My 8-year-old son comes back from school very anxious. He is afraid that his teacher is going to tell me off because he speaks about sex in the class room.
He also refuses that I help the teacher when the class goes to the movies. He says I am ugly because of my short hair and because he thinks I am fat.
I can choose to look at these circumstances and feel like the sky is falling on my head.
Alternatively, I can choose to roll up my sleeves.
Who is talking about sex in such a way? Children in the street, on the way to school, popular songs that the children sing at recess because they hear them on TV, loud adults who are drinking alcohol at the little bar on the street corner.
I explain to my son how one of my friends, a judge, recently had to dealt with one girl who abused her sister because porn movies were accessible by the kids in their family.
I say to my son that sex is a very beautiful thing, but that some adults use this beautiful thing to create violence and suffering.
I overcome the disgust I experienced before, when I was living with the perpetrator. As I recall in my book The Knot in the Spiral, he was notably addicted to porn.
I face the challenges one at a time. I speak with my son. I will take the time needed. I chose to have children so I will face the challenges that arise.
After one hour of talking together, my son felt better already.
I think of this dad in the amazing movie “HUMAN” by Yann Arthus-Bertrand. He had tears in his eyes saying he had sex and money but nothing to help his son overcome depression.
Lastly, I choose to remember that God is on my side, that there is something in the Universe, a force, a source, which loves me and supports me.
