Just chill out, Daddy

“Just think back: we have never been more vulnerable than we were during puberty. Now look around: puberty hasn’t gotten any easier. That’s why I’m in favor of being considerate and showing as much understanding as possible rather than condescension from the heights of grown-up wisdom.”

Most parents are aware of current trends in parenting and the advice of the self-help gurus is familiar to (almost) all of them. But what do we do when our own children leave primary school age – which in retrospect seems to have been almost conflict free – behind and become teenagers? Between childhood and adulthood all kinds of stumbling blocks and snares lie in wait for teenagers and parents alike.

Ulrich Hoffmann knows our little faults and compromises, citing personal experiences and concrete examples from his own family life. He distances himself unambiguously from those current guides to puberty and parenting which recommend a degree of condescending aloofness from our own children when they behave strangely yet again.  He pleads for the exact opposite: basic acceptance, understanding and mutual respect. “Even though sometimes it may in real life be difficult: chilling out is half the battle.”

This book – both solidly grounded and amusingly written – describes the most frequent problems of puberty, the causes behind them, and what parents who feel at a loss can do to reach a solution. Practical help for every day taken from everyday life, entertaining and informative.

No more self-righteous moaning about adolescents! You’ll be surprised: it is actually possible to deal with teenagers without getting worked-up. A definite five-star recommendation for fathers, mothers, teachers and anyone who has to work on being a role-model for children.