Am I being un-reasonable??

[woodpops]

Am I being unreasonable not letting my ds have a toy gun in this day and age?? He often picks them up in toy shops but I won't let him have one under any circumstances. I saw a lady buy her ds one a few weeks back and he was pointing it everywhere shooting. It really did make me feel quite uncomfortable.

There was a talk about boys and weapons related play at DS1s school recently and I'm gutted that I couldn't make it. From what I was told second hand, The Experts (whoever they are) now believe that it is a normal part of imaginative play for boys and is a stepping stone to more imaginative play as they develop.

DSs have swords made out of other things and things they pretend are guns and I just try to curb their apparent violent instincts by having a "no touching people" rule with the weapons. They can still fight with them but can't poke the other person. I also make it clear the guns should not be pointed at people (although for some reason, I feel it's OK to wave a sword at them!! I've no idea why. Maybe it's because they will never come across a real sword and I view them as more of a fantasy weapon... not really logical is it? There are still knives... I need to think more about this!)