Having posted articles on the importance of movement, I want to have a talk with mom's about rough-housing.  How many of you have fits when your spouse wrestles with the kids or tosses your baby up in the air (keeping safety in mind of course!)?

Yes, I

As moms, we rock our children and sway with them often without even being aware that we are doing so.  Sometimes we sway when we aren't even holding them!  Our movements with our children are often calming, e.g., rubbing their backs, giving them soothing touches, etc.

Dads, on the otherhand, engage in tickle fights, wrestling, etc.  These activities stimulate the central nervous system giving it lots of sensory input.  The deep touches during wrestling and the light touches during tickle fights really stimulate the proprioceptive sensory system (which, again, involves input to our muscles and joints).  The variety in the input, e.g., deep touches and light touches, help the sensory system regulate itself.

So, just as we intuitively know to rock and sooth our children, dads intuitively know that they need to give their child more intense movements.  Feel free, however, to encourage your spouse to do this activity at some other time than just before bed.  The rule in our house was: You wind them up, you put them to bed.

Does your husband rough house with the kids?  Given the information in this post, have you changed your view of this activity?

Originally posted on www.thementormom.com on July 10, 2006. 

Copyright © 2006, Jill S. Urbane.  All rights in all media reserved.  The content of this article may be forwarded in full without special permission provided it is used for nonprofit purposes and full attribution and copyright notice are given. For other purposes, please contact Jill Urbane at www.thementormom.com.