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Mom, I'm Not a Kid Anymore: Navigating 25 Inevitable Conversations That Arrive Before You Know It

Raising a preteen can sneak up on you. Best friends can turn into crushes — or bullies — overnight, and suddenly everything you do is so embarrassing. Connecting with someone who not so long ago was your baby and now only responds in shrugs and eye-rolls is difficult, but open, respectful communication is exactly what a preteen needs.

In Mom, I'm Not a Kid Anymore, Sue Sanders guides by example, in 25 conversations and moments she has shared with her daughter, Lizzie. Everything is fair game:

•“Tell me about your mean girl.”

•“You and Dad do that?”

•“When can I get Facebook?”

•“Do you believe in God?”

•“I got a 3 on my essay.”

•“You wouldn't understand“

As Lizzie figures out who she is and Sue does her best to keep up, the conversations and milestones are sometimes unexpected, sometimes awkward, but always honest. With refreshing wit, candor, and self-awareness, Sanders reminds us to trust our intuition, keep an open mind, and answer those questions we can to help our preteens navigate growing up — and maybe learn a thing or two about ourselves in the process.

From Publishers Weekly:

The preteen years can be especially harrowing for mothers of girls, as mom Sanders demonstrates in her sharp collection of stories and essays. Organized around hot-button questions brought up by her own preteen daughter, the author tackles a diverse set of issues with a distinctive narrative. Negotiating with herself about behaviors she will accept in her daughter, Sanders brings up many important points as she explores her own past. How do you set boundaries if you have never experienced any? How do you convince your daughter to avoid the same mistakes you once made? A product of a family in which very little was discussed, Sanders is determined to maintain her role as her daughter's friend and confidante. She addresses the nature of family, spirituality, preteen slang, and the age-old issue of "mean girls"; topics broached in more communicative households. Sanders's memoir of parenting her daughter through a rather happy childhood is standout work with true depth, and she carefully reminds readers that parenting on autopilot doesn't work. However, this is not a book of parenting advice; it is a book about what to expect if you're doing it right. (May)

Reviews:

“The preteen years can be especially harrowing for mothers of girls, as mom Sanders demonstrates in her sharp collection of stories and essays. Organized around hot-button questions brought up by her own preteen daughter, the author tackles a diverse set of issues with a distinctive narrative... Sanders's memoir of parenting her daughter through a rather happy childhood is standout work with true depth, and she carefully reminds readers that parenting on autopilot doesn't work. However, this is not a book of parenting advice; it is a book about what to expect if you're doing it right.”

—Publishers Weekly

“With humor, sobriety, and grace, Sanders takes the reader into the dynamics of family life as well as aspects of her own childhood — she was raised by conservative parents in a small town where prejudice and ignorance abounded — gleaning the mores and lessons she does and does not want to pass on to her daughter.”

—ForeWord Reviews

“Mom, I'm Not A Kid Anymore captures the challenging, amusing and sometimes profound discussions she's had with [her daughter] Lizzie, now 14.”

—The Oregonian

“This book reads like a conversation with your friend and offers one perspective of how to approach your baffling preteen. There are nuggets of wisdom which you can then apply to your specific situation.”

—Portland Book Review

“Sue Sanders offers a double delight: fresh, trenchant advice for parents fearing the ‘terrible tweens,’ and a moving family portrait. Hard-earned wit and wisdom can be found on each and every page.”

—Linda Keenan, author of Suburgatory, the title behind the ABC sitcom

“Sue Sanders has been there, answered that, and figured out what matters most to kids and parents. (Hint: Honesty and humor loom large.)”

—Lenore Skenazy, author of the book and blog Free-Range Kids

“Mom, I'm Not a Kid Anymore should be handed out to parents at every middle school orientation meeting. It's filled with the stuff parents whisper to each other — or keep to themselves — when it comes to raising young teens. Sue Sanders (and her daughter Lizzie) provide a common sense guide to the conversations you'll navigate through middle school and beyond.”

—Jen Singer, MommaSaid.net, author of You're a Good Mom (and Your Kids Aren't So Bad Either)

“Compulsively readable, heartfelt, and funny, this book is a savvy best friend I will turn to again and again as my kids grow up. Sanders deftly aces the dance all parents engage in when counseling their kids about the rites of passage of adolescence — and her transparency regarding her own hair-raising youthful shenanigans is a welcome tonic of 'real' seldom found in this genre.”

—Candace Walsh, author of Licking the Spoon: A Memoir of Food, Family, and Identity

“A fun and often astute look at the ways that our teenage children drive us mad and to a new place of clarity. Sanders offers real answers on how to get through the looking glass of our children all in one piece.”

—Suzanne Finnamore, bestselling author of Otherwise Engaged and Split

“Sanders deeply engages with all the sticky (and some of the most heartening) situations of parenting a young adult. She guides us through terra incognita with grace, wit, compassion, and a whole lot of smarts. Her compass is true.”

—Melissa Holbrook Pierson, author of The Perfect Vehicle and The Place You Love Is Gone

About the Author

Sue Sanders' writing has appeared in The New York Times, the Oregonian, Parents, Family Circle and on Salon, The Rumpus and Babble. She lives in Portland, Oregon, with her husband and daughter Lizzie, now 14.

  • Format
  • paperback
  • Pages
  • 256
  • Language
  • english
  • ISBN
  • 9781615190782
  • Genres
  • parenting
  • Release date
  • 2013