The second episode of this season’s The L Word: Generation Q didn’t have nearly as much parenting content as the first—but I still managed to find some, including an unexpected connection to a new children’s book!
Spoilers ahead.
Among the many revelations of the episode was that Nat told Alice she’s polyamorous. This isn’t a huge surprise; the two of them were briefly in a throuple with Nat’s ex, Gigi, last season. That fell apart, though, largely because Gigi was just trying to destroy Alice and Nat’s relationship. Nat chose Alice over Gigi at the end of the season, but was clearly fine in theory with the idea of more than one romantic partner.
Before we knew Gigi’s motives, however, we saw the three of them working together to take care of Nat and Gigi’s two kids. (Having more parents than kids in a household is not a bad idea.) We also saw that the kids knew that all three adults loved and cared for them.
Alice, however, has some major qualms about polyamory. Earlier in the episode, when Nat observed, “Monogamy’s not for everyone,” Alice responded, “Well, it’s for most people. Except the bad ones.” That’s awfully judgmental. And last season, Alice did not want to tell the kids that they were a throuple. If Alice eventually does feel that she can live in an ethically non-monogamous relationship with Nat, I also hope they are able to talk with the kids about this aspect of their lives.
While Alice clearly has to work through her own feelings about polyamory, I’m here as a monogamous ally to polyamorous people to tell her that it’s certainly possible to be a polyamorous parent and have one’s kids turn out just fine. She could learn a lot by reading this article by Briony Smith or this one by Rachael Hope.
Additionally, I have to mention a sweet new picture book about a child with four polyamorous parents, A Color Named Love, by M. Ellery and illustrated by Clara Reschke. In it, a child named Anna learns to feel love from first two, then three, then four parents. We see that each new parent brings their own color to the whole and Anna learns different things from each of them. It’s a lovely story and even feels broad enough to work for families of three or more parents who are not all romantically linked (say, a couple and their donor/surrogate and partner who are all co-parenting (though if you want a book specifically about the latter sort of situation, try Frizzle and Me, by Ellie Royce).
I have no insider information on where the LW:GQ storyline is going, but I hope that whatever Alice’s decision, we get to see Nat have a happy polyamorous life with her partner(s) and kids.