War Zone

The fire station near our house hosted a 'bike helmet' day. They gave away free bike helmet (a total of 450), brought out the fire trucks, had drawings and give-a-ways. It was a pretty neat deal.

Michael got a snazzy green helmet and Maggie got a slick pastel blue one. Well, Maggie loves the thing. She puts it on all the time (except when she's riding her bike).

Side note... members of the National Guard visited Michael's school today and let the kids climb around on some of their trucks.

So, what do you get when you cross and boy with a helmet and soldiers fresh on the brain?

Oh yes... Michael was playing war in our living room. All I heard today was "Helmets on Maggie!" "Look out! Here they come!" "Shoot 'em Shoot 'em!" And Maggie was playing along!

I'm not sure how I feel about all this. I don't like guns. I don't like war. I'm not sure how I feel specifically about war. Especially this one. I know that I don't like hearing my 5 year old shout 'shoot 'em' and watching my 2 year old make a gun out of her fingers. It's just making a serious situation too light.

But, I also think that they are too young to understand all of this. So does that mean I should sit them down and tell them how gruesome and horrible war is? Should I tell them how horrific it can be? Or, do I just let it go? There should be a middle ground to all this that allows them to still be kids without having to worry about adult issues. So, for now, I think I'll just let it go.