Hi-Ya!!

Dani has never been aggressive in her extracurricular activities. It has been difficult for E and me to find something that she is really interested in. She has been in Girl Scouts for 3 years, and played soccer last fall. She is still in GS because it is a good time for her to be with her friends. Her troop is made up of the girls just in our neighborhood. Soccer did not peak her interest. Her favorite part was snacks at halftime and by the time the season was over it was difficult to get her motivated for practice.

About 6 weeks ago however we went to an Arts Festival on the beach and one of the demonstrations that we saw was from a local Martial Arts studio. Two boys who live in our neighborhood happened to be in the demo and Dani was so excited to see them.

They were jumping around, breaking boards, and fake sparring. They even had someone dressed in a dragon costume who happened to be handing out flyers for a free 2 week membership with uniform, and an invitation to attend a Board Breaking Extravganza.

We decided that we would go, see how Dani liked it, and see if she would try to break a board. When we got there she was very nervous and only wanted to watch. I asked her if her Dad went out with her if she would go and she said yes. But when the instructor said it was time to go onto the floor, she forgot about her Dad. She listened to the instructor, followed his directions and when it came time to break her board she looked at us, scrunched her eyes, and kicked. And she DID IT!!! Of course it was a thin piece of pine specifially for breaking but I swear it made her confidence grow by 100%. She looked at us, looked at the board, and yelled, "Mom, I am signing up!!"

So we did the 2 week membership and she liked it. And as much as we could have saved the money, I enrolled her in classes when the time came. She is really enjoying it and I am so glad to see her still excited about it. She has always been respectful but I like seeing how she remembers to be respectful more often. She is learning her routines and getting better with her balance. I think what I like the best is that noone else in her group of friends is doing it. This is her own thing. I like seeing her strike out in a different direction than her friends.

On Dec. 6, she will have earned her Yellow Belt. That's level 2. I'm really proud of her.