Engarde!!!

I have to admit, my childrearing experience is decidedly girl-heavy. Between Jonah's autism and Aaron's extreme youth, I feel much more comfortable with dress-up, horses, dolls, etc. than I do around more traditionally "boy" pasttimes. So I may regret saying this in the not-too-distant future, but here goes: I just don't get how Keri and Matty can let their boys play-fight all the time. Their nonchalance really surprised me - mainly because they started out such sensitive, enlightened parents, with their baby sign-language classes, their love affair with wholesome wood toys from Melissa & Doug, the baby doll they bought for Declan when Keri was pregnant with Ronan.

Just consider this excerpt from Keri's previous post: "Click, clack, clack (the sound of a plastic toy sword hitting a toy hammer, or a microphone stand, or a pencil, whatever they have handy).

"'WAHHHH!'"

"'Sorry, Ronan!"

Click, clack, clack.

"'WAHHHH!'"

"'Orry, Dec-an!'"

Was I the only one who thought, "Why don't you just tell them to stop hitting each other with plastic crap???????" I mean, are two and three-year-olds really capable of understanding that it's okay to smack kids with some things, but not others? In my opinion, enough smacking goes on around here (amongst the children; the adults are pretty self-restrained) without enabling it by providing a cache of weapons.

I know the argument, that children (read: boys) will make guns and swords out of whatever is handy, even if no toy uzis are readily available. And I've seen Declan wave around musical instruments or even sticks from the yard as he struts around the house in full pirate mode. But is it too wussy of me to suggest that, when they pretend to play pirates, they also PRETEND to hit each other????

Maybe we need more toy guns around here. At least, when you pretend to shoot someone, there's no actual physical contact.

I'm sure Keri will be lurking around for the next year, waiting to gloat when Aaron starts attacking his siblings and cousins with a plastic spoon. Fortunately, it appears that Aaron is feeling his twin's pull more than his cousins', and has started playing with baby dolls instead of swords. Thank God I have nothing to worry about on that front.