Childhood Should Not Be Reduced by Responsibility
Sometimes I find myself thinking about all the small things that make up childhood.
Time to play.
Time to daydream.
Time to be curious.
Time to make mistakes without feeling responsible for fixing them.
As a Deaf parent, I have reflected on how easily responsibility can grow without anyone noticing.
It rarely arrives all at once.
It often begins with helping.
Being useful.
Stepping in when needed.
And those moments can come from love.
But over time, what begins as helping can quietly take up space that once belonged to something else.
A little less freedom.
A little less rest.
A little less room to simply be a child.
The change may be difficult to see while it is happening.
The more I reflect on it, the more I believe childhood should be allowed to remain childhood for as long as possible.
Responsibility has its place.
But it should not come at the cost of being a child.
This reflection comes from my perspective as a Deaf parent, shaped by my family, my experiences, and the CODA voices I have listened to over time. It is not about speaking for every CODA, but about recognising a pattern that deserves care.
