Tuesday, September 03, 2002
Playful Parenting
Here's another book title I wish I had used for a book I wish I had written: Playful Parenting.
I found it via a review in my search for Toy Gun stories. Here's an excerpt:
...Playing guns is now a big hit at our house. There's one key caveat here: We use pretend weapons over realistic toy ones. As Cohen points out, what else can you do with a "real" gun besides shoot people? Pretend weapons, though, grow out of a child's needs and concerns and are endlessly creative.
For instance, my guy built a Lego gun that "shoots" film like a video camera. And he makes a finger love gun that fires hearts and kisses. (This idea, lifted wholesale from Cohen's book, initially bombed. But I stuck with it, and now it's a keeper.) And sometimes his "hand" gun discharges water to put out fires, or fire to light candles, or oxygen to help people breathe, all current preoccupations of my son's. So far this works for us. I get into the game because no one is maimed or destroyed, and I'm enchanted by where his imagination takes us. And the little guy gets to play gun until he's had enough -- which is much sooner these days, now that I'm a willing participant. He even says, "Don't worry, Mama. It's just a pretend gun, not a real one."
Here's the author's website.
I found it via a review in my search for Toy Gun stories. Here's an excerpt:
...Playing guns is now a big hit at our house. There's one key caveat here: We use pretend weapons over realistic toy ones. As Cohen points out, what else can you do with a "real" gun besides shoot people? Pretend weapons, though, grow out of a child's needs and concerns and are endlessly creative.
For instance, my guy built a Lego gun that "shoots" film like a video camera. And he makes a finger love gun that fires hearts and kisses. (This idea, lifted wholesale from Cohen's book, initially bombed. But I stuck with it, and now it's a keeper.) And sometimes his "hand" gun discharges water to put out fires, or fire to light candles, or oxygen to help people breathe, all current preoccupations of my son's. So far this works for us. I get into the game because no one is maimed or destroyed, and I'm enchanted by where his imagination takes us. And the little guy gets to play gun until he's had enough -- which is much sooner these days, now that I'm a willing participant. He even says, "Don't worry, Mama. It's just a pretend gun, not a real one."
Here's the author's website.
