My boys are ALL BOYS. I tried my hardest to delay the introduction of toy guns. I thought, like many, that if I didn't cave in to their pleading for this or that toy gun, that it would eventually pass.
They simply made guns out of sticks, or used their fingers, or blocks. I finally gave in, but not to the cheap plastic guns that litter the department stores. Don't get me wrong, we have plenty of them which we picked up from yard sales and such, but I still have a hard time spending money on that kind of stuff .
I decided to enlist the help of my father, who is great with wood. He cut these two guns out of a board, and then painted them. As a finishing touch, he attached two shoulder straps, and wrapped them up for Christmas. The boys were tickled, and now treasure them because GrandPop made them.
That was two years ago, and unlike the plastic guns that I've had to hot glue back together numerous times, these wear well. They still look great! There just isn't anything to break, and the boys can be boys with them. Even the neighborhood kids choose them first (if they can) when they play army.
The boys may grow out of playing army in the yard, but they'll never grow out of appreciation for the work that GrandPop put into them. I imagine these will be passed on to their sons some day.
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