Raising sons and daughters

Posted by Heidi Shelton-Jenck Nov 10, 2006

Parents of tweens still need help and advice. But, take a look at their bookshelves, and you’ll likely find parenting advice books that end as soon as kids start elementary school. Why is that? It isn’t as though the questions and concerns stop. If anything, older children can be more complex and difficult to parent than babies.

Two books that I recommend to parents are Raising a Daughter and Raising a Son by Don and Jeanne Elium. These books take parenting from birth through age 29, breaking the discussions into the following stages.

For boys:

• The Catch-Me-If-You-Can Years: from birth to seven
• The I’m-On-My-Way-But-I-Don’t-Know-Where-I’m-Going Years: from eight to twelve
• The Mr. Cool Years: from thirteen to seventeen
• The Graduate Years: from eighteen to twenty-nine

For girls:

• The “Watch-Me!” Years: from birth to seven
• The “I Can Do Anything!” Years: from eight to twelve
• The “You Just Don’t Understand Me!” Years: from thirteen to seventeen
• The “I’m Trying to Find Myself” Years: from eighteen to twenty-nine

Both books also discuss challenges and joys of parenting girls and boys in depth. One thing I like about these books is that they are written by a parent team. Don and Jeanne Elium are a mom and a dad. They take turns giving their own parenting perspectives, which are sometimes different. They also share many personal stories and examples from the lives of their clients and friends. These anecdotes give powerful examples of how other parents have nurtured the precious children they are raising.

Parents of tweens don’t have to figure everything out by themselves. Share your thoughts about parenting tweens. What books or websites have you found helpful?