Jay and I do NOT like toy guns. Guns are not toys. We kept James "sheltered" from toy guns for a long time, but we knew our efforts couldn't last forever. So whether it was seeing his older cousins play with them, or his buddy Gabriel, or the kids at school or the YMCA, or even in the movies he watches ("Up" has multiple gun scenes, for instance, a movie that is certainly tame and uplifting and toddler-friendly), he's been asking about them a lot lately. So we've explained to him that mama and daddy don't think guns are toys, that they can be very dangerous, and thus he will not own any toy guns (at least not for a long time, other than his bubble "gun", anyway). Well, he hasn't argued with us about it, though he has asked to go back to Gabriel's house to play with HIS guns a couple of times. Then today, he told me "Look mama. I make a gun. The bad guys go like this 'pish pish'!", while holding a toy gun he fashioned from a paper towel roll and some blocks. So I suppose there's no stopping it. Whether peer influence or movies, 'boys will be boys' and want to play with these types of toys. Anyone with older boys have advice on this? How do we teach him what guns are for without scaring him? And how to we come to terms with the fact that we can't influence every minute of every day, and that he WILL in fact play cowboys or cops or Star Wars, and that it's OK to do so? We know he's not our baby any more, but we're not ready for this...
2 comments:
I don't really have any advise for you, but I know the young boys at church will pick up and anything and pretend it's a gun (even just a simple rectangular block). They have an imagination you can't control. However, I do teach them that they CAN'T point it at anyone or act like they are shooting anyone. That takes some of the fun out of it.
Jacob and B were pretty out of control with guns and knives when they came to us. They spent a lot of time having them taken away for shooting airsoft pellets at one another. They have been much more mellow with them lately but yes, they will use their finger as a gun if they can't find anything else. It really is a boy-thing. I don't get it!
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