I watched wrestling as a kid with my older brother and remember it being exciting and fun, but it was never anything that I wanted to introduce to my kids. My husband loved old school wrestling also, with the Hulk and Andre The Giant, but it wasn't a love that carried on into adulthood.
So with that being said, I was a little skeptical about going, but you know what? We'll try anything once! And the WWE has great initiatives such as the Be A Star Anti-Bullying Campaign and WrestleMania Reading Challenge, where they partnered with one of my favorite organizations, We Give Books.
The week before we went to Monday Night RAW, I thought we should watch a show to get familiar with the wrestlers. My kids magically knew who John Cena was (I'm sure from talking with their friends at school), but after a few minutes of their first wrestling show, they were cheering for Daniel Bryan, the Uso brothers and Fandango.
Before watching, I made sure to explain to them that this was a show, sports entertainment is what it's called. We talked about the wrestlers being actors and that the wrestlers practice these moves and that the clothing they wear are costumes. We also explained that is a story, similar to a story they write in school, someone wrote this story.
So of course, I watch alongside them and there are few words and imagery that I was not too happy about. But still, we decide to take them to the live show.
And to tell you the truth, the magnitude of the WWE live show is pretty amazing. It's fun to see people from all walks of life, enjoying the same thing. My kids smiled, laughed, cheered and were pretty bummed when the wrestler they were rooting for lost a match. Overall, the memory was made and we had a great time!
And while I have my concerns about my 7-year olds watching people pretend to slam chairs on each other for entertainment, I can't help but wonder what is the difference from that and a superhero movie? That the superhero saved the world?
My twins, plus my nephew, are 7 going on 8. There are things in this world that I cannot keep them away from, nor do I want to. Wrestling, bullying, mean words, arguments...these are all teachable moments.
To me, it all goes back to the knowing that as parents, we are our children's primary influence. Not wrestling, not tv. I trust that I have instilled enough good manners, empathy and respect in my children to know that they are not going to try and body slam any playmates. I trust that they are not going to push anyone around or talk like wrestlers when they have an issue with a friend.
So, we'll watch wrestling occasionally, and I'm okay with that.
I also wanted to mention the WWE Parents page.
So what are your thoughts? Interested in a giveaway?
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Enjoy!