Moody, Mouthy & 12: A Brain-Based Survival Guide for Parenting Tweens

Their brain is rewiring. Yours doesn't have to.

The tween years arrive like weather — fast, loud, and seemingly out of nowhere. One season your child still hugs you in the pickup line; the next, a simple question is met with a sigh that could curdle milk.

Moody, Mouthy & 12 is a brain-based survival guide for parents of 9-to-13-year-olds. It does two things: it explains what's actually happening inside your tween's rapidly remodeling brain, and it gives you a calm, practical toolkit drawn from cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) to use when the kitchen turns into a courtroom.

Inside this 30-page guide:

• The science, simply told — synaptic pruning, the "upstairs/downstairs" brain, and why big emotions outpace impulse control in this age range
• The cognitive toolkit — five memorizable scripts, a map of the thought-feeling-action loop, and how to spot the distortions running in both your heads
• Practice and repair — co-regulation techniques, the four-part repair conversation, and habits that lower the temperature over time
• Four printable worksheets — the Trigger Map, Catch the Thought, the Calm-Down Menu, and the Weekly Repair Check-In
• Original illustrations of the developing tween brain and regulation states

Written for real parents who want to stop yelling, stop taking it personally, and start responding from the regulated adult brain in the room.

Format: Instant digital download (PDF). Print at home or read on any device.