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Hey Dad,

There's just something about boys and their need to kill, mame, and pillage. In fact, just three seconds ago as I began this sentence, I heard something wooden fall down the steps.

Thinking it was something pulled off the stairway banister and hard to replace, I called out blindly, "What was that?"

The sweet little voice of my son Cal (3) called out, "My weapon."

"Your what?" I asked again.

"My weapon," he repeated. I knew then that it was either a wooden sword or gun, both of which we have a large supply.

Now some moms reading this might be shocked by the male's God-given interest in 'doing battle,' but you can't fight it. Actually, this is a great lead-in to sharing with you my first paintballing experience from this past weekend.

I was asked to speak to a small, men's paintball retreat in Ohio. So my sons Ben (16), Sam (14), and I packed our greenest clothes and anticipated a weekend of blasting others and each other. On the 5 hour drive there, we wondered out loud how much it would hurt to be hit by a paintball.

That night we found out … IT HURTS A LOT! But that's what makes it fun. My wife can't understand it, and when I sent her a photo of the humongous welt on the side of my neck, she thought we were nuts. Of course, I dished out as well as I took (I think). And on the drive home we relived all the hard hits and hilarious action.

Man, it was fun. But what was most fun was doing it with my boys, because to the pacifist's chagrin, there's nothing like battling side by side with your sons … unless of course it's shooting at them instead.

So my fellow Dad, if your sons don't have any (in the words of my son Cal) "weapons," make some. And if you already have them, why not do a little battle with them tonight? Have a sword fight, an air soft or paintball battle, a pillow fight, or get out the old potato cannon and fire off a few rounds.

You 'da battle-loving dad,

© 2009 Todd Wilson. Used by permission

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