The Lego arsenal

Let me start out by saying that I'm not anti-guns.  I believe there's a place for them, when treated with respect and caution.  I DO have a problem with children playing with toy guns in the house.  It seems to be a common occurrence for kids (especially boys) to make guns out of anything available and pretend to shoot anything that moves...especially their sisters.

So, I've been dealing with Chuck making elaborate and very lifelike guns out of our Legos.  I've told him that he can't "shoot" in the house and if he aimed any of his guns at his sisters, I'd take his guns away.  This hasn't worked.  He just made more...handguns, rifles, and, the last straw, grenades (made of Legos of course) that he started throwing at his sisters.

When he was asleep one night recently, I reorganized the toys.  The basic Legos went into storage and from storage I brought out the Lego train and all the tracks and assorted accessories.  I also brought out the Little Tikes doll house furniture and people.

When Chuck saw them the next morning, he was so excited!  He didn't seem to miss his Lego arsenal..at least he didn't mention it.  He's been playing happily with the train and has even been playing cooperatively with his sister and the doll house toys.

It's now been two weeks since I took away the tools of destruction and Chuck hasn't tired of playing with the "new" toys.  Sometimes it's just not worth having a power struggle with a child.  As the adult, you can and should set the rules of your home as well as the consequences.