Tonight I tried to teach my son a lesson about life, but again, he taught me the lesson.

Stick with me, you’re going to like the payoff.

My son has been in MMA (Blended Kenpo) for 8 months and he still hasn’t earned his first belt. His instructor is tough and expects a lot. My son is close to earning his first belt, he has the moves down, and when I asked his teacher if he was ready to test, the teacher replied, “he still needs to learn the the Stack and Guard Pass.” I was surprised, because the kids who had just earned belts didn’t know the Stack and Guard Pass.

So why is it different for my son? I thought it wasn’t fair that he had to learn a move that others didn’t.

I decided it was a opportunity to teach him that life isn’t fair.

So at the dinner table tonight, I said, “you have to learn a move that other kids didn’t, just to earn the same belt, and I know that it isn’t fair. But that’s too bad, because sometimes life isn’t fair. If you want the belt, you’ll have to learn it anyway.”

My son replied, “You’re right dad. It isn’t fair… to those other kids.”

I said, “No, it’s not fair to you.”

He said, “No dad, it isn’t fair to them, because I get to learn more than them.“