Just as mothers of boys are glad they don't have to deal with Barbie and Libby Lu, mothers of girls are glad we don't have to deal with guns. Neither M nor E has ever asked for a gun, drawn a gun, turned a stick into a gun, made a gun out of legos, turned a baby doll into a gun, or engaged in any other gunliness.
Then the other day we won a raffle. (Finally! Can I tell you how many raffles we have entered and not won? Can I tell you how many raffles one encounters as a responsible school- and activity-involved parent? Can I tell you how many tickets we bought to win this raffle? Well, only three, but still, it's been a lot of raffle tickets over the years.) The raffle was related to the show M was in this weekend, and it had many wonderful components: books and notebooks and dressups and vampire bites and a shield, two swords, and a gun.
All of a sudden, my peaceful book and bead and lego and baby doll-filled home was awash in bloodthirsty yodels, startling gun pops, and the smack of sword upon shield. M pointed the gun at my feet and told me to jump. When I didn't: POP. M and E fenced dramatically, and of course E ended up in tears, because M had gotten a sword and the shield, while E only got a sword, and it wasn't fair. M stuck a sword between her arm and side and announced that she'd stabbed herself.
And you know what? It was fine. In fact, it was quite hilarious, a kind of kids-in-the-candy-store, girls-gone-wild-on-spring-break, parodic excess of sword and gun play. And then, it stopped. The swords and guns went in the box, and we went to the playground.
I don't know what will happen when G's four-year-old brother comes over, but for now I think I'll just continue not to worry about swords and guns.
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As a mother of a boy: somehow swords don't bother me, but guns do. We have toy swords, but not guns.
I think because (a) swordfighting can be an athletic sport [my son would like to take fencing when he's older], but more importantly, (b) I never read in the newspaper about an innocent bystander being killed in a swordfight, or someone taking a sword and going after people they have a grudge against. Swords are historic, not current. They also never caused the same swath of damage.
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