For all the dads out there...

Forget all the ridicule you've gotten over the years for playing rough with your children. Roughhousing has been proven to help children throughout life, despite what many mothers and grandmothers might think! Catapulting your children across the living (onto a matress or pillows), flipping them over your back (so they land on their feet) and the always fun game 'pile on top of dad' help to build confidence, strength, character and closer bonds between child and parent (The Art of Roughhousing). Don't believe me? Well, now you can read all about it.

Anthony T. DeBenedet, board-certified physician, husband and father of three girls, and Dr. Lawrence J. Cohen believe that, 'with safety in mind, roughhousing releases the creative life force within each person, pushing us out of our inhibitions and inflexibilities'. This passage can be found in their recently released book The Art of Roughhousing in which they not only support roughhousing but also encourage it with over 150 pages detailing different forms of roughhousing and diagrams depicting the safest way to roughhouse.

As a little girl, I always loved these times, when my father would allow my brother, sister and me to climb ontop of him, wrestle him to the ground and then have him tickle us until we were giggling so hard we needed a break to catch our breath. One of my favorite games, that I believe scared my mother and grandmothers, was when my father would pick us up, hold us to the wall and say, 'Now, you stay there. I'll be right back.' And with that he'd turn and drop us just a bit so we slid down the wall, but then quickly catch us and tease, 'I told you to stay there!' to which we woud just giggle and ask him to do it again.

This moment, although seemingly scary for an onlooker, was delightful for me because I knew that I was not in harms way, that my daddy would catch me and I'd be just fine. Like the doctors in this book say, it is games like this one that helped form a close relationship with my father, and mother.

So if you think that roughhousing is not beneficial, I encourage you to read this book. It is wonderfully written, with basic beginner tips and roughhousing games which then lead to advanced and extreme roughhousing for older children. There are games for all ages (of children and adults) that will definitely bring smiles and laughs to all those playing. Check it out on Amazon.com and let me know if you had/have any favorite games!