Chris Peterson - Dadskills: How to Be an Awesome Father and Impress All the Other Parents

Ah, the good old days . Back in the day, it was a given that Father Knows Best. Children never questioned the man of the house. He was expected to go to work during work hours, bring home the bacon, and fix the car when it broke down. The kids? Well, lets just say it was a hands-off parenting generation.

Of course, back then, most dads also believed the garnish on the steak was the closest you should get to vegetables on a plate, that a nightly cocktail or four was the proper way to unwind, and that real men ate a daily dose of blood-red meat and accepted the inevitably fatal heart attack in their fifties. A lot has changed since those times, but one thing remains true: Father is still expected to know best. And that right there is what this book aims to ensure.

Its a tall order. Kids are handful and half at any given moment in history, but modern times have thrown a mess of technology and an increasingly complex world into the parenting mix. Become a parent and you were always going to have to deal with a generous mix of hormones, temper tantrums, ungodly messes, and busy school schedules. But nowadays? Get ready to be the much-maligned screen-time cop, coordinator, and chauffeur for all things social and watcher for the subtle signs that your kiddie is being bullied. Holy heck, dadding could be a full-time job these days.

But not for a Dadskills man. Youre the type of guy who has mastered opening a beer without an opener. You know how to drift a car like a stuntman and generally make your way through the world like a boss. Dad-dom? Oh, you so got this, Jack.

Thats, in part, thanks to the handy 411 in the chapters that follow, covering the full spectrum of fathering. Youll find every little need-to-know strategy and tip, from welcoming your new bundle of joy in the delivery room all the way to joyfully bundling your burden off to college and out of the house. Youll find soup-to-nuts coverage to avoid a dreaded social services visit, and for your part, you just need to bring two things to the party: the ability to keep a cool head (repeat after us: you are smarter than a four-year-old) and your well-developed sense of humor. That last one comes in particularly handy the first time Little Miss Attitude tells you she hates you, before storming off and slamming the door to her room. Remember that you were her hero once, and you will be again.