My twelve year old son is amazing. He really is. I know that I am biased but things have been tough lately, I blogged about the ongoing issues that we have been having with my youngest son over the last year last year, yet my twelve year old son seems to rise above it all and continues to do well in school and out.
He is sport mad. He plays rugby, he swims, he does Tae Kwon Do, he runs, he throws himself into school sport and is only happy when he is active. Plagued by a leg injury, he has had to slow down recently which has driven him mad, yet he has had the most amazing couple of weeks.
Firstly, he took his next grading in Tae Kwon Do and in spite of his injury, he gained his blue belt. He loves Tae Kwon Do and has been really lucky to train with LCTKD with mixed age and ability classes and amazing instructors. It has done so much for his confidence and his physical fitness and taught him a great deal about self-discipline and self defence. If he had to only continue with one sport, it would be Tae Kwon Do. Blue belt is a significant one as now he is well on his way to his black belt and this is now his aim, ideally, he needs to show a greater commitment and there will be lots to learn but he is certainly up to the challenge.
There had been talk of county trials in rugby and we had assumed that as he was injured, this wasn’t going to be a possibility for him. A few days after gaining his blue belt, he came home with the news that his PE teachers at school had picked him to be put forward for county trials. To say he is pleased is an understatement. Rugby has become his passion over the last year and he is so thrilled to be picked. He is very pragmatic about it, he knows he is injured and not playing his best, yet he is thrilled just to be picked and to go through the process. The trials are in a couple of weeks, so we will see how he gets on.
Parents evening followed on after that and he had to attend with us. After an inexplicable appearance of ‘Kevin the teenager’ for the first half an hour, he started to enjoy parents evening and so he should. The teachers couldn’t say enough positive things about him. Great attitude, a real love of learning, lots of effort in class and in homework, always contributing, supporting others in class, it was a parents evening to be proud of and we were. Extremely.
Finally, he received the news that he had been moved up to the next group at his swimming club which surprised him as he hasn’t been swimming much lately due to his injury. This means more training but he is happy about that. For now, he doesn’t want to swim competitively but he loves to swim and he knows how much swimming helps his overall fitness levels.
To say I am proud of my son is an understatement. I am so proud that even when times are tough, he picks himself up and throws himself into everything with a smile on his face and positive attitude. We could all learn a lot from him. Of course, he is becoming a teenager and we have moments where he can be the most stubborn and awkward child of them all but that is natural at this age. He is amazing and becoming an extremely amazing young man.
Wow, he really is a son to be proud of! It’s amazing that he is achieving in so many different areas. Good luck to him for the county rugby trials!
(I would love it if you would link this with Loud ‘n’ Proud this Thursday, but no pressure!)
I read this a while ago on my phone and couldn’t comment but wanted to come back to it. Have been thinking about what you wrote and how your pride shone through and what a credit your son is to you!
What a lovely post and your son is a credit to you. Well done to him on everything he has achieved lately, especially when things have been tough at home. When we were going through something similar with our son, I noticed our daughter was really trying hard in everything she did.Hugs xx
Tracey Williams recently posted…Little Loves – Hot Tubs, Lodges and School Bingo