Hello there…

2 of 10 in the series ‘Children Home Rules - They’re Not Just for Kids’

Here at W. Kim Tae Kwon Do, we have a set of rules that we give every child that joins our program.  This list is called Children Home Rules.  Basically, it’s a set of rules that aren’t any different from the rules that parents already have at home.  They aren’t new, but they serve as a handy tool for reinforcement.

Children Home Rule #2 - 

Children shall greet their parents when they enter the house and tell them goodbye when they leave.

When I was a teenager, (I had been involved in Tae Kwon Do for no more than a year or two) I remember an incident with our founder Great Grandmaster Wan Sup Kim.  I was upset with one of my parents for something and I took that into the dojang (school).  

His office was set up so that after you entered the school, you had to go by it.  If the door was open, you were supposed to greet him.  I wasn’t in the mood to interact with anyone and I chose to walk past his open door to the changing room without a ‘hello, sir’.

I continued to stew while I changed into my uniform.  Now, to get to the training area, I had to go past his office again.  I tried my best to fly past his office when I heard my name called in a tone that stopped me in my tracks.  

Some of you may know exactly what that tone sounds like.  Everything else in life comes to a screeching halt to address the immediate concern of whoever invoked it.

I immediately put on the brakes, did an about face and found myself suddenly standing in his office doorway.  (I must have blacked out momentarily, because, to this day, I still don’t remember how I covered the distance back to his office).

He just looked at me and asked:  “Why didn’t you greet me?”  He wasn’t upset; I could see that on his face.  In fact, he looked confused.  I was a student who followed the rules, so this behavior was unseemly.

I didn’t have a good answer.  At that moment, whatever had been making me upset seemed innocuous compared to the breach of protocol.  I offered no explanation, other than saying: “I’m sorry, sir.”  Something in my face must have satisfied him because he just said “Okay” and sent me on to the training area.

I wasn’t able to put it into words until later, but I learned something valuable from that event.

For kids, the second rule is used as another layer of learning to showing respect to mom and dad, but also being held accountable.  Mom and Dad want to know where we are in the house, or if we are outside, or where we might be going and when we arrive home again.

Accountability is something that helps us stay on task at work, focused in school, or helps us achieve some sort of goal.  By being accountable to someone, or something, it helps us improve our lives.

So, I would encourage you to be accountable, even if it’s just to say ‘hi’ when you are in a grumpy mood.

Photo Credit: Gabby K.