Who's Rem?
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Stories like these warm my heart so much
As a dad now with a trans son I so get it. I'm blessed in I know who and what I am. I will never "get" what's going on in his head or understand what trans is or any of that shit. But I love him, I want him happy and I will defend whatever he decides to be until the ends of the world.
Note to everyone and self I use he/him because in my simple brain he has a dick he's a boy. Like me he doesn't give a shit because we joke about the old meme "I identify as an attack helicopter" and I tell people my pronouns are "dumb/ass" or if I'm being a dick "she/him"
Digressions aside. If it doesn't hurt anyone, and it makes someone happy, just let them be happy.
I don't know your kid or your relationship with them or anything, so I'm just speaking in generalities, but most trans people I know really appreciate being called by their preferred name and pronouns. If your kid is using certain pronouns with new people or with their friends that they are out to, it might be nice to give them a try. Maybe not, again I don't know you both, but just because someone is willing to joke about pronouns doesn't necessarily mean they don't actually care about them. Seems like you really care for your kid and I'm sure that if they wanted to be referred to with new pronouns that you'd be able to figure it out. Wishing you both the best.
Yeah man you should really be using the pronouns your child wants you to use. I imagine that they have accepted that this is the best relationship they can have with you. They're still your child and your unwavering support is important to building their self confidence regardless of whether they're cisgender or transgender.
How much effort does it take to not use he/him though? Are you sure they're just saying they don't care so you don't feel bad about it?
I dunno, obviously I don't know you or your kid and you seem to be handling it much better than many would... It just seems weird to be so ambivalent to something so fundamental about your child.
I've had a good number of trans people in my classes over the years. I've frankly been shocked by the number of people who do not care if you guess their gender correctly. Obviously it isn't the norm, but they are out there.
Also worth noting especially with younger people they can't disassociate online with offline.
I can't speak for everyone, but in my experience I'll not express anything externally when property/improperly gendered, but I'll still feel happy/sad when it happens.
From someone that's been there, try to work on that mental switch. Even if the kid sees you as an exception, and really doesn't care if you don't, it's still a powerful thing to do it anyway. You can still crack jokes together and fuck around, but if you put in the effort to shift your language the rest of the time, it seriously uplifts someone that's in the process of finding their path as their authentic self.
And yeah, it is true that a decent number of kids in particular (as opposed to folks that are transitioning as adults) don't care about pronouns when their loved ones support them in every other way (or even just in most ways). They know some old fart has decades of brain patterns built up, and years of thinking of them as a given gender. They know it won't happen overnight, and thus aren't hurt by slips, or are hurt way less. But I've never met a trans kid that didn't feel happy and loved by a close family member putting in the effort anyway.
I promise you, the worst that can happen from trying is you get razzed for fucking up
How can you be sure they don't care? Could it be, instead, that they know it'll just be a pain in the ass to get you to do what they want, so they don't bother even if it'd make them happier? They're appeasing you so they can still have a relationship with you. You are refusing to appease them. Your child sounds more mature than you do.
If he didn't just make fun of you to your face for liking the wrong things then he's ahead of the dad curve
My dad never made fun of my interests and I do the same with my son. I can’t imagine doing that. My dad still keeps up with my son (his grandson’s) interests and will watch YouTube streamers and play Minecraft or whatever with him. 🙂
I told my dad I was going to play board games with friends and he spelled out B-O-R-E-D and went on a rant about how much he hates board games and that they're for losers. We haven't spoken in about five years.
Like way, way ahead of the curve. How is this a thing to complain about?
Do they have any idea how most parents are?
Relatable sadly
These kind of things really messes you up in the long term. My dad was always making fun of me for liking video games and it took me a long time to get rid of the idea that whatever I was interested into was not boring/weird/unusual by default.
Same. I used to get made fun of for my music taste, sometimes just based on the band name or album art. Developed a habit of hiding my interests from my parents and feeling ashamed when they found anything non-mainstream of mine.
I mean, it may be intentional because ita a dad joke thing. Like calling them Nintendos.
Would it be Sailor Moons or Sailors Moon?
more than i ever got out of mine.
My old man never really understood the stuff I liked (Battletech, D&D, Magic, Star Trek) but he knew they were important to me and that I wasn't unhealthy over them, and that was good enough for him.
Actually he managed to work Star Trek into the stuff he taught me like classical physics and quantum mechanics.
Honestly it makes me really sad how whenever I try to share anything I like with my family they always call it complicated and sometimes weird.
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