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In a message dated 12/17/2002 1:46:13 PM Eastern Standard Time,
starsuncloud@... writes:


> The less I made a big deal of it, the less they were obnoxious about it.
> Weapons are just another way we learn about the world, another interesting
> part of our lives. And my children are very non-violent, peace loving
> individuals that get extremely distressed over war or people hurting each
> other in any way.
>
Eric 11 recently went to the Splat House (paintball war) for a birthday
party. DH went with him. They had a "ball" (sorry, bad pun). The testosterone
was flying. Though admittedly I think I'd have fun. Did anybody see "10
Things I Hate About You"; the teenagers went paintballing?

Eric is now determined he wants to purchase his own paintball set-up. "The
rental guns are poor quality, Mom." He's researched on the web, talked with
other owners, shopped, saved his money, found other ways to earn money, drawn
pictures of the ideal paintball gun, etc. Amazing the details he's learned.

Eric and I watched the Western Channel last week. Lots of old classics: Roy
Rogers, Lone Ranger, Gunsmoke, Gene Autry, John Wayne. He was in heaven. By
the next day, he'd made a leather holster for his resurrected toy guns
thenwas ambushing pretend "bad guys".

That night the same child was crying over the atrocities during the Vietnam
War after we watched "When We Were Soldiers" with Mel Gibson. He couldn't
understand how anyone could commit such acts of violence. I told him he
wasn't alone in his lack of understanding.

Ginny



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In a message dated 12/18/02 7:21:37 AM, GDobes@... writes:

<< Eric and I watched the Western Channel last week. Lots of old classics:
Roy
Rogers, Lone Ranger, Gunsmoke, Gene Autry, John Wayne. He was in heaven. By
the next day, he'd made a leather holster for his resurrected toy guns
thenwas ambushing pretend "bad guys". >>

One thing Marty is getting for Christmas is a set of toy guns. Just cheap
Walmart-TootsieToy six shooters. He had a set long ago, and they broke. He
got a set last year to use for Halloween. He learned a bunch of tricks with
them. One broke. His tricks weren't as good one-handed. He tried glueing
it. He doesn't "play with them," he just does the tricks, or wears them
with his duster for fun while they play western-theme role playing or card
games.

So for Christmas I got him TWO sets of guns, matching, so when one breaks he
still has a pair and when a second one breaks he STILL has a pair.

At thirteen-nearly-fourteen, if he had grown up in the house I grew up in, he
would have a real gun by now, and been hunting. If he really had an
interest, he could be going target shooting now with friends of ours who go.
He's never even asked to see the one rifle we do own, which we inherited from
a buckskinner friend of ours who hunted and trapped in Colorado and Alaska,
and died on an icy night. His name was Marty. That's why Marty's named
Marty. Still, our Marty at an age to use real guns has no interest, and
will not be happily amused to get toy guns for Christmas.

Marty and Kirby have been paintballing once. They had a blast, but it's
expensive, and they just haven't made it back. Their dad took them. It was
a work-organized outing for families (mostly or exclusively dads and sons,
but that's okay with me). The stuff washed out really easily.

Sandra