It’s not an uncomfortable question per se, but our own history of abuse has likely colored our answer differently than people who were not raised in abusive households.
In our opinion, any parent who is not generally speaking, on a day-to-day basis, kind, considerate, patient, forgiving, and respectful of their child’s privacy and autonomy, is an abusive parent.
A parental relationship to a child has a different standard than any typical interpersonal relationship out in the world.
In any relationship that is not a parent-child relationship, the expectation is that if you don’t like a person’s behavior, even if it isn’t abusive, you can leave. You don’t have to put up with someone who’s just generally unpleasant to be around.
A child does not have the freedom to leave a parental relationship that they’re unhappy with.
A parent has brought a child into the world and is responsible for them. Any parent who is not prepared to be kind, patient, forgiving, considerate and respectful to their child is abusive.
A child is a person who is completely dependent on a parent.
A child is a person whose lifelong mental health is shaped by their parent.
A parent absolutely has a duty to be kind, patient, forgiving, considerate and respectful of their child’s privacy and autonomy as a person. Anything less is abusive.
