Roughhouse With Them

The research has spoken: one of the most important things a dad can do for his children is to roughhouse with them.

We’ve covered before in detail the benefits that come with roughhousing. It makes your kids resilient, smart, and compassionate. It also encourages your kids to be physically active.

Roughhousing is a way to make physical activity fun for your kids, and when you do it with them, you’re providing a direct example of staying physically active in adulthood.

There’s nothing much to roughhousing. Just get on the floor and play with your kids. Wrestle with them, let them climb on you like a horse, chase them around the house. There’s no wrong way to roughhouse. Just keep it safe and fun.

I was very intentional about roughhousing with our kids as soon as they were safely able to do so. What’s heartening to see is that all that deliberate effort at the beginning of their lives has paid off. Now that they’re older, they’re the ones who instigate roughhousing matches. Gus will often come up to me and say, “Do you know what we haven’t done in a while, dad? Roughhousing! Let’s go!” And away Gus, Scout, and I go for a round of upside-down swinging and epic battles between “Achilles and Hector” (roughhousing sessions can even be a time to teach a little ancient Greek mythology!).

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