Hey nic
Hope you arent beating yourself up too much over this!!
I had really low self esteem as a kid, and a teenager, its not fun!! But I had a thought - you said ethan does touch footy? Do you all go to that and watch and cheer him on? I just remember one of the things that has really stuck with me (and quite frankly still upsets me) is that my older brother had footy and cricket and he and dad played nintendo games together ...I played netball. And nobody would come to my games, just drop me off, and the one time they did come my dad read the newspapaer the whole time. I was so upset.
My point is, I would have felt more 'important' if as big a deal was made about my meagre attempts at netball as was about spending the entire saturday at the footy club (with smelly boys!! lol)
If you already do, then feel free to ignore my rambling!!
The other thing is martial arts is great for a kids self esteem and self confidence too

GL