Conversation
Bubster: "Pretend you have a little finger and Roku is in your other hand."
(our little fingers talk and Roku is one of our little bears)
Me: "Ok."
Little finger: "Hello, I'm a little finger talking."
Roku: "Hi! Did you call me?"
Bubster: "Yes. I wanted to show you my gun."
Little finger: "Oh! Your gun?"
Bubster: "Yes. It's a stit (stick) gun. See? It has a long neck and a bend in it to hold onto."
Roku: "How do you use it?
Bubster: "Oh! You press this button here and fire comes out here!"
Roku: "Oh gee! Sounds a bit frightening!"
Little finger: "Yeah!"
Bubster: "Oh it's not a real gun. It's a stick (stit) gun. If it were real, it would have a hole here where the fire comes out but it doesn't have a hole so it's not real." Shrugs shoulders sadly.
Roku and Little finger, nodding together: "Oh."
Roku: "Well, what do you need a gun for?"
Bubster: "Oh! To shoot pirates and scary guys and monsters and stuff. They are around." Looks around.
Little finger: "Huh."
Seems that the Bubster knows all about how guns work. (insert bewildered expression) He even made his toast into a gun a few weeks ago. I've heard of boys doing this but have never witnessed it myself. Well, now I have. It's no longer an urban myth!
So when you can't beat em, join em. We regularly go around and shoot all the pirates in the back garden, all the monsters in the closet and those scary guys lurking around corners.
(our little fingers talk and Roku is one of our little bears)
Me: "Ok."
Little finger: "Hello, I'm a little finger talking."
Roku: "Hi! Did you call me?"
Bubster: "Yes. I wanted to show you my gun."
Little finger: "Oh! Your gun?"
Bubster: "Yes. It's a stit (stick) gun. See? It has a long neck and a bend in it to hold onto."
Roku: "How do you use it?
Bubster: "Oh! You press this button here and fire comes out here!"
Roku: "Oh gee! Sounds a bit frightening!"
Little finger: "Yeah!"
Bubster: "Oh it's not a real gun. It's a stick (stit) gun. If it were real, it would have a hole here where the fire comes out but it doesn't have a hole so it's not real." Shrugs shoulders sadly.
Roku and Little finger, nodding together: "Oh."
Roku: "Well, what do you need a gun for?"
Bubster: "Oh! To shoot pirates and scary guys and monsters and stuff. They are around." Looks around.
Little finger: "Huh."
Seems that the Bubster knows all about how guns work. (insert bewildered expression) He even made his toast into a gun a few weeks ago. I've heard of boys doing this but have never witnessed it myself. Well, now I have. It's no longer an urban myth!
So when you can't beat em, join em. We regularly go around and shoot all the pirates in the back garden, all the monsters in the closet and those scary guys lurking around corners.
Comments
You don't have to give them guns, they seem to make them out of anything & everything. Lego sticks, crayons, toys, fingers, soap, cutlery, etc etc. Fascinating. (I don't know where they learn about them - I'm trying hard not to raise a "Mike Teevee" (Willy Wonka) but once in a while...especially when his sister is really annoying him, a 'gun' might appear!)
Thankfully as I type he is building with some Lego. Unfortunately he just told me he's building a McDonalds...the pieces are saying hello to each other. How civilised!
I've always tried to respect who my children are and their interests, without enabling inherently wrong behaviors. Since guns are not inherently wrong, only the excessive violence associated with them, we allow gun play but try to keep it to protecting.
Also with the 300 other battles I have going on in my house about peeing in the toilet, not the front yard, no burping at the table and stop sitting on your brother's head, I just let the gun thing go.
Glad to hear yall are getting those nasty pirates and bad guys.
Uh oh......gonna have to tell that to the bubster. Hmmm.
:-)