"(My son's name) ate a pot brownie last night and got really high," she wrote (they were all at her friend's cottage). And, I'm like, "That's it. Oh, that's not so bad," because compared to a relative dying, your young teen eating a weed brownie is not so bad.
@Cantras The alternative in the moment was a dead sibling. A child's first experimentation with drugs by comparison is no big thing.
@Frankenbeans oh I entirely agree. I think I was just reading in a "let me tell y'all a story" tone of voice, while you were writing in a sigh-of-relief tone. Maybe I missed some introductory context in the feed. All good. (Especially since noone is dead!)
@Cantras Mostly, I feel free enough in this space to say things most people would normally not share, like a child's first experimentation with drugs. Writ large, it's supposed to be a sign of parental failure, even though every parent I know expects their kids to experiment at some point. It's liberating to share, and I have that freedom because no one here (except one person) knows who I am IRL.
@Frankenbeans You mean your real name ISN'T Franken Beans? :O
More seriously, yeah, it's baffling that something so many people do is considered so terrible.
I work in media and like every day I'm working on a story about heroin or meth -- Is your kid on heroin or meth? No? A+, it could be worse, go order some pizza and you can Have A Talk With Them after they've stopped staring at their hands.
@Cantras Yeah, I've got one foot in media. I stopped using "heroin-thin" last year as a darkly humorous description for unhealthily skinny people. But, in my case, you expect the day you learn about your kid's first drug experience to immediately suck all the oxygen out of the room. Instead, for me, it was a let-down that something even worse hadn't in fact happened.
@Frankenbeans I expected more to this story! like her being Not Amused that you think it's not that bad.