Reconciliation

This is a follow up to this post, in which I document an incident where I defended my family, such as it is. If you recall, there was a 13 year old boy who said some disparaging things about my gay boys. I told him there is nothing wrong with being gay, but it is very wrong to insult anyone the way he did. I forbade the children from playing with him anymore.

Sproing really enjoys playing with this child. He lives in the house directly behind us and is hard to avoid. The boy also lets Sproing play with his video gaming system. Because I am such a mean mommy, I don't allow our children to have a video gaming system. Thus, Sproing has been strongly motivated to seek some reconciliation.

I told Sproing that if this young man, let's call him Adam, would come and apologize for his behavior, I would consider letting them play together again. Last Thursday Adam came over to talk to me. We sat in the back yard together on the picnic table and he gave me a very articulate apology. Then we had a chat. I talked to him for probably 10 minutes. We discussed homosexuality; I told him some of what I know about it, that it isn't a choice. I explained that gay people are just as normal as straight people. Whether they are gay or not there will be some people he likes, some people he's not particularly fond of. Sexual orientation has nothing to do with it. So he needs to give everyone a chance, get to know people as individuals and not pre-judge them on the basis of their sexual orientation, or anything else for that matter!

And so I gave permission for the children to play together again. They have been playing very nicely ever since. When C and S first saw him playing with the kids, each of them came to me all concerned. I explained. S was skeptical. C gave me "that look." I told them to wait and see, give the boy a chance.

This evening, after supper, Superman, S, and the kids played a game. Adam came over and joined in. I had to show you this. It is truly beautiful. This picture shows, from the left, S sitting on the floor, wearing his striped toque. Diva is next, rolling the dice on her way to winning the game. On the far right is Superman in all his balding glory, and there, between Superman and Diva sits Adam, participating in the game. Yes, S and Adam are playing a game together in our living room. Is this not the most beautiful sight? It fills my heart with joy.

On the other hand, I see in this photo 3 unfinished projects: the wall, the sofa, and the coffee table. If we're not counting the floor, where the carpet needs to be removed and new flooring installed. But that project hasn't been started, so we won't count it. Nah, lets just focus on the positive. They family is playing together beautifully! We are happy.