The fourteen essential conversations to have with your tween and early teenager to prepare them for the emotional, physical, and social challenges ahead, including scripts and advice to keep the communication going and stay connected during this critical developmental window. “This book is a gift to parents and teenagers alike.”—Lisa Damour, PhD, author of Untangled and Under Pressure Trying to convince a middle schooler to listen to you can be exasperating. Indeed, it can feel like the best option is not to talk! But keeping kids safe—and prepared for all the times when you can't be the angel on their shoulder—is about having the right conversations at the right time. From a brain growth and emotional readiness perspective, there is no better time for this than their tween years, right up to when they enter high school. Distilling Michelle Icard's decades of experience working with families, Fourteen Talks by Age Fourteen focuses on big, thorny topics such as friendship, sexuality, impulsivity, and technology, as well as unexpected conversations about creativity, hygiene, money, privilege, and contributing to the family. Icard outlines a simple, memorable, and family-tested formula for the best approach to these essential talks, the BRIEF Model: Begin peacefully, Relate to your child, Interview to collect information, Echo what you're hearing, and give Feedback. With wit and compassion, she also helps you get over the most common hurdles in talking to tweens, including: • What phrases invite connection and which irritate kids or scare them off • The best places, times, and situations in which to initiate talks • How to keep kids interested, open, and engaged in conversation • How to exit these chats in a way that keeps kids wanting more Like a Rosetta Stone for your tween's confounding language, Fourteen Talks by Age Fourteen is an essential communication guide to helping your child through the emotional, physical, and social challenges ahead and, ultimately, toward teenage success.

Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book. Book Preview: #1 As parents, we want to protect and support our children as they become tweens, but we must remember that this is a difficult time for them as they separate from us and start to develop their own identities. #2 The way to help your kids is to talk to them. Not to them or at them, but with them. The kids I work with tell me that their parents should talk with them more about these issues, but parents are afraid to do so. #3 The best way to keep your kids safe is to keep them connected to you and their world, not smaller. They will learn how to make smart decisions through experience and reflection, not by being constantly monitored. #4 Having good conversations with your kids is about having the right conversations at the right time. You need to know what conversations are most important, have a way to get started that won’t irritate your kids, figure out what to say and what phrases to avoid, keep them engaged in conversation, and exit conversations in a way that keeps them wanting more.

Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book. Sample Book Insights: #1 As parents, we want to protect and support our children as they become tweens, but we must remember that this is a difficult time for them as they separate from us and start to develop their own identities. #2 The way to help your kids is to talk to them. Not to them or at them, but with them. The kids I work with tell me that their parents should talk with them more about these issues, but parents are afraid to do so. #3 The best way to keep your kids safe is to keep them connected to you and their world, not smaller. They will learn how to make smart decisions through experience and reflection, not by being constantly monitored. #4 Having good conversations with your kids is about having the right conversations at the right time. You need to know what conversations are most important, have a way to get started that won’t irritate your kids, figure out what to say and what phrases to avoid, keep them engaged in conversation, and exit conversations in a way that keeps them wanting more.