"Kids say the darndest things"

It was while he was opening his gifts that I began to wonder just how much influence people, television and siblings have on these little guys.

Jacob crowed delightedly as he unwrapped what he calls a "shoot gun." It was a toy miniature version of a rifle that made the slightly muffled banging sound.

After opening the "shoot gun" Jacob could barely be enticed to open his other colorful packages.

And as soon as the last package was opened, Jacob grabbed up his "shoot gun" even as his daddy assembled a much larger Nerf gun.

What alarmed and concerned me was when Jacob aimed his "shoot gun" at his grandma and said "I'll shoot you dead."

Seriously, how does a 3-year-old learn those words and their meaning? And isn't it slightly frightening?

I don't have children but from being around friends and my brothers who are parents I know it can be difficult if not impossible to monitor every television show, movie or computer game kids come in contact with.

So perhaps we should put some of the blame on society as a whole... isn't that where it belongs?

Think about it.

How many family movies come out of Hollywood every year compared to ones that are either horrifically gruesome and/or have bad guys shooting good guys.

Somehow I don't think Jacob realized grandma is a good guy when he told her he would "shoot you dead."

I'm a little worried what our world has come to and I'm also going to make an effort to monitor what I talk about and do in front of little Jacob.

Maybe we should all remember that old saying "Little pitchers have big ears."