Saturday, February 26, 2011
Sword Play
I've mentioned before that I want our boys to grow up to be real men. I want them to learn how to respect and defend women and children. I want them to be tough and brave. Thomas Jefferson said, "virtue is not hereditary." (Read more good quotes here). Therefore I must teach them. It is hard finding things that will help them do this! For Christmas we bought the boys, "high impact battle swords." We love them. You have to be tough to play with them. No whining. We purchased them from Vision Forum. Here is the link and you simply must watch the video demonstration.
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11 comments:
Funny you would mention this. We just ordered the daggers yesterday for my son's 10th birthday next week. The battle swords looked quite big. I'm sure we will enjoy the daggers and work up to the battle swords.
How old is your son? Are they big for him?
We have the swords and the daggers. The daggers work well as swords for the younger boys, ages 4 and 7, but are way too small for the older boys, aged 10. The big swords are big and they'll all be growing into them. I love how strong they are and they require strength to heft them around...and they have to be careful with them. We've actually seen fewer 'hurts' since they started using The Real Thing.
SUPER FUN! I think I know what to get my nine yr old for his birthday! The add was quite cute too!
We have four swords. My son's are ages 11, 10, and 8. They haven't had any problems using them. They absolutely love them!
Awesome. Thanks for sharing! I know what I wa, er, what to get our sons! :)
You can also make great swords out of a 3 1/2 foot piece of 1" PVC pipe, surrounded by swimming pool noodles and duct tape. About $3 or less each.
They're a ton of fun and durable enough for 14-15 year-olds to have at it for a long time.
So I have a question for you that I've been struggling with. How do you differentiate between good violence and bad violence. How do you teach your sons about using weapons to protect and defend rather than to kill and be violent? It seems like in a world that is so violent and where violent is portrayed so commonly and easily on TV, movies, the news and in video games that in a way we-- especially young men--- are getting immune to how destructive weapons and violence are. I struggle with this with my little boy because he is only 3 and we don't have any weapons in our house but he still finds things to use. But he is always talking about killing people and shooting them, and it really bothers me. I want to direct his natural energy to protect and defend but to do it in a righteous way and I'm afraid that too much of the things around him show him a different picture.
Sorry this is a long question, but I'm still working through this. I wrote more about it here in case that helps you answer my question better.
http://womeninthescriptures.blogspot.com/2010/11/good-guys-and-bad-guys.html
Heatherlady,
Maybe I can answer a question or two of yours. Hopefully I can give you something to think about?
I think that it is vital that my boys learn to protect their loved ones. So that means physically as well as spiritually.
I believe that it is imperative that they know good vs. evil. We are in a very real war that threatens their familiy's distruction. Will fight?
When someone tries to steal all their families wheat because there is no food and people are looting are they going to let them or are they going to shoot them?
We specifically choose books where there is a battle of good versus evil. (Much of what is available is not good versus evil, but good and evil messed up and people not clearly seeing what side they should fight on). I am raising my children to be heroes like the stripling warriors. Sometimes they do have to fight.
So in that teaching them there is a time to fight we also teach them how gentleman/heroes fight. We talk A LOT about the differences between cowards and heroes.
So in our house we have real bows, almost real swords, and leathermans/pocket knives. In the home is where they learn how to play by the rules. Even when they were young if they broke a rule and were a coward (shoot someone in the back, etc) they were immediately disciplined.
Like I said learning how to be a hero must be done in the home.
That's all the brain is processing right now. I'm in a hotel on our way to another two week trip back east. If I think of something else I'll share.
I hope that helps a little. Thoughts anyone?
This is an interesting topic. When my son was 2, we started reading the Book of Mormon scripture readers, and it was THAT book perked his interest in swords. My husband made a large foam sword to play with my brothers, and he made a small one for my boy, who wasn't very interested in it at first. When we read the scripture readers, he started sleeping with his sword like the Jaredites. It made me realize how "violent" the scriptures are. It was and is necessary for boys to learn about self-defense, and why it is important. I think that sword play is just fine for young children, it's just a matter of putting it into perspective.
Awesome! :0)
This comment was on accidently deleted from my blog. However it was still in my email so I repaste it.
"Personally I find your increasing insistence on imposing gender roles on your children rather disturbing. I write this on International Women's Day and with a prayer for your daughter.
Jane"
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