Recorder Karate

 Oh, my....Recorder Karate.  First of all, Thomas, if you are reading this post 5 or 10 years from now, please know your mama loves you very much.  Still, the truth must be spoken.  The recorder (a flute like instrument) is about as close to nails on the chalkboard as you can get and still call it music.

Every year, the 4th grade class learns how to play the recorder.  The idea is that with each new song they learn, they earn a "belt", like in karate.  Of course, each song is more and more difficult.  Matthew performed a few years ago, but was not very competitive with it.

Thomas was.

This means that every Tuesday morning, we would be woken up to the sound of the recorder as Thomas practiced before his try out every Tuesday morning before school.  It made us all cringe, hearts racing, hair stand up on the back of our necks.  The recorder was banned from my car.  We would each look at each other in desperation wondering how long it would take to get to black belt.  Finally!  The day arrived!  No more Tuesday practices!

Wrong.

While Matthew's class is known for their alpha male, ultra competitive, sporty character, Thomas's has always been known as a bunch of incredibly smart kids who love an intellectual challenge.  This meant that for the first time EVER, there were so many kids who made black belt a month in advance, that the music teacher had to make additional "glow in the dark" belts.  That meant that Thomas continued his Tuesday morning pursuit.  He made it to two levels higher than black belt which was the highest in his class.

We were super proud.  ;)

Yesterday, Mary Beth asked Thomas if he was going to keep his recorder or give it back to the music teacher.  Thomas told her that he was going to keep it.  Mary Beth, who worships the ground Thomas walks on, said, "Maybe you can wait a really long time before playing it again?"

"It wasn't always easy, but in the end, our hard work paid off.  Thank you for being patient while we made lots of squeaks and squawk while learning our first few songs."

Going to the front to receive his award.

 We were seriously very proud of Thomas and enjoyed his end of elementary school program tonight! Meanwhile, Daddy and brother were at the Ranger's game.  Where is the justice in that? Ha!