Parenting keeps us on our toes - we feel settled and finally catch our breath and then things change quickly as children constantly continue to develop and grow. The full arc of parenting brings challenges - from toddlerhood to school age children, to parenting teens and young adults.
Being a good parent doesn’t have to mean burnout and reaching your limit. Unrealistic expectations, intensive parenting, and the pressure to live up to an idealized definition of parenting (which may be self-imposed or influenced by social media), can impact parenting satisfaction. So can the loss of control as growing children strive for independence. Understanding where your child is (or is going) developmentally helps create empathy for your child’s experience and capacity. Below are some of my favorite parenting books to help meet your child where they are.
The Launching Years: Strategies for Parenting from Senior Year to College Life, Laura Kastner
Teach Your Children Well, Madeline Levine
The Emotional Lives of Teenagers, Lisa Damour
Untangled, Lisa Damour
Decoding Boys, Cara Natterson
This is So Awkward, Cara Natterson & Vanessa Kroll Bennett
Fourteen Talks by Age Fourteen, Michelle Icard
Getting to Calm: Cool Headed Strategies for Parenting Tweens + Teens, Laura Kastner
How to Talk So Kids Will Listen & Listen So Kids Will Talk, Adele Faber
The Whole-Brain Child, Daniel Siegel
Nurtureshock: New Thinking about Children, Po Bronson and Ashley Merryman
How Toddlers Thrive, Tovah Klein
Cribsheet, Emily Oster