05/09/2025
I Walked in on My 10-Year-Old Children Kissing In A Dark Room But It Woke Me Up to the Mistakes I Was Making as a Parent
Episode 1
We always think we have more time. More time to teach. More time to notice. More time to be the parent we promised ourselves we’d be when we held them as babies. I thought I had time too—until one evening shattered my blind comfort.
It was a rainy Wednesday, the kind of evening that begs for blankets and cartoons. I was in the kitchen, scrolling through my phone absentmindedly while dinner boiled on the stove. My 10-year-old twins—Zara and Zane—had been upstairs playing for hours. I hadn’t checked on them. I trusted them. I always did.
But something felt… off.
There was silence. Not the comforting silence of peace, but the kind that makes your instincts tingle. So I walked up the stairs, barefoot, quiet, unsure of what I was even expecting.
That’s when I saw the kitchen door slightly ajar—and through the gap, I saw them.
Zane was sitting on the counter. Zara stood in front of him. Their heads leaned in close. I stepped in fully, and they startled like deer caught in headlights.
They had kissed.
Just a soft, innocent one—on the lips. A peck.
But it was enough to freeze my soul.
My breath caught. My mind scattered. A thousand alarms rang at once. But instead of screaming or panicking, I knelt slowly in front of them and asked, “Why did you do that?”
Zara looked down, chewing her nail. Zane shrugged, eyes wide. Then he said, “We saw it in a movie. The people kissed because they loved each other. We love each other too.”
And just like that, I realized it was my failure, not theirs.
They weren’t being perverse.
They weren’t damaged.
They were confused—because I never taught them otherwise.
They had shared a room since birth. Bathed together. Watched the same screens. Slept side-by-side every night. And somehow, in my rush through life, I forgot that children—curious, wide-eyed children—observe everything and interpret nothing.
I was the one who didn’t set boundaries. I was the one who thought “they’re still small” was an excuse. I was the one who gave them a tablet and left them to “watch cartoons” without monitoring the content.
I was the one who failed to separate their space when they began growing.
They were ten. Not toddlers. Not babies. And yet, I had left them in one room, with one bathroom, with no knowledge of body boundaries, no education about emotions, and no conversation about what was okay and what wasn’t.
That night, I cried.
Not because of what I saw—but because of what I hadn’t seen sooner.
I had a long, honest talk with them. I told them about love and family. About how siblings love each other differently. About personal space. About asking questions instead of copying screens. And I answered every question with patience and care, no matter how awkward.
That same week, I separated their rooms.
I spoke to a child therapist.
I adjusted the parental controls on every screen in the house.
And most importantly, I became present.
Because the mistake wasn’t in what they did. It was in what I didn’t do.
To be continued….