Does anybody know of any good online sites, magazines, or books that help you understand your teenager (female). There seems to be so many for raising younger ones but the teenage years can be hard on some of us parents. I'm kind of surprised there is not a magazine (that I can find anyway) on parenting teenagers although I know there are books - the ones I have browsed have not been helpful.
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Marie- I'm a woman of faith and anytime I need parenting help, I turn to Focus on the Family. They have excellent books on the subject and their website is informative as well. Just go to: resources.family.org/home.do then click on "Parenting". They also have magazines for teen girls; you can find these by going to: www.briomag.com/ Hope this helps! :)
Lifeway.com is devoted to Christian resourses and they have a magazine entitled "Living with Teenagers." It is wonderful! You can subscribe for yourself or some churches buy the subscriptions in bulk and they are free for those who wish to take one.
My teen girls and I take a relaxing drive in the car and I open the "Can of Worms" with the simple question, "Got anything you want to talk about?" Sometimes they do and sometimes they don't. But at least we talk! I think it has to do with the fact that they can look at the scenery while listening, instead of looking me in the eye!
They may be kids but they are people too and need to know they WILL be heard, and NOT judged. "You are not a bad person, this is just very bad behavior." Of course it depends on how drastic the problem is too, and some things don't go away without professional help, but I have found that when my (2 years younger) sister is in the car with us, and we (Sis and I) are talking about some adult subject that can be "tricky" when discussed around teen girls, that my kids are all ears and trying hard to look UNinterested.
HOWEVER, they will ask me voluntary questions about the same subject the following week or so, or shyly add their own thoughts.
P.S. Give the other adult the heads up that it's ok to discuss something like STDs infront of the kids, and that a tap on your knee means too deep into the subject-cease and desist! LOL that works well for me and Sis.
Share with them the pitfalls of your own life. How did you really feel when that other girl called the clothes you were wearing skanky, or you were dared to kiss the cute guy. Let them learn that you are only human after all, went through a lot of the things they will encounter in school, and life, and the lines of communication will, hopefully, open up.
Thank You. I will check into those - my daughter actually gets Brio magazine but I think I might start reading it too.
My daughter swears by a book called "Parenting with Love and Logic", and she says there is one specifically for teens, too.
Ditto on the Love and Logic. Their books give hands on practical ideas for how to deal with lots of different situations at all different ages. They also have programs for teachers and there are schools that teach their teachers how to use these easy, non confrontational methods for changing inappropriate behavior. Their web site is:
Good Luck
You may want to take a look at the teen toolkit. It specifically addresses parenting teenagers. teentoolkit.com
Well I don't know any, but if you have any specific questions I could answer them for you. I'm 16 and I know my mom has trouble understanding me sometimes and she just asks me for what she wants to know. I know some aren't as open as I am to help out with this, but I would love to help in any way I can :) Just message me and I'll send you my email or something.
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