Their Thing

Over the past few months I had been struggling with signing the boys up for baseball...or not. There is so much pressure that if they miss one year, they will be out for good because they will be so far behind. I have talked to Craig about my desire for our kids to have their "thing". That one thing that they are really good at and can take into adulthood with them. Something to fill out on a hobbies list. Something to be proud of. Something to engage themselves in. Tyler and Zachary both tried soccer and it became apparent that this was neither of their "things". We moved on to baseball and Tyler really liked it and Zachary liked it ok. In Tyler's second year he wasn't as enthusiastic. When asked if they wanted to play again this season, they both said "yes", but it was lacking the enthusiasm I was looking for. And for the money and time we would be investing in it...I wanted to see some enthusiasm!

Part of what makes baseball, or any sport for that matter, harder to get into is that we are not sports oriented parents. The only game you will ever find on in our home is the Super Bowl (which Craig looks forward to all year). I like going to a baseball game now and then. I especially like watching my kids play. But that isn't enough to keep the passion alive...especially when the kids are just "meh" over it too. So I struggled with finding their "thing" ....and being able to afford whatever that may be.

A few months ago Jacob took a little Karate class through the city. It was 4 weeks long and he enjoyed it. Craig took Karate for a bit when he was a child and has mentioned several times throughout our marriage that he would like to get back into it someday. I started thinking maybe we should sign the boys up for that. And it started more and more to sound like a better idea. The place Jacob went to is not the closest but they have been there for over 25 years. And the best part? The second child is half off...and the third and subsequent children are FREE! I decided to ask the boys what they would rather do. I asked them separately and they all VERY enthusiastically picked karate! Without hesitation. That sealed the deal for me.

We went to find out more details and ended signing them up. They started this week and as of now will be going every Tuesday and Thursday. Two classes in, and they can't wait to go back! Another neat factor is after Craig and I pay a fee for all of our gear, we could train for free as well. Because it is such a huge time commitment (they want adults to come 3 times a week!) and the hours are not good with small children, it might be awhile until we get to that point. But, at least the option is there for us. And it's so neat that it's something all 3 boys can do together since it seems that Jacob is always getting left out of what the older boys are doing. He has yet to play any sports being only 4, so he is going to get his shot at soccer come Fall.

And it looks like we may have found one of their "things" which makes me happy. I'm looking forward to seeing how this plays out!