Book Review - A Survival Guide to Parenting Teens

About the Book
A Survival Guide to Parenting Teens: Talking to Your Kids About Sexting,Drinking, Drugs, and Other Things That Freak You Out, by Joani Geltman, MSW, is helping 21st century parents survive the teenage years! In addition to her experience as a psychology professor, school counselor and parenting coach, Joani has had the experience of raising her own famous teen – Ari Graynor, who has starred in the CBS Television Series, Bad Teacher.

Armed with humor and advice for tackling everything from the Smartphone Addict, enforcing the dreaded task of summer reading, to dealing with the homework avoider, the procrastinator, etc. Joani addresses over 80 topics that tend to freak a lot of parents out!

I've included some of my favorite chapters from the book below, just to give you a flavor of the book, and the kinds of topics she covers. I’d also be happy to send you a review copy if you’d like!


Here's a sampling of some of the chapters from the book. There are sooo many relevant topics that will be perfect for surviving the summer or “back to school” time!

• Lies of Omission: "Oh. I Didn't Think I Had to Tell You That"
• Helping Your Teen with Remember: You Forgot Your _________ Again?
• Summer Reading: Thank You Teachers, for Ruining My Last Few Weeks of Summer
• Senioritus-Parentitus: Surviving the Application Process and Tips for Successful College Visits
• The Messy Room: To Clean or Not to Clean
• The Consequences of Sexting: A "Weinergate" Moment
• Cell phone/Smartphone Monitoring: Should I or Shouldn't I?
• Dealing with Your Teen's Cell phone Addiction
• Does My Teen Text Too Much? IF so, What Can I Do About It?
• Driving Distracted: Don't Let Their Fingers Do the Talking When They're Driving
• A Scary Story: The Misuse of Smartphones
• Teaching Your Teen about Money Management: Curbing the Teen Money Pit

My Take on the Book
While I do not yet have a teen, I have a daughter who thinks of herself in this way it seems on a daily basis. I think this means that I have my work cut out for me as she gets older and into her teen years, but hopefully I am wrong. Though this is the case, I enjoyed reading reading this book because the author really shares some great information about how to manage through these years. She also uses humor to connect to the reader and even brings in personal stories and experiences that makes the book come alive as well. She also brings out so many of the issues that kids are dealing with today. I also appreciated that the author also provided the reader with words to use when working with our kids. The words made sense and I could see myself saying these words to my own daughters as they got older. The book is honest, open and frank and really allows any parent to understand the issues at hand. I, for one, have to say thank you to the author for providing parents with such a great resource.


----------------------------------------
New to the Divadom or to Dad of Divas Reviews?
Please Subscribe to my RSS Feed! Subscribe in a reader
Questions? Drop me a line at dadofdivas@gmail.com