This morning when I went to wake Scarlett up, I did my usual cheery 'Wakey, Wakey! Time to get up.' Turned the bedroom light on and she pulled the duvet over her head and told me in no uncertain terms to 'shut up.'
My reaction was to try not to laugh as it was so unexpected and how I would feel if I had just woken up and someone shouted 'wakey, wakey' in my face.
On reflection though I wondered of I should have told her off.
If I had been six year old and told my parents to shut up, I would have got the third degree about how I was not brought up to say things like that to them.
Parents should be respected (apparently), have times changed so much from when we were growing up and we have become our children's friends rather than their parents?
Is it ever acceptable for a child to tell their parents to shut up? I would expect if from a teenager-which still wouldn't be right, but not from a sweet little girl.
Is it my fault she said it?
I remember when I was 18 and was being driven into town by a friends mum. My friend openly swore at her mum and I was stunned into silence because I had never heard any one swear at their parents before and also because her mum didn't tell her off, she just carried on driving.
I have barely ever said a swear word in front of my parents, don't get me wrong, I can swear like a navvy if I'm on the wine and out with my mates, but generally I don't swear in front of them because I respect them and don't want them to hear me use language like that.
Though I should take this opportunity to apologise to them for the time I uttered approximately 1,000 swear words in under a minute when I was on the phone to my ex boyfriend- but that was necessary in that circumstance.
Though the moment has passed and there is no point in telling Scarlett off now, if she says it again should I tell her off?
These days we are taught to let our children express themselves, to let them show us their true character- there is a line, but where is it?
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