Creatively connecting with your kids

As I write this, my 10-year-old daughter is intently watching wrestling on TV. I try my best to watch with her so that I would know why young people are so attracted to wrestling. Though I can’t quite understand why kids enjoy seeing huge men being thrown from one end of the ring to the other, I join in anyway because I know my kids enjoy it.   

I once sat down with my husband Anthony to discuss how we can agree on preventing our kids from watching wrestling on television only to find out that it was he who got our children hooked on wrestling!  As it turns out, he’s a die-hard fan and goes as far as bringing our children to watch WWE live at the Araneta Coliseum.   

Since then, I’ve given up making side comments about my negative feelings about wrestling and have decided to respect my family’s pleasure by watching with them.  Because of that, we’ve been able to start our conversation with the latest developments on wrestling and move on to talking about many other topics of interest whereas before, my kids were confined to discussing such matters only with their father. 

Once, when my husband and I emceed a convention at Araneta Coliseum, wrestling giant Batista happened to be there, too, for a private interview. Though I was not actually fond of him, I decided to grab the opportunity to have my picture taken with him so I could brag about it to my kids. It was also my own way of showing them that I value what they value even if I do not totally support the idea of them going gaga over wrestling. 

True enough, when I got home and told my kids about my brief encounter with Batista, they screamed and were totally engrossed with every detail of that photo opportunity. They told all their friends about it and their friends were interested to talk to me about that incident as well. All of a sudden, I ceased being a threat to their fascination for wrestling and I felt really good about that.  I sensed that it made me more a friend to them and someone they could share their joys with. What a privilege!  

I still screech every time my husband comes home and does his routine wrestling matches with all my kids – yes, including the girls and even our neighbors’ kids!  Though I would’ve wished that my kids confined themselves to running around in our neighborhood and doing board games for a pastime and not have anything to do with death-defying stunts they learn by watching wrestling, I’ve decided to let them "live" an exciting life that they truly enjoy – with proper guidelines, of course. As a result, my kids involve themselves in many activities without guilt and do not gravitate towards wrestling only because it’s a big "no-no." 

I guess wrestling isn’t so bad after all. With a bit of guidance, our kids have developed the art of wrestling each other without anyone getting hurt. With some understanding, I’ve earned a little bit more of my kids’ trust by connecting with them from their level.  Everybody’s happy. May you be encouraged to creatively connect with your kids today.

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  E-mail author at mommytalk@businessworks.com.ph.