#parenting, violent threats
I wish I knew how to get my four year old to stop screaming "I hate you! I'm gonna find a gun and kill you!" every time he's mad at me over anything at all.
I don't know where he got it from, but our world is full of guns, violence and death, especially on #YouTube (which I always block on our electronic devices, but his older brother Link always figures out how to hack back into it. But hey, at least they won't see any female nipples right?! 🙃)
He always apologizes after calming down, but I don't know how to get him to stop saying it in the first place. I've tried ignoring him, yelling at him, depriving him of electronics and toys, crying (somewhat but not entirely hammed up), calmly asking him to stop, putting him on time out (which just makes him more mad) and still... Every time he's angry, out it comes.
His brother used to say "I want to kill you" a lot, but he's dropped it off a lot, thank goodness. Maybe it's just an age thing. It hurts so badly everything, though. And if he says that at school he's going to be in a lot of trouble. I think enough already about the horrors of gun violence, and fearing my kids will be next... I don't want him adding anything to that, even through words.
I gotta get us out of this shithole country.
#parenting, violent threats
@toplesstopics I'm not a parent, so feel free to entirely disregard this, but maybe it'll help:
From what you've posted, it sounds like you would never allow a gun in your household, correct? Could it be that, because he's only ever seen them on TV, they're no more real to him than a wand from Harry Potter? That to him, they *are* no more than outrageous hyperbole?
Growing up, I'd always make and play with toy guns with friends. It wasn't until I shot a real one that I really gained the proper level of respect, caution, and gravity to guns that they truly deserve.
Now, obviously, four years old is too young for that lesson, but if you know a responsible gun owner, then maybe it would help to introduce them to your kid. In a controlled environment, your son could maybe even hold an (unloaded!) gun, and feel the weight of it, while the owner closely supervises and explains the responsibility and danger that it represents.
Once it's made real to him and he considers the stakes, maybe his past words will feel different under the new context.
But then again, maybe that would all backfire horribly. 🤷♂️ Anyway, just a thought.
#parenting, violent threats
@toplesstopics I get that, but I'm referring to a different phenomenon: Like seeing a picture of a giraffe in a book vs seeing a real giraffe up close. The latter imparts a sense of awe and respect that the former does not.
#parenting, violent threats
@LouisIngenthron
No, we have very frank discussions about what guns are, that they're not toys, that they can and do cause devastating violence and harm. He knows they're not just toys. That's why he says it--to see me get upset.