Protect and Nurture


My boy collected these seventeen weapons and tools, each with their own function.  He spent the entire time we were at the park trying to identify that which was "bad."  It melted my heart each time he saved his dear old Mom from some imaginary bad guy with a stick (which he pronounces with a d instead of an s and gets right to the point.)


I kept thinking how different his interests are than my daughter's were at three.  As much as he seeks to protect from that which is bad, she sought to nurture that which was vulnerable.  I never had a brother, so all this boy stuff is new to me.  Sometimes, I fear he's obsessed with weapons.  Could the drive to both protect and nurture come from the same primitive place?  Could he be learning the balance between these two powers?  Or is he just playing like little boys play?  Whatever the case, I'm grateful to have had the day with my little guy.


2 comments:

  1. How sweet! Our friend who is a well respected counselor and therapist told us that boys just like weapons and there's nothing wrong with that. When Eric was a kid, the mother of one his friends gave up on keeping toy guns away from her son when he started chewing his toast into the shape of a gun :)

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    1. Yup! That's pretty much what's going on at our house 24/7.

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