Best of the Bunch
Posted on 09. Oct, 2007 by rebel in General
I was asked the other day why I started Rebel Dad in the first place*. The initial rationale was that there was basically nothing out there on at-home fathers (or even fathers in general). There were no good books, no magazines, and barely anything on the web beyond the already-decrepit (and now dead) slowlane.com and the pioneering dad blogger, Being Daddy, who hung it up two years ago.
But in those five years, there has been an explosion in resources for fathers, and I wanted to point out some of the best.
BOOKS:
Be Prepared. This is the finest book on new fatherhood ever written. It is fully and lavishly illustrated in a 1950s style and offers practical advice done about 70 percent seriously (which is about as seriously as anyone should take parenthood). Brilliant content, brilliantly executed. (The Amazon ratings are telling: 60 ratings. 57 five-star ratings. 3 four-star ratings.)
Pop Culture. No pictures, but a well-done look at the nuts-and-bolts of modern fatherhood with a wonderful, authentic voice.
The Stay-at-Home Dad Handbook. To the extent there is a national network of at-home dads, it is because of Peter Baylies, who wrote the At-Home Dad Handbook. It’s focused on at-home fathers, but full of plenty of excellent advice for fathers of all stripes (who have kids of all ages).
Twenty Days with Julian and Little Bunny. Nathanial Hawthorne — the Scarlet Letter guy — recorded the three weeks he spent as an at-home dad 150 years ago. Though there are too many first-person dad accounts to count (including some pretty good ones) on bookstore shelves, I’ve never read one as pithy as Hawthorne’s.
BLOGS:
Daddy Dialectic: There are dozens of great dad blogs — particularly first-person takes on the subject — but no one puts fatherhood under as analytical a lens as does Jeremy Adam Smith and his fellow bloggers at Daddy Dialectic.
Daddy Types: Greg Allen — the guy behind Daddy Types — has taken on the huge task of viewing just about all products aimed at parents for their beauty, practicality and consideration of fathers. I go to sleep hoping that baby product developers read him as closely as I do.
MAGAZINES:
There are still no great magazines aimed at fathers. The mainstream parenting mags are can’t-look terrible, particularly when it comes to taking dads into account. Brain, Child is probably the best of the alternative parenting magazines, though I have not entirely forgiven them for missing the significance of at-home dads three years ago.
* For the record, the site will hit its five-year anniversary in just a few weeks. That’s the wood anniversary, if you’re shopping. 2x4s and sheets of plywood always welcome.
Darren a/k/a Clare's Dad
09. Oct, 2007
In case it’s not often said, thanks for writing Rebel Dad. Yours was one of the first dad blogs I found when I started blogging two years ago. Back then, I put just about every dad blog I could find in my blogroll. Now there are too many out there to keep up with that.
Anonymous Yuengling Drinker.
09. Oct, 2007
Wood? You want us to give you wood? There are too many available jokes.
Congrats on the longevity!!!
You know.
Bob Farley
09. Oct, 2007
Five years on the internet is like an age in geologic time. Will you eventually turn into stay-at-home granddad? Let’s hope so. This page has always provided good information, encouragement, and quite often a good laugh in the couple of years I’ve been paying attention.
And now, I must figure out the difference between a splinter and a thorn for my five-year-old, one that makes sense to him, since they both come from plants. I think he wants to streamline the language.
Jeremy Adam Smith
10. Oct, 2007
Congrats on five years! And thanks for the quote about Daddy Dialectic–jeez, that is just made to be a blurb. Think I’ll go put it on my website right now…
judy goldberg
10. Oct, 2007
Hi Brian,
I’m an editor at Parents magazine and I wanted to ask you a few questions but my email keeps getting bounced back. Can you shoot me an email?
judy dot goldberg @ meredith dot com
Thanks!!!!!
Terance
11. Oct, 2007
Congrats and I will definitely keep my eyes posted here. You have opened them up quite wide and I need my daily fix. BTW, thanks for the add to your blogroll! Keep up the great work and I look forward to more insights from you.
Cryitout
11. Oct, 2007
Congrats on almost five years! This is one of my all-time favorite sites on the web, so thanks for your hard work!
Mike