Listen up, dads! Your teen is talking to you! As exasperating as parenting can be during these volatile years, your teen is depending on you for steady faithfulness, love, and guidance. And because teens often find words elusive and expression difficult, they probably haven’t told you the things they wish you somehow automatically knew.

Low self-esteem. Sexual temptation. Eating disorders. These are just a few of the struggles teens wish they could talk with their fathers about, but usually don't. Why not? Many teens secretly long for greater closeness and better communication with their fathers, but their dads are either clueless about these needs or don't know how to fulfill them. Josh Weidmann offers fathers practical advice on overcoming this barrier from his book Dad, If You Only Knew: Eight Things Teens Want to Tell Their Fathers (But Don't). Josh, just out of the teen years himself, joins his father, James, to help dads understand where their kids are coming from. It’s a messy world they live in, and meeting them in it is no simple task. But knowing these essentials now makes fatherhood eight times easier! Do any of the following describe your recent relationship with your teen? Your teen hasn’t initiated a conversation with you for months. Your teen is embarrassed to be seen with you in public. Your teen thinks your taste in music, clothes, and friends is totally off. Your teen makes a point of letting you know how much he doesn’t need your opinions, advice, time, questions, or maybe (on a really hostile day) even your money. Take heart, dads. I hear it all the time: If a teen could say anything to you, he’d say, Dad, I need you.

One of the main things that teenagers are telling me all over the country is, 'Dad, please be real with me… Don't just give me these pat answers'. — Josh Weidmann

Dad, If You Only Knew... Eight Things Teens Want to Tell Their Fathers (but Don't) Listen Up, Dads! Your Teen Is Talking to You! As exasperating as parenting can be during these volatile years, your teen is depending on you for steady faithfulness, love, and guidance. And because teens often find words elusive and expression difficult, they probably haven't told you the things they wish you somehow automatically knew. So let Dad, If You Only Knew... be your guide. Josh Weidmann, just out of the teen years himself, joins his father, James, to help dads understand where their kids are coming from. It's a messy world they live in, and meeting them in it is no simple task. But knowing these essentials now makes fatherhood eight times easier! USA UK Canada

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