colorogasm:

Always Remember:

1. kissing can and will, get boring.
2. its ok to go to sleep on opposite sides.
3. forgetting favorites, dates and replies is only human.
4. you dont have to like, or be friends with all of their friends and vice-versa.
5. they have a right to spend weekends dedicating to their friends and family. you have the same right.
6. privacy is still in play.
7. trying simple things that they like, no matter how much you are sure you will dislike it, is a very small step you can take to show your love to them.
8. you dont gotta have the same taste in music, food, books etc.
9. saying i love you, thank you, take care, please and i missed you really helps.
10. you cant agree with all their life decisions and they cant with yours. keeping an open mind and having an honest and deep discussion about it helps. 
11. they dont need your permission to do things and neither you need theirs.
12. the intention and care behind the gift matters. not its price tag. 
13. dont try and change them. help them become better versions of themselves and get the same help and support and care from them. 
14. know what matters most and focus on that.

Ok. So. About minors. Developmentally a lot of these “obvious” points aren’t actually obvious until you’ve become an adult. But working your way through them is part of how you become an adult!

Some parts of human brains (like “executive function”) don’t finish developing till age 25, though most really are pretty functional by age 18 or 19.

When a minor interacts with an adult the adult is likely to “peer pressure” the minor into mimicking some of the above points. As opposed to letting them internalize them naturally as they would from their, you know, peers.

If we don’t develop it on our own, if we just learn to go through the motions, it can take years… decades even… to recover a real, adult sense of ourselves.

This is why romance and sex between adults and minors is perilous for minors. Yes, there are laws, and morals, and ethics about it. But that’s not why. This is why!

Don’t interact romantically or sexually with minors.

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