Yoda
Member
I'll bet a number of you have also had to give "The Speech."
My wife and I were babysitting a granddaughter at her house over the weekend, and as usual, when I entered her mother's house, I unloaded my carry gun, put the gun up where the granddaughter can't reach it, and put the ammo in my pocket.
We were getting ready to take the sweet little girl to the movies (Toy Story 3: Just go!), and I stepped into a room to discretely load and pocket my gun.
The 5-year-old granddaughter tiptoed up behind me and looked around. I didn't hear her or see her until I noticed her out of the corner of my eyes, and there she was, staring at my gun. (Good thing it was pointed away from her!)
She kept staring at the gun, but she didn't seem afraid. She looked like she didn't know how to act.
My wonderful wife and I took the granddaughter into kitchen, without any panic or fanfare, and I gave her "The Speech:"
"Yes, Grandpa does carry a gun sometimes, but he is not doing anything wrong. He carries it to protect you from bad people. He carries it because he loves you more than you can ever understand. You must not tell anyone that Grandpa has a gun. If someone tries to do something bad, you must not turn to Grandpa and say anything like "Grandpa, get your gun." If someone is doing something bad, Grandpa will decide whether it is safer for you to let the person go or whether he needs to surprise the bad guy, so you have to help Grandpa by keeping the secret. The only people you can tell about the gun are your mommy and your daddy (they don't live together). When the time is right, Grandpa will teach you everything you need to know about guns, and I will even give you one when you're old enough, but until then, if you see a gun, you must leave it alone and go tell your mother."
After the movie, we repeated and reinforced "The Speech" and complimented her for keeping "The Secret."
It now occurs to me that a second speech should include a warning that if someone wants her to keep a secret but they are doing something that hurts her, or makes her feel bad, she doesn't need to keep that secret.
Last time I had to give "The Speech," it was with a 7-year-old grandson, who saw my gun printing while we were sitting in an outdoor cafe, and he yelled, "Hey, everybody, look! Grandpa's got a gun." Everyone else in the cafe made a big point of minding their business while I gave a quiet and condensed version of "The Speech."
In another case, with another grandson, I had to do something more drastic. For some reason, this 6-year-old grandson thought it would be cute to put his hand in my pockets. I told him to stop, and then I felt him trying to sneak his hand into my pocket without me noticing it. It was the same pocket that I had a J-frame in. Without looking down, I gave him a slap that carried him across the hall, and then he got to see me act angry (it was an act) for the first time ever. His mother understood, and she fully backed me up. He's never tried that again.
- - - Yoda
My wife and I were babysitting a granddaughter at her house over the weekend, and as usual, when I entered her mother's house, I unloaded my carry gun, put the gun up where the granddaughter can't reach it, and put the ammo in my pocket.
We were getting ready to take the sweet little girl to the movies (Toy Story 3: Just go!), and I stepped into a room to discretely load and pocket my gun.
The 5-year-old granddaughter tiptoed up behind me and looked around. I didn't hear her or see her until I noticed her out of the corner of my eyes, and there she was, staring at my gun. (Good thing it was pointed away from her!)
She kept staring at the gun, but she didn't seem afraid. She looked like she didn't know how to act.
My wonderful wife and I took the granddaughter into kitchen, without any panic or fanfare, and I gave her "The Speech:"
"Yes, Grandpa does carry a gun sometimes, but he is not doing anything wrong. He carries it to protect you from bad people. He carries it because he loves you more than you can ever understand. You must not tell anyone that Grandpa has a gun. If someone tries to do something bad, you must not turn to Grandpa and say anything like "Grandpa, get your gun." If someone is doing something bad, Grandpa will decide whether it is safer for you to let the person go or whether he needs to surprise the bad guy, so you have to help Grandpa by keeping the secret. The only people you can tell about the gun are your mommy and your daddy (they don't live together). When the time is right, Grandpa will teach you everything you need to know about guns, and I will even give you one when you're old enough, but until then, if you see a gun, you must leave it alone and go tell your mother."
After the movie, we repeated and reinforced "The Speech" and complimented her for keeping "The Secret."
It now occurs to me that a second speech should include a warning that if someone wants her to keep a secret but they are doing something that hurts her, or makes her feel bad, she doesn't need to keep that secret.
Last time I had to give "The Speech," it was with a 7-year-old grandson, who saw my gun printing while we were sitting in an outdoor cafe, and he yelled, "Hey, everybody, look! Grandpa's got a gun." Everyone else in the cafe made a big point of minding their business while I gave a quiet and condensed version of "The Speech."
In another case, with another grandson, I had to do something more drastic. For some reason, this 6-year-old grandson thought it would be cute to put his hand in my pockets. I told him to stop, and then I felt him trying to sneak his hand into my pocket without me noticing it. It was the same pocket that I had a J-frame in. Without looking down, I gave him a slap that carried him across the hall, and then he got to see me act angry (it was an act) for the first time ever. His mother understood, and she fully backed me up. He's never tried that again.
- - - Yoda
