I tried to explain this shit to my own dad when telling him that I would rather the schools keep that kind of info to himself and he just kept pushing that I would change my mind when my daughter was born. Somehow, it was inconceivable to him that informing parents of this kind of thing puts children at risk of emotional and physical harm.
Guess what: I still believe the same now that my daughter is born because I know there are shit parents out there who would torture their children for not conforming. I’m going to do everything I can to instill the kind of trust my daughter needs to tell me if she’s part of the LGBT community. And if she doesn’t feel comfortable? Then I’ve failed.
If my child is not comfortable telling me, then my job as a parent is to simply provide love and care untill they do feel comfortable, and if they never do for whatever reason (people are complicated and its not always mom and dads fault) then my job is to accept that fact and continue to provide love and care
As someone who took her time before telling a parent she knew would be supportive, you have the exact right attitude. Sometimes you’re afraid of your parent. Sometimes you’re afraid because it’s huge and telling a parent is huge and it will change the relationship and even if it’s only in positive ways that’s still a big thing.
You know, I had my doubts about my parents ability as parents, but they always repeated I’d understand after I had my own. And they were right. After I had my kid I realized what a shit job they did parenting. They mostly meant well, but clearly not enough to read a book about it.
I tried to explain this shit to my own dad when telling him that I would rather the schools keep that kind of info to himself and he just kept pushing that I would change my mind when my daughter was born. Somehow, it was inconceivable to him that informing parents of this kind of thing puts children at risk of emotional and physical harm.
Guess what: I still believe the same now that my daughter is born because I know there are shit parents out there who would torture their children for not conforming. I’m going to do everything I can to instill the kind of trust my daughter needs to tell me if she’s part of the LGBT community. And if she doesn’t feel comfortable? Then I’ve failed.
If my child is not comfortable telling me, then my job as a parent is to simply provide love and care untill they do feel comfortable, and if they never do for whatever reason (people are complicated and its not always mom and dads fault) then my job is to accept that fact and continue to provide love and care
As someone who took her time before telling a parent she knew would be supportive, you have the exact right attitude. Sometimes you’re afraid of your parent. Sometimes you’re afraid because it’s huge and telling a parent is huge and it will change the relationship and even if it’s only in positive ways that’s still a big thing.
You know, I had my doubts about my parents ability as parents, but they always repeated I’d understand after I had my own. And they were right. After I had my kid I realized what a shit job they did parenting. They mostly meant well, but clearly not enough to read a book about it.