Indomitable Spirit

"Mom. Have you decided if you're going to Tae Kwon Do tonight yet?"

Robbie's been bugging me for the past two days. I told him I wanted him to go 3x a week, but I'm not sure I'll do that, too.

Finally I decide to go. He's pleased.

Often Robbie and I are doing different things during class: I'll be up with the black belts, and Robbie will be elsewhere. So I don't always know what he's doing.

At one point, he comes up to me and says he's hurt his elbow. "I fell on it," he tells me.

"Ow," I say. I don't want to show too much sympathy. He's got to learn to suck it up.

Later, when we're sparring, I hear someone saying "Robbie, are you OK?" I look over at him. Robbie has stopped sparring, and looks back at me with a red, angry face and tears starting in his eyes. I found out later that he got . . . uh . . . kicked . . . But he continues on.

In the past, he might have gotten angry enough to yell and stomp off--yes, angry about an accident: it's always been his way of dealing with things. He gets excited--good or bad excited--and his temper gets short. Anything can tip him over the top, even an accident. But we're working on that these days. It's part of his "Jedi Training."

He's angry now, but he's not exploding; he's not giving up.

At the end of class, Master Hughes calls on students to recite the student oath. Chris can't remember it; neither can Ashton. Robbie does. He's called on at the right time. "Self-Control. Indomitable Spirit," he says.

I know those are hard for him. I'm glad he's doing better.