I think people are too preoccupied with getting their children's approval or permission for things. If you just tell them how it is, they'll respect you for your choices as long as you have been a good parent and they are secure in your love for them.
I do not say this "as a parent", as i am not one; but I say this as having been someone's kid.
I'm inclined to agree. I'm pretty new to all this, but this is how I've approached it with my child, who is 10.
He is introduced to anyone I'm seeing, that I may wish to continue seeing. I've told him that I believe it's entirely possible, acceptable, and not at all uncommon to have strong feelings for more than one person. His reply was that he thought you could love only one person.
I've replied that given there are so many different people in the world, it completely makes sense that he could hold that view and others would hold different views, and that the main thing in life is to remain respectful and supportive of different views and opinions.
He goes to a religious school, and we're both committed athiests, so we often have conversations about being respectful of other's views that may not match your own. I don't need his approval at all...but I do need to be honest with him.
Within the boundaries of what is an ok conversation to have with a child....I pretty much believe if I hide something from him it's not validating my views or my behaviour. I'm proud of the decisions I make, and the lifestyle I choose...If I'm not open with him about it, that's suggesting on a subconscious level that something is not ok with what I'm doing.
I've also said to him "If you ever want to have a conversation about this...That's ok, it's important to me that you feel ok with what's going on in our lives, so feel free to bring up anything, at anytime"
"it's ok...I'm fine"
I should also stress that I'm only at the tip of the iceberg, and my life is pretty uncomplex in terms of relationship dynamics....so there's not too much to explain to him at this point.
I've felt it's important to lay some fundamentals down for what may happen in the future though.