Scandal! Kerry Washington discovered her father is not her biological father late in life

[afeelingunacted]

Woke up today sooooooo thankful to my beautiful parents for encouraging me (albeit sometimes reluctantly 🤣) on this journey of self discovery. Our shared truth has allowed us to cultivate more FREEDOM and a deeper love with each other. I am forever changed. And NOW, I’m super… pic.twitter.com/aqGihiryZb
- kerry washington (@kerrywashington)

Comments

[adb7]

The "sense" that something isn't quite right is so interesting to me. I guess the parents give away the truth in some ways without ever admitting it directly? I had a coworker who discovered the same thing when she was 45. She showed us some of her journals from when she was a kid and she wrote about thinking something was weird with her parents when she was just 6 years old.

[pa0r_ple]

And that's why I'd rather try to explain to a kid than keeping them in the dark. A lot of adults assume kids won't pick up on things or can't understand but if the alternative is gaslighting a child to the point where they get anxiety or other issues pop up, the kinder thing to do is tell them.

My parents constantly did that and it definitely affected me.

[my_moloko]

Adults definitely don't give kids credit for being smart. They assume kids are stupid or won't notice/pick up on things and it's just not true.

[aleksie]

Adults are weird about hiding difficult or potentially difficult things from kids. This is true about so many things. Not discussing different types of oppression, thinking their kids aren't aware that their parents are unhappy with each other..

There are child-friendly ways to handle things, even if it's not fun.

[excuseyoubitch]

Ugh yes I’m mixed race and my non white mother tried to raise me as “white” (she literally said this to me) and basically refused to concede I could ever experience racism which was so frustrating especially because obviously everyone else is gonna know I’m mixed regardless of her trying to raise me as white lmao

[bdl]

it's wild how previous generations have tried to diminish children's intelligence and awareness. the whole "children should be seen and not heard" was a resounding tenet for so long.

lots of parents today are trying to shift that mentality thankfully. i have a 2.5yo and she is so incredibly observant and smart and problem-solves already! but i also don't think she's an outlier. lots of her little toddler friends are just as clever.

[archersangel]

And that's why I'd rather try to explain to a kid than keeping them in the dark

And then there's the kids who go poking around in their parent's closet & find adoption papers with their name on them. Or their birth certificate with some man other than the one they call Dad on the line for "Father."

[lone_concertina]

My kid told me the other day he's known for a year that I was going to leave his dad eventually. They're definitely much smarter than we give them credit for.

[lulufairybubble]

I have a cousin(she's older than me and my sister) that was raised by our Aunt. Now, it was always that my Aunt was her mom. I had never heard anything or saw anything that would lead me to any other thought. BUT I always just had a feeling that my Aunt was not her mom. I can remember being 5 and staying at their house for the Summer and it just didn't make sense to me that my Aunt would be her mom. So my cousin found out that my Aunt was not her mother about 10 years ago. My sister was so shook and I was like 'Yeah. I knew that. I've always known and just figured it wasn't something to talk about and minded my business.' 😂

[hypermuseic9]

lol it happened to me as well. I always felt something was off so when my mom finally told me, it just made so much sense and I wasn't even shocked.

[lovepollution]

It's a different situation, but my mother always felt something was being hidden growing up, only for her to later find Mother's Day cards from someone she was told was her cousin when she visited. Her grandmother later told her what had happened (she was the product of an affair my grandparents had that meant they left their marriages and children to start again when my grandmother became pregnant), but her mother (my grandmother) only ever acknowledged it once years later when she told her how awful she felt about the whole thing.