I then had to lay down the law about this particular activity, and it goes something like this:
This is my eldest son; he is seven. And while he is your son too, and I know you love him dearly and would never intentionally put him in harm's way purposefully, you are a man. That means that you sometimes feel the need to throw caution and the little common sense you have to the wind in an effort to prove yourself 'manly'; either that or the testosterone rush from your fellow species short circuits your brain. Either way, men in general, including you, tend to do VERY STUPID THINGS. Therefore, I need to put the fear of God and Mama into you: If you harm this child of mine, the beloved son who GOT STUCK IN THE BIRTH CANAL AND HAD TO BE PHYSICALLY P-U-L-L-E-D OUT BY THE OB REACHING I-N-S-I-D-E, then know this:
I will hunt you down like a rabid dog and bury you like the stray you have become.
But first I will cause GREAT, PAINFUL harm to all your VERY SENSITIVE parts.
And, seeing as he then had to be intubated and almost DIED, please know this:
If he so much has a scratch, you'd better sleep with ONE EYE OPEN... for a while.
Not a jury in the world would convict me... I'm certain.
That said, I headed of to church with the remaining Masses, certain I had made the indelible impression I had hoped for. But, ah, Fate would find a tiny hole and widen it to a black hole, so that by the time the Hub arrived, he was in the 'hot' seat... about somethin' else!
WHY? Because, to quote Papa Ken, "Men are stupid!" Turns out the other father was packin' heat - FOR NO OTHER REASON THAN THE FACT THAT I SUPPOSE HE FOUND IT A GOOD IDEA?!!!!! So, let's recap: two dads, their two SEVEN year old sons, off for a delightful day in a state park (weapons are not legal there, folks) doing dangerous, life threatening four-wheeling... is this not danger enough?
APPARENTLY NOT!!!!!!!!!!!!
They needed to up the ante, I suppose. In his defense, the Hub did not know about the 'heat' until much later in the day - so glad that it was there, just in case my kid had stumbled upon it!
Now, I am not opposed to guns or shooting, but I do think that there is a time and place for teaching a youngster about them, and we have talked extensively with the kids about guns, as we have some - given to us by family - at the house. They are safely and securely put away - but I take the stance that a gun is never technically safe; I tell the kids that one should always treat a weapon as if it is loaded (good advice from my dad - yes, he did have some). I also tell them that they are never to touch a gun without proper adult supervision, or EVER, for that matter! I realize I have let dear old dad down, what with the decade of vegetarianism I enjoyed (I do eat some meat now), and the fact that if I had to slaughter innocent animals for food, I'd go right back to it!
My outrage comes from the fact that the other parent chose to expose my son to something that I feel could have been introduced much better, much more controlled, and much safer. The guy'd been carrying it around for about 3 hours!!!! Guns are something each person has, usually, pretty strong feelings about! The Hub is not a hunter - I can count the number of times he's been on one hand - and this dude knows that! I feel like he stepped into my parental arena and gave it a shot at ringmaster, and frankly, I ain't happy about it! ANd the Hub doesn't see anything wrong with having let #2 shoot - but I see that #2 could have gotten more of a lesson than that: you can carry a gun, you can carry it anywhere, you can take it out and shoot for fun at stuff, and it doesn't matter if it's breakin' the law!!!!
Yeah! REAL life lessons. Yippee.
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