Put that stick down!

This is something I've been hearing myself say a lot lately.

"Put that stick down before you poke your brothers eye out."

My boys seem obsessed with sticks. It does not matter whether the stick is long, short, thick, thin, gnarled or dead straight. It can still have leaves attached for all they care. They are drawn to them and I am starting to see why. With a stick in hand their imaginations come to life. The stick is so versatile, it can be a sword, a fishing rod, a magic wand and, most recently, a light sabre (thanks to their other obsession - Star Wars The Clone Wars). They can be Robin Hood and his merry bunch of men with their stick swords and (Master 4's favourite) a coat hanger bow and arrow. Or Wizards casting spells with their wands trying to get their little tongues around the word abracadabra.

After much thought I've decided to take off my worrying hat and (take a deep breathe) let my boys play with sticks! I know that, inevitably, one of them will get hurt. A sword thrust to the chest or a light sabre to the arm, but for the most part they are playing nicely together, using their imaginations, learning and having fun!

So, I will try to be a calmer mother and let the boys take a few risks in the name of fun!
My only rule? Take the sticks outside boys!!!