Boy Warriors

My friend did not allow toy guns in her home when her son was little. She felt that playing with weapons created aggression. She monitored television shows and cartoons so her son would not see warfare or fighting.

How baffling when, at a few years of age, this boy picked up his sister's Barbie, bent it into the shape of a gun and began shooting up the playroom.

I believe a warrior is in the heart of every boy, at any age. I believe this because I have heard this same story from several moms. Whether their sons use "Barbie" or a stick, they find a way to be a soldier.

I didn't fight the fighting. I just directed and shaped the passion for battle.

As my son began pointing and "bamming" I insisted he never shoot at people for target practice. These targets were most often his sisters. Instead, I usually suggested that some enemy creature or dragon was on the prowl and he should be on the look out. It was his "job" to defend us. His imagination went full throttle as he dressed up as a soldier, Robin Hood, Zorro, a fireman or any number of characters who were heroic defenders.

I worked to shape his fighter instinct and turn him into the defender of our home.

As he has grown up, the enemies have become heavy doors or groceries. My son has displayed a sweet protectiveness when it comes to his Mama and any doors in my path or groceries that I pick up. He'll just about bowl me over to "defend" me.

Call me a chauvinist but I have trained him to open doors for his sisters and allow them to order first at restaurants. Old fashioned? I don't think so. I call it husband training.

Someday he will probably be a husband. What I teach him now effects his future marriage and the type of dad he will become. I look forward to having little warrior grandsons running around my living room. I may never open a door again!
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Favorite reads on this subject:

"Wild at Heart" by John Eldredge
"Bringing Up Boys" by James Dobson

What are your favorite books on this subject? Share a "warrior story" below!