FAFO parenting fundamentally operates as the name suggests – if you f— around, you’ll probably find something (possibly something bad) out. By no means an exhaustive and robust psychological approach to child-rearing, it instead lends itself to specific scenarios – safe situations in which your child is able to make bad decisions and experience the discomfort of their consequences. Refusing to wear a coat, is an often-cited example, as is allowing your child to eat spicy food, skip meals, or not do homework. While the idea has been praised as a rejection of Gentle Parenting and a return to the way that Generation X were brought up, it’s hardly embracing the return of the belt. For one, a crucial element of the idea is that you do, as a parent, still have a vital role in guiding your child through life and explaining why they should, and shouldn’t do certain things. That rain will make you wet, or that not having lunch will make you hungry, are all concepts to be described – it’s just that they are free to be ignored and experienced firsthand. There are also parameters within which a child can f— around. No-one is suggesting, for example, that they find anything out with a chainsaw, hunting rifle, or a stray firework.
