In The Beginning...There Were No Diapers: Laughing and Learning In The First Years Of Fatherhood

Rating:
Summary: Finally! A gift for new fathers!
Review: I've always felt that fathers get left out at gift-giving time around the birth of a baby and no more! I have four friends having babies and this book is exactly what I will include with their flowers and rattles. Something to help dad keep his sense of humor!
Julie Clark Robinson, author of Live in the Moment

Rating:
Summary: Good, clean fun and a whole lot of love
Review: In the Beginning...There Were No Diapers: Laughing and Learning in the First Years of Fatherhood by Tim Bete is one of the most delightful parenting humor books I have ever read. Having grown up reading Erma Bombeck, I have read the funniest and the finest in my day. Tim Bete's humor, laced with a God-based perspective, anchors his stories in every day life in a way Erma Bombeck never did. It makes his writing unique and honest -- a cut above the rest.

His wild imagination combined with a nurturing sensitivity towards his progeny makes this quick and fun read very enjoyable. One of my favorite lines comes from his imaginary tale of his home life played out as a movie:

"There is only one human being in sight. Except for the tormented look on her face, she looks vaguely familiar - almost wife-like. She sits mute on the couch with her head in her hands. I ask her how her day was. She glares." As a writer and stay-at-home mom, I laughed for ten minutes straight. See, see! Some men do see their wives the way we see ourselves.

From thinking his children are monkeys taking over the Earth to marveling at his son's recycling ability, Bete offers his readers a much-needed break from the mundane, turning our very lives into miracles, too. Thank you, Mr. Bete, for the reminder that God is with us, even when (or maybe because?) there are graham cracker crumbs in our pockets.

Christine Louise Hohlbaum, American expat author of Diary of a Mother (2003) and SAHM I Am: Tales of a Stay-at-Home Mom (May 2005), resides with her family near Munich, Germany. http://www.diaryofamother.com


Rating:
Summary: Tim Bete -- Cosby for a new generation of dads
Review: Tim Bete brings humor and insight to the job of fatherhood, capturing the many miracles of parenthood in this wonderful first book. His weekly column already charms people from coast to coast. "In the Beginning..." will be the first of many successful efforts for this up-and-coming humorist. I've only read one chapter and can't wait to read the rest. This book will be a "must get" for couple's showers, Father's Day, or any occasion when a gift is needed for a dad of any age. Witty and wry, Tim's style will keep dads -- and moms -- laughing for long time.