The toughest job in the world!

Dear Parents,

The toughest, and most rewarding job in the world is being a parent. As a parent our job is to love, nuture and guide our children. Our primary duty is to prepare them for life. This means, we need to develop their character. It can be hard to do this when we get caught up in the details of life and parenthood. It is hard while going grocery shopping with three little ones, to talk about respect and honor. It is near impossible while driving past MacDonald's to talk about self-control or discipline. While these things are hard they are not impossible. That is where Tae Kwon Do training comes in. Each week, while in class, you kids are engaged in conversations about intergrity, honor, respect, discipline and how to set and achieve goals. These instructors, help make your job as a parent so much easier. However, it is a not a one-way road. The parents, must also work with the instructors to help emphasis the importance to the lessons taught and how they are to live the lessons they learn. For example, sometime in your child's training, they are going to say, "Mom/Dad, I want to quit". Be prepared for this as every parent has to face this challenge. This is when you need to remember your job as a parent is to help mold their character and make them a better person. You need to remind them of their goals and the commitment they made towards achieveing a Black Belt. You are not teaching them anything by simply letting them quit, other than it is okay to quit when things get hard. Do you think great men, like Abraham Lincoln. would have become president if after his first unsuccessful bid for congress gave up and decided it was too hard? The same is true for your kids. They are young and need to be taught that the most important part of setting a goal is not to give up once they have set it. The same is true for parents, once we have set upon being a parent, we cannot forget to teach them how to live a honorable, good life. Being a parent is a tough job, but in the end it is worth every bit of effort.

Sincerely,

Master Brandon Richards