Tales of TaekwonDo and Temporal Thermometers

Eli had the opportunity to participate in his first taekwondo tournament over the weekend. His coach thought it would be a great way to build confidence when competing in the sparing portion of the competition. Eli started lessons at the local civic center in June. He is not a fan of baseball, so this was just another great way to keep him active. That is apart from running around for hours in the backyard with the neighbors. Nine months later, we still attend twice weekly lessons, and Eli loves it.

We were unaware this was a tournament drawing kids from Chicago, Twin Cities, and Kansas City. It wasn’t until afterward that the coach explained a majority of the kids participating, in his words, “eat, breath, and sleep taekwondo.” I had been made privy to this fact by another parent. As we watched scads of participants in all form of coordinating jacket and t-shirt, I suddenly felt like I was sending my child into a fight club. I also might be prone to drama. According to his coach the scoring was stricter, however Eliab did well. He did not score against his opponent but mom and dad were so proud when he without hesitation made the first kick! Like a warrior in shin guards, arm guards, chest guard, and protective head gear, he made his way into the ring like a professional and never once flinched at the experienced competition. Mom, who is usually fairly subdued in such situations, was taken with the moment, screaming “get in there,” when what I really wanted to scream was “give him hell!” OK, so maybe that would have been unsportsmanlike.

It is never uneventful with two kids. When we showed up at Tom’s parent’s house to pick up Sidney, her little body was baking. Eli was already finishing a round of antibiotics for something similar, and our doctor warned us this particular bug went downhill quickly. After only one day of coughing, she had a 103.6 fever, and mom was a complete wreck! We live in such a small area that we were able to decide to take her to the doctor, visit the convenient care, pick up the antibiotic at Wal-Mart on a Saturday, and circle back to Tom’s parent’s house within a span of an hour. How many ways can I say I love Iowa?

I am always very freaked out by fevers. With Motrin and Tylenol the fever is gone, however Sidney has been cranky all day. Who could blame her? This made mom quite stressed. I had a few errands that had to be completed before the beginning of the week, so Tom took care of Sidney while she rested and Eli tore around outside with the neighbors, and I ran to the mall. Something about finding a pair of jeans, hearing John Meyer piped into JC Penny, and gulping down a large coffee that made me feel human again.