50 Things Your Kids Don't Want to Tell You by Shelly Campbell-Harley, M.A.ED

This book was created with the idea in mind that most teenagers aren't going to open up to their parents.  The fact is, being a teenager is tough, and telling your parents some things is terrifying.  This book is broken down into chapters regarding different possibilities of things that a teenager can be terrified to tell a parent.  Each page only has one sentence on it.  Each sentence is pretty powerful.  At the end of each chapter is a place for notes.  In my opinion, this book is supposed to be used so that you can go through and imagine your child saying each thing to you, and then take the time to formulate your response.  That way, should your child ever have the bravery to speak any of the lines to you, you'll be prepared enough to answer with a clear head and a warm heart instead of being caught off guard.

My children and I have a bit of a different relationship.  My teenager is nearing his eighteenth birthday.  So, I took the opportunity to sit and go through the book with him.  We used it as a bonding experience.  'Hey!  Remember the time you said that to me!'  We also took the time to discuss how devastating it could be for a kid to talk to a parent about some of the things in the book.

If you have a teenager, there's no such thing as being too prepared.  Even if you've created an environment of safety and trust, it's invariable that there are going to be things your teenager doesn't want to share with you.  If you can be prepared ahead of time to handle situations, you'll be much more able to help your child when they do come to you.  I think this is a great tool to use for preparedness.