Yesterday, I watched my kids take their martial arts belt test. It had been a while since I could go because of scheduling. Their mom had been taking them, so I hadn’t seen their progress in person for some time.
I still remember when they first started. My older son had almost no energy in his kicks, and my younger one was always fooling around. Seeing them yesterday made me so proud of how far they’ve come.
My older son has had a different attitude since he was chosen for the school’s leadership program. I could see that during his test. My younger son has grown a lot too, especially compared to those early days.
But what meant the most to me was watching both of them perform in front of me.
When I was their age, I didn’t like performing in front of my parents. I worried about them judging me and whether I was meeting their expectations. It was hard to focus on what I was doing when I was thinking about what they thought.
I don’t know if my kids had any of those feelings yesterday. But watching them do their test brought me so much joy.
It made me think about how I want them to feel when I’m there. I want them to know I’m proud of their effort and how much they’ve improved. I hope having me watch feels like support, even when they make mistakes.
I left proud of both of them and happy I was able to be there. Sometimes you don’t realize how much your kids have grown until you get a chance to stop and watch.