Customer Reviews

"Like Whatever": The Insider's Guide to Raising Teens (Capital Ideas for Parenting)

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Like, Whatever is a rich resource for parents of teens or pre-teens. It includes serious research, lots of practical advice, plus funny anecdotes from the fifteen parents who each contributed a chapter. I loved this idea in the chapter "Teens & Driving": to make teaching parallel parking less scary, ask "Just how much trouble do you think you can get into going one mile an hour?" Each section reads like a conversation with a very smart, experienced friend, and includes helpful "Take-Away Tips." I will be reading the chapter on college admissions next. The most important "take-away" is the guidance the writers give parents who, against all odds, want to build strong relationships with their teens.

"Like Whatever": the Insider's Guide To Raising Teens By Rebecca Kahlenberg, Editor. This book is a priceless tool for any parent of a teen, especially fathers. Written by professionals and parents together the book is a treasury of tips and advice that has proven helpful with today's teens for today's problems and situations that confront both teens and their parents and affect the relationship. The chapters are all from personal experiences with real families and tell the pitfalls, what worked and what didn't, and it is all told with humor and balance. Chapters cover Teens and Our Culture, Generosity, Risk, Driving , Money, Faith, Discipline, Health, Single Parenting, Games, Fitness, Travel, College Admissions, and Blended Families. Each Chapter has excellent summary tips that are helpful take-aways in a nutshell. The book is a MUST for EVERY parent of teens today. This will be your daily guide and best friend for these perilous years so you can help your teen make wise choices and keep communications open for the best possible relationship and outcome for these final formative years and his or her approaching adulthood. EXCELLENT and NECESSARY!

Imagine having a collection of the best articles of the decade on parent-teen relations in one volume. Then check out this splendid book. All the essays are up-to-date and together provide a tome of uncommonly good sense. The essay on driving is clearly a life-saver, as are, potentially, others, including sex, intoxication, health, sports. The writers' diverse voices read like...well-edited!

Anyone with a teenager in their life can glean inspiration from the author-parents who have successfully shepherded an adolescent through challenges, some virtually unknown a generation ago. Suggestions for realistic boundaries using personal examples, as well as an impressive bibliography for each topic, make this both a reference book and reads like an advice column with real characters. The authors offer a very balanced and common sense approach which inspires camaraderie among parents who seek a positive outcome for their family.