#64
Tonight we had a work dinner and one of my colleagues brought her seven year old daughter. It was my first time meeting her and she was such a sweet, calm little sun. She bonded with me right away and stayed by my side the whole night.
Her mom is very laid back, almost too chill, and something she did concerned me. When everyone was saying goodnight, she told her daughter to go hug all the adults. It was clear the girl did not feel comfortable. She was standing between me and her mom, and you could see she did not feel that closeness or safety. Forcing kids to ignore their own boundaries really bothers me, especially in a world like this. I am very protective of young girls and I always notice these things.
We are new colleagues so I cannot comment directly on her parenting, but I know I will find a gentle way to bring it up. Boundaries are a huge deal for women, from basic respect to preventing deeper problems later.
It also made me think about being child free again. She was adorable and I enjoyed her so much, but I know I would never be a chill mom. Parenting is incredibly hard and I have talked about that with my own mom before. Especially raising a daughter is a very delicate process.