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Mom, I Hate My Life!: Becoming Your Daughter's Ally Through the Emotional Ups and Downs of Adolescence
“I don’t know why my daughter is so angry. She yells at me all the time!”
“Our daughter comes home, goes straight to her room, turns on her CD player and won’t talk to anyone– especially me.”
“The emotional ups and downs of our daughter’s life make us all feel like we’re on a roller coaster.”
Navigating an adolescent daughter’s emotional life is one of a mom’s toughest challenges. A teenage girl’s volatile emotions can seemingly toss her–and you–like a hurricane. When a scary external world and a turbulent internal world collide, the result is sometimes overwhelming and confusing. What can you do to protect your relationship with your daughter, guide her through this chaotic time, and assure her you are truly on her side?
Your Adolescent Daughter’ s Struggles Can Help Her–and You–to Grow and Thrive.
The good news is you are equipped with the most powerful resource available for maintaining and developing connection with your daughter: a mother’s heart. Learn how you can use hand-in-hand mothering skills to become the ally your daughter needs–parenting out of love, not fear–and find out how you both can experience dramatic, life-changing growth in the process.
From the Trade Paperback edition.
“Our daughter comes home, goes straight to her room, turns on her CD player and won’t talk to anyone– especially me.”
“The emotional ups and downs of our daughter’s life make us all feel like we’re on a roller coaster.”
Navigating an adolescent daughter’s emotional life is one of a mom’s toughest challenges. A teenage girl’s volatile emotions can seemingly toss her–and you–like a hurricane. When a scary external world and a turbulent internal world collide, the result is sometimes overwhelming and confusing. What can you do to protect your relationship with your daughter, guide her through this chaotic time, and assure her you are truly on her side?
Your Adolescent Daughter’ s Struggles Can Help Her–and You–to Grow and Thrive.
The good news is you are equipped with the most powerful resource available for maintaining and developing connection with your daughter: a mother’s heart. Learn how you can use hand-in-hand mothering skills to become the ally your daughter needs–parenting out of love, not fear–and find out how you both can experience dramatic, life-changing growth in the process.
From the Trade Paperback edition.
- GenresParentingNonfiction
240 pages, Paperback
First published April 20, 2004
7 people are currently reading
64 people want to read
About the author
Sharon A. Hersh
16 books16 followersSharon lives in Lone Tree, Colorado and is a speaker for conferences, retreats, seminars, classes, trainings and workshops.
She is also a counselor for adolescents and adults.
She is also a counselor for adolescents and adults.
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
February 19, 2016
The best self-help book for mom's that have teenage daughters.
October 16, 2017
I loved this book I did hate all of my mom's boyfriend the one she has right now he is not cool or funny he is so lame but my mom likes him so I have to like him to
March 23, 2021
Great book. Definitely will keep nearby as a reference tool.
May 24, 2010
This book came from the library before the other Sharon Hersh books I've requested, so I'm digging into it. I am finding it to be a better book than "Packaging Girlhood" and "Reviving Ophelia" primarily because the author says plainly at the first, "I will not be presenting a plan to overthrow culture and turn back the tide of increasingly disturbing statistics and stories about teenagers.... This book is about developing a relationship with your daughter that enables you to confront together the challenges of helping her develop emotional maturity. In unrestricted conditional love, God gave you a daughter and made you a mother! The God-given bond between you and your child was created to be a place of growth and safety -- a haven in the storm."
I already like the tone and approach of the book.......
I'm really glad I found Sharon A. Hersh. After reading "Packaging Girlhood" and "Reviving Ophelia", books that explain in vivid detail the many damaging influences in the lives of young girls as they grow up, I was hoping there would be a book out that would address "what do you do?". The former books seem to focus on "we need to educate people that this is a wrong way to treat girls!" or "if only society would change!". These observations are not terribly specific or terribly practical. How do you change society? At the end of "Reviving Ophelia" there were some practical steps that the author listed.... but for the most part those books made me see what was happening yet provided little to actually DO.
Sharon A. Hersh has found a way to do that real "little bit" that makes a difference. Told from the perspective of a Christian worldview, the author provides a foundation for you to become an ally alongside of your daughter, instead of just sitting and watching helplessly as your daughter runs the gauntlet of abuse from the media, school, and peers.
