❘ Musa/Panic ❘ She/Her/They/Them ❘ welcome! this is a multi-fandom blog. i draw and write sometimes. this blog is run by a 21+ person AO3 ❘ Etsy ❘ Ko-Fi ❘ Twitter
“if somebody becomes panicked when you accuse them of lying theyre obviously not telling the truth” shut up ugly im a survivor who got punished for shit i never did all the time of fucking course im gonna panic when im blamed for something i didnt do
It’s not fair to children to expect them to emotionally support the adults in their lives, especially their parental figures. Blurring these boundaries as a non-parental authority figure or as an adult friend of a child is also extremely harmful.
If you need to explain to a child why your behaviour has been different lately (like if you’ve had a short temper or if they saw you crying), keep your explanations short, undetailed, and age-appropriate. Apologise to them if you’ve hurt them or been unkind; don’t excuse any wrong behaviour because of other things going on in your life.
Don’t depend on children as people to vent to, to validate your pain, or to take out your frustrations on. It is damaging in frequently life-altering ways to put a child in a position where they feel like they are responsible for the feelings of people with power over them.
Children who are especially perceptive or emotionally insightful still need safe emotional boundaries – if they can tell something’s wrong, you can talk to them about it briefly in an age-appropriate manner while reassuring them that everything will be okay and that you are able to get the support you need elsewhere. Just because a child offers support doesn’t mean they are actually in a good position to give it. It is very common for children to automatically offer support to the people they care about and not realise until much later how much that interaction harmed them.
Don’t lean on children just because they are invested in your well-being. They learn from every interaction, and when you teach them that adults require help from children to manage their emotions, children learn to expect people with power over them to violate boundaries in other ways. They will grow up feeling like it’s their job to take care of others, even in ways that hurt them.
It’s your job as an adult to teach the children in your life what’s appropriate to expect from a safe adult with healthy boundaries. Instead of taking advantage of their kindheartedness, help them feel secure in the knowledge that things will be ok without them needing to take care of the adults in their lives.
A hug from a child can be appropriate, a vent session or an expectation of free therapy from a child is not.
Seek out appropriate ways to get your emotional needs met. Actual therapy, adult friends who willingly offer support, or hotlines/chatlines are all better options when you are struggling. Children need to be cared for by adults, not to care for them. They are dealing with their own emotional challenges as they grow and learn – expecting them to handle yours too will only trip them up.
By the way - this absolutely includes teenagers, who are going through some of the biggest changes of their lives and absolutely do not need to feel responsible for the problems of actual adults at the same time.