7 year old received nerf gun for birthday!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Fyi- my mother wouldn't let my brother play with any toy guns. She would take away all of the little guns that came with action figures, she was that neurotic. He ended up becoming an artist and moving to Brooklyn.

I, her daughter, however, married someone who works for the NRA.

We enjoy any and all Nerf guns in our house but I would be deeply ashamed of any association with the NRA, especially to make money.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Your son probably knew what the Nerf gone was because he probably has seen them or used them at other kids houses during play dates. You remind me of my next door neighbor who won't let her 7 year old boy play with any guns - not lego guns, playmobil police guns, nerf guns, etc. He comes over to our house where we wage epic Nerf gun battles and everyone has a blast. The neighbor tried to tell me that I couldn't have nerf guns out when her son came over because he would be tempted to use one. I laughed and said my two boys and one girl all play with Nerf guns and they are all over our house. I don't hide toys when other kids come over. If you don't want your son to see or use Nerf guns then it would be best if he didn't come over. She said she wouldn't allow him to come and she didn't for two months. I heard him crying and yelling at his mom for those two months because all the neighborhood kids where running in and out of our house playing with the Nerf guns while he was at his house. Finally, his dad came over and said he was allowed to play at our house and could play with Nerf guns. He is still a sweet, caring kid and hasn't been corrupted because he plays with Nerf guns.

I have no problem with Nerf guns and we have a lot here. But I feel like you were disrespectful of this mother's wishes and actually tried to rub it in their face. You sound gleeful that the little boy was sad and alone and that the family finally admitted they had changed their mind. Yuck.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why not ask a parent if they are ok with it rather than getting it and causing an issue? I would not allow them in my home and if I find out my kid is playing with them in your home, they will not be going back. Its not ok given the world we live in.

In all seriousness, where do you live? We live inside the beltway in Bethesda and all the boys have nerf guns. I seriously don't know one family that bans them. I'm curious where all these families live that say no to Nerf guns.

I'm probably your neighbor (also Bethesda inside the beltway) and we don't allow them. We have enough trouble with him whapping his sisters with other weaponry (eg the light saber that is almost always in quarantine). I don't mind if he plays with them at other peoples houses. I think it's a weird gift, given people's varying views on it--like giving a kid a pg-13 movie or something. I'm not judging people that let their kids watch pg-13 movies, but I see it as a family choice that reasonable people can differ on.

A Nerf gun is not a PG-13 toy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would be furious at the parent who thought this was an acceptable gift.

Me too

you two must live a pretty charmed life then. i don't buy toy guns for my kids either, but I wouldn't be annoyed at all if they received them as gifts. not everyone has the same rules as we do, and I don't expect every parent in my kids' class to know exactly what I would or wouldn't buy for my kids. this is not a real problem. if you don't like it then have some backbone and tell your child that in our family we don't play with those kinds of toys and then trash it. or just let him/her play with it for a couple weeks and then they'll forget about it.

The parent buying a toy gun for a birthday must first think that not everyone has the same taste. When in doubt, the parent is welcome to ask what the birthday boy/girl is into nowadays.

Uh, it is not about YOUR choice, it is about what you kids likes.


Read up on morality and gun play.

By "banning" toy guns you are fostering an environment of deceit and dishonesty. I bet your children hide their imagination from you and feel bad for having a perfectly normal and active imagination.

We don't need a toy gun to have an active imagination and have fun. Good luck in your life full of poor judgement.

