Even if I never bought the toys for them or took away ones that they received as gifts, they would still see “shooting” on video games.
I take away video games with shooting, but they’ll play at a friend’s houses and they will have guns.
I can’t completely shelter them. I can just teach. I would fight and fight trying to get my son to choose another toy but he doesn’t want to. So, I chose to breathe and try something new.
I pulled the “big brother responsibility” card.
Honey, I’m not to going to take your guns away. I’m not going to ask you to stop playing with them.
“really?”
Yup, you can play guns
You can pretend. You can point at the ground or maybe at their tummy. NEVER THE FACE.
“why?”
Respect.
That’s my answer. Not much different from not pointing a finger in someone’s face (although much less lethal if we are talking about comparing body parts to a glock) I don’t want my son …or my daughter…… to point anything in anyone’s face. Fingers, guns… that’s where my line is drawn in Sharpie ink. To me, that’s where the rules start and finish. Point a “gun” in the face, lose the gun.
After 3 years of trying to find that compromise, that’s where I found my calm. Or calm-like. It just comes down to respect.
If we had guns in our home, my kids would learn to respect them (when they got much older, of course). Respect and use them. Be wise and safe. Never allow them to have them when we weren’t around. Be knowledgeable and know when to use them. Have the skills to protect themselves if need be.
It would be a family decision. A anonymous decision. I’d never force it on them nor would I encourage moments of being maniac and rooster-like HEY MOM, CAN I SHOW MY FRIENDS MY GUN? Hell, no, you may not. It’s not a trophy.
Right now, my son is 5. 5 year olds live to be good/bad/ugly in their play. This mama wants to maintain one aspect of his learning. Disrespect is not an option.
(photo credit: <a href=”http://www.flickr.com/photos/michaelcomeau/8983314440/”>Michael Comeau</a> via <a href=”http://photopin.com”>photopin</a> <a href=”http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0/”>cc</a>)