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pen_gruntI'm amazed at the sheer quantity of toys for boys that involve guns or gun sounds.
In search of a birthday present for my turning-three nephew, I ended up scouring the toy aisles at Target to find the ONE Transformer that didn't have guns a-blazin' (what? Transformers are totally appropriate for a 3 year old, right?). Even the "battle hamsters" (the "boy" version of the beloved Zhu-Zhu pets) made gun noises when they bumped into things with their cute furry bodies. Yes, there is a lesson here. If you run into something, don't try to go around it...blow it up!
It's not that I'm particularly opposed to kids playing with guns. I had toy guns, my Star Trek toys had phasers (which are pretty much guns...with added awesomeness), and I didn't turn all gun-lovin' violent. However, I *know* that my sister-in-law scolds my nephew when he plays pretend guns (even though the pew-pew-pew noises that he makes are adorable) and doesn't like them. Knowing her position on the matter, it's imperative that I not be a dick and get her kids gun toys that she would hate.
[Note: This is opposite to my view on antagonizing my brother because, well, he's my brother. When he took all the batteries out of my niece's noisy toys... my sister and I conspired to get her a tambourine, harmonica and a small drum. No batteries to remove. Still noisy. Oh, am I ever gonna get it when I have kids...]
But, of course, when I got to the house--gun-free Transformer all wrapped up and in-hand--my now-three-year-old nephew "assaulted" me with a small piece of innocuous driftwood that he had repurposed as a six-shooter.
It's a losing battle, this.
And I don't think my brother has to worry about his son wanting to put on a necklace every now and then.
In search of a birthday present for my turning-three nephew, I ended up scouring the toy aisles at Target to find the ONE Transformer that didn't have guns a-blazin' (what? Transformers are totally appropriate for a 3 year old, right?). Even the "battle hamsters" (the "boy" version of the beloved Zhu-Zhu pets) made gun noises when they bumped into things with their cute furry bodies. Yes, there is a lesson here. If you run into something, don't try to go around it...blow it up!
It's not that I'm particularly opposed to kids playing with guns. I had toy guns, my Star Trek toys had phasers (which are pretty much guns...with added awesomeness), and I didn't turn all gun-lovin' violent. However, I *know* that my sister-in-law scolds my nephew when he plays pretend guns (even though the pew-pew-pew noises that he makes are adorable) and doesn't like them. Knowing her position on the matter, it's imperative that I not be a dick and get her kids gun toys that she would hate.
[Note: This is opposite to my view on antagonizing my brother because, well, he's my brother. When he took all the batteries out of my niece's noisy toys... my sister and I conspired to get her a tambourine, harmonica and a small drum. No batteries to remove. Still noisy. Oh, am I ever gonna get it when I have kids...]
But, of course, when I got to the house--gun-free Transformer all wrapped up and in-hand--my now-three-year-old nephew "assaulted" me with a small piece of innocuous driftwood that he had repurposed as a six-shooter.
It's a losing battle, this.
And I don't think my brother has to worry about his son wanting to put on a necklace every now and then.
