Are You a Caveman Dad or a Pirate Dad? Reviewing the Dad Parenting Guides.

editors — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 15:00:00 GMT

There are many, many books out there that offer fathers advice about parenting. With all of the options, dads (and would be gift-givers) are faced with a dilemma: which book to choose? Allow us to take some of the guess work out of it by ranking five new books geared towards dads for you. Here's our take on the good, the bad and the strange. -- Lindsay Armstrong

BOOK: Caveman’s Guide to Baby’s First Year
GIMMICK: Men evolve from Cro Magnums to Homo Sapiens by parenting; luckily they don’t hit this idea too hard.
BEST ADVICE: Start enforcing new rules for pets long before the baby is born so that your pet is more likely to adhere to them and more accepting of your baby.
WORST ADVICE: "Thou Shalt Remain True to Thy Inner Troglodyte."
RATING: A Lots of valuable information presented in a straightforward way (if you can get past occasionally being referred to as a "knuckledragger").

BOOK: Good Dad, Bad Dad: Do’s and Don’ts from the Trenches
GIMMICK: Quick shots of practical advice for the dad who has little time to read
BEST ADVICE: “DON'T criticize your wife’s parenting skills.”
WORST ADVICE: "DO Learn how to belch the alphabet."
RATING: D Fun to flip through but most of the advice is obvious.

BOOK: How to Feel Manly in a Minivan
GIMMICK: Don't panic; you can enjoy being a dad and still be an awesome dude.
BEST ADVICE: “Start saving old cell phones, PDAs, and MP3 players.” This way, your baby will play with them instead of your brand new iPhone.”
WORST ADVICE: “ Your baby is like a pet and a college roommate.”
RATING: C Make sure to separate the real advice from the joke advice or you could be in trouble.

BOOK: Cap’n Billy “The Butcher” Macdougall’s Guide to Parenting
GIMMICK: A pirate makes a good parent because he can manage a ship's crew. A dubious premise
BEST ADVICE: “Avoid repeating commands but, if a command isn’t followed, repeat it once along with the consequence of not following the command.”
WORST ADVICE: On preparing for parenthood: “Visit your local fish market and purchase a fresh, whole squid and take care of it as if it was a real baby.”
RATING: F for advice that’s fishy at best.

BOOK: Parking Lot Rules & 75 Other Ideas for Raising Children
GIMMICK: Anecdotes and sports metaphors to help dads navigate parenting older kids
BEST ADVICE: The John Elway Rule: "Whenever you are going to be in a crowd, make sure that you child is easy to spot by dressing him in the jersey of your favorite NFL player. An NFL jersey is meant to be seen from the top row of an enormous stadium in the middle of a rainstorm."
WORST ADVICE: "When your daughter calls out to you, answer her…by saying 'Yes?' or 'Yes, my love?' or 'Yes, my darling?'….Never answer 'What?' in response to your daughter calling you."
RATING: B "Never answer your child by saying 'What?'!" Could anyone be this perfect a parent? This is a great book about raising older children, but does not really address babies.

Photo: Parenthood.com

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Are You a Caveman Dad or a Pirate Dad? Reviewing the Dad Parenting Guides.