At today's aikido class, Little Brother was honored with The Purple Stripe. The elusive purple stripe was mentioned in a class a few months ago. It is bestowed upon a student who shows good leadership and acts as a good example for others in class. Ever since he heard about, Brother has had his goal set on earning that purple stripe. He was so proud of himself when he told me about it. He said he was so surprised, and when he saw Teacher Nancy pulling out the purple tape he got really excited, and he didn't know what to think. It was very sweet listening to him recap the whole experience.
Little Brother has always been such a sensitive kid, and so much in life brings him down or makes him feel like a failure. I love that these past five months, aikido class has consistently been a place where he's been excited to go, and always comes away feeling successful. When I watch his class, I can see him working on a lot of the skills I've tried to help him with for years - remaining calm and cool when frustrated, remaining focused on his own behavior and trying not to worry about the behavior of others, speaking up when he needs something. He still can't hold it together in a lot of other settings, but he has a safe place to work on it when he goes to aikido. Tonight I loved sharing in his excitement that his hardwork didn't go unnoticed.
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