Let the war begin

The boys have been playing war a lot lately. Their friends from the neighborhood all come over, they pair up into teams, and off they go. They each have an air soft gun and glasses. I love it, because they will play for hours. We have a pond in the center of the neighborhood that has trees on one side and houses on the other. This is the central location for the battles. Last night Mason came home upset and said a cop stopped him and told him he couldn't play anymore. My rule is the kids can only shoot someone who is playing, they may not shoot anything in anyone's yard, and they must wear glasses. He said they weren't bothering anyone. He was so mad. He kept saying that the cop was dumb and insisted I go and find the cop to talk to him. We loaded up in the car and drove around the neighborhood, but we couldn't find him. The whole time Mason kept talking smack, acting all tough. When we got home I called the police department and was told an old couple thought they had bb guns. That the complaint was unfounded. I told the boys to give it a rest for the night and they could play again the next day. I put the boys to bed and about an hour later Mason came down all upset. He asked it it would really be okay for them to play tomorrow. I told him yes, and he said, "But I don't want to get into trouble from the police." That is my Mason. Tough on the outside, but tender on the inside.