Mommy, What's A Lesbian?
Posted by Rebecca Teti in Marriage on Wednesday, July 22, 2009 10:00 AM
What do you do when your children befriend kids whose home life is significantly different than yours—in ways that could be harmful to your children?
Here’s a wonderful essay detailing how one Christian mom handled the issues posed when the child of lesbian neighbors came knocking.
First it will just break your heart—as in this exchange overheard between the new neighbor girl and the author’s own kids on the topic of who’s a lesbian:
“I was going to guess your mom,” he said.
“That’s right,” the girl said despondently. “She’s a lesbian. But I am not a lesbian. No way. But listen—don’t tell your Mom until tonight, okay?”
“Why not?”
“Because then she won’t be able to go yell at my Mom until tomorrow, so we can be friends for the rest of today.”
My kids looked at each other. Here, finally, was a topic my son completely understood.
“Um, listen,” he said to the new girl. “I don’t know much about lesbians, but I know my mother. She is not going to go yell at your mother.”
“But she won’t let us be friends.”
“Why not? The girl who used to live in your house—her parents were divorced, and divorce isn’t a good thing, either, but we were friends with her anyway. And my mother was friends with her mother.”
“It isn’t the same thing. Everybody gets divorced—I mean, like duh, my parents are divorced. It’s not a big deal. But nobody likes lesbians.” We live, mind you, in the left-leaning, religion-shunning Pacific Northwest.
Then the girl began to cry. “Goodbye,” she said. “Nice knowing you. Have a good life.” My children came home, bewildered and upset.
Then it will get you thinking. Go read the whole thing—it’s short.
Then come back here and tell us about how you would handle—or have handled—a similar situation.
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