Toy Thursday: When a Toy Becomes a Weapon

I knew this day was coming. I have three boys. Toys become weapons. Normal household items become weapons. They're boys.

I'm not trying to encourage violent play, but again, they're boys. Someone is always getting hit on the head, the back...something...with something. Balls? Flying projectiles (even if they were "just playing angry birds"--somehow I think little brother DIDN'T want to be a pig).

I recall as a child, normal toys (and even household items) became weapons. Barbie's Convertible could be a missile down the stairs at my little brother. And he learned early that micro machines could be instant roller skates, strategically placed of course.

And you can't tell me that an empty wrapping paper tube was never a loud microphone you would use to wake someone up...and then as a sword, that is until you hit someone with it and it collapsed.

I tell my boys to play nice...and they do, for the most part. But sometimes they get a little carried away.

My brother and I would spend countless hours coloring the outside of a cardboard box to look like a car, only to push each other down the stairs in it.

I try to avoid violent toys like swords and guns...but as long as they have imagination, there will be "tough boy toys". And I won't take away their imagination...just ask that they "play nice". But they're boys.

However, once someone cries (or hits mommy), the game is done.

What do you do when a toy becomes a weapon?