‘I straighten her little tiara every morning – I lift her chin and remind her that she is meant for greater things than playground bullies.’

‘Everything shines in its own time. There is no timetable for life.
Timetables are for classrooms, not for people.’

These are just some of the wisdoms shared on The Village, South Africa’s beloved Facebook group for parents raising tweens, teens and young adults.

Having kids is a baffling endeavour beset with sulks, meltdowns, anxiety and disappointment – and that’s just the parents! When you get that call to the principal’s office? When the school acceptances don’t come? When the bedroom door slams and you hear your child sobbing behind it? All awful but the family years are also, to many of us, our most precious time. The trick? To find a way to enjoy our families, love our children and believe in them and ourselves despite the daily challenges. And laugh . . .

In this book, Vanessa Raphaely and Karin Schimke have gathered together experiences and insights from The Village members. These are the gems and remedies from the real parenting experts – the parents – to help you raise your family in your own perfectly imperfect way.

"Relax The horror stories you have heard about adolescence are false."
This is Dr. Laurence Steinberg's reassuring message to parents in this newly revised edition of his classic book "You and Your Adolescent," which "Publishers Weekly "says is "filled with solid advice for the parents of adolescents." Among the new topics in this updated edition:
* An expanded definition of adolescence to age 25, recognizing that college graduates often remain dependent on their parents for an extended period, creating a new parent-child dynamic
* A discussion of social media that addresses whether parents of preteens and young teens should monitor use of these new communication tools
* What new research into the adolescent brain tells us about teenage behavior
As Dr. Steinberg writes, "Most books written for parents of teenagers were survival guides (many still are). Nowadays, adolescence is too long--15 years in some families--for mere survival. Knowledge, not fortitude, is what today's parents need. That's where this book comes in."