Maintaining a healthy relationship with your parents can be tough. Even if you all get along pretty well, it can be difficult to get past the fact that they’re just your parents and not two of the world’s premiere drag queens. Don’t worry! Here’s are some helpful ways to love your folks even though they’re not Katya Zamolodchikova and Trixie Mattel.
Consider the sacrifices they made to raise you.
Think about all the aspects of your parents’ lives that they had to drastically change in order to raise you. Whether it was giving up their career mobility or putting their hobbies on hold, your parents sacrificed a lot for you. So even though nothing your parents sacrificed was comparable to the sacrifices that Katya and Trixie had to make to perform in the relatively unrecognized art form of drag until they were able to make it onto Drag Race and remain in the competition for week after grueling wig-filled week, you should still try to show them the love they deserve.
Take time to appreciate the little things.
Whether it was putting funny notes in your school lunch every morning or making your favorite cake on your birthday, your parents have done a lot of little things to enhance your life. Every tear they dried, every scrape they bandaged, and every booger they wiped was a tiny way for them to show they cared about you. Consider all of those things if you find yourself frustrated by their inability to be either Katya Zamolodchikova or Trixie Mattel or both, who have done nothing for you except for curing your depression and bringing the beauty that is UNHhhh into your life, and love them anyway.
See them as flawed humans like the rest of us.
Maybe your mom’s overbearing nature gave you an anxiety disorder or your dad’s emphasis on athletics made you a little too competitive. As you get older, it can be comforting to realize that your parents are just as human and flawed as the rest of us. And even though their main flaw is that neither of them are the Massachusetts-native-cum-Russian-mommy Katya Zamolodchikova or country music star and copyright law nightmare Trixie Mattel, they are still deserving of your love. Yaz WERK mama (and papa)!
Just pretend they’re Katya and Trixie
If all else fails and you find yourself simply incapable of loving your parents despite them not being Katya and/or Trixie, try pretending that they are in fact the aforementioned drag superstars. Outfit your dad in a pink chiffon robe and a Dolly Parton-esque wig and equip your mom with a tiny plastic hand in her hair and a VHS copy of the movie Contact. Having these visual references will make it easier to buy into the fantasy that your parents are actually the two A-List celebrity drag queens of your dreams and not just the boring people who brought you into the world and provided for you.
Loving your parents when they have the audacity to be themselves and not Katya Zamolodchikova and Trixie Mattel from the TV show Drag Race can be challenging. Hopefully, with these tips, you’re able to get past that major shortcoming and love them regardless!
