‘BE PREPARED’ HANDBOOK FOR FIRST TIME FATHERS

The biggest change of your life is about to happen and you are not sure you are completely up to it. Yes, you are becoming a father for the first time and, dear god, how you wish there is a manual or handbook that could prepare you for it. Well, there actually is, believe it or not, and is aptly titled ‘Be Prepared’. Specifically written for first time fathers by Gary Greenberg and illustrated by Jeannie Hayden, this manual is chock full of wonderful insights, ‘survival’ tips and straightforward advice for making it through the first year of your child’s life.

We don’t need to tell you that parenting is hard, hence we wholeheartedly advise you to get as much help as you need so you are not constantly sleep deprived and have your face covered in mashed bananas all the time. ‘Be Prepared’ will tell you how to change a baby’s diaper at a packed sports venue, create a make-shift diaper out of a sock, a towel and a duck tape (trust us, that one will definitely come in handy), stay awake in not-baby-related situations including work, childproof your hotel room in under four minutes and create a decoy drawer full of broken remote controls and cell phones to deter your child from the real thing.

This 240-page-book, published by Simon & Schuster, is also packed with all sorts of diagrams to help you through the first year of fatherhood. Thankfully, this is not an encyclopedia-sized book that it will take you months to read. Rather, ‘Be Prepared’ is a very practical handbook which covers both the basics (like bathing and feeding) and terrific sidebars (food you should never give to your baby, homemade bath toys and how to recognize a hunger cry from ‘I am bored’ cry). The book is divided into easy-to-read chapters which cover the time from the baby’s birth up to age 1.

Get it from Amazon here.