Stepson's birthday gift

[BDBHoover]

So today is my stepson's birthday and I was trying to think of what a good gift would be and then it dawned on me....... How about his very first knife.....

I decided to give him one of my folding knives as a gift and he was SO excited.... He just turned 12 years old and has never owned any kind of weapon before..... So I figured that would be a gift that he would get excited about and appreciate at the same time..... Being the stepdad, him and his brother always call me by my first name and he accidentally called me dad tonight when I was talking to him..... Made me feel pretty good about my gift......

I went through the safety of owning a knife and put very strict rules in place:

#1 The knife does not leave our home under any circumstance unless instructed to do so by me

#2 It is not a toy, it is a deadly weapon and has the potential to cause serious bodily harm and/or death and is to be treated as such

#3 He does not allow his younger brother to handle it in anyway shape or form

#4 Must keep all of his grades above a C in order to keep it

#5 Under no circumstance does he tell anyone outside of our/his family that he has a weapon

I told him that if any of these rules are violated then the knife would become mine once again.... If any of the rules with the exception of #4 were violated the knife would become mine and he would not get it back no matter how much he begged or pleaded

Granted it isn't an expensive knife but it is his first blade and once he becomes more responsible and shows my that he can take care of it then I'll be talking to Brad & Knife Lady about upgrading him a bit

 

[Steve]

Very cool. My 40 year old son still has the folder that his greatgrandfather gave him 30 years ago. Your gift will hopefully stay with him the rest of his life.

 

[BDBHoover]

Very cool. My 40 year old son still has the folder that his greatgrandfather gave him 30 years ago. Your gift will hopefully stay with him the rest of his life.

Hopefully the gift from me made enough of an impact for me to be so lucky as for him to keep it that long.... I told him," This knife isn't something that I went to the store and bought because it was on sale, this knife I bought for myself about 4 years ago so I am passing it down to you." I know that I would like a nice knife that was passed down to me instead of them going out and buying a cheapo knife for me at a store..... I think it would mean more to me than one that was store bought before giving it to me

 

[Knife Lady]

Very nice and hopefully he will respect your feelings and the meaning of a great gift.

 

[BDBHoover]

Very nice and hopefully he will respect your feelings and the meaning of a great gift.

TY!!! After he proves that he is responsible I'll be getting in contact with you and Brad and discussing what would be a suitable upgrade......

 

[grunt soldier]

very good gift idea but personally i wouldn't call the knife a weapon. you would be better off imo teaching him that it is a tool. still great gift. my dad started giving me knives when i was around 10 and he use to take me outside and make me rub the blade back and forth on the concrete till they couldn't cut anything. i still loved playing in the woods with them though.

 

[tradertator]

I couldn't agree with Gruntsoldier more. A pocket knife is no more of a weapon than a hammer or screwdriver. All of them can cause harm, but are not designed to do so. My folks let me own knives as a youngster, and I didn't think of them as a weapon. I have an old Shrade hunting knife my dad gave to me around that age that belonged to his father. It has my grandfathers name, fathers name, and my name carved in the leather sheath. I wouldn't trade it for the finest Busse or Strider out there.

 

[rhart]

very good gift idea but personally i wouldn't call the knife a weapon. you would be better off imo teaching him that it is a tool. still great gift. my dad started giving me knives when i was around 10 and he use to take me outside and make me rub the blade back and forth on the concrete till they couldn't cut anything. i still loved playing in the woods with them though.

I wasnt goimg to mention this and steel any MOJO from the great experience. However, I agree, the knife is a tool, not a weapon.

Either way, a great story

 

[grunt soldier]

sorry I'm not trying to steal any mojo or down play the gift. it's a awesome gift for sure and i'm bet he will treasure it for a long time. i just wanted to point out as he mentioned its a deadly weapon and weapon so many times. its a pocket knife not a deadly weapon. is it a dangerous tool? sure but unless his son is very well trained in knife fighting it's not intended to be used as a weapon. the more people refer to them as such the more dumb rules and laws that get passed, just like in boston right now they are trying to pass a bill so that you have to basically fill out a 4473.

tell him its a dangerous tool and it's a responsibility that he needs to take very seriously. he is going to tell his friends as thats what kids do and it would be much better if he just said i got a cool knife vs saying i got this deadly weapon at home.

again its a great gift and your teaching him responsibility which in this day and age is rare

 

[Jaredjosh]

Great story, I an now in my 40's and I remember my first knife and I still have it. Hearing your story brings back fond memories. I think a knife is something that most people keep for a lifetime. As far as a knife being a weapon I also have to dissagree, to me it's more of a tool. I would go easy on the rules. Although rules are important kids tend to goof up every now and then. Once you give someone something as a gift it belongs to them. Taking it away for a while is one thing but keeping it forever seems a little harsh uless they were to stab someone with it or something like that. Again Kudos to you and thanks for the story. It put a smile on my face.

