How do you explain to your cat (or dog or whatever pet lives with you) that today you just can't handle touching her or being touched by her?
I mean, when I've tried to explain this to human adults who speak my language and they don't understand and/or they get angry at me.
Why do psychiatrists always insist on Cognitive Behavioral Therapy after a thirty minute meeting?
I HATE Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. HATE IT!
It's like being given hours of homework for the subject you hate most.
Assignment 1: Do something you hate doing it.
(After Assignment 1: Feel bad about myself.)
Assignment 2: Do something else you hate doing.
(After Assignment 2: Feel bad about myself.)
Theory: Do the things you hate doing over and over and you'll rewire your brain and you'll enjoy it.
FUCK YOU!
I learned the my nephew is my nephew this Sunday because he is starring in a play and used a traditionally masculine name for himself and he/him pronouns in his blurb. It was an unexpected thing to see. (Honestly, I thought he was more likely on a non-binary track.)
Yesterday, I sent him a text letting him know that I saw it and that I want to do everything I can to make him feel safe. (I also preemptively apologized for my future mistakes, because 15 years of habit will not disappear overnight.)
Here's the thing that bothers me, though: During and after the play, my brother, his father, and my parents, who spend far more time with him that I do, all used his birth name and feminine pronouns. Did none of them know? Did none of the see the blurb?
*sigh*
Part of me envies my nephew. I didn't even know the word for my sexuality until I was nearly 30 and didn't understand that it was who I was for another 5+ years.
Part of me is scared for my nephew because we live in a rural area and people who are awful about things like this are more aggressive in these times.