The gun issue.

I always had a vague concern that if I ever had a boy, he would love guns, and then what would I do about that? I knew I was never going to be that mom who gave her kids fake guns for toys. Oh, and also my kids were not going to watch TV, and we all know where that went…down the Disney drain!

But one morning there was sweet little Jem sitting at the breakfast table making a gun out of a piece of toast, then out of Lego, my tripod, out of ANYTHING. Since that day, he’s had a weapon in each hand as soon as he toddles out of his room in the morning. Violet has watched exactly the same programs and read the same books as Jem, and has never had even a remote interest in weapons (unless it’s a means to irritate him).

So, I was worried. I stressed about how to break this fascination. I cringed when the mothers in the park would raise their eyebrows when my little boy held up a stick and says “see my rifle?! I’m gonna shoot things!”. Just like I used to do.

One day I asked him "what comes out of guns?"and he said "shooting juice!". We talked about it and talked about it- guns hurt and kill people, and I don’t like them. It changed nothing. I have decided to stop worrying about it, since oddly enough it has nothing to do with killing and hurting. I'm not actually sure what he thinks he's doing when he shoots something.

There’s nothing I can do except lay the rules about where he can point his weapons, and decline to play guns with him when he asks. It’s a bit sad, because my stance makes him try to endear guns to me, “See Mama, this is a nice gun! I’m a nice bad guy! I’m not going to shoot you in the face!” So sweet.

I'm saying "I" a lot because this doesn't bother Jesse whatsoever. Jesse makes him Lego guns.

When he’s older his Uncle Max can teach him about hunting and responsible weapon ownership, but for now I’m just going to let him play.

Peace out.