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Who Are You & What Have You Done with My Kid?: Connect with Your Tween While They Are Still Listening - Hardcover | Diverse Reads

Who Are You & What Have You Done with My Kid?: Connect with Your Tween While They Are Still Listening

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So you have a Tween! What now? Dr. Amanda Craig knows what it’s like to watch your child go from sweet elementary student to moody tween in the span of just a few years and she’s here to help navigate you through it!

How do we keep our kids close while cultivating the confidence they’ll need to grow up? How do we navigate the inevitable dips, divides, and potholes? Where do we find the strength, self-awareness, and wisdom that amount to a path forward?
 
Despite the parenting opportunities in the tween years, we often spend time focused on academics and the social concerns of elementary school then quickly pivot to worries about safety, drugs, sex and the rebellious behavioral issues of the teen years. We think we’re connecting but we’re not. We miss the neurological explosion that is taking place before us as tweens experience four significant changes that shake them (and us) to their core.
  • Their brains are changing.
  • They feel and experience emotions they do not recognize.
  • They’re hyperaware of themselves.
  • They do not know how to express themselves.
 
Most importantly, parents still have a “seat at the table” to make positive impressions on their tweens as they prepare them for the teenage years.
 

ISBN-13: 9781546003083

Media Type: Hardcover

Publisher: Worthy

Publication Date: 09-20-2022

Pages: 288

Product Dimensions: 6.30(w) x 8.80(h) x 1.10(d)

In her twenty-plus years as a family therapist, Amanda Craig, PHD, LMFT, has worked in a variety of settings, including research departments, juvenile corrections facilities, high schools, Fortune 500 companies, substance abuse programs, and university/college classrooms. She has administered counseling and therapy services to tweens, adolescents, adults, couples, and families. A seasoned public speaker and published author of research papers, her awards and recognition include Certificate of Appreciation from the New York State Division of Parole (2008), eleven years of service on the Juvenile Justice Advisory Committee of Minnesota (2007), Certificate of Recognition from the Office of the Governor of Juvenile Justice (2007), and the 2022 YWCA Darien/Norwalk Women of Distinction Award.

Table of Contents

Section 1 Introduction

Between Us: The Future Is Now 1

Part 1 Love Wins 7

1 The Four Pillars of Emotional Connection 13

2 Emotional Connection: Origin and Impact 18

3 Parenting with Emotional Connection 23

Part 2 It's Not You, It's Neuroscience 29

4 Tween Brains Are Changing 33

5 Tweens Experience Emotions They Do Not Recognize 43

6 Tweens Are Socially Awkward 45

7 Tweens Do Not Know How to Express Themselves 52

Part 3 What Lies Beneath 57

8 Learning from Our Past 60

9 The Brain Connection 63

10 Our Soil Issues 71

Part 4 Remediating Our Soil 89

11 Start with Compassion…for Yourself 93

12 Healing through Self-Awareness 104

13 Self-Soothing as We Navigate Our Soil Issues 124

14 Work in Progress 129

Part 5 Dancing Neurons 133

15 Anatomy of a Feedback Loop 137

16 Turning Negatives to Positives: Repairing Your Relationship 154

Section 2 Introduction

Your Toolbox: How to Use What You've Learned 159

Part 6 I See You 163

17 Beware the Pull to Multitask 167

18 Watch Those Facial Expressions, That Body Language, and Tone of Voice 172

Part 7 I Want to Know You 179

19 Translating the Undercurrents: Emotional Intelligence 185

20 Spot It (Emotional Awareness) 188

21 Say It (Emotional Expression) 194

22 Rule It (Emotional Regulation) 201

23 Weather Report: Reading Our Tween 209

Part 8 I Am Here for You 219

24 Speak Their (Love) Language 222

25 Family Fun, Play, and Laughter 226

26 Mantras, Rituals, and More 231

Part 9 I Will Keep You Safe 241

27 Boundaries and Consequences 245

28 Enforcing Boundaries 256

Conclusion: On the Side of Us 267

Acknowledgments 273

About the Author 275