LeRoy is living out his dreams through Nathan. He has always wanted his kids to be sports players and even though they have tried they just really don't get into it. I was just about to start Nathan in gymnastics because Justin had been teaching him some basics at home but LeRoy jumped on the chance to put him in a local Tae Kwan Do class. He had done some electrical work for the instructor and set up a trade for Nathan to try two months to see how he would like it.
The two months passed and he is still continuing. I thought it was just teaching kids how to yell and kick and punch but after going to a couple of his classes I realize that it has helped Nathan to grow in many more ways than that. He is required to live the Tae Kwan Do rules at home as well as in class which include respect for your body, respect for others, a clean atmosphere and hard work. Can't say that I mind any of that being taught to my kids. In order to receive the five different colored stripes on his belt he has to maintain certain standards and learn certain skills. One of the hardest things for him is how to say it correctly. He says it Tae KWAN Do instead of Tae Kwan DO and most of us call it Tae Kwan DoDo (from Ice Age).
During Nathan's second class I sat and observed. During the warm up they were doing push ups and many of the kids were doing a lazy job of it. The instructor had Nathan show the rest of the class (which is about 10 students, all older than Nathan) how to do it properly. Justin taught him that! (Or maybe Jillian and I did?)
So far he has his black, red, blue, and yellow stripes and is working on his green stripe preparing to have a belt/rank advancement. LeRoy is one proud papa.
And for now Justin is still teaching him gymnastics at home. He has Nathan doing a three second hand stand, a bridge, a proper cartwheel and landing a front flip on the trampoline.
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