In Ian's homeschooling log, I have to take attendance, by the hour and enter it. You have to have over 1,000 hours in order to qualify for a free trip to the Bahamas ( I just made that up). Anyway, besides all the subjects there is a column marked "Supplemental Activites."
For those that are really, really bored and desperate and therefore have been reading my Blog, you'll know that part of this is Ian going to our next-door neighbor's Skip's place and creating "things" out of other "things."
I'm wondering if the following qualifies as "Supplemental Activity."
In Granby, all the kids (let me be more specific - all the BOYS who are around 13) have what are called "Air Soft Wars."
For those of you who live in more elite communities and aren't familiar with this, Air Soft Wars are "Wars" undertaken by "Boys" with Air-Soft Guns. These are guns that you can buy online at various websites. The website we bought ours from stated, at the top, in flashing letters, "Are you ready to begin shooting?" and then continued, "Now is the time to practice shooting...." For what, I wonder? For the invasion of foreigners? For the invasion of wild mammals? However, this did not stop me from buying a gun for Ian that came with 5,000 pellets AND a small pistol for "those times when this is the gun you need." Do you know that on this website I can buy a real gun, all I have to do is click on the box that states, "I am over 18." It seems to me that there is a void somewhere in this process. Seriously, I could lie and click and they'd send me a really, really big gun as long as I have a credit card.
This is how Air Soft Wars work in Granby. All the kids with Air Soft Guns (which is about 127) gather at the old gravel pit with the old mobile homes with all the doors ripped off and have wars. Most of these wars take place after dark and the kids have adapted their guns to this by duct taping flashlights to their guns.
Air Soft pellets are not soft - this is false advertising. One time Ian showed me how to shoot his gun and I aimed at the door of the shed where the pigs safely sleep at night and accidentally shot one of our pigs in the rear. The pigs were about 20 feet away - who knew guns could be so unpredictable.
So why did I buy him this? Peer Pressure - pure and simple. All his friends had one and since he's homeschooled I felt guilty for the time he lost not socializing, even though I'm pretty sure shooting at each other does not qualify for socializing, so I bought one. I got online, I clicked on the 18 and over, gave them my credit card number and bought not one, but two barrels of air soft pellets - one in orange and one in green.
When it arrived and Ian frantically ripped open the box my husband says, "I can't believe you bought him this, you hate guns." I do, I hate guns. I don't like hunting, even though I was raised around hunting and believe that good hunters have a role in our ecosystem, guns still scare me. I don't think I'm sensible enough to be around one but I am sensible enough to know I shouldn't be around one.
How am I going to feel when Ian shoots someone in the eye (remember the movie "The Christmas Story" and "you'll shoot your eye out?") or vice versa?
When I'm sitting in the emergency room with either my son or another I'll feel guilty about this also. Let's face it, when you're a parent, guilt is a prerequisite.
So I guess I've answered my own question - Air Soft Wars are probably not a "Supplemental Activity."
Although sitting in the Emergency Room might qualify for one.
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