The Vallecillo’s

Today Larsen was in one of his drawing-kicks and whipped out a good 9 pages worth of original “Larsen’s”. Here are a few of my favorites (I’m particularly fond of the coupon that says: “cut out, play it for me and you”)

Here is your tip for the day: when teaching your son how to do a “knife strike” move (a glorified karate-chop) make sure there is not a door-frame in your way.

This is what happened when mommy decided it was a good idea to go over some Taekwondo moves with Larsen. A visit to CareNow and a set of X-rays later showed she had a hairline fracture, which resulted in a splint to immobilize her wrist for the next two weeks or so.

I’m seriously considering padding the whole house for mommy since not a day goes by without some door, wall, table, chair or stool jumping in front of her path causing all sorts of pain and bruises.

Kids say the darnedest things, don’t they? Tonight, while we were doing the “talk about this day” part of our bedtime routine, Larsen said:

“today Landon had a disappointment”

Mandi and I looked at each other with a very puzzled look for about 2 seconds, after which we both started laughing at the same time. It was at that moment we realized Landon had gone to his “dentist appointment” earlier that day

Today I was able to leave work for little bit in the afternoon and go to see Larsen during his Taekwondo class. I got there just as it was starting and experienced the magic of teaching Taekwondo to a handful of 3 and 4 year olds. For those of you that do not have any kids, believe me when I tell you that keeping the attention of a 4 year old for 30-minutes is nearly impossible. His instructor has definitely done this a few times in his lifetime, and does a great job of keeping them interested, awake and involved.

There are lots of ways the kids get rewarded for good behavior and for learning their steps/routines, as well as punishment when it is necessary. Nothing is handed out that isn’t either deserved or earned, and it doesn’t change no matter how sad or how many tears are shed. There’s a slice of real life for you kids, you might as well learn and get used to it now

Even though Larsen is the least experienced of the bunch, he seems to be doing well regardless of it. Now if he could only stop looking at himself in the mirror (he takes after his mother) and/or learn to pay attention, he could could catch up to the other kids in his class so much faster. But heck, we are just tickled he is trying and even seems to be enjoying it.

For the most part, Larsen is great when it comes to the ritual that is going to bed. But there are those few times when going to bed is not on his plans for the night…or at least he thinks it isn’t. Tonight here is what we found when we decided to see if he had finally fallen asleep after he had already gotten out of bed several times earlier.

Oh, and when I say going to bed is a ritual…I’m not kidding. Here is the sequence of events, and dare nobody mess with it or else somebody is going to make a big fuss about it:

1. teeth brushing
2. 60-seconds of mouthwash
3. potty
4. book selection
5. book reading
6. lights out
7. drink of water
8. “wrap me up like a burrito” (covering with his Pooh blanket, but not before using everything in sight that is NOT the blanket because he thinks it is funny)
9. “talk about this day” (go over what happened that day from wake-up time up to “talk about this day”)
10. kiss and hug

Today, as I walked past Larsen’s computer, I got a quick glance of something unusual on his computer screen. I stopped, thought for a second and quickly turned back to take a closer look at what I thought I had seen.

Come to find out my eyes were not deceiving me after all, Larsen had really just opened up the TextEdit program on his iMac and started to type the Tiny Tiger Pledge he is trying to learn for his Taekwondo class. Mommy had already printed it for him to learn, but I guess he wanted to have his own electronic copy for his records. The pledge goes like this:

The Tiny Tiger Pledge:

I promise to be a good person,
with knowledge in my head,
(touch head)

Honesty in my heart,
(touch heart)

Strength in my body,
(make strong arms)

Make good friends and
(act like you are shaking hands)

To be a black belt leader!
(pull on belt)

Today Larsen started his Taekwondo classes at the Carrollton ATA Black Belt Academy. Coming highly recommended by one of Larsen’s teachers, we decided to give it a try and see if Larsen would be interested in such a thing. His teacher, knowing what she knows from dealing with Larsen twice a week, thought it would be something he would not only enjoy but also be a good fit for his personality.

This first day, well…like any other “first” day of anything usually goes, there was a bit of confusion blended with a bit of apprehension about taking orders from some strange bald man (his instructor, Mr. Pechacek). Larsen was the only first-timer in his class, which only made it even clearer that he had never done this before.

Some very interesting things that stood out above all else, as opposed to any other sport we have tried so far, is that there is an enormous focus on respect, discipline and achievement. This begins from the moment you step into the facility, when everyone must bow and say “hello sir, hello ma’am”…even if there is nobody around (I know, it looks as strange as it sounds), and continues during the lesson as they all must respond with a firm “yes sir.”

We are not sure if he will develop a true interest in Taekwondo or not, but we are sure going to give it a try. I mean, we have to somehow get him away from his kitchen and his computer