Photo: Olivia Mew
?Yes”

Astrid van den Broek, mom of a boy and a girl
?Here it comes! Watch out for the danger!? I yell. With this, I deliver a figure-four leg lock, pinning my eight-year-old son to the back of the couch, one leg clamped down on him, the other hooked underneath. Meanwhile, my arm may seem casually draped over his torso?but there?s nothing casual about the power of that pin. He?s immobilized in our wrestling match, and my moves are kid-approved, judging by his grunts and giggles.
My son and I love to play-fight, and the couch is our wrestling ring. He matches my WWE moves with his own knee drops from the sofa?s arm, followed by pint-sized punches and kicks to my torso and legs. But I?m not his only opponent?my husband is just as likely to wrestle with him, often up on our bed, where they produce Batman-like ?pows!? and ?whacks!? from the tangle of limbs. When it comes to roughhousing with my son, I took the lead from my husband, who has long believed that kids need to tussle to work out ?the beans? or rambunctiousness packed into their little bodies. The scrappy matches are also very much a part of my kid?s personality?he loves to challenge us physically, unlike his older sister, who drops at the merest tickle. I also see it as toughening him up for school and sports, where being confident in your strength and agility can help when you?re challenged.
That said, we remind him often that while scrapping is OK at home, fighting and violence are not gene...