We've been staying with family for the past few weeks, having a great time seeing friends and relaxing. And, yes, we certainly enjoyed the court rulings last week, although I wish they could have/would have gone further to end discrimination and institute marriage equality for all. I've also been thinking about what life after India will be like. Will we come back to the US? Will we go to a different country? What will our jobs be like? Where will our children go to school? Honestly, I should stay more in the present, but I've had fun letting my imagination run wild. If I imagine it, maybe Chad and I will be able to manifest it. We'll see.
But all this imagining and the reverberations from the political echo chamber about how children need two opposite sex parents has me wondering what children really do need. And I've been imagining all of these different scenarios, trying to think about which one will benefit our children the most. I feel like a weatherman trying to predict which cloud will rain on which field.
At the school where I work, we talk about our belief that everyone needs safety (this includes physical needs such as food and sleep), power (including feeling successful), fun, freedom, and love and belonging. I see my students go about getting these needs met every day. Parents play the most important role in helping their children learn how to meet their own needs and to respect the needs of others.
After a week of listening to pundits talk about what children need, I've been trying to pinpoint the feeling that I have when I hear the soft bigotry of pundits cloaked in the religious zealotry that passes for holiness. And I've come to the conclusion that the feeling is not resentment. I'm not resentful of the people who think that my family isn't as optimal as a family with a mother and a father rather than two fathers. I am more saddened by the lack of understanding. People just don't understand how much our family is just like every other functional family with parents who love their children beyond measure.
