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Saturday, March 31, 2012

March Goals: Book #1

I have had this book on my reading list for a few years.  I am just now getting around to reading it.  I think as always Dr. Dobson does a great job of sharing information.  The first few chapters were a little hard to get through.  He shares lots of medical terms and research information.  The two things that stood out to me most when I finished the book are:  the importance of fathers in the lives of their daughters at every age, and fear of the teenage years with my emotional, drama filled daughter.   He covers several chapters on dad/daughter relationships.  I have already asked Trevor to read it.  The teenage years terrify me.  We spent so many years doing youth ministry, I have see the good, the bad and the ugly.  Dobson talks a lot about hormonally what is going on in teenage girls. They sometimes make decisions that make no sense to us and no sense to them.  He pointed out they,  like toddlers, need strong boundaries and for you to be the parent not their friend.  I am writing this down so I can read it again when my daughter is a teen.  One thing he mentioned only once but struck me as odd, was he stated the days of slumber parties are over.  I totally understand where the thought came from but I am not sure if I agree.  Since Eliana does not go to school we know all of her friends.  We also know all of her friends parents.  I am sure I would feel differently if she was invited to a stranger's house.  He suggested one scenario that I had never thought about. We may know the parents and the child but we do not know the other girls at the slumber party.  We have no idea what their lives are like and what influences they have been exposed to.   He says to protect our children, the era of the slumber party is over.  I would love to hear your thoughts on this.  I am still praying about it and seeing if I agree or disagree with him.

1 comment:

  1. It's been a while since I read the book but I recommended it to two people this past week especially because of the father/daughter stuff.

    I am trying to think back to the sleepover stuff....I understand and appreciate the sentiment behind it BUT I am unwilling to let me daughter miss out on slumber parties...with that being said, I am already being careful about where she goes and with whom. PLUS 9 out of 10 times we are the hosts.

    This isn't an issue now because of her age but I can see slumber parties (as opposed to one person spending the night) phasing out as she gets older....speaking of teens being 'scary'!

    Hmmm...add it to our list to talk about (you are writing these things down on a list,right????)

    ReplyDelete

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