Something we tell every parent, but they often forget since they are processing so much on their first day,
This won’t always be easy. There will be a stretch, usually around month three, where the kids don’t want to come. They’ll tell you they’re bored, or it’s too hard, or their friends aren’t doing it. Every kid, every adult student hits it. Every single one.
But here’s what actually happens. Once they’re here, they love it. They have a great time, every time.
What they hate is putting down the tablet and putting up their toys to get out the door. That’s the whole fight. Doing nothing is always easier than doing something. That’s true for them, it’s true for me, it’s true for all of us.
So here’s what I’ve learned after forty five years of this, and this is important. That isn’t the sign it isn’t working. That’s the part where it starts working.
Anybody can show up when it’s fun. What changes a kid is showing up the week it isn’t. Turning that around when they get on the mat those nights is our actual job, and we’re good at it. Let us know you had trouble getting them here. Make sure they are doing something “not so fun” before coming to class. Telling them, “We’re going to martial arts as soon as you are done with the dishes,” is much easier than saying, “Put up your video game, it’s time for martial arts.”
Tell us you had an issue and we will reenforce to your kids the fun they have, the goals they are reaching, their excitement for Black Belt.
I can’t tell you the number of people I meet weekly who tell me they regret not having earned their black belt, that their parents let them quit when they were kids. Notice they don’t take the blame, they know it wasn’t their fault. I have never met anyone who says they regret earning a Black Belt. Stick with it parents, you know how important this is, they can’t even conceive it, make this decisions for them. This is therapeutic and will help them to become the best version of themselves, we see it continually, we can attest to it. It’s ok to tell them, “This is like going to school, eating your vegetables and going to bed on time, it’s a decision we made for you because we know how good this is for you. Time to get your uniform on.”
It shows you care about them when you make them do the things they can’t make themselves do, especially the things you know are good for them, beyond what they can understand. It will be hard today, they will thank you someday.