How to Mother a Successful Daughter: A Practical Guide to Empowering Girls from Birth to Eighteen [Hardcover]

Nicky Marone (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 17, 1998

The popular media has revealed the alarming lack of resilience, optimism, and self-efficacy in most young girls, especially when they reach adolescence. Mothers are looking for the right tools to help their daughters develop attitudes and behaviors that will allow them to thrive. In How to Mother a Successful Daughter, Nicky Marone, international speaker, former educator, and author of How to Father a Successful Daughter, teaches women, whether corporate executives or homemakers, how to mentor their daughters and become positive role models. The girls, then, will be better prepared for the future, having learned the emotional and intellectual skills necessary to be economically and emotionally self-sufficient.
        
As a result of her research and workshops, Marone has developed a unique program that shows how to deal with many different real-life situations, including suggestions for mother/daughter projects and ways to combat sexist cultural messages in the media, at school, and at home. Mothers learn strategies for teaching girls "mastery-oriented" skills for avoiding the internalization of failure, tolerating confusion and ambiguity, and developing alternative plans to reach a goal. How to Mother a Successful Daughter is filled with hands-on, usable tips with age-appropriate advice for preschool, school-age, and teenage girls. This is an invaluable resource for parents who want their daughters to have the emotional and intel-lectual skills necessary to be self-sufficient, competent--and happy--adults.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In addressing the question of how mothers can help their daughters shape successful futures, lecturer and workshop leader Marone (How to Father a Successful Daughter) draws heavily from recent research indicating that girls' self-esteem tends to plummet during adolescence. Happily, she takes the topic a step further, discussing what mothers can do to counteract the many cultural messages that belittle girls. Her premise?that mothers can be positive role models by exhibiting and helping their daughters to develop mastery skills?is sound, and her definition of "success" is flexible and undogmatic, based upon individual goals. She urges mothers to examine their own traits of "learned helplessness" and to set about becoming positive role model/mentors. While much of Marone's advice is savvy and useful, some suggestions may require special sensitivity to a child's current attachments, e.g., criticizing Barbie or poking fun at the romance novels that may absorb an adolescent. Still, many of her ideas, such as encouraging girls in math and science, learning new skills together such as in-line skating or playing backgammon, and keeping fathers involved in girls' lives, though not new, will be useful for mothers grappling with the problems of raising girls in today's world.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Psychologist and family columnist Bassoff (Between Mothers and Sons, LJ 9/1/94) centers on treasuring our daughters for whom they are. She offers advice and wisdom on the many facets of parenting a daughter, including issues of respect, support, pressure, nurturing, and wholeness. She argues that infants and mothers need to be together, that even the most devoted mothers are imperfect, and that simple kindness can do wonders. Her writing is full of anecdotes, stories, folklore, and literary references, making for easy, uplifting, and yes-I-can reading. Marone (How To Father a Successful Daughter, LJ 10/15/87) is a bit more learned and a little less warm and fuzzy than Bassoff. She argues that we have led ourselves down the wrong road by promoting self-esteem at all costs. Instead, our daughters must be taught to be mastery-oriented. Marone gives specifics on how to control media hype (e.g., exposure to Donna Reed-like moms) and how to deal with cultural stereotypes (e.g., Barbie) in a positive way. She rails against using constant praise with daughters, who need to feel capable and confident without superficial pats on the back. This book is more age-specific than the first, dealing with preschool girls through upper teens, and uses solid research to back the ideas presented. Both books are worthwhile additions to public libraries, though smaller collections that can afford only one book should choose Marone.?Linda Beck, Indian Valley P.L., Telford, Pa.
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 278 pages
• Publisher: Harmony; 1st edition (March 17, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0517704889
• ISBN-13: 978-0517704882
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,621,283 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars This is a very helpful book about encouraging girls., October 13, 1998

By 

Amy Lynch (Nashville, TN USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: How to Mother a Successful Daughter: A Practical Guide to Empowering Girls from Birth to Eighteen (Hardcover)

Nicky Marone has been writing about parenting girls for more than a decade, and she really knows what she's doing. Her adivice is very practical and thoughtful, and she's a good story-teller, too. I learned a lot about myself and my daughter from this book!