The Karate Kid

Natalie finally started karate tonight! She's been dying to learn for a couple of years now, but I've had a hell of a time finding a place. Her school sent home a flier for Young Champions of America - and karate was one of the offerings. She did two classes (2 hours!) back-to-back tonight, and had a blast! The classes started last week, but she was sick with a stomach bug and couldn't attend, hence the make-up. The kids get an award for perfect attendance, and perfect attendance is required for belt testing at the end of the 10 week session. Her instructor said she did really well. She even won a contest in class, and brought home a ribbon! She was so proud of herself, and loved showing me what she learned tonight. Next week we're going to get her a uniform (wanted to wait to see if she liked it before buying one - the classes are paid on a weekly basis, so we could cancel if we wanted to), and she can't wait for that! They are teaching Stranger Danger and techniques for handling those situations as well, which I really like!