When my first child was a baby, old enough to have full head-control and sit up independently, we were eating at an informal restaurant with some family members. One person was gently bouncing my son up into the air, much to his delight, while we waited for our food. A nearby patron began to loudly berate him for “shaking” the baby, warning him that he was going to “mess up his brain.” Mind you, even my first-time mom sensitive warning bells were silent, so there was really no harm happening.
Fast forward a decade, and my first born child has attended several summer sessions worth of Circus Camp, learning to balance on a ball, walk on a large rolling spool, even trying his hand (feet?) at the unicycle. This is a child who craves physical play, and I recently read a book that I thought would help me as a parent more clearly understand this need.
Over on the Kirkus Reviews Blog today, I’m sharing my reactions to The Art of Roughhousing: Good Old-Fashioned Horseplay and Why Every Kid Needs It by Anthony T. DeBenedet and Lawrence J. Cohen. Head over to the Kirkus Reviews Blog to read my take, and I’d love to hear from readers about their own levels of comfort with physical play!
Dawn finds herself constantly acting as a jungle gym (at the very moment of typing these words, she is bouncing a child on her foot). When she’s not being climbed on, she tries her hand at blogging at my thoughts exactly.