But Dad! : A Survival Guide for Single Fathers of Tween and Teen Daughters

You’re a smart guy. You read The Perfect Storm and now you find yourself living it. Your daughter, who yesterday was happy to hang out with you at Home Depot, now cries for no known reason. Last week you were her soccer coach and ‘the best dad there ever was, really,’ and today on the way home from practice she turned away and stared sadly out the window and wouldn’t say a word to you. She’s hovering around adolescence and all of a sudden you’re flopping on the daddy-deck in a panic. What the heck is about to happen and how are you going to get through this? How can you help her get through these difficult years when honestly, you don’t totally understand it yourself? If you’re a single dad, it can get all the more complicated. You might not know who or where to go to for the real deal, the inside scoop. When did her body start to change? Where the heck do you buy a training bra, and when? Do you have to take her or can you pay someone else to do it? What about dating? Or the girl clique thing you’ve heard about. Can’t you just ignore it and raise her just like you would a son, just like you were raised?

This book is for any man raising a tween or teen daughter, but particularly the single man who does or doesn’t have full-time custody. This is the definitive guide to helping dad and daughter get past ‘survive’ and onto ‘thrive.’ Written for any man raising daughters, the authors geared this book for the single dad who may not have a woman in his life with whom to confer about issues their daughters may be facing like sex, friendships, boyfriends, alcohol and drugs, and personal hygiene. This book covers it all, from what to keep stocked in the bathroom to how to talk about sex without being blown off. The authors help dads gain a better sense of what their daughters are going through, how their bodies are changing, how their relationships are changing, and how best to handle the ups and downs of these challenging years.

Gretchen Grossis a lecturer at University of Vermont, where she teaches courses on human relationships and sexuality. She is and a licensed clinical social worker with 25 years direct counseling, private practice, teaching and workshop and presentation experience.In her private practice she has counseled parents on issues related to divorce and parenting, communication, sexuality and child rearing. She is a contributing author on sexuality in “Glass’s Office Gynecology” and was on the review panel for the journal “Women in Therapy”. Each month, she contributes a column on life as a single mom called “Solo Act” to Vermont Woman. She has presented at national and international professional conferences on topics of reproductive decision making, substance abuse, physicians and stress management, and teaching health professionals to feel more comfortable talking with and assessing clients for sexual dysfunction.

Patricia Livingston is a registered nurse with more than 25 years of direct clinical practice at the University of Vermont Student Women’s Health Service. She has counseled hundreds of young women who are having their first gynecological exam, engaging them in the process while easing them through an important ‘first.’ She has been the clinical preceptor to medical residents and nurse practitioner students. She has been a guest lecturer in classrooms, dorms, and sororities, and a founding member of the clinical team at UVM that established clinical protocol and policy for students identified with eating disorders.