While there has been abundant research and literature about child development and motherhood, precious little has been written about how fathers change and develop as parents or about how children influence their fathers' development. Yet the author and most other fathers know that a man who's just found out that his wife is expecting is a very different kind of man from the one he'll be when he holds his newborn in his arms for the first time. And that same dad will have changed again - psychologically and emotionally - by the time his baby speaks for the first time. Fathers evolve and develop throughout every stage of their children's lives - from the preschool and elementary school years, through the tumultuous teens, young adulthood, middle-age, grandfather years, and beyond. But no matter what the child's age, a father is always a father. In this ground-breaking book, Armin Brott presents the stages of fatherhood with the same thoroughness, accessibility, and humor that have made his critically acclaimed books the most popular fatherhood guides in the country. He offers a wealth of information and practical tips, incorporating the wisdom of top experts, scores of studies about human and parental development, and his own extensive interviews with hundreds of fathers, including brand-new dads, dads of toddlers, dads of school-age kids, dads of teens, dads whose kids are adults, grandfathers, adoptive dads, step-dads, and single dads. Because fatherhood is a progression, the chapters are organized chronologically and describe a father's physical and emotional growth, how he influences a child at every age and how a child impacts a father's evolution in turn. Each chapter discusses "What's Going on with the Child," "What's Going on With You," "Why Be Involved?" and "How to be Involved." Brott covers everything from such general issues as how to juggle work and family roles, how to affect the kind of person your child becomes, and when to encourage his/her individuality and independence to such specific topics as how to get to know your baby, what to do if your teen uses drugs, and how to cope when adult children return home. Illustrated throughout with New Yorker style cartoons that underscore the universality of the joys and woes of parenting, Father for Life, brimming with insights and advice, is an indispensable, lifelong guide - not only for every dad, but for every mom and child as well.
Armin A. Brott, author of The Expectant Father, Fathering Your Toddler, Fathering Your School-Age Child, The Single Father, and Father for Life: A Journey of Joy, Challenge, and Change, as well as the audiobook of The Expectant Father, has written on fatherhood for such leading publications as The New York Times Magazine, Newsweek, and Parenting. Host of 'Positive Parenting,' a weekly talk show, he lives with his family in Oakland, California.
