I recently watched the Pixar short film, “Float,” about a boy and his Dad and their journey together, featured on the Disney Plus app.

FAIR WARNING – if you are reading this, I am assuming you have seen it.

The boy can ‘float’ and his Dad has trouble coming to grips with how his son is different than all the other kids and his family is different than all the other families.

In the only line of the film, the frustrated dad, obviously near the end of his rope, screams this at his son.

“WHY CAN’T YOU JUST BE NORMAL??!!”

And it GOT me.

It stopped me in my tracks.

I mean, I could relate, to an extent… For me, as a parent, before the word “autism” even entered our lives, thoughts like that would creep into the back of my mind, especially around 3-4am when we were dealing with all the challenges with Jonny.

But It was one of those things that I had to catch myself from even THINKING…

it’s not something a child should EVER hear their parent say to them.

I. WAS. MORTIFIED. When I heard that line.

It was like hearing an emotional wrecking ball unleashed at that child… and that struck a nerve.

To a child, “Why can’t you just be normal?” FROM A PARENT,

…is the same as hearing,

“You are not good enough for me.”

And as parents to young kids, our praises or criticisms mean EVERYTHING to them.

Like… they have enough challenges out there with the rest of the world.

They shouldn’t have to worry about getting it at home too.

I want my child to see himself and think, “it’s okay to be me. I LIKE me.”

And that’s the viewpoint I always strive to cultivate with my kids at home.

And I think the Dad in the film comes to the same conclusion after seeing how his attitude and his words effect his child.

In the film, he consoles him and wordlessly apologizes and encourages him to “be unapologetically himself.”

And maybe that’s the lesson behind the film, but our words as parents carry weight to our children. And how we see them is how they will see themselves.

And I would not be able to bear it if my child ever heard me say to them, “why can’t you just be normal!!??”

Because, even if it was said out of frustration in the heat of the moment, and even if I apologized, they will have that thought about themselves in the back of their mind for the rest of their lives.

Original Facebook Post.