Your kid hides his active imagination from his neurotic mother. Yes, you are judged as insane and the vast majority agrees.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Your son probably knew what the Nerf gone was because he probably has seen them or used them at other kids houses during play dates. You remind me of my next door neighbor who won't let her 7 year old boy play with any guns - not lego guns, playmobil police guns, nerf guns, etc. He comes over to our house where we wage epic Nerf gun battles and everyone has a blast. The neighbor tried to tell me that I couldn't have nerf guns out when her son came over because he would be tempted to use one. I laughed and said my two boys and one girl all play with Nerf guns and they are all over our house. I don't hide toys when other kids come over. If you don't want your son to see or use Nerf guns then it would be best if he didn't come over. She said she wouldn't allow him to come and she didn't for two months. I heard him crying and yelling at his mom for those two months because all the neighborhood kids where running in and out of our house playing with the Nerf guns while he was at his house. Finally, his dad came over and said he was allowed to play at our house and could play with Nerf guns. He is still a sweet, caring kid and hasn't been corrupted because he plays with Nerf guns.

I have no problem with Nerf guns and we have a lot here. But I feel like you were disrespectful of this mother's wishes and actually tried to rub it in their face. You sound gleeful that the little boy was sad and alone and that the family finally admitted they had changed their mind. Yuck.

The mother was wrong and it was flung in her face. I don't see a problem with that. Those type of parents deserve ridicule.

[Anonymous]

Wow my kid also had a Bday this weekend and received several nerd guns. DS is thrilled!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Fyi- my mother wouldn't let my brother play with any toy guns. She would take away all of the little guns that came with action figures, she was that neurotic. He ended up becoming an artist and moving to Brooklyn.

I, her daughter, however, married someone who works for the NRA.

We enjoy any and all Nerf guns in our house but I would be deeply ashamed of any association with the NRA, especially to make money.

I feel the same way about Planned Parenthood.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Fyi- my mother wouldn't let my brother play with any toy guns. She would take away all of the little guns that came with action figures, she was that neurotic. He ended up becoming an artist and moving to Brooklyn.

I, her daughter, however, married someone who works for the NRA.

We enjoy any and all Nerf guns in our house but I would be deeply ashamed of any association with the NRA, especially to make money.

Ditto this. Your husband is what is wrong with this country. #teamnerfgun though

[Anonymous]

Get him eye protection and chill the eff out, OP.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Your son probably knew what the Nerf gone was because he probably has seen them or used them at other kids houses during play dates. You remind me of my next door neighbor who won't let her 7 year old boy play with any guns - not lego guns, playmobil police guns, nerf guns, etc. He comes over to our house where we wage epic Nerf gun battles and everyone has a blast. The neighbor tried to tell me that I couldn't have nerf guns out when her son came over because he would be tempted to use one. I laughed and said my two boys and one girl all play with Nerf guns and they are all over our house. I don't hide toys when other kids come over. If you don't want your son to see or use Nerf guns then it would be best if he didn't come over. She said she wouldn't allow him to come and she didn't for two months. I heard him crying and yelling at his mom for those two months because all the neighborhood kids where running in and out of our house playing with the Nerf guns while he was at his house. Finally, his dad came over and said he was allowed to play at our house and could play with Nerf guns. He is still a sweet, caring kid and hasn't been corrupted because he plays with Nerf guns.

I have no problem with Nerf guns and we have a lot here. But I feel like you were disrespectful of this mother's wishes and actually tried to rub it in their face. You sound gleeful that the little boy was sad and alone and that the family finally admitted they had changed their mind. Yuck.

I have a friend from before we both had kids. Once she had kids, I think she went nuts with rules about all sorts of things. I tried to be accommodating, but in the end, she wasn't going to change any of her rules, but always expected me or my kids to not play with certain toys or change to accommodate her wishes...in our own home. It's rude to ask your neighbors to change. Teach your kid to say he's not allowed to play with it, or to come back home if there's a nerf battle. Your adult neighbors are not your children and you should not expect to change their behavior.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would be furious at the parent who thought this was an acceptable gift.

Me too

you two must live a pretty charmed life then. i don't buy toy guns for my kids either, but I wouldn't be annoyed at all if they received them as gifts. not everyone has the same rules as we do, and I don't expect every parent in my kids' class to know exactly what I would or wouldn't buy for my kids. this is not a real problem. if you don't like it then have some backbone and tell your child that in our family we don't play with those kinds of toys and then trash it. or just let him/her play with it for a couple weeks and then they'll forget about it.

