No Karate

My oldest daughter, Kaiya, is five years old, in kindergarten, and a very smart and sensitive child.  She’s a little shy and not very assertive around her peers, so we thought it would be a good idea for her to take karate classes.  Any class that teaches a child respect, responsibility, focus, and how to kick ass is good, right?  She was excited about it.  We all were excited about it.
Until the first class.  We got there, paid our fees, and class began.  It took the child five minutes to remove her shoes.  A child who hates shoes wanted to leave hers on in karate class!  She seemed a little nervous for the first few minutes, then got a little shaky toward the middle.  Then when they were practicing their yells and stances, she burst into tears.  She couldn’t handle the yelling.  She understood that no one was yelling at her, but just couldn’t take the noise.  She can yell and scream and jump around at home, but when she’s told it’s okay to yell, she cries instead.
We stayed to watch the rest of the class, and then left.  That was her first, and probably her last, karate class.