Posted on 07/30/2014 2:19:39 AM PDT by servo1969
I’m a bit miffed, I’m not gonna lie. Not for myself mind you, but for a little four-year-old boy who has the distinct misfortune of residing with a mom who fears guns. Allow me to explain; in this morning’s Washington Post “On Parenting” there’s a piece by Zsofia McMullen. The title of the piece is: “My four year old loves toy guns and I don’t know how to parent that.”
In it, she describes in great detail, her son’s infatuation with gun play and pretend violence. The piece starts out innocuously enough, with a detailed description of the little boy’s imaginative play centered on action figures most of whom are the archetypal hero, policemen, soldiers and the like. They vanquish dragons, dispatch pirates and rescue the princess all while brandishing swords and guns, sometimes on horseback, other times driving motorized vehicles with zeal.
Sounds like fun right? Any mother of boys and sometimes a tomboyish girl can recall the sounds of explosions voiced in the tiny inimitable tones of a child’s voice. I enjoyed hearing my son set up battlefields of Legos and watching the good guys victor over the bad. But clearly, I don’t have a strong enough fear of violence or guns!
Pretty early on in Zsofia’s musings she delineates her separation from anything having to do with guns. She’s only ever heard of one person actually owning a gun while she was growing up. She never actually saw it. And other such nonsense. Then she married into a gun owning family and was exposed to the horror of seeing firearms casually placed out in the open and no one passed out or spontaneously combusted.
In fact, I never saw a gun until I met my father-in-law a few years ago. He lives on a farm in central Pennsylvania, and the cabinet next to his bed is filled with shotguns. He uses them to hunt and to shoot sick animals or unwelcome groundhogs. One time when we were visiting, he left his shotgun casually leaning against a car we wanted to drive. Seeing my husband pick up and move the gun made me queasy and uncomfortable. What if it goes off? Do guns do that, just by accident?
Wow. Do guns just go off? Did she really just ask that? She then admits she’s totally inexperienced and untrained, which is a travesty on her part for remaining so for at least four years in light of her extended family’s interest in and use of guns! Why not take a firearms safety class and eliminate any of those awful feelings she’s experiencing? Why does Zsofia waste time wondering how her son “found out” about guns? Why not begin to teach him that they are tools, to be used for sport, hunting, and to defend oneself and the lives of innocents. Clearly her son has a healthy interest in saving others and a desire to enjoy doing so in pretend play using weapons. The writer describes intentionally not buying him toy guns only to see him create them out of other found objects as well as shaping them from his food. Good for the little fellow, he’s got a tough road to hoe in teaching his mom a thing or two about childhood ingenuity, but he’s well on his little way.
At this point, I just want to take Zsofia out for coffee to a place with wifi and use the Google to show her statistics on what most impacts the likelihood of a childhood ending in criminality. Societal and familial ills are the culprits in criminality; not having a father present and engaged, growing up poor, unhealthy obsessions with violent video gaming coupled with mental illness. Yup. So far her son seems pretty safe from becoming a murderous thug!
She closes out by stating her resignation to his desire to play this way and talks of sharing facts with little Sam, like “sometimes it’s the unarmed hero that wins the battle”. That’s a load of bollocks. If it’s a battle, it means at least one side is armed. If one side isn’t – that side usually goes down smoking, hard. The sentiment is cute and trite and not worthy of her son. Why not teach him the canard of peace through strength? It’s much healthier, more interesting and factually based.
The chances of my having a cuppa with the writer are pretty slim, so I ask you – please disabuse young mothers in your sphere of their need to eliminate natural reality based play from the lives of their testosterone laden boys. It’s a slap in the face to those that protect us and serve in our armed forces. It’s an insult to those that regularly use weapons for sport, hunting, and implies innate wrongdoing in owning guns. We don’t need anymore of that. Zsofia, learn how to parent that. Oh and Sam? Battle on buddy, battle on.
I played with toy guns as a child. Had an Air Rifle.
I volunteered that for military service and served honorably there.
I became a Law Enforcement Officer and later a Correctional Officer. I worked private security carrying various weapons for an additional 20 years. I have never committed a crime of any sort. Okay speeding.... I taught Sunday School at my Church and support two young ladies (not related to me) in their community softball programs.
Guess that playing with guns did not cause any harm......
If I had done anything wrong or bad as a child (well I did) my Dad would have whopped my ass (well he did). I learned not to do wrong.. Wonder if the fact that this is nowadays missing might be some of the problem...
Bump
They’ll shoot their eye out.
PSSHHEWWW! PSSHHEWWW! OOOFF! AHHHH!
Actually Im against letting boys or girls pretend to play with guns. I think they should all be taken to safety classes then be allowed to use the real thing on a range with good instruction!! (age 10 ish of course)
In the link of the Washington Post Zsophia McMullin says that she grew up in Europe. It was most likely Hungary
What I see described is not “pretend violence” so much as it is a boy acting in his role of protecting the weak from bad guys.
Bad guys will use violence, so a normal boy is wired to know that he’ll have to respond in kind.
We saw this in “Christmas Story” with Ralphie’s fantasy of protecting the family from Black Bart’s gang.
I instantly dislike this person ... yes, I'm prejudiced against people with weirdly spelled names.
BTW my daughter's name is Carin. I choose that spelling because I did not want the German spelling of Karin, or the English spelling of Karen.
So now sue me
Your Hero Zsofia is still a hoplophobic twit.
The anti-toy gun hysteria began when Bobby Kennedy was murdered back in 1968.
So much hysteria began at that time as people rushed to give their guns to the police and declare themselves “gun free”.
Anyone who doubts this should go to the local library archives of 1968 newspapers and magazines and see what HELL gun owners went through at that time.
I’m game with it being an optional after-school thing, but no, it shouldn’t be mandatory. Then the government will be saying “Well if we can require students learn to use firearms, then can we not also require them to use them the way we think they should be used?”
I still remember my first toy guns. I probably had others before but THESE are the ones I remember.
We went to Macroon’s store in Springer, NM and my Dad bought me a holster set with two small chrome plated toy revolvers.
I also received from a neighbor a wooden Thompson machine gun he had made, complete with a big round drum.
Then my cousin gave me a plastic double barrel (over and under) pirate pistol that used caps.
We had great fun out on the High Plains back in 1951 when people were STILL FREE.
Don’t take offense, FRiend.
Just take this as a humorous scenario:
HR: What’s your name?
Applicant: “Bawbby”
HR: OK (writing) B-o-b-b-y
Applicant: You spell my name wrong, it’s B-a-w-b-b-y.
HR: I didn’t spell it wrong, your parents did.
For your information noobie, I have never heard of her and I don't read the Washington Compost or any other liberal rag.
I admit I am in that group. Bad experience with a .22 rifle at Boy Scout camp back in 1960. Although I support the 2nd amendment, I do not want to be even near a gun. Funny how the mind preys upon itself.
My daughter’s middle name is Michelle. It was supposed to be spelled Michele. But I grew up in Germany and was educated in the German School system, where we were taught to go by the sound of a word. To me Michele sounded like it had two Ls, so I spelled it that way. I have later found many do spell it with 2 Ls. Michelle Malkin, for example, so I don’t let it bother me anymore
ROFL!!!!
Thanks.
I now know what sort of person you are.
And yes, I'm laughing AT you.
'Bye.
And I thought 2 l’s was “correct”... :)
Suggestion: Next time you try to use a fancy word make sure there is such a word.
The word you've entered isn't in the dictionary. Click on a spelling suggestion below or try again using the search bar above.
:)
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