I recommend the book very highly. First, it tells mothers that they should grow up and become adults. Do not live your adolescent life again as though you were dealing with your own mother when you are dealing with your young daughter. I say it again, "GROW UP!". Be a grown and mature woman so your daughter can grow up into emotional maturity. You, as the mother, are already supposed to be mature! Do not go to step 2 until you have dealt with step 1.
Second, realize that as your daughter grows into emotional maturity she will swing back and forth between various levels of immaturity and maturity. Prepare for it, expect it, realize it is going to happen. As a mature woman, you should prepare to handle the times of immaturity without becoming petty or ungracious. Sacrifice, stand by, put up with difficulties from your daughter AS YOU RELY ON THE LORD TO HELP YOU. Teach your daughter ultimately to rely on the Lord, but also let her know specifically, verbally, often.... that you love her, you will love and support her forever, and you will never withdraw your love (unconditional love!). Thirdly, separate "who you are" from "who your daughter is". Let her be different from you. Don't be jealous, don't be angry, don't be petty.... help your daughter grow up into the mature woman that the Lord wants her to be. This might involve prayer on the part of the mother to be able to SEE her daughter for who the Lord wants her to be, and reject perhaps an unhappy desire for your daughter to be "just like me".
So, I found this book to be very refreshing. I plan to read more of Hersh's books. Some of them sound redundant "Mom, I'm fat" and others.... but I find the overall attitude she has to be helpful and productive.
I already like the tone and approach of the book.......
I'm really glad I found Sharon A. Hersh. After reading "Packaging Girlhood" and "Reviving Ophelia", books that explain in vivid detail the many damaging influences in the lives of young girls as they grow up, I was hoping there would be a book out that would address "what do you do?". The former books seem to focus on "we need to educate people that this is a wrong way to treat girls!" or "if only society would change!". These observations are not terribly specific or terribly practical. How do you change society? At the end of "Reviving Ophelia" there were some practical steps that the author listed.... but for the most part those books made me see what was happening yet provided little to actually DO.
Sharon A. Hersh has found a way to do that real "little bit" that makes a difference. Told from the perspective of a Christian worldview, the author provides a foundation for you to become an ally alongside of your daughter, instead of just sitting and watching helplessly as your daughter runs the gauntlet of abuse from the media, school, and peers.
I recommend the book very highly. First, it tells mothers that they should grow up and become adults. Do not live your adolescent life again as though you were dealing with your own mother when you are dealing with your young daughter. I say it again, "GROW UP!". Be a grown and mature woman so your daughter can grow up into emotional maturity. You, as the mother, are already supposed to be mature! Do not go to step 2 until you have dealt with step 1.
Second, realize that as your daughter grows into emotional maturity she will swing back and forth between various levels of immaturity and maturity. Prepare for it, expect it, realize it is going to happen. As a mature woman, you should prepare to handle the times of immaturity without becoming petty or ungracious. Sacrifice, stand by, put up with difficulties from your daughter AS YOU RELY ON THE LORD TO HELP YOU. Teach your daughter ultimately to rely on the Lord, but also let her know specifically, verbally, often.... that you love her, you will love and support her forever, and you will never withdraw your love (unconditional love!). Thirdly, separate "who you are" from "who your daughter is". Let her be different from you. Don't be jealous, don't be angry, don't be petty.... help your daughter grow up into the mature woman that the Lord wants her to be. This might involve prayer on the part of the mother to be able to SEE her daughter for who the Lord wants her to be, and reject perhaps an unhappy desire for your daughter to be "just like me".
So, I found this book to be very refreshing. I plan to read more of Hersh's books. Some of them sound redundant "Mom, I'm fat" and others.... but I find the overall attitude she has to be helpful and productive.
February 10, 2012
If you have a teen daughter who suffers with depression, bullying, or just low self esteem...this is a good book to read. I'll be happy to let anyone borrow it after I've read it.
May 29, 2009
Pretty good, predictable ending.
August 15, 2011
A friend recommended this a few years ago, and I'm glad I bought it back then in anticipation of today. After the first chapter, all I can think is "I'm not alone!"
August 31, 2012
This a a great book for mom's of teenage girls. Reading it on breaks at work and find it spot on. Bought copies for Kim and Laurie.
November 30, 2018
This was a really good book! It was so much better than I thought it would be. A definate must for any parent dealing with a teen that is carrying emotional baggage.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews