As a counselor and mother to three daughters and a son, I wish this book were published about 15 years ago. Not only does it provide a comprehensive look at what our girls are up against as their biology interacts with today's world, Donna Jackson Nakazawa offers plenty of concrete ideas for parents to improve our daughter's experiences now.
My number 1 favorite point is that parents MUST deal with our own trauma histories in order to support our daughters. We all have "stuff" from our past that interferes with our interactions with our children. It is not until we reckon with this "stuff" that we are able to clearly understand our responses to the struggles of our daughters and improve those responses to better meet their needs. Nakazawa explains the reasons for this in detail, so I won't go into it here.
The last half of the book provides advice about how to manage specific situations parents may encounter with daughters. As I read through this section, I found myself reflecting on my experiences raising my three girls and how I could have done better. Thankfully, Nakazawa emphasizes it is never too late as repair is a skill our daughters (and sons) need to see modeled by their parents.
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