My Daughter Beat Me

I enjoy karate so much and what makes it twice as good is that my thirteen year old daughter goes with me. This weekend, my daughter and I had our second karate tournament. I walked away with two second places and one first place. My daughter got one second and two firsts...one of those, against me and several others.

My daughter beat me. In our final event, she got first and I got second. I couldn't be happier. It was a great lesson for her. She got to see her mother  graciously and gratefully applaud for her achieving an accomplishment and honor greater than me. I am so much more proud of her first places than my own. She works very hard and has learned a focus and determination that did not exist before karate. She has attained more self-confidence in this last year than ever before. Most of all, she knows that she can protect herself.

I am going to bed one proud momma tonight. My Texas Girl isn't a little girl anymore. She a strong, beautiful young woman who is learning that she has the right and the ability to protect herself. What do you do to teach this to the young women in your life?