I am into the third round of "Tweens" only the first and second time there wasn't really a name for it - it was just the "difficult, pre-teen years". And with that comes the stress of puberty, not being a child any more nor being old enough to be given too much freedom, the transition from primary school to high school and everything in between.
The team behind Netmums have created a number of books aimed at guiding you through the parenting years and their latest offering is You And Your Tween by Hollie Smith. Together with psychotheraputic counsellor, Chrissy Duff and parenting coach, Elaine Halligan and many forum and website contributors from Netmums they have created a well-thought out guide to the Tween years which can often be challenging for both parent and child.
The chapters in the book cover conflict and communication, education, friends and peers, puberty, sex and relationships, modern media (Oohh! How appropriate!), good health, emotional issues and finally independence and responsibility. Almost all situations that I have already encountered have been covered with advice from the experts and advice from the Netmums, interspersed with "top tips".
The book is more of a reference tool than a sit-down-and-read-in-one-go type of guide and doesn't feel in the slightest bit patronising. It has been written by parents who have lived through, or who are living through, the tween years.
Even for me, each Tween period has been different as I have encouraged each of my children to be as individual as possible - they're not clones of each other - but this book would have been just as useful ten years ago as it is now. The advice given in this book is tried and tested and there are even Netmums who recount a method that has failed. That's good to read about because I believe that parenting is a progressive journey and you need to adapt as a family to find out what works for you.
This is definitely a book I would recommend keeping on the shelf and I will pass it on to my daughter when her children get a bit older too. It's all well and good ringing friends or family or even asking for advice on Twitter/Facebook but sometimes just a quiet five minute confidence boost, reading about other people's experiences is all it takes.
The book is available from Amazon and retails at £12.99 (although there is a special offer on at the time of publishing this blog post). A Kindle version is also available.
I am a member of the Netmums Blogging Network, a unique community of parent bloggers from around the UK who have been handpicked by the Netmums team to review products and brands on their behalf. I have been paid expenses and supplied with a product sample for this review but retain all editorial control. All my Netmums Reviews will display the Netmums logo within the post.
The team behind Netmums have created a number of books aimed at guiding you through the parenting years and their latest offering is You And Your Tween by Hollie Smith. Together with psychotheraputic counsellor, Chrissy Duff and parenting coach, Elaine Halligan and many forum and website contributors from Netmums they have created a well-thought out guide to the Tween years which can often be challenging for both parent and child.
The chapters in the book cover conflict and communication, education, friends and peers, puberty, sex and relationships, modern media (Oohh! How appropriate!), good health, emotional issues and finally independence and responsibility. Almost all situations that I have already encountered have been covered with advice from the experts and advice from the Netmums, interspersed with "top tips".
The book is more of a reference tool than a sit-down-and-read-in-one-go type of guide and doesn't feel in the slightest bit patronising. It has been written by parents who have lived through, or who are living through, the tween years.
Even for me, each Tween period has been different as I have encouraged each of my children to be as individual as possible - they're not clones of each other - but this book would have been just as useful ten years ago as it is now. The advice given in this book is tried and tested and there are even Netmums who recount a method that has failed. That's good to read about because I believe that parenting is a progressive journey and you need to adapt as a family to find out what works for you.
This is definitely a book I would recommend keeping on the shelf and I will pass it on to my daughter when her children get a bit older too. It's all well and good ringing friends or family or even asking for advice on Twitter/Facebook but sometimes just a quiet five minute confidence boost, reading about other people's experiences is all it takes.
The book is available from Amazon and retails at £12.99 (although there is a special offer on at the time of publishing this blog post). A Kindle version is also available.
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