I know that girls like to wrestle too, but not like boys. One of the joys of raising all boys that I had to learn to embrace is that they love to wrestle.
For years I didn't allow it. I wanted them to be "good little boys" that don't play with guns and swords and that certainly don't wrestle with one another. What did I discover? Even without play guns and play swords they made them out of sticks, legos and wrapping paper tubes. Now I think they are just wired to be fighters. One of my favorite Biblical figures is David and he was a fighter if there ever was one.
As Mom I get to play referee and they are not allowed to wrestle without a referee, so I get to watch my boys interacting and forming bonds in an age old way. As I mentioned I get to make the rules and here are a few of them: no scratching, no hitting, no chocking, no kicking, no head grabs, if you cry when pinned (because you are mad about losing) you sit out a round, you may tag out to another player at any time and most importantly larger players must either start out in the pinned position or wrestle the entire match without getting to their feet. Pinning is a count of 5 to give sufficient time to escape the pin.
Yesterday it rained each time the boys ventured outside, so they still had a lot of energy at the end of the day. We needed a way to burn it off. We found a way. They wrestled. Our house was filled with giggling and growling (show me your fighting face). The growling is a great way to release frustrations and usually causes the rest of us to fall into a fit of laughter. Wrestling is primitive and my boys are good at it. The icing on the cake? They were exhausted, ready to go to bed and then slept in late. They never sleep in late.
For years I didn't allow it. I wanted them to be "good little boys" that don't play with guns and swords and that certainly don't wrestle with one another. What did I discover? Even without play guns and play swords they made them out of sticks, legos and wrapping paper tubes. Now I think they are just wired to be fighters. One of my favorite Biblical figures is David and he was a fighter if there ever was one.
As Mom I get to play referee and they are not allowed to wrestle without a referee, so I get to watch my boys interacting and forming bonds in an age old way. As I mentioned I get to make the rules and here are a few of them: no scratching, no hitting, no chocking, no kicking, no head grabs, if you cry when pinned (because you are mad about losing) you sit out a round, you may tag out to another player at any time and most importantly larger players must either start out in the pinned position or wrestle the entire match without getting to their feet. Pinning is a count of 5 to give sufficient time to escape the pin.
Yesterday it rained each time the boys ventured outside, so they still had a lot of energy at the end of the day. We needed a way to burn it off. We found a way. They wrestled. Our house was filled with giggling and growling (show me your fighting face). The growling is a great way to release frustrations and usually causes the rest of us to fall into a fit of laughter. Wrestling is primitive and my boys are good at it. The icing on the cake? They were exhausted, ready to go to bed and then slept in late. They never sleep in late.
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