Weekday Mornings

Karate kids, Gery and Coleman with Max inside the Ugly Mug.

Three mornings per week Coleman goes to a Karate class. Before summer arrived, he had no problem motivating himself to get there. He was usually rested and eager to go to karate. We had a routine, one that got established over the course of three full months. Things changed a bit when summer arrived; Max isn't already at school when it's time to go, bedtime got way later, there are more kids in the dojo than during the school year, the class Coleman attends takes place in a different, smaller studio. Together all of these things interrupted our routine significantly enough that it became more difficult to motivate himself to get there. We may be over the challenge, we may not be. Coleman does notice a difference in the way he feels when he goes to class, even if I have to remind him of it in the morning. For me, I now get a chance to spend an entire hour with Max reading or chatting together. He has not gotten enough one on one attention since Coleman left school, and I am grateful I have this built in time with him.

Pausing to observe these changes, taking notice of the adjustments that are forced on each of us, makes me realize what creatures of habit we each are. This reinforces my drive to get more, dare I say, "structured" in my approach to our daily schedule. Ew, I said it. Structure, that missing component from our days, weeks, lives. You may notice I've tried to offset that with our weekday events. It has helped, and by posting a schedule and sharing it with the boys I'm obliged to follow through. Hopefully our routines will become more routine. One day.