Foe to Friend
I worry. I fret. I over-analyze. I get things wrong. Sometimes.
I was wrong.
And this is wrong….
…WTH? Watch out, balloons!
This past weekend we had another taekwondo tournament so that meant last week was spent worrying about MMA Mama showing up. She did show up. I spotted her within 10 minutes of arriving and immediately wanted to go home to curl up with a cup of chamomile and my cat.
I didn’t.
Instead, I decided to face my fear by re-introducing myself, “Hi, I’m Jenn and you make me want to take Xanax. I think we sparred last time. I just wanted to say hi and maybe if you see how wimpy I really am you won’t hit as hard.” I really didn’t know what to expect when I walked up to her. Would she decide to kick me in the face? Would she laugh at me? Give me attitude? Or worse…blow me off?
MMA Mama is really nice. I’m just a freak overly imaginative. We talked about our kids. We talked about our husbands. We even talked about our last match. She was cool. Totally cool. (And she really does do MMA.)
As it turned out she wasn’t even going to compete because she and her husband takes turns. I can’t say I wasn’t relieved but I can say, I was wrong. She’s not the scary gladiator I made her out to be. She is intense, no doubt, but I know she’s not out to hurt anyone. In the line up area before we were called to our ring, she even gave me the “Go girl! You can do it!” look complete with a “power fist”.
Of course, Thing 1 and Thing 2 competed. It was a hard day for Thing 2. He had a mini ninja in his ring and he couldn’t get one point on him. It’s hard to watch your little one feel defeated. We used it as an opportunity to talk about winning is not what makes us proud but facing fears and giving it your best it what makes us proud. We talked about how we can learn more from losing than from winning. Whah whah whwhah whwhah. His disappointment didn’t last long because he remembered the snack table.
(Thing 2 on the left.)
Brent also competed for the first time. He ended up taking 2nd in sparring, losing to the guy who was State Champion last year. I was so excited for him. Unfortunately, we were competing at the same time so I didn’t get to watch and the camera was entrusted to Thing 1 so we didn’t get many pictures but we did get one of him receiving his medal. (It sort of cracks me up that they drape them over our necks.)
As it turned out, I didn’t place as well in this tournament as the last one. There was a girl who I had never competed against there and she cleaned up taking first in both events.
I ended up getting a 2nd in forms and a 3rd in sparring in a smaller ring (only 6 girls) but I felt like I really won by facing my fears and making a new friend. A new friend who will eventually kick me in the head but still a friend.
Have you ever been totally wrong about someone? Anyone else have an overly active imagination?
Just in case, you didn’t catch one of my 3000 announcements I’m doing an Alo Yoga Pants giveaway. It closes Wednesday night.
Hugs and High Fives,
Jenn
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That is SOOO cool. I love when stuff like that happens. You are proven wrong about something (and happy to be proven wrong!)
It looks to me like your little one was kicking the **it out of some balloons as well. If I was a balloon, I’d think twice about going to one of your tourneys.
NEAT about Brent! Why didn’t I know that he also did this?! Such a cool family.
Sometimes I do what my Dad used to call “Jack Stories”. (Not sure where the name comes from?) where you imagine this whole scenario and end up thinking the absolute worst. When the reality is that none of it actually existed in the first place. He’d say “Don’t do a Jack Story, let’s just see how it all plays out”. Like ‘if I don’t get an A in science, I’ll never make it to college and if I don’t go to college I’ll never go to dental school and if I don’t go to dental school, I’ll be homeless on the street…” You get the picture. You did a Jack story about MMA! However, you had good reason- she kicked you in the head. 😀
I never would have guessed MMA Mama was nice! Just goes to show, you should never judge a book by its cover…or its punching/sparring/whatever!
Great job this weekend!
I was wonder if this post was about MMA Mama after seeing the title.
You are a hero in many ways.
Your boys are so blessed to have you and your husband as parents. The support and love you show them by participating in their hobby is awesome. I know your relationship will only continue to grow and strengthen and they must have so much respect for yall. I hope Andrew and I are as good of parents one day. I agree with Gina, you are a hero in soooo many ways!!
Yay for making a new friend. And bravo for introducing yourself! That’s awesome. I am wrong about people a lot and I always think someone doesn’t like me but I tend to be the one to give off the scary vibe. I have b-face. 😉
Did you show mma mama a picture of your bruised arm? Yes, I’ve been totally wrong on someone before. Now she’s one of my great friends!