How old should you be to own a pocket knife?

At what age is it appropriate to own a pocket knife? If I was asked this question last week I would have answered "around seven years old." Being raised on a working ranch, I believe warrants the possession of a pocket knife at a younger age, as long as the use of it is supervised by an adult. Yesterday, Bryce runs up to me with a HUGE grin on his face screaming "Mom! Papa (Grandfather George) gave this pocket knife to Daddy to give to me!!!!" Bryce is five. So, I walk over to question Dominic about it. Apparently, George (Papa) was helping his father, George Sr. clean out his garage and found this old pocket knife. Papa thought Bryce would like to have it, and of course he does. I guess the answer to the question about the proper age ~ depends on the kid. Bryce is only five but he doesn't sneak things or hide things. He is an 'old soul' ~ acts very grown up and is very responsible for his age. Since Dominic gave Bryce the pocket knife before discussing it with me, I guess it's a done deal, for now, unless I see behavior in Bryce that shows me otherwise. If this was Paige we were talking about (when she turns five) I think I would have to put the kibosh on it (she's the opposite of Bryce in almost every way).......

She got into some chocolate pudding while I was writing this.... So, rules for pocket knife ownership are:

• only use with adult supervision
• must be put away when play mates come over
• no, you can't take it to school for "show and tell"
• little sister is not allowed to carry it in her purse
• keep it in a special, safe place so that it doesn't get lost

I don't know how old the pocket knife is but I think it's pretty neat that it belonged to Bryce's Great Grandfather and has now been passed down to Bryce.

Here's Great Grandpa and Bryce (this photo is 2 yrs. old).....

Great Grandpa & Great Grandma live really close to us, here's a photo of their house taken from our front porch........

Down at the barn today, Bryce told Papa how much he liked his pocket knife.... Bryce opened up some oat hay for me to feed to Joey...... We are fortunate to have four generations of Grossi's living here on the ranch at one time.

Happy Monday!