Pages

Wednesday, June 15, 2011

So - The Army Museum

The other day we went on an outing to The Military Museum
Bear was immediately in 7th heaven, there were planes, tanks, canons, guns...war, war, war...what more could a boy ask for?

Evie bubbled along merrily too, watching in amazement as her big brother scaled all manner of huge war machines!

The museum really is beautifully up-kept and there's plenty of things to look at and learn about. Bear was quivering with excitement though and I couldn't get his attention for more than a second at a time so we just let him go wild!

There were big guns
And planes with other budding pilots to make friends with
And more guns
And all manner of airplanes
Some little
Some crashed
And 1 quite large!

And yes, more guns
And flitting faeries
And tanks
And The Aunt came along and helped Bear up and down all the huge tanks, trucks & canons
It took huge bribing for Bear to stop for the 5 seconds the photo below took...and you'll notice his legs are still moving on the way to the next tank!
All in all, more fun than any jungle gym!
And we also learnt that barriers are there for a reason, and we have to stay one side of them!

We will definitely be back, next time with a picnic in tow I think!

A bit on the down side though, as much as I knew he would love it (we went mainly for the planes), it was the guns that made the biggest impact and he is now adamant he wants a...

...wait for it

... SHOTGUN!!!

I don't even know how he knows the word to be honest, I almost fainted from the horror!
Sadly for him, while I reluctantly allow gun play with sticks, guns built out of duplo, guns built from the wood tool bench, guns made from pvc piping & toilet rolls...and even a *gasp* plastic water pistol...
I can categorically say that I WILL NOT be letting him buy a shotgun...or at least not one that looks like a shotgun..and have advised him of such.
He is however undeterred and after scoring a handful of change from The Uncle, is ferreting away small change for a trip to the toy store as we speak.
Sigh...

So - let me ask you a few questions!
Do you let your children play with guns?
And if so are they allowed to shoot at people etc?
Also with regards to the money - do you let your children buy whatever they want with their own money?


SAblogsbutton100

This post features on the South African Carnival of Homeschool Bloggers where South African home schoolers share experiences, ideas, philosophies and much more. You can join the carnival too by heading to the South African Carnival of Homeschool Bloggers sign up page. In the meantime, head to SACH Carnival #2 - Outings for this week's carnival. We hope you enjoy the carnival as much as we have!

6 comments:

  1. Trust Seth Bear to want a shotgun hehe
    I am of the belief if you try and keep something away from them when they are so young they are only going to want it even more. I was devastated when my MIL bought Ethan a gun but the novelty soon wore off and now he isn't interested in them anymore, at all! There was just one rule, don't point and aim at another human being or animal.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I guess you're right, the forbidden fruit is always more enticing...
    Pity we have huge problems with the point & aim rule...we've been trying but he gets around it every time. Case in point I asked him not to shoot people so he asked what was allowed...I replied with a few options. He then pointed at a plane flying by and asked if he could shoot that, when I replied yes he said " but then I can shoot people, cause planes are full of people..."
    Mom loses again!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Looks like it was a lot of fun. :)

    As for the whole day, we've never really placed restrictions on their 'gun play' other than same rule you have no shooting of people or animals. ;)

    So they make up bad guys and things to shoot at.

    ReplyDelete
  4. wow - that's a lot of questions! :) I've not thought long and hard enough about the gun issue, aside from the fact that it just seems to come out in boys.

    So far, I've just not made a big deal of it. I let them pretend fight and "shoot" but when they try 'shoot' me I try talk about it with them - "why do you want to shoot mommy?" "that would be sad, because mommy would die. do you want mommy to die?" "when is it good to shoot?" - usually it comes out that shooting a "baddy" (really, where DO they get these terms from?!) is acceptable. I think I'm okay with imaginary bad guys.

    About the money - no, they have to check with me. R10 of their monthly pocket money is for sweets, the rest of it is divvied up into tithe, savings and spend. The non-sweets spend has to be okayed by me :) Often the answer is no.

    Thanks for this post! It's definitely very interesting!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Good thought provoking questions. Fortunately after my son begged for a cap gun at aged 7, we got one, and then he was terrified of the noise, so he has never requested one again. So now, no, we have no guns in the home.

    But...I had to come to an agreement with my husband who felt we should allow something masculine, so we do have swords (wood and plastic, you know, as if they are any less cruel and ugly than guns) but I digress. Joel and the girls sometimes have "sword fights" but they're not allowed to touch each other/kill/stab just kinda bang the swords against the swords (is this dueling?)

    After doing a lot of reading on non-resistance I have to say I am not keen on violent play. Since it happens maybe once a month max, I'm trying not to make a molehill into a mountain.

    Do I let my children buy whatever they want with their own money? Mmm, they are allowed to spend small amounts occasionally (pocket money) on what they want. I have seen value in letting my son make bad choices and learning to be wiser. (I don't mean I'd allow him to buy something we don't allow.) I mean if he chooses to spend R5 on a toy that will break in 5 minutes, instead of saving for a few weeks and buying quality, after I've explained, I let him choose. It's been hard to sit and watch the tears from poor choices but it is part of learning financial responsiblity.

    My children only really get large amounts of money, if they're blessed, at birthdays and Christmas and then, yes I'm involved in the choices- guiding and suggesting.

    ReplyDelete
  6. I didn't want guns in our house and we only had plastic water pistols. Recently I bought some second hand toys and my son took an old cap gun. He doesn't know about the caps, though. In the end I let him take it. Have to say they never play with it. It was just a novelty. So now I've hidden it, and hopefully they will forget.

    We talk about what will happen if somebody is shot, so I don't allow pointing at people.

    But then, we have the DVD of Toby and Jesus loads the gun - with words. So, they learn something of spiritual warfare.

    ReplyDelete