The parent buying a toy gun for a birthday must first think that not everyone has the same taste. When in doubt, the parent is welcome to ask what the birthday boy/girl is into nowadays.

This assumes a parent would know that the birthday boy's parents would be anti-Nerf gun. That would never have occurred to me.

If it would not occur to you that a parent would not want their child to be gifted a gun, something is seriously wrong with your judgement. It would never occur to me to get a child a weapon (beyond if they were doing fencing or another sport), without asking a parent first.

[Anonymous]

I let my son pick out presents for his friends. He has selected Nerf guns for all for a while. They are very popular and the boys all play with them. I have fun having battles with my son.

I used to be anti-toy guns. I grew up in a heavily armed house because my dad worked in law enforcement. When my son was 4 he asked for a water gun. I said no! He asked, why does playing with a toy gun lead to playing with a real gun? One is fun and the other is dangerous? Then I realized that there was no logic between toy vs. real gun argument and my son was just missing out on some great fun.

There are real problems with guns in this country and they will not be solved by banning Nerf guns from little boys!! So I suggest you redirect your emotions to the real problem and solve that... oh but wait, that would be too hard!

[Anonymous]

I agree with you, OP. I know lots of people who don't want toy guns in the house, so I'm surprised this was seen as a good gift for a 7-year-old. But now that he has it, your choices are to teach him how to use it safely (a good idea if he's likely to encounter them at friends' houses) or explain why you don't like having this type of toy in the house, even though other families make different choices. And to PPs who say little boys are born wanting to play with guns, that's a ridiculous argument. Do you seriously not think this type of play is influenced by culture?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OFFS
My 3 year old uses sticks as guns at the park. It's ingrained male behavior.

How? I'm not saying I don't agree, Imy genuinely curious. guns make me very uncomfortable, we aren't hunters and no one my kid is around has one for work or hunting so he has no idea what a gun is right now I don't think. 2 yrs 8 months. but I've been told they just figure it out. but seriously, how? just from kids at daycare who are familiar, etc?

Same thing happened with us. I was very anti-gun/anti-weapon type toys for my boy. Then, I started realizing how often he would be looking for sticks shaped lke a gun (L shape) every time we went to the park and collect them and use them when playing with friends. I have no idea where he got the idea - we were with him all the time and at 3 I'd watch him play so I'd see if someone was teaching him. It sort of organically just started. He also used sticks for swords BTW. I finally just decided I can't stop the play. Now we have all sorts of nerf guns, wather guns, swords, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Your son probably knew what the Nerf gone was because he probably has seen them or used them at other kids houses during play dates. You remind me of my next door neighbor who won't let her 7 year old boy play with any guns - not lego guns, playmobil police guns, nerf guns, etc. He comes over to our house where we wage epic Nerf gun battles and everyone has a blast. The neighbor tried to tell me that I couldn't have nerf guns out when her son came over because he would be tempted to use one. I laughed and said my two boys and one girl all play with Nerf guns and they are all over our house. I don't hide toys when other kids come over. If you don't want your son to see or use Nerf guns then it would be best if he didn't come over. She said she wouldn't allow him to come and she didn't for two months. I heard him crying and yelling at his mom for those two months because all the neighborhood kids where running in and out of our house playing with the Nerf guns while he was at his house. Finally, his dad came over and said he was allowed to play at our house and could play with Nerf guns. He is still a sweet, caring kid and hasn't been corrupted because he plays with Nerf guns.

I have no problem with Nerf guns and we have a lot here. But I feel like you were disrespectful of this mother's wishes and actually tried to rub it in their face. You sound gleeful that the little boy was sad and alone and that the family finally admitted they had changed their mind. Yuck.

The mother was wrong and it was flung in her face. I don't see a problem with that. Those type of parents deserve ridicule.

You're a shitty person.