(no subject)

[cahn]

I used to think, with all the #metoo stuff and so on, gosh, what is it with, well, mostly men, not understanding boundaries and how to take no for an answer and respecting people's bodies and so on.

...now that I have two kids, I now think: it is freaking amazing that ANYONE, EVER, manages to understand this stuff.

Seriously: Every Single Day for the last week, possibly month, I have said something along the lines of "WE RESPECT OTHER PEOPLE'S BODIES. [A/E/I] SAID DON'T DO THAT. THAT PERSON GETS TO DECIDE ABOUT THAT PERSON'S OWN BODY." Every. Day.

(It's mostly to the three-year-old, but it's the eight-year-old a nontrivial amount of the time too.)

Comments

[rosefox]

You're probably not worried about your eight-year-old permanently scarring your three-year-old after one too many friendly advances, though! We're being really diligent about trimming the cats' claws right now, because Kit's gotten a couple of scratches for being too persistent, and doesn't really understand what they should be doing differently.

The hug thing is just so odd to me. The people asking for hugs tend to be older women from the Caribbean side of the neighborhood, so maybe it's a cultural difference?