What if You Held a War and Everybody Brought a Nerf Gun?
What if You Held a War and Everybody Brought a Nerf Gun?
“Watch out, Mrs. Hartke,” yelled my son’s friend, Gerard, as he lowered his single-shot pistol, “I almost shot you!”
Behind him, I could see Robbie using the door of the red station wagon as a deflector from flying bullets, as he shot off some rounds from his Mag Strike, an automatic machine gun. My son, Zach, was hopping on his bike, juggling a sword and his Big Bad Bow, as he attempted a surprise attack on the enemy hiding out in the alley behind the house.
I cautiously made my way through the house, sliding furniture back into place; grabbing a rag to wipe up the muddy size 12 footprints that zig-zagged across the tile floor. Shivering, I closed the front door which had been flung open when the battle had escalated to the front and back yard.
Once in the kitchen I tossed empty soda cans in the trash and picked up the phone to order a mountain of pizza for the 9 hungry, teenage boys that had overtaken our house. We have been hosting nerf gun wars in our home for three years ever since the boys became friends in 6th grade.
Zach and his friends are very serious about their nerf weaponry. The guns have all been taken apart and the inside safety mechanisms have been removed so the bullets fly faster and harder. Brass tubing and other modifications have been made to improve the guns’ performance.
The young boys that used to enter our home have grown to be young men, with gangly bodies, deepening voices and large feet. With each passing year, our house seems to shrink in size.
“Thanks so much. I don’t know how you do it,” state the parents as they pick up the guys five hours later. By “it” I know they mean the mess, the noise and the upheaval. Yet having already raised one older son, I know how fleeting time can be and I want to have a front row seat on the remaining 3 years of my youngest son’s childhood.
On days I want to pull out my hair, I hope I remember that.
Modified nerf guns. Size 12 shoes piled by my door. Towering boys becoming men. It makes me smile.