I was invited to come to the Families On Target ABF this past Sunday morning at 9:20 in room 128.  It was a great experience.  If you’re a parent of a teen–and you come on Sunday mornings–this would be a super place to plug in for encouragement, fellowship, and study.  It’s a very friendly class and I felt very welcomed.

The class has been studying the book, “For Parents Only” by Shaunti Feldhahn and Lisa A. Rice.  I was asked to come and offer my perspective on the book.   We had some great interaction over the various topics the book covers.

For Parents Only

I found the book to be very good and I found that I learned new things about understanding teens.  The subtitle aptly sums up the content:  “Getting inside the head of your kid.”  The authors surveyed hundreds of teenagers, asking them questions that help us adults to enter their world.

The easy-to-read book has chapters about kids’ thirst for independence, need for security, quest for identity, and need to be listened to and understood.  It also revealed how we as parents are often misunderstood.  It was helpful for me to see a little better through their eyes.

Despite the book title “For Parents Only” my apparently rebellious daughter Brenda picked it up and read the chapter on “Listening.”  She loved it, saying it was dead-on.   We had a good conversation about it.  This chapter taught me how much teens crave to have their feelings validated before any advice is given–something I needed to hear.   I even used this awareness today as I replied to a teen who was despairing about something via email.

So if you’re looking for a simple book that opens your eyes to the world of your teen, I recommend this book highly.