ParenTEENing Made Simple Book

Introduction to ParenTEENing Made Simple

"To connect with your children, first connect with yourself"

- Shefali Tsabary

One thing that most people agree upon is that the teenage years happen to be one of the most challenging phases in an individual’s life.

During this transition period from childhood to adulthood, teenagers are exposed to both external and internal challenges, which could be social challenges, work and school pressures. This period of life is a growth phase with several changes in their life not only physical but also mental and social. It is usually marked by hormonal changes, puberty, social and parental issues. Amidst all these, they are also developing their self-identity as it is a time of transition into their adulthood roles and expectations. It is a time to make major decisions for the future which includes their academics and career choices. At home, teens may feel misunderstood and may yearn for better understanding from the people around them.

Key categorisation of terms by origin:

A person between 13 and 19 years of age is called a teenager as their age number ends with ‘teen’. The word teenager is often mistakenly alternated with adolescence.

The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child defines a child as an individual aged 0-18 years. In course of time, the UN has come to formally define adolescence as the period between 0-19 years of age. Adolescence is the name for the transitional period between childhood and adulthood, consisting of the teen and pre-teen years and is characterised by many physical, sexual, cognitive, social and emotional changes that can cause anxiety for both children and their families. Around 16 % of the world’s population falls in the adolescent category (10-19 years of age) as per WHO fact sheet of September 2020.

The overview of the book with its three modules and the various chapters are given below:

This book reflects all my experiences gleaned over the years as a mother, educationist and coach. All in all, writing the book has been a rewarding experience and I hope you will enjoy reading the book as much as I loved writing it. I was driven by the innate need to make Parenteening as simple as possible for my readers. This journey would be well worth it if I have been able to help you and have made you aware of a few things in the realm of parenteening.

How the book came into being

Sometime in June 2019, I was working on my assignment abroad. I had some days of leave and was travelling back to India to my family. My flight had been announced and I just had a few minutes to get to the boarding gate. On the way, I decided to use the lady’s restroom. Luckily, it was almost empty, except for a mother and her two beautiful teenage daughters standing in front of the mirror. A conversation was ongoing. The mother was berating her older daughter saying, ‘Why can’t you be like her?’ pointing to her younger daughter. As I was leaving the restroom, I glanced at the face of her older daughter. The taunting words of the mother seemed to be a slap in the face. She looked angry and humiliated. The face of this young girl kept appearing in my mind throughout my journey.

The realisation dawned on me that day that as parents, we may mean well but cause much damage to our children through ignorance and injurious parenting practices that can kill their self-esteem. Out of this experience was born the idea of a book on parenting. My three decades of work with teens and parents in the field of education, my own parenting journey and my current coaching practice has helped shape my mission to work with parents and teens in their journey.

About the Author

Hema Vinod is a Parenteening coach, wife and mother of two sons. In her 30 years of experience as an Educationist and UN appointed Education Specialist, she has worked with students in many parts of the world. That has given her a holistic understanding of teenagers and parenting.

Her passion to put her knowledge and experience to good use has inspired her to write a book on Parenteening.

More importantly she is engaged in building a community to hone the leadership skills of teenagers and help parents provide their best support to their children.