Blink and You Will Miss It

    What a wonderful feeling it is to watch your kids grow up. What a sense of pride it is to see them succeed at life. Then there is the feeling of awe you get when you realize that they are better at something than you, and probably have been for a while, you just either didn't notice or didn't give them credit for it. 

   This happened on Saturday. Kody (my now 16 year old boy) and I were practicing forms together and critiquing each other. I went first, and of course there was a list of stuff that he noticed and proceeded to itemize, piece by piece. Perfect I thought, that is why we are doing this, to help focus our mind's eye (mine might need some corrective glasses). He wasn't mean or overly critical, just honest with me. My feeling were not hurt, in fact my pride in his abilities to see my flaws was huge. We worked together to address my errors, and moved on.

   Then it was his turn. And suddenly I had to ask,"When in the donkey spit did he grow up and turn into a man?!". He was no longer my baby boy (but he will always be). He is a fellow martial artist, and he was good, in fact, better than me - by a lot!! I suddenly realized that it was him showing me what to do, not the other way around. It both crushed me and filled my with an enormous amount of pride. 

THIS IS WHY I WANTED HIM TO LEARN KUNG FU!!!!

   It gives me a perfect sense of pride and peace to see his confidence, his abilities, his joy in doing Kung Fu. I know that my contribution into what makes him "Kody" is not to be discounted or dismissed but what he knows in Kung Fu and the Martial Arts can only have come from our Sifus at Silent River Kung Fu. He has been doing this awesome martial art for over 13 years, basically his whole life. The instructors at the Kwoon are as responsible for who he is as much as his teachers at school, his grandparents and siblings, and of course his Mom, with a little me in there too I guess😊. 

   This has happened in the blink of an eye is seems, poof, he we are. He is in grade 11. He is now a licensed driver. And he is training to grade for a black belt. This is more than I could have ever asked for. Thank you to all who have helped him grow into who he is. It takes a village to raise a child, and Kody's village is an empire of awesomeness.

   Thanks for letting be blog about this, it was important for me to get this in writing while it was still fresh in my mind, now it is in print, forever.