Hello Readers! I have a wonderful new book to share with you today. I’m joining my friends at TLC Book Tours for the blog tour of  Love Her Well: 10 Ways to Find Joy and Connection with Your Teenage Daughter by Kari Kampakis. Thank you to the author and publisher for the review copy.

Genre: Nonfiction, teens

Published: 8.18.20

Source: TLC Book Tours, Thomas Nelson

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My Thoughts:

My daughter just turned 14, so I am definitely the target reader for this book which comes out on August 18th! Thank you to @thomasnelson and @tlcbooktours for sending me a review copy.

True story. When I found out I was having a girl, I sat on my shower floor and sobbed my eyes out. Why? Because I know how hard it is to BE a girl, and I know that most mothers and daughters DO NOT get along and I know how awful I was to my own mom. (I also had a toddler and I was possibly hormonal.) All I could think that day was, when will she say she hates me for the first time?

Fourteen years later, I can report that my girl is wicked funny, has an enormous vocabulary and has a special passion for animals, true crime and special FX makeup. She’s also snarky and bossy and guarded and stubborn… and why does everyone call her a mini-me?!

All this to say that Kari’s book is exactly the book I needed right now. I’ve been highlighting sections and am eager to try out some of her advice including…

-not letting fear and anxiety drive my choices

-realizing that any time she opens up to me it’s a privilege and I need to really listen

-enjoying her when she “swims to me” but also to anticipate the “push off” and remember not to take it personally

What’s your relationship with your mom like? Has it positively or negatively impacted your thoughts on raising a girl? Do you think parenting a boy is easier?

Publisher Description:

Moms are eager for tips and wisdom to help them build strong relationships with their daughters, and Kari Kampakis’s Love Her Well gives them ten practical ways to do so, not by changing their daughters but by changing their own thoughts, actions, and mindset.

For many women, having a baby girl is a dream come true. Yet as girls grow up, the narrative of innocence and joy changes to gloom and doom as moms are told, “Just wait until she’s a teenager!” and handed a disheartening script that treats a teenage girl’s final years at home as solely a season to survive.

Author and blogger Kari Kampakis suggest it’s time to change the narrative and mindset that lead moms to parent-teen girls with a spirit of defeat, not strength. By improving the foundation, habits, and dynamics of the relationship, mothers can connect with their teen daughters and earn a voice in their lives that allows moms to offer guidance, love, wisdom, and emotional support.

As a mom of four daughters (three of whom are teenagers), Kari has learned the hard way that as girls grow up, mothers must grow up too. In Love Her Well, Kari shares ten ways that moms can better connect with their daughters in a challenging season, including:

• choosing their words and timing carefully
• listening and empathizing with her teen’s world
• seeing the good and loving her for who she is,
• taking care of themselves and having a support system, and more

This book isn’t a guide to help mothers “fix” their daughters or make them behave. Rather, it’s about a mom’s journey, doing the heart work and legwork necessary to love a teenager while still being a strong, steady parent. Kari explores how every relationship consists of two imperfect sinners, and teenagers gain more respect for their parents when they admit (and learn from) their mistakes, apologize, listen, give grace, and try to understand their teens’ point of view. Yes, teenagers need rules and consequences, but without a connected relationship, parents may never gain a significant voice in their lives or be a safe place they long to return to.

By admitting her personal failures and prideful mistakes that have hurt her relationships with her teenage daughters, Kari gives mothers hope and reminds them all things are possible through God. By leaning on him, mothers gain the wisdom, guidance, protection, and clarity they need to grow strong relationships with their daughters at every age, especially during the critical teen years.

Purchase Links

Amazon | Books-A-Million | Barnes & Noble

About the Author

Kari Kampakis is a mom of four daughters who writes about everyday events and significant moments that reveal God’s movement in our lives. She loves girls and believes many world problems can be solved by music, dancing, and deep conversations with friends.

Kari’s work has been featured on The Huffington Post, The TODAY Show, EWTN, Yahoo! News, The Eric Metaxas Show, Proverbs 31 Ministries, Ann Voskamp’s blog, Hands-Free Mama, and other national outlets. Her two books for teen girls, 10 ULTIMATE TRUTHS GIRLS SHOULD KNOW and LIKED: WHOSE APPROVAL ARE YOU LIVING FOR?, has been used widely across the U.S. for small group studies.

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram

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