Tell me about it, Hayden and one of his little buddies came in today and the other kid had a toy gun, orange cap and all. I had to tell Hayden why I didn't want him playing with it and thought wow, look where we've come. I remember shooting each other with our Benjamins, only rule was no head shots and 2 pumps max.
You know, there have always been these dangers for kids. Awareness is way up, that is the big difference. It is freaking parents out but they still need to find the proper balance between protecting them and over-protecting them.
Nah we aren't talking about water moccasins we ate talking about the much smaller world with the Internet where everyone's life is posted online. Much more inherent human danger. Hard to let your 7 yr old go riding a bike nowadays when we were already riding minibikes and water skiing. Too much pressure legally for neglect if something goes wrong as well. The only real balance is pray nothing happens once you do let them roam.
We were very fortunate to live in a neighborhood of like minded parents. We made efforts to know as many people as possible in the neighborhood as we could and we developed those relationships. Our kids were all the same age and spent lots of time at each other's houses. Very much like it was when I was growing up. Our home was also the "go to" house for kids on the weekends and all during the summer. Not many nights went by that we didn't have kids spending the night during the summers. I home officed, so it worked. Our neighborhood and neighbors were a safe place for our kids to grow up and even make mistakes. We were very fortunate to live where we did.
That was the same way at my house and our hood. Everyone sort of knew each other and even if we didn't hang out with the other kids we all knew each other and there was never any bad blood about it. I could be out shooting hoops unitl 2 am and the only danger was pissing off the neighbor that was unfortunate enough to live next to the goal. It really sucked having to explain to Hayden why he couldn't play with a toy gun today but I will take that over having some roided out cop put a bullet into him because he feels threatened by a 9 year old.
Scared the shit out of me, but I bought a couple of mini bikes for the kids. All the neighborhood kids rode them. I was never really worried about getting sued. That's how cool this neighborhood was. Every year when I go back to cook for Cajun Fest, we all get together.
As I said . . . greater awareness. Separate issue, but the lawyers in this country are definitely out of control.
We are picking up our 14 year old daughter from camp in Maine this Thursday - 6 weeks unplugged and lots of outdoor activities. She doesn't want to leave. She went for 3 weeks last year and begged for the full session this year.
Back on the explosion topic, I can neither confirm nor deny that an artillery simulator makes one hell of a racket and even more of a mess when you drop it into one of those 55 gal drums converted to a trash can in a city park.
Enlighten my non military self. An artillery simulator is some sort of device that goes boom but is non lethal?
