the trust-credo recited over the son she isn't hearing
I determined years ago that my position needs to be that I trust my children, and I'd never traffic in third-party hearsay when the lines of communication with my children are as open and judgment-free as I'm fortunate they are.
Context
Avril delivers her creed about the wide-open, judgment-free lines of communication with her children while Mario, standing right there, tries four separate times to get a word in with "Hey Moms?" and goes unanswered each time. The speech about perfect communication is itself a small demonstration of its opposite — the channel she's praising is closed in the very moment she praises it, talked over by the mother's own performance of openness. [sweep · shared-ground family-hamlet]