Among many other contra-conventional parenting practices I engage in is the allowance of so-called “back talk”. I have no interest in using my “authority” as a parent and threateningly large size and loud voice to silence any of my children who fill the need to respond to what they judge as an unsatisfactory final word. “Don’t talk back to me!” is a far more disrespectful thing to say to someone than is talking back, in my opinion. If I have something to say to you after you’ve given me your what-for, I will say it, and I expect likewise from you. Arguments need their day in the sun if they are to be resolved instead of swept under the rug, so to speak. My children must learn to stand up for themselves, especially toward “authority”. The moment I’ve coercively silenced my children is the moment I’ve lost them to those who seek to rule them. Fuck. That. And that’s today’s two cents.
On Back Talk
