Weapons

I knew this day would come. 

Jackson has discovered guns. 

Sort of.

I totally get the whole good-guy/bad-guy, super hero, ninja, rough and tumble imaginary play that often accompanies having boys - heck girls too for that matter.  And while Jackson does have a few foam swords in his toy box, when it comes to weapons I draw the line at guns.  I can't say why exactly, it just doesn't feel right.  I figure he'll stumble upon guns, and all sorts of forms of violence for that matter, on his own soon enough - there's no need for us to make that introduction.  He doesn't even have a water gun.  Although, I'll admit that is mostly due to the fact that I know who would end up on the receiving end of that super soaker!

Anyway, last night we were playing with legos.  Jack built something that I thought looked vaguely like a gun, so I dug deeper.

"Hey, what are you building, buddy?"

"A gum."

"A what?"

"A gum."

"Oh.  Well, what do you do with a gum?"

"You shoot bad guys."

He then proceeded to make the "pow pow" noises.  (Side note:  why are boys so much better at making those types of sound effects?  Or is it just me?)

So yeah.  Gum = Gun.  And despite having the word wrong, he totally knows what they're for.

I didn't correct him.  Or give it any special attention at all actually - since that would most certainly just increase his fascination.  And while I still have no intention of purchasing an actual toy gun of any sort, or even encouraging "shoot the bad guy" type play, that cat is officially out of the bag.

I blame school.