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My daughter said once that we have lots of adventures...so grew New Leaf Nickie, the blog intended to capture most of our adventures. If you've landed here, welcome to life with New Leaf Nickie on Havoc Hill Farm.







Thursday, February 18, 2010

Learning From My 9 Year Old


So, Alaina and I were watching The Amazing Race Sunday night.  Carol and Brandy are a team on the show and are described as "dating."  After about 1/2 hour of watching, Alaina turns to me and asks, "Are they sisters?" 

Hmmm...how do I respond?  "No......," I say.  And then pause....thinking.....thinking....she's still looking at me.....what do I say....this is not a conversation I really want to have right now.... "They're gay," comes out of my mouth.  Really, Nickie?  "They're gay" is the best you got?

At that moment, Alaina, in her nine-year-old wisdom says, "Mom, they're lesbians."  If you knew that, why did you ask if they're sisters!?!?!?!?!

What?  Where did that come from?  How do you know about that? Where did you hear that word?  Why would you ask if they are sisters if you knew they are lesbians?  UUGGHHH!  SOMEONE FREAKIN' HELP ME!  I don't want to enlighten my child with things that I wish she didn't know about YET.  Teaching moment?  Yep.  You gonna jump on it?  Nope. 

"It's the same thing, Lainey," I say to her.

"No, Mom, it's not," she says.  What?  Gay and lesbian aren't the same?  How do I respond to that? 

At this point, I drop my head and don't say another word.

I need to gather my thoughts and return to this conversation next Sunday. 

2 comments:

  1. I have had this type of conversation with Laykin. Except it was men and in person. It is hard to explain things like that for sure.... just wait until they hear "the talk" at school, Laykin just couldn't believe what she heard!!!! I wasn't sure what to say...keep us posted!

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  2. I didn't know that was you Sheila! Thanks for following me!

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