shannonscorner.com

Having fun with your preteen ~

 I was so excited to have Karen Stabiner join me. She is a wonderful writer and has writen many books and articles. Her lastest book, My Girl: Adventures with a Teen in Training, is delightful and is exactly what we need. Girls doing things right. What a nice change of subject! As a mother of a daughter you often hear how bad it is going to be when your sweet, adoring child turns into an unrecognizable, sex-crazed, drug induced, violent teenager overnight. We are told our lovable girls will soon be young adults who we don’t know (and will secretly despise), who will hate us and tear our orderly life apart. What a bleak thought.  Not my daughter is all I can ever think.  And maybe I am right. What if all this negativity is not universally true? Certainly it can’t be. This is what Karen Stabiner decided to find out when she journaled the life of her and her daughter, Sarah, from ages 10-14. A great read. If you haven’t read it go out and get My Girl, Adventures of a Teen in Training. It is a very enjoyable book. I have always loved her work and this is a must read for every mother of a preteen. She has also written All Girls: Single Sex Education and Why it Matters which we also talked about. I like the idea of single-sex education, and it is happening in more and more public school classes. If not in yours - suggest it. It may just work.

I think that one of the most important things Karen had to say was about trust. Trust your daughter, trust yourself and how you raised your daughter, and that along with a bit of common sense, should assure you enjoyable teen years - and remember don’t take any of their bad moods  personally. It is usually not about you.

Don’t predict how difficult she will be and don’t put that on your daughter. Karen Stabiner is right, it can’t produce good results for a daughter to be told that only the bad is yet to come. Look for good and you might find it - after all it is your kid, what could give you a better reason for optimism?

Go to the link on the left  - Karen Stabiner - which will take you to her website where you can read about her books, and chat with other moms. A nice website - take a look and leave a message  ~