Yelling.
Screaming.
Breathlessness.
Sweat.
Flailing body parts.
Is it war?!?!
No…it’s just another night of wrestling in our house. Seriously, my wife says it sounds like a beast has been unleashed and is murdering our children simultaneously. Sound like chaos?
It is… The best kind.
Wrestling with your kids is a lost art and we need our own personal renaissance of this cultural past time. Think about it…I bet most of you can remember a time when you wrestled as a kid and if those memories don’t involve a merciless big brother, you most likely LOVED. EVERY. MINUTE. OF. IT.
Why?
Because…THIS.
(old footage ahead…excuse the bad quality)
Here’s 4 reasons YOU should wrestle with your kids:
Connection
Wrestling breaks down barriers while building connection between you and your kids. Life is busy and sometimes we only have a few hours a day to build a meaningful connection with our kids. Between school work, dinner, & chores sometimes more yelling and mandatory “to dos” are done than genuine connection building.
When you take time to wrestle with your child you break down any built up feelings of separation and you help your child feel close to you. There’s also an unspoken truth spoken to your children by wrestling: You are a part of something.
Think about it…how often do you find yourself wrestling with other grown men?! I personally JUST. DON’T. I would find it, well, uncomfortable. I don’t wrestle with anyone but my family. Wrestling with me is exclusive and there’s something to be said about that.
Exercise
Good GRIEF. Kids these days don’t hardly ever get outside!!! I remember the days when we’d all head out to the creek and fish for crawdads using pieces of hot dog or go riding our bikes through the neighborhood for hours…exploring, reading epic books, discovering and just being a kid.
Now kids spend the majority of their time staring at a screen. We live in a different time and our kids are experiencing life differently but they STILL NEED PHYSICAL EXERCISE! Exercise is an invaluable form of stress relief. What better way to get them to “get winded” than by playing and wrestling?
Matter of fact, it’s good for you! Instead of going to the gym every Monday, Wednesday, Friday – purposely wrestle with your kids for 20-30 minutes…you’ll get a good work out if you’re all in…especially when you have 4 kids like me.
Life Lessons
Through wrestling you have an opportunity to teach your children about life. What happens when dad is whooping everyone’s rear? Do they give up or do they band together to defeat dad? Will your child press through against resistance and a bigger, stronger foe or will they come back and try a different tactic? Wrestling helps your children simulate hard situations in a place that is safe and controlled (well, to some extent…). They can learn the power of pressing in and not giving up.
Is wrestling with your children really fair? No…because you can win every time…until they’re bigger anyway. But since it’s not fair, at some point, hopefully you’re going to let them win in some way shape or form. I don’t let mine win all the time because they do need to know that sometimes life isn’t fair but through this, children learn that wrestling together isn’t just about winning or someone being the alpha male…it’s about having fun together and considering other’s emotions and feelings. It’s the perfect opportunity to model thinking of those who have less power or ability and/or are disadvantaged for whatever reason. That’s a lesson every leader needs to learn.
Lastly, wrestling enables you to teach your child how to handle his/her emotions. When wrestling, sometimes tempers flare or a child can take things too far and hit too hard. This creates an opportunity for you to show your child how to calm themselves and play appropriately while handling his/her emotions in a healthy way.
It’s FUN
Wrestling is fun in and of itself but you can make it EPIC by adding some crazy masks or capes. Create your own character and let your kids battle it out with their arch nemesis. Don’t take yourself too seriously – let loose and have fun.
So, just do it…start connecting, teaching and best of all, build memories that will last a lifetime.
If you liked this post, you’ll probably wanna read this one:
“How to Initiate Wrestling with Your Children”
