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www.FredParent.NET • • • 35 www.FredParent.NET • • • 35 www.FredParent.NET • • • 35 FAMILY VALUES Roughhousing fertilizes brains and physical play "releases a chemical called brain-derived neu- rotrophic factor (BdnF) which equates to fertil- izer for brains. BdnF stimulates neuron growth responsible for memory, learning, language, and logic," they surmise. This increases intelligence. Emotional Intelligence is another benefit of wrestling. Children have an opportunity to practice reading emotions. Physical interac- tion teaches them to assess expressions, body language and guttural sounds. This translates to understanding people better and makes them more likable and sensitive to non-verbal cues. It is easy to see this translating into classroom and employment successes. deBenedet and Cohen also espouse rough- housing makes children ethical and moral. They write, "When we roughhouse with our kids, we model for them how someone bigger and stronger holds back. We teach self-control, fairness and empathy. We let them win, which gives confidence and demonstrates winning isn't everything. We show how much can be accom- plished by cooperation and how to construc- tively channel competitive energy so it doesn't take over." I can agree that there are some impres- sive benefits to this quasi-barbaric behavior. I vow to help set some ground rules, look the other way and attempt to refrain from scream- ing, "Stop that right now!" I prefer the dancing, swirling, skipping segment of big body play. But, then, I am a girl! Elaine Stone, mother of three, lives in Spotsylvania. Write: elainestone@juno.com S u m m e r C a m p at Inspire Dance Every week July 7—Aug. 21 $90 first week www.InspireDance.com info@InspireDance.com (540) 373-7700 7—9 year olds *Under the Big Top *Frozen in Summer *Teen Beach Movie 3—6 year olds *Tink's Treasures *Under the Sea *Learning to be a Prince/Princess Camps for kids 10 and older, too! " " Play—especially active physical play, like roughhousing—makes kids smart, emotionally intelligent, lovable and likable, ethical, physi- cally fit and joyful.