I am here yet again getting pissed off by the anti-pride pearl-clutchers choking out, "B-- but how am I supposed to explain this to my children???!!!"
I bought a progress pride flag to take to the office and put on my inspiration board. Only, my daughter was having so much fun waving it around and finds it so pretty, I let her take it to preschool at her insistence, since the teacher was really encouraging about it.
When I first brought it home, she asked, "What's that?"
"A flag," I said.
"Oh," she replied. "What's it for?"
This was it -- this was the dreaded, heart wrenching moment that I had heard so many cry about as the reason why this god forsaken flag had no place in the public eye. Because the children, think about the children!! For heaven's sake, what will we tell the children??!!
I opened my mouth, and I said, very simply, "It's to celebrate the fact that everyone is different, and that people can love each other no matter what."
"Oh," she said, and she took off to run around the house with her swishy new fabric.
Phew. Crisis averted. She did not have a catastrophic meltdown at the suggestion that people different from herself existed. She did not immediately question the meaning of life or demand a detailed breakdown of bedroom olympics.
Later that day, she wanted to play "mommies and daddies", and she looked between her baby doll and me.
"Umm," she said. "I'm mommy, so I guess you be daddy?"
"We could both just be mommies," I offered. "Some families have two mommies, every family is different."
"Oh!" She didn't realize that was an option. "Okay, I'll be mommy and you be mommy. Baby is tired!"
She didn't know, she didn't care. She just wanted to play two people loving a baby and holding them and cuddling them and singing to them gently as we tucked them in (and yes I cried). Soon, we were Mommy and Grandma. At another point, her dad was Baby. At another, she was the baby.
How am I supposed to explain this to my kids? Pretty fucking easily.
Now -- here's one I have for those people.
My daughter will be going into kindergarten soon. She will likely start having active shooter drills. How, exactly, do they suggest I explain gun violence -- especially mass gun violence -- to my child?
How, exactly, do they suggest that I explain that it's really easy for people to hurt a lot of people, and no one is doing anything about it? How do I explain the "why"? How do I help her feel safe, when I can't even go grocery shopping without knowing where the exits are anymore?
It just pisses me off so much.
Anyway, happy pride! ❤️🧡💛💚💙💜
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I did an illustration for Trans Day of Remembrance today at work.
Our little community contains so much anger and grief, but it's because we love each other so fiercely. We remember our dead because their memory keeps us stubborn.
I love all of us today, and I hope you do too.
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