Tuesdays bring us back together from family time and various places, be in San Diego, Black Butte, Mexico or Granma's House, and one never quite knows what to expect. Azrael surprised me with an easy drop-off, ready to go. And it was a very smooth and harmonious day.
And now to open a can of worms while four kiddos snooze...
I am tapping into various resources to figure out how best to handle increasingly violent play. Not real violence, pretend violence. Today a kid was talking about their 'assault weapon' which was a bit shocking. In an increasingly (it seems, though I'm not sure that is actually true and it's possible the world of humans has always been violent) violent world, it is not surprising to find kids playing games with weapons, killing, jail, and lots of bad guys...and the kids are all playing more cooperatively, with fewer issues, fewer tears, fewer disagreements and more fun and creativity.
I personally don't like the violent play and talk of weapons. And then I turn around and teach them how to make origami ninja stars. And not to fall into binary thinking, but I see the girls wanting to play with the boys, but doing everything they can to redirect play towards nonviolent games- family, animals, castles, fairies, witches, spells and potions...When I hear the more violent games, I usually tell will tell the players I don't like it, I tell them why (well, pretend violence makes me think of real violence), and encourage them to choose a different game. They usually take their game elsewhere.
I don't want to tell them that their play is bad, have them hide it and be sneaky about it. And I don't want to shame them. I don't even know that it is bad.
And I'd really rather not have pretend assault weapons at school.
Joel advises discussing this during class meetings. We will.
And I'm doing some further research.
I know that you wonderful parents have very different views on this subject, and it's a rather sensitive topic. And the internet is all over the place, but my initial search is showing a lot more 'it's no big deal' ideas than I would have thought. Of course I raised my kids on a commune where there was no T.V., action figures were not allowed, and nothing resembling a gun, not even a water pistol, was allowed. And, yet, the kids ran around pointing sticks at each other anyway....
Alright. I welcome your thoughts and suggestions. I just thinking and wondering aloud....your kids are all good humans, and so are you.
