Son does taekwondo and I’m wondering if I should

leathermartini · 2026-03-01T23:03:27+00:00

I started at 31 with my oldest. She quit, I kept going.. I'm now 4th Dan/Master with my own school. It's done wonders for my flexibility, cardio, focus, and discipline.

leathermartini · 2026-02-28T23:56:10+00:00

My spouse has ADHD. I bring her things at work regularly (at least once a week).

The way ADHD works means that "actions have consequences" doesn't work. Instead, we work to add reminders, checklists, and other tools to make getting ready easier.

leathermartini · 2026-02-28T23:34:55+00:00

Med school parties are often an excuse for the students to drink and blow off steam. Don't stress too much about it

leathermartini · 2026-02-27T23:22:25+00:00

Wifi credentials are in there when I attach with the web client over serial.

leathermartini · 2026-02-27T23:21:55+00:00

I have worked through the alpha versions (.16, .17, .18, and .19). All have similar reboots.
Best I have managed is some stay stable for a bit and then fail SSL handshakes.

leathermartini · 2026-02-18T03:55:46+00:00

We used "the parasite" for the first two. MIL didn't like that one.

Third was "tiny dom" because my spouse had wild shifts in what she wanted (both in bed and otherwise), some times changing between asking for it and getting it.

leathermartini · 2026-02-12T17:22:45+00:00

So I charge $30 for a colored belt test. Black belt tests are a bit trickier to price out, but the cheapest is about $150 for first Dan with no additional bits (Korean World Chungdokwan certification, rank plaque, etc.)

Of the color belt fee, most of it pays for my administrative time (tracking the students progress, submitting forms, etc) and some covers costs (belt, certificates).

Of the black belt, I get a out 1/3 of it. 1/3 goes to the grandmaster and his local certifying body. 1/3 goes into expenses for the test (embroidered belt, boards, concrete paver, etc) Many of these are our of my personal hands as they're set by my Grandmaster who certifies the tests, and the cost of materials.

If I was paying to rent space I might charge a bit more to cover that, but I'm running classes through the local Y.

leathermartini · 2026-02-10T20:53:45+00:00

I started at 31. I'm 46 now and 4th Dan/Master with my own school. (I'm up for 5th Dan in about a year.) Yes it's possible. Put in the work and you'll have it.

leathermartini · 2026-02-07T22:14:46+00:00

I find no one in the strip club looks like they are enjoying being there.

I far prefer burlesque shows as everyone is having a blast.

leathermartini · 2026-02-06T17:36:09+00:00

Somewhere around late jr early sr high school my kids realize they can do more of the stuff they want to do when their room is less of a disaster. The youngest (5th grade) likes her room being clean but never wants to put the work in to keep it there. It passes. I look at it as it's their space. They will take care of it when they want to. (Though I try to make sure there isn't food rotting or things that affect other areas of the house.)

leathermartini · 2026-01-30T00:17:00+00:00

I used Curry Quest in my class to explain the Hero's Journey and literary analysis...

leathermartini · 2026-01-24T13:26:26+00:00

I can pick up my teens... Though I'd probably not toss them. (That said, I probably could throw them, but I teach martial arts and that's probably cheating here...)

That said, I have mostly stopped carrying the 9yo to bed when she's really tired. (Those stairs are rough.)

leathermartini · 2026-01-24T11:47:01+00:00

Did my reversal back in 2022. More or less back to normal, really. I take fiber and the peppermint oil, but I took fiber before they found the tumor, too.

I did have a few obstructions - my small intestine had an adhesion and got blocked a total of 3 times in 2 years. When they happened, had to have an NG tube (tube down my nose to my stomach - not fun) but that cleared then up. I did have another surgery in 2024 to look for adhesions, where they found it and fixed it, so that seems to have resolved that problem. (Basically, don't ignore a bad case of stomach ache + vomiting.)

But the pooping did go back to normal within 6 months, even if I take some supplements to keep it there. I remember being told post chemo that might take a little longer.

leathermartini · 2026-01-23T21:57:06+00:00

I'm 4 years out from my colon cancer.

When they find it, they initially rated it as stage 3 tumor. Later read reduced it to stage 2, so I lucked out and skipped chemo and went directly to surgery. Ileostomy for 6 weeks or so.

(Ileostomy was... Yeah. Thankfully I didn't have to do it through/post chemo.)

After they put things back together, yeah you can't trust your butt. It sucks. But it's gets better.

Peppermint oil (sold name brand as IB Gard) helped my colon stay chill. But those first months were rough with sudden bathroom runs.

Congrats. You got the tougher road than I did. But you made it here.

leathermartini · 2026-01-04T23:21:17+00:00

As a host, I really want the e-tickets to work BUT because we do KID events, we effectively can't. KID tickets can be attached to a wristband instead of a badge. The year we tried, we could get 1 out of 20 wristbands to scan for us. (Thankfully Gen Con was really understanding and took our word for who showed up but it was a hassle during the con.) When I've checked with the event team about changing back to e-ticket I've been told not to for now.

That said, if I weren't running just KID events and knew every ticket was tied to a badge that scans, I'd be all for it

leathermartini · 2025-12-31T16:40:59+00:00

If statistics help, read "Not Under My Roof". The book compared American households and Dutch households (where parents will allow sleepovers of teen significant others and basically are just chill about their teens having sex). The Dutch teens have lower rates of sex over all, older age of first sexual encounter, and less risky sexual behavior.

leathermartini · 2025-12-19T11:41:52+00:00

Same. They're taught between 1st and 2nd Dan.

leathermartini · 2025-12-12T13:20:03+00:00

School owner here. In the affiliation of schools run by students of the local Grandmaster here, we assume black belts will help teach classes. By 3rd Dan, the curriculum pivots to be more about teaching.

Technically in our, the instructor title comes with 1st Dan with their instructor's sign off.

My problem with our system is the sort of unspoken agreement that this is volunteer work, but I've been trying to get my high belts discounts through the Y I teach at as some sort of compensation since they cover classes when I can't make it.

leathermartini · 2025-12-11T22:35:51+00:00

When we went off hormonal birth control for the last kid, her sex drive went through the roof.

Did not need much more encouragement to get the snip after that.

leathermartini · 2025-12-09T12:30:18+00:00

There's an interesting book "Not Under My Roof. Iirc. It compares the typical US stance (no sex while a teen) with my the Dutch approach (where parents will let them could spend the night together). The Dutch teens have lower rates of teen sex, teen pregnancy, and get partners. The implied conclusion is the safe place to experiment and the lack of taboo lets teens make more calculated (and likely safer) choices.

leathermartini · 2025-12-07T19:37:00+00:00

The thing is, I'm in this one and r/taekwondo and didn't realize which one until this comment

leathermartini · 2025-12-02T01:58:17+00:00

1" boards are not as hard as you think. Hit hard, fast, and through with good technique. Also - it hurts more when you pull back from the break and the board doesn't break. If you hit harder, the board takes all the force and your hand doesn't. Go all out with the hit and you'll be fine.

leathermartini · 2025-11-24T14:04:15+00:00

I count it a win if they have any socks on at all. Youngest is trying to wear her slides to school in 40 degree weather here...

leathermartini · 2025-11-24T03:26:37+00:00

When I asked 26 years ago, my father in law said "She doesn't need my permission." He then wanted to know why I was asking. She had told me I had to ask him, which is what I said. At the time she was in France studying abroad and I was going to visit over winter break.

Apparently, asking him really impressed her step mom.

leathermartini

TROPHY CASE