Parenting a Teen Girl: A Crash Course on Conflict, Communication, and Connection with Your Teenage Daughter Paperback – August 1, 2012

This was a great book on raising teen daughters and navigating the issues that they my face. I learned many important details that I had not considered before and I feel that my viewpoints have been expanded. The sections included addressed many concerns that possible parents may have when raising a teen daughter, and placed a high emphasis on open communication.I highly recommend this book for those who want to raise healthy and successful teen daughters.

Over the past year, my daughter changed from being focused, compassionate, and hard working to edgy, mildly depressed, surly and scattered. While she is a very good young lady, this abrupt change concerned me deeply and hurt my feelings. I worried for her future college opportunities and what her clothes and attitude might draw her way. Luckily, some of it is already passing, and we are using the situations her friends find themselves in as an opportunity to learn. I felt in reading the book that I am on the right track, I am not alone in this experience, and gained many valuable insights. I am blessed that my daughter is a wonderful person and am grateful for this book. Thank you Lucie Hemmen.

This book provided some insight into a teenagers perspective. It allowed me to appreciate problem behaviours from my daughters perspective. As a Dad it helped me realise its not about me and how incredibly difficult it must be to a teenage woman in the modern age.

Lucie Hemmen's easy-to-read book covers all of the bases when it comes to parenting teen girls, and much of this information can also be applied to teen boys. She reminds us that teens are people, too! There is a core of goodness at the heart of every teen, something we parents often forget as we get caught up in the challenges that accompany those teen years. The book is full of practical advice about working WITH teens to find solutions, in a loving and supportive manner, rather than setting up roadblocks in an effort to prevent unwanted behaviors. The sample conversations are especially helpful for parents (like me) who find themselves at a loss for words when it comes to broaching difficult topics.

Just echoing all of the other great reviews - the teen years are so hard for girls, and for the parents that care so much for those girls. The book is a gem -- it puts everything that's going on in context, helps you understand the big picture, and recognize that some of the "troubles" are just normal and even healthy. It doesn't just soothe -- it gets great practical advice for parents that makes a ton of sense. Parenting is the hardest and most important job that I have, and this book makes me a smarter and better parent…I'd highly recommend it to everyone with teen girls. Thank you Dr. Lucie!

This author does make a lot of good points and really does help us to appreciate our girl's point of view. I've learned a lot!On the other hand, I felt it's teaching us to be a loving, well-disciplined, tongue-biting . . . doormat. The ultimate goal here is to be a safe person to come to - to go from being an authority to being an adviser while our daughters do what they're going to do and trusting that ultimately they're going to ride out the storm and become respectable, responsible people.Yes - she does talk about saying, "No" and having rules, but to be honest, my stomach was churning when she cited an example of a mom who asked her daughter if she was having sex, and when the answer was "Yes, and I want birth-control pills" - this mom had the "audacity" of looking shocked. The example goes on to tell how the MOTHER had to come back an apologize for not being safe and accepting enough. They resolved things with the mom just standing by and letting her daughter engage in promiscuous behavior (helping get pills and keeping the house "off limits). Great . . .I'll be honest - I'm still reading, hoping perhaps that I'm going to find something in here that talks about making time to teach values, expecting responsible behavior, and holding our kids accountable to family rules since they are benefiting from parental sacrifices. I also haven't yet found anything about filling our daughter's lives with positive influences/people (church, good books, role models) that can help them start making and benefiting from positive choices sooner than later.I think sometimes it's just as important to set unpopular boundaries that protect our kids as it is to be "safe." It's a balancing act - and not an easy one.For example, I have a sister who was homecoming queen who had a boy show up at her bedroom window. My dad was like, "Old Yeller" protecting his daughter. She was mortified, but years later (with an amazing husband and a beautiful family) she's tearfully acknowledged how grateful she was that Dad held the line and was strong for her at perhaps a time of weakness.Rather than just being a rather passive "adviser" I believe our role is to be more of a guide. Think of a guide in the Grand Canyon saying, "You know, I'd strongly suggest you don't go that way, the bridge is out and there have been rock-slides, but I'll support you and I'm here for you if you choose otherwise."No - the guide keeps the group together and maps a course through rough terrain. And - yes, the guide might alter course when reasonable requests are made and yes, someone can choose to ignore the guide and go their own way, but the guide's job is to help the group have an amazing adventure safely.I think it's possible to be a totally safe person to come to without surrendering family rules and values. I think we can send the message, "I love you unconditionally and will sacrifice for your sake to help you find real happiness. I will help you find and support healing, healthy choices. And if you choose destructive behavior, I love you enough NOT to support that."A string doesn't hold a kite down, it makes it possible for it to fly. Let go of the string and the kite falls to the earth. Holding the line is sometimes (and perhaps often) exactly what our kids need.I certainly don't have all the answers, but so far, I don't feel like this book does either.I'll update this comment if I find the author has addressed this later. For now, I'm taking what she says with a pretty good-sized grain of salt.

I read Lucie's book in one day! It was so easy to read and so filled with practical and heartfelt tips. She speaks to teens in the respectful manner that they deserve and are so much more likely to hear. I am a psychotherapist and I treat a lot of teens in my practice. Lucie's book will not only help me in my work with families but I have already recommended it to several parents, including parents of teen boys! I have read a ton of self help and parenting books over the years and this one will by far help me the most in guiding the parents I work with.

There seems to be a lot of helpful information in this book. The way that it was written is easy to read. It is almost as if it is written from the viewpoint of a teenager giving advice on what works best for her. The information that is presented is very applicable to real life and shows the parent how to not only help and understand her teenage daughter but it also helps the parent help and understand herself. A worthwhile purchase that has helped me to take a different perspective.