I have!
Odin, my 3 year old, came running into the bedroom as i was getting changed yesterday. I pulled my t-shirt over my head just in time to see him pull the trigger, laugh, and run away shouting;
'I shot you in the peenies'
Now, i think he's made his own word for them. A cross between penis & peanuts.
Anyway, the rubber bullet hit me right in the bollocks. B====D
Then he wanted me to pull the handle back so he could do it again. You the know guns, you shoot the rubber bullet & it sticks to the window, or the target?
So i cock'd it a few times and each time he shot me with it.
Great fun.
But got me thinking...
This is what many of our guys are doing. Cocking the gun that shoots them.
Things like...
Letting disrespect slide to keep the peace. You stay quiet when someone crosses a line. What you’re really doing is teaching them where to aim next time.
Over explaining yourself to people who don’t respect you. You justify, defend, explain. Leaving you exhausted and giving them the ammo to doubt you again next time.
Staying in a job that drains you because it’s 'secure'
You know it’s killing your energy, confidence, and presence at home. But you're loading the chamber every Monday morning.
Avoiding hard conversations with your partner. You don’t say what you need. Resentment builds. Distance fires the shot later.
Consuming content that keeps you angry, scared, or numb. News, social media, porn. Resulting in stress, comparison, weakness.
Letting your inner critic run unchecked. 'No point trying, you always mess this up', That voice didn’t get powerful on its own, you’ve been loading it for years.
Drinking. 'I deserve this, it helps me switch off, it’s not that bad for me'
But it is though!
You dull stress instead of resolving it. You borrow calm from tomorrow, training your nervous system to need an escape.
You’re not relaxing. You're tolerating a life you won’t change.
You're calling exhaustion 'normal'. Late nights, early mornings, no recovery. Normalising burnout and calling it 'being a man'.
Eating like fuel doesn’t matter. Ultra processed food, sugar spikes, skipping meals. You wouldn’t (or shouldn't) treat your kid’s body like that, yet you do it to yours.
Using humour to dodge truth. Jokes instead of honesty. You keep things light so you don’t have to go deep.
Porn as 'stress relief'. It trains your brain for novelty, not intimacy. Then men wonder why connection feels flat.
Saying yes when your gut says no. Every forced yes loads the chamber again.
Doom scrolling before bed. You feed your brain rubbish, then wonder why your sleep is shit!
Letting fitness slide because life is busy. But busy is when strength matters most.
And of course, you're teaching your kids to ignore their instincts by ignoring yours.
They’re watching how you let life treat you.
You don’t just cock the gun, you show them how it's done!
Far too many men aren’t being attacked...
They’re cooperating!
But the flip side?
The moment you stop enabling, things change fast...
You speak sooner. You choose yourself without apology. You model boundaries your kids can feel, not just hear.
So stop shooting yourself in the peenies.
Let's go 
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Love ya, bye 
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#EverythingGetsBetterWhenDadGetsBetter
