Guns and Little Boys

James is very fascinated with guns. He has a cork gun, a dart gun, a plastic dollar store rifle, and any number of Lincoln Logs, silverware and bananas that stand in for a gun when his others are unavailable. (Translation: When his other guns have been taken away for violating the rules.) The main rule is 'Don't shoot at people.' This week he found an old metal cap gun that we had found in the wall at our old house. It is pretty cool with a longhorn etched on the side. It looks like a real 'cowboy' gun. I told him it was a cap gun and explained the way it worked. Of course, then he wanted to get caps for it. Tonight, I took he and Tyler to a carnival in town. (Katie is at her very first 'sweep-overs' at Grammy and Chappy's house. I am just spazing out a little with her being gone. I miss her cute little blond hair and crazy expressions.) Anyway, the carnival....I got suckered into paying $5 for a 'Kids Win Everytime' balloon dart game. I think James was about ready to pass out from fear of all the carnies yelling at us but the hope of winning a prize lured him into playing. First, I will give you the story from the James' point of view: Mom shells out some money for me to play a game. Could be a dollar, maybe a hundred, who's counting? The guy is pretty scary but he says I'll win a prize and that is a nice thought. So, I stand up on the astro-turf and throw a few darts. I hit two out of three. My mom thinks I am a prodigy. The carny says 'Good job, champ!' I get to pick a prize, any prize I want. There are guns, swords, toys, stuffed animals....decisions, decisions. I choose a cap gun, because I have been wanting one forever, or for at least the last two days. I walk away thinking I have just conquered the world, winning a game and getting a prize. Now, here is my version of the story: I paid $5 for my kid to throw three darts and win a prize of a quality not even up to par with the dollar store, but seeing the pride on his face was priceless! I would like to note that by the time I had removed the gun from the package and loaded a ring of caps, not one, not two, but three parts had already snapped off. Quality, folks, quality. But here is the funny part (I know, I know...that was a lot of nonsense to get to the point...) When I shot the first cap, James just about jumped out of his skin. He looked at me with huge eyes and asked me what went wrong. When I told him that's what it was supposed to do he promptly told me that it was too scary and that we need to save it for when he is bigger.