You know you might as well buy that sword when...

....even unifix cubes go from this:



To this:



I was talking with my Mom during Christmas about this strange phenomenon.  She bought him this sword and it ended up being his favorite gift of the day (might I guess of the year?).  I remember, before I had a son, thinking that the way to keep kids from play-violent-acting was simple:  just don't buy the weapons.  Then this child came along and every stick, plastic snake, chopstick, utensil, unifix cube, you-name-it, became an object of warfare. 

But look closely at the joy on his face.  The self-possession.  He's not "warring" as I think of the word, from my grown-up, knows-too-much-of-how-the-real-world-works perspective.  No, he's off to fight the enemy.   And when you're three and everything about the world is sooo big and especially sooo much bigger than you it must be a pretty powerful feeling to finally get your (tiny) hands wrapped around an object of self-protection.  Giddy, in fact.  Dragons, no problem.  T-Rexs, Captain Hooks, anacondas, and all those enemies that he senses are out there but that, thankfully, don't have faces or names or politics or ugly-rearing-heads yet....no sweat.  I've got my trusty sword.  I'm King of the World.  Protector of all that is Good. 

Not a bad way to spend an afternoon.