Art of Roughhousing Event-New York 4/2/11

[berniedekoven]

It'd be nice if everyone did this. But they don't. Maybe they cuddle - but wrestling with their kids is an art - a fine one, in fact, that my son-in-law has mastered. He makes up new, very silly wrestling moves, he even has Mexican wrestling masks, and when he wrestles with his kids, it's like a ballet of gentle, intimate love.

[LarryJackCohen]

I'm one of the authors of The Art of Roughhousing, and one of the leaders of the roughhousing workshops, which are all about having fun--this kind of active play is always more fun with a bigger group (especially the wild pillow fights at the end). Most people who come to these workshops already know that it's great to roughhouse, and they know how. But everyone who comes to an event learns new moves--including me.

[cumensu]

I find it very bizarre that parents have to take a class to learn how to play with their chidren. I just read this on a yahoo article less than 5 min. ago. I don't know what to think. Why would anyone want to do this? With children sometimes you have to go with the flow. It is that simple. Well, to be positive at least they are trying to learn.

[ydna20003]

uhm yeah.... everyone does this already .

[frongjumping]

How about wrestling and horsing around and stuff just because it's fun? Forget whether it has any developmental benefits or not, it's just plain fun, and that's good enough for me. One of my funnier childhood memories is playing Beat Up Louie with my cousins. Louie was the oldest of us, so he let us beat him up, even though he was twice our size. It was great.

[itsssrobert]

since when did people have to go to class to figure out how to play with their kids. just seems kind of odd. i did read the yahoo article

[first2nd2002]

@itsssrobert odd as it may seem, putting oneself into a roughhousing mindframe doesn't come naturally for all the parents. it doesn't make them bad parents just imperfect. but again, who is perfect?

[luckyazian13]

I think this is a good idea. Read on yahoo. Rough housing allows kids to feel joy and sometimes pain when they take it to far. So kids at a younger age will know what not to do and not do it themselves instead of being told not to. When I was a young, I did whatever I felt like. Climb a building, stick fight on a fence, etc. Whenever I got hurt, I knew whether the thrill was worth it or not to do it again. People need to stop caring Neo To Go everywhere and let there kids know what pain is.

[cumensu]

@luckyazian13, but who needs a class to learn how to roughhouse with their kids. They must be pretty stiff parents who are normally unrelenting. This is just too bizarre.

[luckyazian13]

@cumensu

True. Sad really. Or..... like a play date kind of thing? With a lot of kids?

[cumensu]

@luckyazian13 That seems probable and makes sense.