Bang, bang

We've been careful since our daughter was born to limit her exposure to violence. We don't watch television (other than pre-approved children's shows) at any time when either child is awake, and don't listen to news radio when children are in the car. We edit their books as needed so that, for example, Curious George (written in 1941) gets a "time out" rather than going to prison for accidentally calling the fire department, and the Cat in the Hat's "Little Cats" use "shooters" to "get" the pink snow spots instead of, as written, "guns" that "kill" the harmless little pink blobs. Now, I don't think for a moment I am going to shield her from the realities of the world forever. However, I do think that the longer we can postpone her eventual bombardment with sensationalized violence, the better equipped she will be to deal with it; the more she has been steeped in a peaceful home environment the more she will be able to identify peace as her way and recognize that violence exists, but is not her way.

She turned 3 in September. This morning she came running to her father with two attached pieces of Lego and said "I have a shooter". She waved it around - "Shoot, shoot!". I was still hoping she was thinking of a rocket ship, "shooting" into space. The next words out of her mouth, however, as she grasped her little toy - "Bang, bang!". Sigh.