The book: Dear MOM – everything your teenage daughter wants you to know but will never tell you.
Published by Waterbrook
Hear your daughter’s heart…without the angst, arguments, or arm-wrestling.
Raising a teen daughter can be like trying to chart a course underwater. You can drown in an ocean of one-word answers, defensive conversations, and unpredictable outbursts, and never get anywhere. Popular teen girls’ novelist Melody Carlson helps you cut through murky, deep, uncharted and seemingly unsafe waters so you can hear what your daughter’s really trying to tell you through her anger, silence, and mixed messages:
“I need you, but I won’t admit it.”
“I’m not as confident as I appear.”
“I have friends. I need a mother.”
Instead of focusing on outward behaviors, Dear Mom captures your daughter’s heart and soul. You can know your daughter’s hopes and fears, doubts and dreams about her identity, guys, friendships, and even you. And you can connect on a deeper, more intimate level that will carry both you and your daughter through the stormy seas of life.
The author: Who is Melody Carlson?
Melody Carlson has published over ninety books for adults, children, and teens, with sales totaling more than two million and many titles appearing on the ECPA Bestsellers List. Several of her books have been finalists for, and winners of, various writing awards, including the Gold Medallion and the RITA Award. She is also the best-selling author of the Diary of a Teenage Girl series. http://www.melodycarlson.com/
My thoughts on the book
My daughter is 16 months – far from being 16 years old – but I thought this would give me some good insight on how to know a teenage girl. Let me first tell you that this is not a parenting book on how to deal with your teenage girl. It’s more a get-to-know-what-your-teenager-thinks kind of book.
I remembered some of the things I used to think while being a teenager but I disagree with some the points in the book. For example, at one point the young lady is saying that she doesn’t need mom to pick her clothes anymore because she has her own taste. I agree that teenager girls have their own taste and that moms cannot control them to the point of picking their clothes while shopping. BUT, I think it is important that parents put guidelines and make sure that their teenage daughters are dressing properly and not disrespecting their body. I want my daughter to be wise and modest in her choice of clothing.
At one point, there is a list of what she (the teenager) won’t say when she is a mom. It made me smile because some of those things, I remember thinking that I won’t say – like;
“Do you think I’m made of money?”
“Money doesn’t grow on trees.”
“Stand up straight.”
And guess what… now that I am a mom I understand more about those things and I do say them. *grin*
Here’s how I would use the book… I would be honest about reading for one thing. Let my teenage daughter see it. Read it together maybe and then discuss it. I know that going through teenage years are not easy and I want to be there for my daughter when she travels through those years. I want to be open enough that she can trust me in sharing her struggles and her joys.
I am not done reading the book just yet and I am planning the finish the 9 chapters left to read in the weeks to come. I am also keeping this book for future reference. Even though my little Jasmine is far from it, it will arrive sooner than I will expect. Kids grow so fast!
No comments:
Post a Comment