"You'll Shoot Your Eye Out...!"

I never understood what was so funny about the movie "A Christmas Story." You know, the one about the little boy who desperately wants the Red Ryder BB Gun for Christmas. He memorizes all the specs, and he plans and dreams for weeks about all it's fantastic qualities and the ways he'll use it. I always figured, what's the big deal? Those parents are being really over-protective. It's just a toy! Now I have three boys of my own, and all the humor of the movie makes perfect sense. This morning, as I was getting ready for church, I noticed, out of the corner of my eye, my two oldest boys running back and forth to the dining room table with supplies. This is not an unsual occurance, so I monitored their comings and goings from a distance. I couldn't hear their intent plans from the bathroom, but when I spied glue and scissors join their pile of materials, I ventured to ask, "What're you making?" "Bows and arrows, Mom!" they replied. I popped my head out of the bathroom and took a closer look. The most notable thing in the pile, it appeared, was a collection of toilet paper tubes. So I decided to maintain a "Carry on" attitude and encourage their creativity. Later as I walked through the room, however, I saw an accumulation of pencils. "No, we're not using pencils," I calmly informed them and went about my business. They regrouped and, apparently, dug through a number of kitchen drawers, eventually coming up with some fantastically arrow-like wooden skewers. My husband then got in on the action and declared, "No, we're not using anything sharp!! You'll shoot your eye out! There's a reason all your darts are made out of foam! And stop digging through my drawers!" I just had to smile. Especially when I saw THEIR smiles...and how utterly NOT deterred they were. That's boys for you.