Back off, Mama Bear

One of the hardest parts of being a parent is knowing when to back off. I had to do that yesterday.

I knew going into martial arts that Henry would be expected to behave a certain way, and to be honest, I was happy about that. I believe it takes a village to raise a child. Nothing but good can come from him having positive adult role models in his life, showing him how to be respectful, hard-working, and self-disciplined.

But when Henry threw his ninja stars out of turn, and the instructor made him do 5 push-ups (which is laughable, by the way), my mama bear heart wanted to say, "Who the heck do you think you are, Mr. Ninja?"

My head knew this was excellent and I needed to hush my mouth, so I did. I stifled laughter as I watched Henry do something vaguely resembling a push-up. Then, he happily scrambled back into the line to play the next game -- dodging ninja stars, which incited his wonderful, sparkling laughter that makes the whole room smile.