If you were to ask my best friend how she would describe the Gay community, she lovingly calls them Gesbians, aka Gays and Lesbians. And I guess she can do that because she is in fact a Gesbian. I love that she came up with that name. She’s quite witty like that.
Well, while having a conversation with her about Gesbians, my son overheard us talking. Usually I like to talk to him about things before he hears it out in the “real world”. So I asked him if he knew what it meant to be gay. His response was CLASSIC! And this was his response:
When someone goes out and gets really drunk!
Now part of me wanted to know how he knew what “getting drunk” meant, but I couldn’t help but laugh. I told my friend what he said and she cracked up. I left it alone and didn’t go into details with him. I decided to save that for another day.
A week or so passed and as it was getting closer for my best friend and her girlfriend to come visit me in California, I revisited the subject….lightly. Again, I was on the phone with her and picking him up from school. I asked him, “Jalen, do you know who’s coming to visit us next week?” He responded, “AuntNett.” I said, “Yes, AuntNett and her girlfriend.” He looked at me blankly. So I said, “Now do you understand what a lesbian is?” He giggled and smiled at me. Then put his head down and responded, “yes.” I was curious at this point and asked him what it meant. He smirked at me and said, “when a girl and a girl or a boy and a boy are girlfriend and….boy…I mean girlfriend. Or boyfriend and boyfriend.” “How does that make you feel Jalen?” “People can like who they like. That’s fine with me.”
And in that moment, I loved my son for being the open person he is. Moments like this will make me miss his childhood and innocence. I cherish this time because once he gets in his teens, he will want less and less to do with me. I take it all in and I give him knowledge the best I can so he doesn’t get the wrong information from someone else. The best part of being a mom is when we can share moments like this one. Love you Jalen! Always and forever.
XOXO TJ