{"id":171,"date":"2026-05-22T09:06:59","date_gmt":"2026-05-22T09:06:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=171"},"modified":"2026-05-22T09:06:59","modified_gmt":"2026-05-22T09:06:59","slug":"harriette-cole-my-mom-has-her-own-story-about-why-im-teased-at-school","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=171","title":{"rendered":"Harriette Cole: My mom has her own story about why I&#8217;m teased at school"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<div>\n<p><strong>DEAR HARRIETTE<\/strong>: My mom shared with my family that other students are bullying me because I am \u201cdifferent.\u201d That is not the case. These classmates make fun of me because I am gay.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=170\">Miss Manners: I married a man who rode a tricycle 1,500 miles to meet me. People seem confused.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>But honestly, this is not new to me. For a long time, people have struggled to simply accept me and my sexuality \u2014 including my mom.<\/p>\n<p>What bothers me more than two small-minded classmates is a mom who\u2019s too afraid to be transparent with her own family members about what I am actually struggling with. My mom accepts me, in a sense, but she doesn\u2019t like admitting that I\u2019m queer and definitely doesn\u2019t share it with others.<\/p>\n<p>It feels like my truth is an embarrassment to her. How can she worry about students mistreating me when she won\u2019t even face reality?<\/p>\n<p><em>\u2014 Stuck in the Closet<\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong>DEAR STUCK IN THE CLOSET<\/strong>: Maybe this is the doorway into the real conversation. If she finds it hard to talk about your sexuality, frame it from the perspective of your classmates, for starters.<\/p>\n<p>Talk about who you are and how you love and that it can be stressful to have people judge you. Tell her that your classmates don\u2019t bother you that much, but that in truth, what matters more to you is being accepted by your family.<\/p>\n<p>Tell her you know it\u2019s hard for her and that she doesn\u2019t yet feel comfortable talking about it. Share that it would make you happiest if she could come to a place of comfort about who you are and be willing to say as much to others.<\/p>\n<div>\n<\/div>\n<p><strong>DEAR HARRIETTE:<\/strong> My son hides his food intake, and he\u2019s been this way for years.<\/p>\n<p>I\u2019m not sure if it stems from him feeling like we used to baby him, but he hates when we offer him food, announce that food is ready or tell him to pack a to-go plate when he\u2019s leaving our place. He won\u2019t eat when we tell him to, but once everyone is gone, he\u2019ll come around and eat hefty portions.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=169\">Dear Abby: I have a feeling her parents will object to the age difference<\/a><\/p>\n<p>We used to poke fun at how much food he\u2019d take until we realized it was a sore spot for him. This all started with his vegan phase in his late teens, which was around the time when my steaks and bacon would disappear overnight.<\/p>\n<p>He\u2019s grown up now and still lies or sneaks around about food. He\u2019ll even go as far as making fun of his dad for eating too much when he indulges a second serving, even though we all know my son will be back later to do the same.<\/p>\n<div>\n<\/div>\n<p>My son is not and hasn\u2019t ever been overweight, so I can\u2019t, for the life of me, figure out why he does this. And, as you can see, it\u2019s not his favorite topic of conversation. Any advice?<\/p>\n<p><em>\u2014 Secret Eater<\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong>DEAR SECRET EATER<\/strong>: Select a time that you two are together and it\u2019s not near a meal. Tell your son you have a sensitive topic you want to discuss with him. Ask for his blessing to proceed, and then be direct with him.<\/p>\n<p>Point out that you have noticed that he has an unusual relationship with food, at least around the family. Describe what you have observed, and ask if you or the family has done something to make him feel ashamed about his eating. Inquire as to why he feels uncomfortable with the topic of food, at least around you. See if he will open up.<\/p>\n<p>It sounds like your son would benefit from speaking with a therapist about his food issues.<\/p>\n<p><em>Harriette Cole is a lifestylist and founder of DREAMLEAPERS, an initiative to help people access and activate their dreams. You can send questions to askharriette@harriettecole.com or c\/o Andrews McMeel Syndication, 1130 Walnut St., Kansas City, MO 64106.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=168\">Crews battle grass fire near Black Diamond Mines preserve<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Harriette Cole: She told our family that it&#8217;s because I&#8217;m &#8220;different.&#8221;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":92,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-171","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-advice"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Harriette Cole: My mom has her own story about why I&#8217;m teased at school - Next City Digest<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=171\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Harriette Cole: My mom has her own story about why I&#8217;m teased at school - 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