Dadditude: How a Real Man Became a Real Dad [Paperback]

Philip Lerman (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 27, 2008

What do the sex lives of cave women, the music of Bob Dylan, and the batting styles of the Yankees have to do with surviving the craziness of fatherhood? They’re all part of a new attitude called Dadditude-born in this fresh take on the pratfalls and occasional successes of being a dad. When Phil Lerman, nearly fifty, quits his job as producer of one of the longest-running network TV shows, he believes a lifetime of management will carry him through his new job of full-time fatherhood. But he soon learns how a three-year-old can take that belief and stuff cheese balls in its ear. Drawing parenting lessons from all the wrong places, Lerman arrives at the right answers in raising his son-and discovers that in the process of losing your mind, you can find your heart.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The strength of print and television reporter Lerman's funny and insightful look at full-time parenthood has almost nothing to do with being a "real" man and everything to do with being an older dad. At 44, Lerman hits his self-imposed age deadline for fatherhood and being able to attend a child's marriage "without the aid of a portable oxygen tent." His account of what older parents-to-be go through to get pregnant will be immediately familiar to any couple who has experienced what Lerman correctly calls "the promising, terrifying, and enormously embarrassing world of Baby Science"—including Clomid fertility treatments, sperm tests and in vitro fertilization—and it adds a sweet and thoughtful edge to the many adventures over four years after his son, Max, is born. While Lerman's Dave Barry–style humor doesn't always work, he is far more successful—and funny—recounting his struggles with lack of sleep, changing diapers and "full-fledged neurosis" about forgetting Max somewhere. More important, he captures the many ways fathers work hard at establishing their "own special relationship" with babies and toddlers, concluding with a beautiful definition of "Dadditude" as "being in the moment" and experiencing the "closeness beyond words and before words" that can be felt between parent and child. (June)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

"Dadditude is a very funny book, and a smart one, too. It provides insight into our most awesome responsibility--raising and loving our kids. It also proves two things about Phil Lerman--he takes his jobs very seriously, but he doesn't take himself very seriously." -- John Walsh

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Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Da Capo Press (May 27, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0738211656
• ISBN-13: 978-0738211657
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.1 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,595,699 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars Great read for New Dads and New Moms, December 30, 2007

By 

Claudine Wolk "Author of It Gets Easier! and ... (www.help4newmoms.com) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Dadditude: How a Real Man Became a Real Dad (Hardcover)

Dadditude is a memoir from someone new moms don't hear a lot from these days - A Dad. Phil Lerman, accomplished writer and producer, becomes stay-at-home Dad and lives to tell the tale. As he is an "older" stay-at-home dad he chronicles for the reader his foray into fertilization in order to become a Dad (hysterical) and his reflection on his son's life from birth to four years old. (my favorite parts are the honesty with which Lerman describes all the "mistakes" he is making, particularly regarding the "sleeping in issue" - all parents can relate!) He blends his experience with words of wisdom that he has procured along the way. The result is an easy-to-read look into this Dad's heart and a reminder to New Dads and Moms that it's OK to give up some control and still be a real Man (and woman), a lesson any new Dad or new Mom can use.

It Gets Easier!: And Other Lies We Tell New Mothers

4.0 out of 5 stars Losing Control, October 28, 2007

By 

North Idaho Dad "chalkhorse" - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Dadditude: How a Real Man Became a Real Dad (Hardcover)

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.

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