Silence is a sound

16th May 2013 | 2 notes

And then, she told me THIS.

Gosh, the audacity.

16th May 2013

So I was telling my mother about dearscarlet today, and she started telling me about when I was a kid. Which gave me a pretty strange feeling, strange but nice perhaps.

16th May 2013 | 38,605 notes

dearscarlet:

Dear Scarlet,
About a month ago you asked if you could have a “circle mohawk” again. I told you to think about it because you’ve been growing your hair out for so long and I didn’t want you to regret it. On Sunday night I told you I had a hair appointment with Allison the next day. You asked if you could get your hair cut like that again, but you were laying down for bed and not supposed to be talking so I ignored you. The next day you asked twice, so I finally said I didn’t care and that you look beautiful whatever you decide. The last time your hair was like this you weren’t in school yet, I was so nervous about kids being cruel. I walked you to school on Tuesday morning and stayed awhile to make sure everything was going to go smoothly, which it did. When I picked you up you said, “Olivia liked my hair. She said she didn’t want her hair like this, but she liked mine like this. And we’re still friends. That’ just like how I don’t want to have purple hair like Allison, but I love Allison’s purple hair. You don’t have to have all the same stuff as your friends.” Wise beyond your years, baby child. I’m so proud of you and how you have the courage to be exactly who you want to be, despite any other outside influences. While we’re on the topic of gender, when I was at parent teacher conferences a few months ago a mom of this little boy approached me. She told me how he wanted to paint his nails and go to school. She let him. When he came home he said, “Scarlet loved my nails, Mom!” I’ve never been so proud.

If there’s one person who subtly reminds me everyday that it is always enough to try, who’s shown me that life goes on, no matter what. Who’s shown me that at the end of the day, true love is unconditional, all-accepting. What it means to be human and make mistakes. And that it’s okay to, if you pick yourself up from there and move along. That there are always people around you that you can bless. And your reward is simply knowing that you did.

Who assures me that it’s okay if I don’t want to get married, that it doesn’t depreciate me as a person in any way at all. Who looks at newly-wed couples with me as we mumble ”another one bites the dust” under our breaths. (But I’m sure will cry buckets when I say “I do”, if I ever do.)

Who points out male couples at our weekly cafe haunt and asks me if I think they’re ‘happy’. Who goes there so often that I get introduced to the entire work crew.

Who knows exactly which ingredients to pick for us in yong tau foo, or that macaroni nights = cook something else for the girl, or that beehoon days = cook something else for the boys.

It’s been one hell of an emotional roller coaster the past few years, with things that I believe both you and I’d rather not recall. But I dare say that the worst of the storms have washed over, and this state of calm is something we’re good with at the moment.

I don’t imagine it’s been easy, with a hugely-tattooed skater boy who thinks that life is about sleeping, living it up and spending all of his parents’ money, or an overgrown sullen kid who doesn’t see the point in anything at all (until recently), and well, me. But at the end of the day, I know you know, we’re all good kids. I miss thursday nights with you guys.

It’s always unnecessary to wait till a day like this to tell you that you’re one of a kind, with your quirky, bizarre, open and powerful ways of parenting, so this is merely a reminder of everything you are. You’re not perfect, but who the hell is anyway? Stay happy, positive and always true to yourself. I hope you find that man of your dreams at a dancing class, but if you don’t, so what? You’ve got us anyway.