This morning on our breakfast table across from my 5 & 8 year -old sons sat two pistols and a rifle. Both WWII vintage. "Good morning guys" I said, "Hi dad" they replied. "What's up with the guns?" I asked. "No guns in School" said my oldest. "Oh ...ok" I repsonded "why are they out?"
They asked me if they could take Indy in to show their best friends. I said sure. They went onto explain they had to disarm Indy and his co-horts before they could transport them to school.
Indy is Lego Indiana Jones. Indy and his posse are 1 & 1/4 inches tall. Indiana Jone's Lego guns- all three of them that were sitting on the breakfast table can fit on the head of a penny. The rifle is 1/2 inch in length because it fits into one of Lego Indy's friends wittle pwastic 1/16 inch hands.
Times have changed. Indiana Jones is now modular, square headed(and jawed) and completely unarmed except for his plastic one inch whip. AND...if your son(because that's what boys do) points his finger in the shape of a gun during recess or fashions a weapon out of a stick, toilet paper roll, tin foil, paint stirrer or clay- BULLY ALERT- ALL UNITS RESPOND. Obviously it hasn't happend to me yet. My kids strip search all their armed action figures regardless of size weight and gender. NO PROFILING in the Matthews' household. Poor GI Joe. All that awesome hardware- and by the time he gets to school, he's just another UFC challenger.
I remember taking my very first Cub Scout pen knife to school for show and tell. I carried it in my pocket. I knew if I got caught with it before show and tell some nun or another teacher would of knocked the crap outta me and taken it away. I didn't want that to happen, so as per my dad's suggestion, I kept the knife in my pocket until it was time to talk about it and scouting. That was 1970.
Yes Times have changed.
Two words some up my last year of high school 79-80: Gun Rack.
http://www.KenmatthewsWorks.com
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Monday, September 21, 2009
Teachable Moment- You Bet
Yesterday during a soccer game that moved so sluggishly it was like watching it in slow motion , my 5 -year old was hit in the face with a soccer ball. Yes- Imagine that...kicked in the face with a soccer ball during a soccer game. OMG. How in the heck could that happen?
The kid who was supposed to be THROWING it in...THROWING ...decided to KICK IT.
My son who was supposed to be WATCHING the ball, was looking at his shoes- the same way he does when he runs but this time he looked up-BAM !- in time to catch(STOP) the ball with his face.
A gasp seeped from the mom behind me just as it happened. I sat there..knowing that a rubber #3 soccer ball is no match for my kid's skull, the hardest bone in the human body. I also know that my own skull has stopped a variety of objects incuding drywall, human fist and a variety of sports equipment- and I'm fine- I said I'm farn.
The coach ran over to my son quickly glancing at me-as I sat there, my son glanced at me as I sat there, the mom looked as I sat there-
LET ME BE CLEAR- Before I take the field, or open my yap to interfere with play regarding my kids a few things have to be considered:
1) Are they still standing ?
2) Do they still have all their limbs ?
3) Are they bleeding- and from where ?
4) Were they intentionally ambushed by enemy forces or another coach ?
5) Are they screaming my name ?
The coach said- "He got hit in the face with the ball, "
I replied " I saw that"
I wave my son over with a "Come here buddy"
He walked over to my chair where I hugged him. "How did that feel?" I asked.
" It hurt" he whimpered.
"How bad ?" I asked.
"Not that bad" he said.
"Good News !" I said
"Why?" he pondered and began to smile through tears-
"Because" I said " Now you know how it feels when the ball hits your face so you don't have to be afraid of it. NOW you can use your face to stop the ball whenever you want although I would use your body or feet first and your hands if you're the goalie."
I then told him his nose was still there and run back onto the field as fast as he can after I finished his hug- he IS 5.
The entire thing took 60 seconds and I never even had to leave my foldable chair.
By the way...he ran back onto the field looking at his feet the entire time.
http://www.kenmatthewsworks.com/
The kid who was supposed to be THROWING it in...THROWING ...decided to KICK IT.
My son who was supposed to be WATCHING the ball, was looking at his shoes- the same way he does when he runs but this time he looked up-BAM !- in time to catch(STOP) the ball with his face.
A gasp seeped from the mom behind me just as it happened. I sat there..knowing that a rubber #3 soccer ball is no match for my kid's skull, the hardest bone in the human body. I also know that my own skull has stopped a variety of objects incuding drywall, human fist and a variety of sports equipment- and I'm fine- I said I'm farn.
The coach ran over to my son quickly glancing at me-as I sat there, my son glanced at me as I sat there, the mom looked as I sat there-
LET ME BE CLEAR- Before I take the field, or open my yap to interfere with play regarding my kids a few things have to be considered:
1) Are they still standing ?
2) Do they still have all their limbs ?
3) Are they bleeding- and from where ?
4) Were they intentionally ambushed by enemy forces or another coach ?
5) Are they screaming my name ?
The coach said- "He got hit in the face with the ball, "
I replied " I saw that"
I wave my son over with a "Come here buddy"
He walked over to my chair where I hugged him. "How did that feel?" I asked.
" It hurt" he whimpered.
"How bad ?" I asked.
"Not that bad" he said.
"Good News !" I said
"Why?" he pondered and began to smile through tears-
"Because" I said " Now you know how it feels when the ball hits your face so you don't have to be afraid of it. NOW you can use your face to stop the ball whenever you want although I would use your body or feet first and your hands if you're the goalie."
I then told him his nose was still there and run back onto the field as fast as he can after I finished his hug- he IS 5.
The entire thing took 60 seconds and I never even had to leave my foldable chair.
By the way...he ran back onto the field looking at his feet the entire time.
http://www.kenmatthewsworks.com/
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