For Sale: New Red Kids Tae Kwon Doe Uniform Result of a Hissy Fit

For Sale: one brand new Tae Kwon Doe (or maybe Karate -- I have no idea) uniform, never worn, even though I spent hours sewing on a bunch of cockamamie patches by hand in an attempt to inspire a reluctant seven-year-old to continue taking classes long after she'd lost interest. I made her start martial arts partly because her brother had been getting really good at it and I thought it was a great opportunity to be able to drive them to the same place for the same class instead of dropping him off someplace and then dropping her off someplace else and then having to retrace my steps to pick them both up. I also anticipated the relief of not having to color with her or listen to her complain about being bored while he took a class. Besides, after she was expelled from camp for fighting I had to emphasize to her the need to solve disputes without shoving, and in Tae Kwon Doe they're not allowed to touch each other.

Sounds perfect, right?

At first she refused to yell with the rest of the class; she even got in trouble for it a couple times. That “hiii-yaaah!!” is really crucial in Tae Kwon Doe because – well, I have no idea why, but I know she had to sit in the corner a couple times because she refused to do it. I guess all my harping on using her “inside voice” had really sunk in.

After learning to scream on command she poked along for about a year, moving up through the early belts at a leisurely pace and lamenting the lack of any fun girls in the class. Meanwhile, big brother was sailing up the ranks at lightning speed, hurtling toward the black belt and taking classes for which she wasn’t yet qualified, so here I was again driving to two sets of classes but at least this time they were at the same place.

In an attempt to inspire her to put in more effort into moving up to big brother’s level, I promoted her from the white uniform to the red one. Most parents bestow the uniforms and afterwards attach the patches in their own good time, but I spent hours sewing on all the patches, stabbing myself repeatedly and shifting my reading glasses up and down and up and down. When I gave her the uniform she refused to wear it because the pants were too long, and before I could get them hemmed she decided to quit Tae Kwon Doe. So the uniform has been sitting crumpled up in a bag, along with the pink sparring helmet and gloves, which I’m also selling.

Last week we bought ballet slippers. At least it wasn’t a grand piano.

Visit my web site, FeeFiFoto.com, for personalized photo gifts. We will put your photos on almost anything. Personalized photo calendars, mugs, handbags, jewelry, ornaments and porcelain plates make great gifts for Christmas, Hanukkah, Mother's Day, Father's Day, Valentine's Day, birthday, anniversary, new baby and graduates.