If you don't go potty, the wolf will come and eat you.Eat your spinach or you'll never grow.Don't listen to the bullies, they are just jealous of you.Your father and I are splitting up, but nothing is going to change.It's okay. Everything happens for a reason.

These are the little lies we tell our little ones.These harmless little lies that make their little lives a little easier.These little white lies.We need to talk about the way we talk to our kids.Because there's never been a worse time to have a casual relationship with the truth.

And we know enough to ask for better,Because you raised us better.When did parental control become a settle on your iPad?You pass on to us your insecurities,Your prejudices, your morality.Your weak ankles, your crooked teeth,Your fear of spiders, and your high cholesterol.Why not your truth?Why not say your truths?Give us the benefit of your experience,While we're still asking.

If you want to protect me from the world,Then prepare me for the world.I wish I had known that everything was going to change,That I would see my father only once a year,That I would hear my mother sobbing in the bathroom, trying to be strong for us.I wish I had known that they weren't jealous,That they didn't understand what I was,That I DIDN'T understand what I was.

But it's okay, because everything happens for a reason, right?Stop worrying about the medium.And start caring about the message.Because there's never been an easy way to tell a hard truth.

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Dear mom,There's so many things to say. I'm simultaneously overwhelmed by having too much to say and nothing to say at all. Things are weird, but things have always have been weird. What we know is this: You have survived another year. You made it. We all made it. Happy birthday. Love you.Kiss, hugs. K-O.Frankie.