In a recent interview I was asked why I’m writing the 4-1-1 books. Although I did answer the question with “to help those that may not be able to completely help themselves,” I’ve taken time since then to reflect on this question.
The 4-1-1 on Life Skills is a book about the basic life skills needed by adults of all ages for everyday life events. With today’s economy, many parents have to work two or more jobs and may not have the time (or energy) to teach kids the basic skills of living on their own. My target audience is young adults who move out on their own for the first time (college bound or otherwise). The book is also a great tool for people that were in a relationship for a long time and perhaps their partner handled everything, and now faced with going it alone. The 4-1-1 on Life Skills covers things such as cleaning (how often, where, why, etc.); cooking safety; finance; buying a home/car; nutrition; etiquette; relationships; and much more. This book is not gender based and would be excellent for men and well as women.
The 4-1-1 on Step Parenting is a book for those that want to build a well-blended step family. It covers step parenting, step grand-parenting, step parent adoption, and much more. With 50% of marriages ending in divorce today and 65% of those remarrying – 40% bringing children into the new marriage – more people are in need of guidance on how to make the new family work. The 4-1-1 on Step Parenting has information on communicating, bonding, finances, first time meeting, and more.
The 4-1-1 on Surviving Teenhood is a book for parents (and teens) to help them navigate the issues that our teens face today. Our teens today are faced with more than we ever experienced at their age. Of course we were all faced with drugs, teen pregnancy, alcohol, and peer pressure, but the teens today face all of this plus sexting or texting, bullying, eating disorders and cutting – just to mention a few. The 4-1-1 on Surviving Teenhood has information on all of these subjects and more. It gives both parents and teens information on how to identify the signs of someone going through the issues and provides general information on these subjects on how to cope with the issues.
My intent for these, and other books to come, is to help those that may not be able to help themselves. You don’t know – what you don’t know. I want to give teens, young adults and second-time parents the information they need to reach their full potential as individuals and as families. For more information, please visit my website at https://openpagespublishing.com.