Be a Parent, Not a Pushover : A Parents Guide to Raising Happy, Emotionally Healthy Teens

Teens are struggling to hold on to the joys of childhood even as they graduate into the threatening adult world. For them it's both an exciting and scary time. Because they lack the experience to navigate in the adult world, their still-forming personalities often swing like a pendulum, such as: Shall we sulk? Or celebrate? Shall we become loners? Or crowd pleasers? During this confusing period, they end up doing both and being both. Not only do most parents misjudge the complexity of their teen's conflicts, but they also fail to understand their own paradoxes. Just as teens struggle to find a balance between seizing life's joys and shielding themselves from its harshness, we parents wrestle continuously with finding the balance between loving our children and setting limits for them. When there's too much discipline, teens will rebel. When there's too much freedom, they hunger for structure and often find it in unsavory ways. Finding that balance is not simple. But it is what this book is about.