Mom for 10 years. How did that happen? We had a great 10-year-old birthday party at Planet X where there were video games, laser tag, bumper cars, and pizza. Everything that boys like: shooting, smashing into one another, and eating.

I got Robbie his sparring gear for his birthday: foam mitts and shin/instep protectors. He put them on Sunday night and wanted to try them out--on the walls, the couch, on me . . . something about punching and kicking that really appeals to him. And of course, the yelling. He tried doing roundhouse kicks, and when he ki-yapped first, he could do it with an amazing amount of power.

I showed him how to put his arms up by his face to block punches when sparring. Master Hughes had showed me and Stacie, another Mom, how to do that on Saturday. "Tae Kwon Do is like kickboxing, so you have to do some boxing moves."

Boxing? What am I getting into?

When I think of boxing, I think of brutal yet cunning violence. Is that what I want to be in?

Of course, in TKD, the phrase is "light to no contact." Still, that's what we're imitating. I'm not sure it appeals to me in the same way it does to my high-energy son. Still, I'm doing it, so I'll have to learn some boxing moves.