Celebrating Life Moments

In this post, my family and I are celebrating life moments with our sponsor for today, Breyers®. All opinions written below are mine. Thank you for supporting the brands that encourage my creativity and work.

As parents, we often sit around and wait for our kids as they enjoy an after-school activity; and for nearly two years, both my husband and I sat for an hour 2-3 times per week waiting for our oldest to finish his karate class at the dojo (karate school).

You’d think that we’d get used to driving 25 minutes to karate, plus an hour of wait time, and another 25 minutes back to get home, right? However, when our youngest joined his brother more than a year later, we found ourselves waiting about 2 hours each time.

As our boys went through testing and moved up to a new belt, we’ve created a tradition of celebrating their achievement with a simple ice cream dessert. The joy from something so simple, like a scoop of Breyer’s® Natural Vanilla, can be seen in their smiling faces. As you know, I’m a big fan of using fresh and simple ingredients, and Breyers® Natural Vanilla is exactly that. It tastes the way vanilla should taste and it’s made with non-GMO sourced ingredients like fresh cream, sugar, and milk.

A few months ago, Sofia, Eric, and I decided to join the boys; partially to have something to do that is active and fun while we waited and to do something together as a family.

Our afternoons have changed significantly over the last six months. Instead of chauffeuring our kids around town squeezing each activity in our already packed schedule, we all head to the dojo for our classes. My sons are thrilled to have mom and dad in their karate school and often volunteer to assist the Sensei with the instruction of our class.

You might think that karate is an easy activity to do as an adult, and partially it is, but I must admit that I often feel like I received a good workout! It always looked easier from the sidelines, watching kids as young as four practice their punches and kicks, as well as count through another round of leg raises or squats.

The thing is that the classes are fun, the Sensei is very encouraging and uplifting, and quite frankly, makes any student feel proud of their efforts. I can see why kids and adults love attending and more parents would probably bond with their kids more should they have the courage to try something new. With each class, we are getting better and better, and it reminds us that it’s often the simple things in life that matter the most.