let’s discuss how being the “golden child” put on a pedestal with high expectations and a lot of responsibility can be positive but also extremely detrimental.

to impose that standard upon a child breeds perfectionism, anxiety, and fear of loss or failure. it can build a kid who doesn’t know how to rest, who is afraid to ask for help or step outside of societal rules & seek their own truth. a child who is defined by what others think

and when the inevitable moment comes where that child falls, no one is there to catch them or understand them bc everyone only supports the child they expected them to be, not the child that they are. now the parents don’t know their child and the child doesn’t know themselves.

i’m that kid. that hyperfunctioning, perfectionist, insanely philosophical kid. who also had anxiety since either 8 or 11 but wasnt diagnosed bc my anxiety & hyperfixation was seen to be productive by adults. fuck productivity.

that should be a warning sign. a hyper fixated kid who hates messing up and takes on the world should be a warning sign. a kid who can’t rest, has an overactive mind rather than an overactive body... who can’t say no and acts this way to avoid executive dysfunction.