I’m No Longer Cool

It’s happened. I’m no longer cool enough to hold my daughter’s hand at school. Never-mind that she voluntarily clutches my hand during our walk to and from school. Yet upon entering the school grounds Megan pulls away and walks herself to the second grade playground. I know better than to take the rejection personally. At the same time I miss my “baby”. She’s only seven after all. Having spent a lot of time around middle school and high school students over the past ten years I’ve witnessed firsthand the speed at which a child turns into a young adult (for some it’s faster than others!). It’s much easier to observe the transformation from the sidelines than it is to be in the shoes of the parent.

Megan is on the brink of what many refer to as the “tween” years (ages 8-12). I’ve gotten this far as a parent and I think I know what to expect during the teenage years but I have no clue about the next four years. It’s nice to know that there are books like the Secret Keeper Girl Series to help tween girls – and their moms – make a smoother transition into the next stage of life. As a mom of an almost tween girl I was more than willing to review the first book of the series, Danicka’s Totally Terrible Toss. I was already familiar with the book’s author Dannah Gresh through her organization Pure Freedom which promotes purity among teenagers. Overall I was pleased with the book. Eight to twelve is a broad age range. There were some references that would be more relevant for an older tween (instant messaging, texting) but I felt that the theme of surrounding yourself with wise friends in order to make wise decisions was universal for all stages of life. This would be a great book to read out loud with Megan when the time is right.

Here is an overview of the series:

Rutherford B. Hayes Middle School will never be the same. Danika is in deep trouble for hitting Mrs. Hefty’s right temple with her brown bag lunch. Toni is trying out for the boy’s football league…against her dad’s wishes and the school rules. Kaitlyn is completely boy-crazy and will stop at nothing to express her love for her older brother’s best friend. And Yuzi is the new kid at school whose name nobody can pronounce and in a valiant effort to fit in their worlds collide one afternoon when they all end up in after school detention and the Secret Keeper Girl Club is formed to save the day. Full of comedy, action, emotion and life-transforming lessons, each book includes a mother/daughter Girl Gab assignment in the appendix.