Today, Aidan tested out for his Yellow stripe on his belt In Tae Kwon Do. It was really awesome because the place he gets his lessons from really makes an effort to care for the children under their care; his test was an affirming experience and really appropriate for a five year old to do without being condesending; he was given respect and credit for his work and wasn’t talked down to.

One of my favorite moments as a parent, though, came today too. As part of his test, he was asked to break a board; he was a little nervous about doing it. But, they gave him a last minute ‘how-to’ along with the other kids and then they brought the board out and he split it in two. When he came over I think his pride in his accomplishment was about to spill out onto the ground. It was rewarding to be there to give him a hug and have the privelege of saying ‘I’m proud of you!’ Yay Aidan!