Here Son, Play With This Ax.

I'm not even joking here.

I'm not big on staying home 24/7. I try to get out several times a week, whether it be the mall, park, bike trails, whatever. Today I loaded William in the car and headed across town to go shopping. Not that I needed anything, but I like eye shopping. :)

William is a shopper, too, as long as I give him something to play with while he's in his stroller. He prefers toys he hasn't seen before, so I usually head straight to the toy section, pick out a small toy for him, and continue shopping. So that's what I did today as well.

While perusing the various toys I saw a toy set that made my eye balls pop out: an ax, crowbar, and pepper spray set. No. Joke. It was plastic, of course, but still. I can't even imagine giving my "innocent" son a crowbar and ax to play with. What are toy makers thinking? I tried to give a positive spin to this horrible set...maybe the crowbar could be used to help an old woman get her stuck car door open? or the ax could be used to help firemen put out that second story fire at the pet store?

Seriously, now.

Parents wonder why their children clobber other kids in nursery, why a 12 year old stabs another kid, and the list goes on. Could it be that we, as supposedly the "responsible" adults, are letting our children play with violent-meaning toys? Could it be that when their little thumbs are able to click buttons we shove an electronic game in their hands? Could it be, that instead of showing our kids how to have a good time on the swing set we let them play for hours on end with mind-numbing computer games?

Children today have TV in their bedrooms, computers in the bedrooms, and other high-tech equipment that allow parents to check out of their parenting role and be more of an absentee parent.

And we wonder why they can't function in the normal world, have low school performance , sleep problems, attention problems, and learning problems?

Wake up people!

It's time to get more involved. DO things with kids. PLAY with kids. ENCOURAGE creativity instead of unimaginative, idle hollowness. I could say more, but my son is waking from his nap.

(Steps off soapbox)

~The Mamma