Comments on: Janie’s Got a Gun?

By: Big Little Wolf's Daily Plate of Crazy » Blog Archive » Where do women stow their violent selves?

Fri, 12 Feb 2010 02:35:00 +0000

[...] reading a provocative musing on guns at Motherese, and a discussion of dealing with little boys and their desire to shoot ‘em up and play war, [...]

By: Big Little Wolf's Daily Plate of Crazy » Blog Archive » Where do women stow their violent selves?

Fri, 12 Feb 2010 02:35:00 +0000

[...] reading a provocative musing on guns at Motherese, and a discussion of dealing with little boys and their desire to shoot ‘em up and play war, [...]

By: Big Little Wolf's Daily Plate of Crazy » Blog Archive » Where do women stow their violent selves?

Fri, 12 Feb 2010 02:35:00 +0000

[...] reading a provocative musing on guns at Motherese, and a discussion of dealing with little boys and their desire to shoot ‘em up and play war, [...]

By: Liz

Liz — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 01:40:30 +0000

P.S. I have no f*ckin' idea what's up with this weather down here! We had wind chills in the 20s! Wind Chills! The 20s! HELLO! MIAMI!!! Hopefully you will have warmer weather in Disney…! Let me know how it goes. I'm heading over in 2 weeks, actually! Will be sending you warm thoughts!

By: Liz

Liz — Sun, 10 Jan 2010 21:10:03 +0000

This has been a major topic on my mind as of late, and one I've been debating posting about… I thought I'd never allow my children to play with guns or weapons. Last week, my 4 year old was officially playing guns outside with the neighborhood kids..he with his pirate pistol that Hubby AND I brought back from a trip. I was amazed that even before I "allowed" them, he would "make" them: out of paper, clay, even other things became shooting weapons. And swords? Daggers? Yeah, all of them. I have no idea how it happened…Peter Pan and The Incredibles had something to do with it all. I have been thinking about this a lot lately, and will reread your post and the one you linked before I try to put together some official thougths for an actual post on this!

By: Sarah

Sarah — Sat, 09 Jan 2010 23:20:52 +0000

Late to the game here, but with three boys here at home I can tell you from experience that the gun thing, the weapon thing, is indeed inevitable. When my first son was little I never imagined buying him war or battle equipment of any kind. I think he started making other objects into weapons before he actually acquired a 2 cent plastic gun, but once he got that little weapon I knew I could not resist his desire to "play fight" any longer. Also, once kids get to school there is an entire world of influence that you are constantly fighting or explaining as a parent. And, with younger sons–who have older brothers–there is not much that can be done…my youngest was saying "bang bang" before he ever said "up," "down," or "cracker." He points and shoots, if only with his finger, and his face beams with a smile and with pride…and as strange as it seems to me now, so does mine.

By: Kristen @ Motherese

Kristen @ Motherese — Sat, 09 Jan 2010 02:59:33 +0000

Natalie et al – I'm starting to realize the apparent inevitability of my sons' becoming obsessed with guns. I always knew that many boys were drawn to toy weapons, but it seems from these comments that it might be more correct to say "most boys."

By: natalie

natalie — Sat, 09 Jan 2010 02:22:08 +0000

My dad is a gunsmith, so I have an appreciation for firearms that is uncommon these days (at least, in Chicago) – but I'm not an NRA member.It drives me nuts how my 7yo turns EVERYTHING into guns, warships, battlebots, swords, sabres, etc. But, we let him. Everyone once in a while I put my foot down and make him think up a machine to make the world a better place or something earthy-crunchy like that. It last about an hour and then once more BLAMBLAMBLAM!!!! Oooowwwww i'm ……………….. dyiiiiinng.

By: Linda Pressman

Linda Pressman — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 19:30:02 +0000

Hi Kristen,My husband always felt that safe training in gun use was the way to go but all my son ever wanted to do was get his hand on a nerf gun, sneak up on his cousins, and wham! Like other commenters, before we ever bought him one, he could turn anything in the house into one, even with masking tape and some imagination. Being from a family of seven sisters, I don't get it. We only played with dolls. But he seems to love the adrenalin burst, the strategizing, and the competition. There are a few things as a parent I thought I'd never do that I ended up doing. Guns are one of them. (Gaming systems are another.)

By: Corinne

Corinne — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 19:26:52 +0000

My mother is very anti gun. We didn't have toy guns in our home. But to this day she shakes her head and will tell you that it doesn't matter what you do, little boys will fashion guns out of anything. And everything. My brother certainly did, no matter how hard she tried to dissuade him. I think there will be discussions if Fynn decides to pretend to be playing with a gun. We also won't have toy guns. I'm not sure where I stand on stooping imaginary play, provided he's not trying to kill… It's such a tough question.