My innocent little boy. ;)

Today, J and I went to a birthday party for one of his school friends. It was super fun at the local gymnastics center for little ones. J was happy to see his "very best friend" at the party and the two of them were pretty inseparable for the duration of the party. During the first half of the party, the kids got to play on the gym equipment and also did some structured activities. I realized that my little guy might need something like gymnastics to jump and climb and practice for his future as a stuntman.

There were mostly girls at the party, but a few boys. My J has "grown up" for lack of a better word. He was once the kid I was worried about being pummelled, and now he is the one getting called out for playing swords (see below).



On one hand, I am happy to see that he can handle himself with the crowd he plays with; on the other hand, I worry that my kid will be known as the mastermind of some kind of war among his classmates or friends. That's right Curious J fans, my kid is not that innocent.

Different parents have different rules, especially about rough play. Some have no touching or no weapons rule. Some are fine as long as it's mutual and no one is getting hurt. Of course, some completely ignore their children and allow them to totally terrorize other kids. I lean more to the second attitude, but I also try to respect the other parent if they do not believe in rough play. Because up until this past 6 months or so, I was a no rough play parent. I still get a little stomach churn waiting for someone to get hurt.

We'll wait and see if it's just a "boy thing" as so many people tell me it is, or if I should expect BE to be throwing punches in a couple of years. ;P