No, you may not call me that

When I was a kid, I only knew grown-ups by their last names, unless they were family and therefore had a title, like Aunt or Uncle.  It was always very clear who was in charge and who wasn't.  At my daughter's pre-school (which is a completely awesome Montessori school!), the teachers are called "Miss Carol," "Mr. Dave," etc.  I find that is a common practice these days.

Now, since I adore my daughter's school, I am not going to question the reasoning behind their titles.  It's their system and I follow their rules without hesitation (such a good doobie, I know).

In martial arts academies, however, I believe there should be a different kind of verbal connection.  There is a need for some distance between the instructors and the students.  And truthfully, the difficulty is not with the children in the classes, it's with the adults.

Risk is good. Stability is ... meh

As much as I have been influenced by my parents over the years (duh), there is one major difference in our approach to careers.  I love risk, my parents love stability.  Now, these past months of economic struggle have certainly made me appreciate more the benefits of stability, but even still, I wouldn't trade my type of career freedom for a "normal" job.

Running a martial arts academy challenges every skill set I have, and has caused me to grow some new ones.  That alone makes my day interesting.  But when I look at the financial side, I am addicted to

The original motivational speaker: Mom

I think I was exceptionally lucky to be born to parents who were both educators.  They automatically taught my brother and I that we can do anything.  They programmed us to try new things, to try again if we messed up, to analyze failure but not to dwell on it.  They always believed in us, and so, we did too.  And like most kids, what I believed to be true about myself, I assumed was true for everyone else.

When I listen to motivational tapes and read success books now, much of it hinges on similar principles.  Beliefs have in impact on

'Scuse me... I was talking to the other one

What do YOU think?

Just a brief thought... let people answer for themselves.  I met a couple yesterday and the wife kept telling me what the husband wanted.  He was standing right there!  I would ask him a question and the answer would pop right out of her mouth.  (sheesh)  I see this sometimes with parents and their children, and even with siblings, but not so much between grown people.  What IS that? The funny thing was that the wife wanted their kids to enroll because they won't stand up for themselves.  Hmm.  


When siblings do that to each other, it's usually a simple thing to make a joke about who's old enough to speak and who isn't, then to ask the answer-bot if her sibling could answer for herself.  Everyone giggles

Teacher... or, Keeper?

What makes someone a teacher and not just a keeper?  I know people who call themselves teachers, instructors, and coaches, but they are certainly not all equally capable in those positions.  It's not enough to watch over students and take them through their paces.  Teaching has to be more than that.

(this is hard to discuss without being insulting, I fear, so stop reading if you are the queasy type)

Imagine a pre-school classroom, filled with seven young children and one adult.  Clearly, we want the adult to be "in charge" and "responsible" but, simply being present in the room doesn't necessarily mean the adult is skilled as such.  For anything constructive to happen,