All the praise I received couldn't substitute for the praise I had never received from my mother at home. I longed for some wonderful man to come and save me from my life - but there didn't seem to be any, at least not for me.
My mum never told me that I was beautiful when I was a kid - and I didn't read magazines or watch MTV, so I had no real consciousness about it all.
A babe is fed with milk and praise.
It's as if, in the mother's eyes, her smile, her stroking touch, the child first reads the message:'You are there!'
My son, who sees me almost every day of his life, will look at me and go, "I know that dude! I like that dude!" It's incredibly affirming.
Children now expect their parents to audition for approval.
I know it sounds really weedy, but we are all children who seek approval from our parents.
As a mom to biological children and adopted gay children all around the world, nothing gives my heart strings a tug as much as seeing a parent stand by their queer/gay/trans child with beaming pride.
I felt invisible in my family, and I wanted to be significant like my brothers were significant. I wanted my parents to pay attention, so I went out into the world with that driving me, that grasping, that seeking validation.
No matter how old you are, you always want your parents' approval.
