When Talking Back Is Actually a Good Thing (Just Ask Dax Shepard)

In the November 3 episode of Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard, the actor turned podcaster shared that his daughters have “no kind of respect” (as one friend put it), it may have sounded like a red flag to some. But to Shepard and other parents raising girls, what looks like sass might actually something quite valuable. In the episode with his cohost Monica Padman and featuring actress Reese Witherspoon, Shepard recalled a time when he was out at dinner in Nashville. He said his daughters (with wife Kristen Bell) were chatting, speaking up, not quietly deferring to adults. Their friend remarked, “They’ve got no kind of respect.” Shepard heard it, but didn’t leap to “kids will be kids” mode. Instead he said: “Yes, I know how it looks. But there’s a bigger goal here.”

He explained to Withers