Tough Guys and Drama Queens: How Not to Get Blindsided by Your Child's Teen Years

All of Mark Gregston's books and information are really helpful in changing how we look at bringing up children. Great resource for adoptive children as well as teens. I couldn't have survived my kids teen years without this resource.

Being a Marine, I thought about how I wanted to raise my 2 daughters, whom are 12 and 14 now, I thought raising them with strict discipline would be my strategy, little did I know what of some of the things I was doing was somewhat not the best tactics I could do in raising my daughters. This book, after reading it, did bring me closer to my daughters. I was very skeptical on purchasing this book, after the first 2 Chapters i thought to myself, " yep, this is all stuff I already know". But, as I read more and more, I seen where I was being as effective as I could. I also asked some of the questions from the book to my daughters and it has been such a good reference for me. I know personally, that it has benefited my relationship with my daughters. If you are on the fence bout purchasing this book as was I, buy it, read it and I'm very certain it will help you on some way or another.

Our kids are raised, but I wish I had read this book at each stage of their lives. His instruction about how parents need to transition their parenting style as their children get older is very well explained. Throughout the book, he doesn’t just tell parents what to do and how, but also gives testimony to how he’s successfully used the techniques. He also comes across as very real, admitting his own struggles and the lessons he learned.I believe we could have saved ourselves some years of hurt if we’d have had this book as a resource when our kids were still at home. I highly recommend this book to other parents, with kids of all ages.Side note: As I read this book, I couldn’t stop hearing Sam Elliott’s voice in my head. Lol!!

My book club read this book and we've had much discussion on it. We all agree that it has a lot of good insight and ideas for parenting teens. Our only complaint is that the author offers advice primarily from a counsellors perspective rather than as a parent and sometimes this just isn't practical. Yes, in theory I should be focused on having a long term relationship with my teen. However, as a mom I am primarily focused on making sure he doesn't get himself killed by doing something stupid and insuring that he graduates high school. Also, I'm not a big fan of some of his recommendations, like offering them money to answer discussion question at dinner. I just wish that his advice were more practical. He does give you things to think about though and I definitely have changed the way I communicate with my son after reading this book. Overall, a good thought provoking read, just not all of it is practical.

I lead a small group of about 16 people, and in total, we have roughly 45 kids between us. This study was awesome. We all learned so much, and although it caused some strife while opening parents eyes to some harsh realities about raising kids, in the end, we all have better, more understanding relationships with our kids. It was great to hear the stories each week of how the " task" for that week was handled, the response of the kids, and the ultimate results on the family as a whole. I would recommend this book the all parents that are in, or about to be in, the tween and teen years with their kids. Invaluable.

Excellent guide to navigate through the adolescent years of your teen keeping your parenting biblical and contemporary. A tool that no teen parent can miss.

Very well written and easy to understand. Definitely making me rethink some of my parenting choices and helping me to understand my teen. I have already raised one daughter, but times are different and so is every child. What works for one child, may not work for the next.

This is the best book I never read before, it helped me to open my eyes and see I was the reason why my daughter was being rebel. I really recommend this book to every parent with kids, inclusive I recommend to read it before the teens years. But if you already have a teenage it will give you so many tools to fix the relationship with them.I love this book.

Bought the kindle edition of this book and couldn't put it down- Full of down to earth common sense teaching- but such common sense that actually we can look right over that. Had my first "date-night" with my son tonight and enjoyed every minute of it!! Will be recommending to every friend who is a parent!

Excellent book. Easy to read- full of seemingly common sense advice but actually very wise. Extremely helpful if you are a parent struggling with overprotection and failing to trust your teenager to make their own decisions as they approach adulthood. Highly recommended.