What would you do when your child wants to quit an activity?.
When we talk about this topic it’s not what if they want to quit, but when they want to quit.
Think back to anything in your life that worth doing: an exercise plan, a new diet, college, or even your relationship with your significant other, there were times where it was just really hard to do it. Any instructor had thoughts of quitting at some point in time. Even me.
We want our students to understand how to follow through with things that are difficult. As parents, we want our kids to learn things like perseverance, grit, and follow through, but it’s easy to forget that in order to have perseverance they need to have something to persevere through. In order to have grit you need to have something to grit against.
Taekwondo is one of those unique individual sports that you can learn to make that happen. Our certified instructors are excellent at coaching a child physically, mentally, and emotionally through obstacles they may face on the mat.
As a parent we need to teach our kids how to quit things appropriately when that time comes.
For example, if your child came to you while in college and said I’m really struggling in school, I’m failing all my classes, I’m not really doing my homework, it’s just no fun, I think I want to drop out. It would be a completely different conversation to have if the scenario was, I’m on the Dean’s list, I am my professor’s favorite student, and getting straight A’s but this is not giving me a happy life and I feel like I want to do something outside of the academic world.
So, when your child does struggle and wants to quit, the first we want to remind them is that no amount of whining, crying, screaming, or cuteness changes the rules. As a family we made the commitment to start this [whatever it is] and that’s what we’re going to do.
The second thing to do as a family is to look at how your child is doing personally in the activity. Are they working as hard in class practicing as they put effort into their video games or on their TV time?
Another reason why children say they want to quit is that they might mean I’m not feeling confident. Perhaps they saw something that they don’t think they’re going to be able to do. A good solution to this would be some extra practice either at home, in class, or with a private lesson. They may not want to quit but they’re expressing that they don’t feel like they’re good at their activity. Remind them that it’s OK to be a beginner.
Finally, if you feel that your child is training hard and doing their best but they’re still not enjoying classes, check in with one of your instructors or coaches so they can come up with an action plan to help them become the best version of themselves and get the most out of our their activity. In the case of martial arts, it’s more than just kicking and punching, as working for short-term, intermediate, and long-term goals is all part of the deal.
If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to ask. Feel free to email Senior Master Marc Jouan at westchesterATA@gmail.com.
To start your martial arts journey and begin building on your child’s grit and determination use this link https://sparkpages.io/?i=_uU8 to get started today.