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A review by mrsbidders
Between: A Guide for Parents of Eight to Thirteen-Year-Olds by Sarah Ockwell-Smith
hopeful
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
4.0
I think this is a must-read for all parents. It covers everything: relationships and identity, body image, friendships, behaviour, independence, screen time, and hygiene.
What I like about this book is that it gives practical ideas that are easy to implement almost immediately. The chapter on difficult behaviour is a godsend: it gives you a problem (say, sulking or swearing) and then gives you several short term solutions, long term solutions, and things to work on as parents/carers.
The main throughline of this book is compassion: it’s about understanding the cognitive development of your tween and being able to respond with love and grace, while still being firm when it matters.
I don’t often read parenting books - I often find them too judgmental. But this one is useful and accepts that parents are not going to act like robots. Sometimes we snap or get frustrated and that’s okay; this book gives me hope that I can still reconnect with my kids afterwards.
The only thing I really disagreed with is the idea that you shouldn’t make your kids have spend, save, and give categories for pocket money. I do this, and my kids still have plenty of freedom with their money. I think encouraging to save right from the start is a really good thing to do.
But that’s a small thing. Other than that I’d say this book is brilliant. I can now explain to my kids what is happening to them as they grow up, which is excellent.
What I like about this book is that it gives practical ideas that are easy to implement almost immediately. The chapter on difficult behaviour is a godsend: it gives you a problem (say, sulking or swearing) and then gives you several short term solutions, long term solutions, and things to work on as parents/carers.
The main throughline of this book is compassion: it’s about understanding the cognitive development of your tween and being able to respond with love and grace, while still being firm when it matters.
I don’t often read parenting books - I often find them too judgmental. But this one is useful and accepts that parents are not going to act like robots. Sometimes we snap or get frustrated and that’s okay; this book gives me hope that I can still reconnect with my kids afterwards.
The only thing I really disagreed with is the idea that you shouldn’t make your kids have spend, save, and give categories for pocket money. I do this, and my kids still have plenty of freedom with their money. I think encouraging to save right from the start is a really good thing to do.
But that’s a small thing. Other than that I’d say this book is brilliant. I can now explain to my kids what is happening to them as they grow up, which is excellent.