Once at his side, Sullivan told her son to "catch your breath buddy... Max, breath. It's okay." She let him cry on her shoulder before sending him back to court. "This notion that boys can never hurt, that they can never feel, is so damaging to them long term," she wrote. "The belief that any signs or gestures of affection will somehow decrease their manhood — this pressure to always 'man up' follows them into adulthood where they struggle to fully experience the broad scope of love and affection." This toxic masculinity, she wrote, teaches boys and men that their emotions are meant to be suppressed. "They're taught that sadness is weakness, that talking about their fears or short comings makes them less than," she wrote. "They don't mourn properly. They struggle to grieve. They're afraid to cry. It all spills into the way they husband and father and I hate it." She concluded, "I will always love him when he is hurting and my prayer for him is that he is alway open to receiving love so he can love in return and keep that cycle going." Sullivan makes a powerful point — loving a child and nurturing their ability to express emotion is not "babying." The urge to cry when in pain is completely natural, no matter your gender, and a parent shouldn't be guilted for comforting their child.