Parking Lot Rules (and 75 other ideas for raising children) by Tom Sturges is good little volume of helpful hints Mr. Sturges has learned over sixteen years of fatherhood. While some of the tips are just plain practical (4 times to wash hands) may seem a little out of place compared to the more emotional issues he faces, such as how to communicate your love to a sixteen year old boy without embarrassing him. Other advice, such as the importance of thank you notes, also seems like filler though I can tell from other parts of the book that social conventions are important to the author. I tend to share his views on the importance of teaching basic social habits like saying “please” and “thank you,” but you might be surprised to see this advice sandwiched in between other more sentimental issues.
Still, I liked Parking Lot Rules (which refers to another practical tip about parking lot safety) and I’ll keep it on the bedside table a while. There are even a few things I want to show my wife.