Tuesday, March 04, 2008

A Gay Guy Tells Me How to Parent Mah Baby

I took it as a propitious sign when I got an offer to read The Gay Uncle's Guide to
Parenting, a new parenting book by Brett Berk, an educator who's been around kids and seen it all for more than 20 years. I say this because I've been putting off looking for a book that discusses some of the challenges I've been facing as the mom of a toddler. The thing is, I fear that if I start one book, I'll seek out another book, then another, and then next thing you know, I'm caught in this awful vortex of parenting books, none of which will ever answer all my questions or meet my expectations or empower me or make it all all right.

O.k., so I have some issues when it comes to the parenting genre; I admit it. So the fact that this book pretty much fell on my lap was a sign to me that I should just read it and see if I could glean anything from it. The fact that it promised some humor and snark didn't hurt, as that's how I prefer to take advice in.

The premise of the book is interesting: Berk has spent the last 20 years or so working with children - as a teacher, a preschool director and a consultant to toy/food/etc. companies. So basically, he's an expert on kids because he's been with them and seen them in action and worked with them and, and this might be the important part, has been able to do the same with parents. And as a gay man who has not had kids of his own, has been able to remain at enough distance to keep perspective, the kind we parents can lose sometimes.

I have to admit that it was mainly this premise - gay childless man who's spent most of his life surrounded by kids - that most got my attention. Because I could really use the perspective of someone who's neither parent nor doctor but can lay some claim to expertise, and I know a gay man's going to give it to me straight, no pun intended.

So how did Berk do?

Continue reading...

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Posted by Tere @ 3/04/2008   | |

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