10 Best Gifts for Your Teen: Raising Teens With Love and Understanding (Paperback)

by Patt Saso (Author), Steve Saso (Author), Patt and Steve Saso (Author) "There is good news and bad news about the developmental changes of adolescence..." (more)
Key Phrases: San Francisco, Aunt Jane

Editorial Reviews

Review
"I'm glad I read these words of wisdom before my daughters became teens."

Product Description
Patt and Steve Saso navigated all the parenting perils from infancy to preteen insecurity, but nothing could prepare them for the unpredictability of adolescence. One day their teenager might say, "I love you," after the morning ride to school, and the next he might sit in the back seat, sulking in silence. In their new book, 10 Best Gifts For Your Teen, the Sasos offer valuable advice to help families maintain strong relationships through the often turbulent teenage years.

Combining Patt's expertise as a marriage and family therapist with Steve's experience as a high school educator, the Sasos share personal and professional anecdotes in this dispatch from the parenting trenches, detailing what adolescents want and need from their parents for emotional support. Teenagers will test the limits. Parents will make mistakes. But no matter how distant and resentful they appear to be, or how disrespectful of parental authority, teenagers internalize their parents' words and actions.

10 Best Gifts For Your Teen -- which include respect, room, role-modeling, responsibility and reconciliation -- teaches parents how to relate when needed, and to relent when necessary, offering support without infringing on their teenagers' burgeoning sense of freedom.

Patt and Steve Saso have shared their wisdom through their Saso Seminars, providing inspiration and information to help parents raise respectful and successful children. And now, with 10 Best Gifts For Your Teen, they have given a gift to parents across the country who want their teenager's transition from childhood to adulthood to be a smooth and rewarding one.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 144 pages
• Publisher: Sorin Books (September 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1893732053
• ISBN-13: 978-1893732056
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.5 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #69,637 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Important Read for Parents of Teens, April 6, 2000

By A Customer

Well written, organized, and an important read for frustrated parents trying to do the best they can. It's a bittersweet time watching my son go through this stage in his life. "10 Best Gifts..." has helped me realize that his moody, sulking, "Aw Mom!", "Whatever!" moments should not be taken too personally. The kid who used to love his mom to pieces probably still does. And now, more than ever, he needs me to be on top of my parenting skills. This book will give you the strength and wisdom to do just that.

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Teacher's Perspective, March 21, 2000

By	W. Michael Lovett (Salt Lake City, Utah) - See all my reviews

If you want to know something about raising teens, read this book! Patt and Steve Saso have written a wise and perceptive guide for parents who are trying to maintain loving and vital relationships with their teen-aged children. As a teacher of high-school students for the past 15 years, I have been asked to read and evaluate dozens of books which attempt to "explain" the behavior of adolescents or provide a means of "controlling" what they do. The Sasos have made it clear that these attempts will always fail because they miss the point. With many examples gleaned from long experience, they show convincingly that our task as parents and teachers is not to control but, rather, to do the sometimes painful work of building solid relationships with young persons based on respect and nurtured over time with love and care. There is no other way. For the honesty and truth in this book, I thank them.

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Compassionate and compelling insights on raising teens, October 19, 1999

By A Customer

Steve and Patt Saso have focused on the work that parents need to do, both within themselves and with their teens, to approach parenting of teens with effectiveness and compassion. Drawing on widespread experience with teens and family life, the Sasos identify the lessons and gifts that parents can uniquely offer their children. Their suggestions are both practical and profound. As a father of four, ages 7-14, this book helped me remember how much I want the best for my kids and what I need to do to make that happen. This book's primary value is that it does not depend on changing the teenager, nor does it collapse into putting all of the responsibility (and guilt!) on the parent; rather, it's about changing the relationship. Parents of children of all ages will be encouraged by the Sasos' insights. This book makes for a greatly appreciated gift.