Instructional and conversational, I'm Not Your Friend, I'm Your Parent challenges parents to reclaim their roles, make the hard decisions, and put their children's characters and well-being ahead of peer pressue and social status. With entertaining stories from her own family and those of others she has encountered in her profession as a journalist, E. D. tackles parental challenges:

Manners: thank you and other common courtesies
Discipline: tantrums and time-outs
Money: chores and allowances
Sportsmanship: fair vs. foul
Clothing: fashion and dress codes
Teenagers: structure and consequences