We love baseball in this family, but there are some people we know (and you know who you are), who actually think that baseball is boring. All I can say is: you clearly have not been to any karate tournaments lately.
You would think that a karate tournament would be exciting. Lots of kids yelling and kicking. Well, I hate to ruin any fantasies, but I must. "A" really (reallyreallyreally) wanted to participate in the karate studio's annual tournament this weekend. It started at 10:30 a.m. Saturday. "C" and I brought him, figuring we could get a nice lunch at the pizza place next door when it was over, and then run A to his baseball practice and then C to her softball practice. It was the perfect plan--a busy day, but doable.
Imagine the sick feeling in the pit of my stomach when I found out that we'd be lucky if the tournament ended before 4:00 p.m. Picture my horror when I deduced that the karate studio was packed to the gills with parents and siblings who apparently think it is fun to spend an entire day in a hot, crowded room, sitting cross-legged on the floor, watching 50 or more kids each do the same darn forms one by one. Imagine, if you will, my despair when I realized that A has already taken all his stuff in the back to get ready and that I couldn't get him out! There was no escape for us. We were trapped.
This is how A's first (and probably last) karate tournament went: 2.25 hours of waiting. Doing his form in the largest division of the whole karate school. Doing a good job, but definitely not the best. Getting an honorable mention. (By the way, the girls that got 1st, 2nd and 3rd were amazing! I was glad to see them do so well; that was nice.) Waiting another 2.5 hours. 3 minutes of sparring. Losing 2 points to 1. Getting told that he might get a chance to spar again later if he wanted to wait. Realizing around 3:45 that this would never actually happen. A did not get to go to his baseball practice, and I think he wishes he had.
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