Reading Group Guide
Discussion Questions
Parenting Your Teen and Loving It: Being the Mom Your Kid Needs
1. What are the signs in your family that might indicate you are in need of a “mommy makeover”? Were you aware that you would need to revamp your parenting style to raise a teen? What do you do when you feel like a “weak” mother? How could you redirect your efforts and become a more confident mother?
2. Where are you in regard to doing things for or being in relationship with your teenager? How might a shift from doing to being affect your relationship? Why do you think that ongoing doing from Mom often irritates preteens and teens? What might your doing be communicating?
3. What is your greatest fear for your teenagers? How are your fears motivating and directing some of your parenting decisions? Is there a chance that your teenagers are in some ways prisoners of your own fear? What do you think these fears may communicate to your teenager?
4. List some of your expectations for your teenager in the following areas: academic, social, emotional, physical, and spiritual. Think back to your own teenage years. How likely would you have been as a teenager to meet all of the expectations that you currently have for your child? How are your expectations affecting your relationship with your teenager? How might this be impacting your potential to be a spiritual guide for your teen?
5. How important is it to tell your teenager that you are asking God for direction on establishing good rules for her life? How might inviting your teenager to pray about this with you impact his faith?
6. What are some of the biggest cultural influences your teenager faces? What are you most afraid of when thinking of your teenager and the influence of pop culture? How does that influence your parenting decisions?
7. Identify some of the differences in attitude, behavior, and communication you have observed between teenage boys and teenage girls? What are some parenting choices you can make to respond to these differences?
8. What practices are present in your life that allow you to let God’s love in? What about in your teenager’s life? What practices are present in your life that demonstrate getting God’s love out? What about your teenager’s life?
9. What is the one most important thing you would like to change in your relationship with your teenager? How can you go about making that happen? What kind of support or accountability might you need from your spouse, family, friends, or pastor?
10. What was the most striking or surprising thing you learned from reading this book? Is there an observation or direction that you found particularly valuable?