 

[451_Detonics]

He just turned 12 years old and has never owned any kind of weapon before.....

A weapon? What did you give him, a sword?

Knives are tools first and foremost, referring to them as weapons and telling a 12 year old he now has a weapon is negative re-enforcement of all the myths that are used to ban them from schools and elsewhere.

While I applaud your intentions, I despair at your terminology.

 

[Josh Ward]

#5 Under no circumstance does he tell anyone outside of our/his family that he has a weapon

Seriously????


My, how the times have changed.....

I wasn't going to say anything, but since a few other got that ball rolling....IMHO your thinking is seriously flawed....its a pocket knife....yeah, he better not take it to school (which is a load of crap, but a whole 'nuther topic), but "DONT TELL ANYONE" you are teaching him that its a secret or a bad thing that he owns it....I just don't understand that...

 

[glockednlocked]

First and foremost congrats on being a great stepDAD you did a seriously cool thing for this young man. I too caught the Weaponvstool point but after the first 2 to comment it is a pile on and really I could care less. Major cool and more important major DAD points here. You are a good man and are raising another good man. Cheers

 

[BDBHoover]

My reasoning for calling it a "weapon" is because of all of the seriousness in today's society regarding pocket knives.... Seeing as just a few years back a 3rd grader was expelled from school for bringing a butter knife to school to cut her birthday brownies with for her classmates..... I want him to understand today's labels on such things..... I agree 100% with all of you in regards of it being a tool and not a weapon but as I stated above.....

Now for my reasoning behind the not telling anyone but your family members is alike my reasoning above.... Not very many people would applaud giving a knife to a 12 year old.... I'm a little old fashioned in that aspect..... I wish times hadn't changed from what they were..... When I was his age I had a knife collection..... Now a days that would be frowned upon if a 12 year old told his friends at school about his pocket knife and a teacher overheard and took his conversation the wrong way and then all of a sudden I'm being scrutinized by whoever for just giving something as a gift that WE ALL had gotten at his age.....

I understand what your all saying, I really do..... But I will be teaching him about how it is MUCH more of a tool versus a weapon.... And it could very well save his life or someone elses given certain circumstances

 

[grunt soldier]

again great great gift and i semi understand what your saying. it's completely your choice but in all reality your giving in to those people and allowing the standard to be set that a pocket knife is a weapon. i'll let it go after this but i think that your giving in on what you believe so as to cater to the anti's because your worried about what they think or will say.

i'll post a link to show why everyone should have this very important tool on them all the time. if just one person had be prepared and had a knife this girl could have been saved. its a tool used for cutting period, the person behind the knife decides what it cuts.

Pasadena Freeway crash leaves good Samaritan neighbors in shock - latimes.com

 

[BDBHoover]

again great great gift and i semi understand what your saying. it's completely your choice but in all reality your giving in to those people and allowing the standard to be set that a pocket knife is a weapon. i'll let it go after this but i think that your giving in on what you believe so as to cater to the anti's because your worried about what they think or will say.

i'll post a link to show why everyone should have this very important tool on them all the time. if just one person had be prepared and had a knife this girl could have been saved. its a tool used for cutting period, the person behind the knife decides what it cuts.

Pasadena Freeway crash leaves good Samaritan neighbors in shock - latimes.com

I'm doing it because I don't want any kind of confrontation of any kind.... He is my wife's son and I wouldn't want anything to happen for her sakes....

 

[grunt soldier]

fair enough sir. good luck and cool gift, hopefully he gets lots of use of it

 

[tradertator]

Not meaning to jump your butt. It's your child, and you should raise him the best way you see fit. Times have changed even in my short life, and I find myself with my heels dug into the ground like an old goat.