Dadditude

I just finished reading Dadditude, a hilarious new book about fatherhood from author Philip Lerman, In it, he chronicles his journey from fertility treatments through the first four years of his son's life.

Along the way, he adopts a new attitude, or Dadditude as he calls it, that there's only so much you can control in your child's life, and all the rest you just have to learn to accept. Finding that middle ground, between control and acceptance, is the key to being a happy dad.

Another lesson that Lerman conveys is that fatherhood shouldn't be so needlessly complicated. Dads don't always know how to be simple and straightforward. It's in our DNA. We also need to learn to laugh at ourselves a little more, and you'll find plenty of "Me too" moments in this book.

An excerpt:

"I don't know why so many dads think they'll be able to relate to their kid so much better once the kid starts talking. I think dads forget that once they start talking, you have to start listening, which, with a four-year-old, is very much like watching soccer. Once or twice a game an actual goal is scored, but for the most part, there's just a lot of running around that doesn't lead to anything."

Dadditude gets a huge recommendation from me. It's a joy to find both humor and warmth combined so skillfully in a parenting book.

You can read more about it at Amazon.