I know that it is obvious, I love to read. If I am not schooling my children, or disciplining them, I usually have a book in my hand!
Some books I enjoy reviewing, some I LOVE reviewing, some I say, “sure”, and with others I beg “Oh, Please pick me!!”
This time I am reviewing 4 books, a set of books by Nicole O’Dell. Can I just admit, after the past few weeks, and knowing what lies ahead, I begged – “OH Please pick me!!” And I got them! Yeah!
We are in the middle of navigating puberty with our oldest son, and we expect to be in these here waters for a couple years. Lovely. So when the offer was presented to read the Hot Button books covering subjects like : Internet, Dating, Drugs, and Sexuality, you can be assured I was in!! I sure hoped these little treasures would offer some much needed wisdom, and they did!!
Immediately I jumped into the Sexuality one. I have learned lots lately, from a few books helping us walk through this subject with our oldest son. I should nickname him the General. He really thinks he is in charge, you know how that can be.
I loved what Nicole wrote in this little book. I loved her honesty, but most of all I loved that she clearly tells you that we should be expecting the highest standards for our kids. She did not concede that, well everyone is doing it, so you need to know yours may too. No. She said you need to expect them to set high standards and to hold to them. It was refreshing to have anyone indicate that our goal of getting our children into marriage with purity in tact was even possible, let alone, encouraged!!
These are not books the kids need to read. They are written to the parent. They are books that Robert and I will read, then we will discuss, followed by discussing with our child. There is tons of information that the pre-pubescent and pubescent boy does not need to be worry about right now.
My second favorite of the series was Drug Edition. I am naïve, I admit it. I have no idea what was going on when I was in high school, I was oblivious. But I do know, MUCH MORE is going on now. And I am not sure I am ready to deal with all that my children will need to face and deal with. This book goes in to detail on what is going on today, what kids are using, the risks they are taking and the “high” they are getting. I found this book very informative!!
The Internet Edition covers topics like Pornography, Social Media, and Predators, all topics we hate to even think about. She stresses the importance of supervision when our children are on-line. Nicole lists out some symptoms that your child is too dependent on the internet (whose are not?). When addressing Pornography she points out just how common this is, and how we need to handle it when it affects our children.
Finally, the Dating Edition gets the parents thinking about how this should look for their family. How to figure out the right time, how it should look when it is the right time, and who might be the ones our children are dating. I love the scenarios she offers in these books too, that we can sit down with our kids read them and then discuss them. I feel like these scenarios get us all talking and help our kids load their tool box so they will know what to do when faced with those choices in the future.
What I like about Nicole’s books is that she presents information, also offers suggested prayers, lists out questions to ask your teen, and follows up with lots of challenges along the way. I HIGHLY recommend these books to everyone who has kids in the house getting close to that puberty stage, or who will eventually! I feel like these books are going to help me prepare my kids, but they will also be invaluable resources as we face things along the way.
NOTE : I was offered a copy of the four Hot Button books at no cost, in exchange for an honest review by Kregel Publishers and LitFuse.
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