The other night, our little girl had what my wife and I call a nuclear melt-down of a tantrum while we were in a store. It was one for the history books. It was our fault in that we went to the store with her after her bedtime, so the littlest thing was guaranteed to snowball into a melt-down of at least some proportion. This one, however, was a monster.
Because I won’t tolerate a tantrum in a store or similar public place, I left my wife doing the shopping and took our girl outside. Normally, this separation from the venue and a firm talking to will start her calming down. This time, calming down wasn’t in the cards.
August 15, 2010 – 12:13 pm
In Forty Weeks of Keeping Your Head Down Bill Bounds has written an entertaining first person look at the baby process. This genre, pioneered by Grant Eppler in What to Expect When She’s Expecting, gives the reader a very personal view of what happens on the long road of pregnancy. While Bounds’ experiences are personal, his experience is common to us all, complete with OB/GYN visits, scary moments, and the eventual joy of a birth scene. Other new dads can read the book front to back, or pick up and scan the chapters for approaching or familiar territory
I still thought it was “paper or plastic?” but John Badalament has set me straight in his new book,
The Modern Dad’s Dilemma: How to stay connected with your kids in a rapidly changing world.
The dilemma for many, if not all, modern dads, as Badalament sees it, is how to be a great dad and still fulfill the requirements of jobs that require us to be “on” or at least “on-line” seven days a week.
Which of the following is a common sign of jaundice in an infant:
…If a baby’s eyes tear up while drinking from a bottle or breast, it can be a sign of: A.
…In a test of more than 200 noise-producing toys, how many had an unacceptable noise level and could increase the risk of hearing damage?
…D., and Jacqueline Nardi Egan, Authors of Baby Body Signs which contains a myriad of medical information that can help parents and other caregivers prevent and detect various disorders in their babies. … The answers to the following questions can all be found in the pages of Baby Body Signs , as well as in medical textbooks, journals, and history books.
In a tidy 230 pages, Joe sketches out the basics of fatherhood, covering everything from what he calls the “5 P’s” (Be Present, Protect, Provide, Partner, and Play!) … This is not a book that covers the specifics of any one chapter in a baby’s life, and, if you’re looking for a manual on baby maintenance, you’re better off choosing books like Dr. … However, in the Checklists, the “Power Modules” section will give you specific pointers on changing a diaper, feeding the baby, teething, how to clean the house, and even how to make lasagna! We enjoyed the reverential tone Joe has for the responsibilities of fatherhood, since we also believe that while parenthood has much to laugh at, it’s quite often serious business. … Chapters on how to pray for baby and individual “Chapter Prayers,” will be appropriate for some readers, but not for others.
Where Baird’s book is different is that it represents a new trend in dad parenting books, as stay-at-home dads become the norm, as do other complicated living and financial circumstances families cobble together to pay the mortgage, and put pampers and formula on the table. While these new books don’t differ much in the parenting and medical advice they dispense, they do offer advice for dads in different situations. … Organized by age from early pregnancy through two years, I’m Going to be a Dad covers a lot of ground in 277 pages. The information is succinct and to the point, and embellished only by the periodic “case studies” of different types of dads (widower, soldier, traditional for example) which are really Q & A interviews on how they are dealing with new fatherhood.
… There is a lot of practical advice in I’m Going to be a Dad, and it’s a solid primer for a new dad, though you may need to supplement it with one of your wife’s books if you want to dig deep into a subject.
Horror at Camp JellyJam is about a boy and a girl who find themselves trapped in a camp. … While the stories are intriguing and very readable, parents not should not be worried that small kids will be exposed to the violence suggested on the book covers.
The bookshelves are filled with this type of thing: the guy who lives and dresses like Jesus for a year, the couple who give up the phone, television, and computer, and of course, Julie writing about her adventures with a year full of Julia Child recipes. … of the concept book, and we’re all curious to imagine what insights can be pulled from a year of slavish devotion to a book gimmick. The Power of Half is different, of course, because it appeals to our better natures and takes on a cause. It is not a marketing exercise, nor I think, did it start as a self-help ritual to bring order to this family’s life. Instead, The Power of Half grew out of a realization any of us above the average income in the United States (notice, I did not say median) at least sometimes feel: that with the vast majority of world citizens consuming far less than we do, living on far smaller parcels of land, and driving tinier cars, we might be able to cut back quite a bit and not feel any real psychic pain. $1 of each copy sold will be donated to Rebuilding Together, a charity serving America’s low-income home-owners at no charge to those with greatest need.
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Everyone tells you to raise a reader. Read to them when they are babies, read them stories every night, model reading behavior. A great, or even good dad, will devote hours in slavish devotion to this idea. Well, here’s one dad who will tell you what the evil publishing scientists and lobbyists won’t: [...]
February 26, 2010 – 3:59 pm
Pocket Doodles for Kids is a fun book for kids who like to draw. When my daughter first saw this book at nine, though she fancied herself a budding an artist, it was hard for her to know what to do. … It’s a lot of half-finished drawings that give just enough detail that a young artist can add on to complete the picture. Depending on the artist, the end result can be a funny cartoon with a caption or just a completed drawing. This is not a coloring book, but a good idea starter for young (or older) illustrators.
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