Normally red tape is a bad thing associated with government delay. But, not this time. Jude had karate last night and earned a red tape for his white belt. They do red, white and then blue tape before the next white belt with a gold stripe is awarded. Although I learned earlier that belts are awarded based more on attendance than performance (and we can only get Jude to 2 of his 4 karate lessons each week because of my work schedule and Andy’s inability to leave the house with the 3 busy boys), Jude was really excited to earn his red tape. They told Jude the red tape signifies that he had learned the fundamentals of kicking. Jude said that when the teacher said, “Jude, step forward,” that he was surprised and thought at first that he was in trouble. Jude thanked the teacher for the tape and then told me that none of the other kids had said thank you and that he bets the teacher thought he was a really polite boy.