how to dad, or how not to

Just how dad are you? Do you get to the airport hours before your flight? Have you ever snacked on potpourri or eaten a bowl of salsa, thinking it was soup? Have you complained that the Kool-Aid was way too sweet when you’ve accidentally drunk hummingbird nectar? Have you brushed your teeth with Ben-Gay? Have you gone to Outback Steakhouse and ordered a Bloomin’ Idiot? Have you texted MOFO instead of FOMO? If so, you may be that dad, the one who embarrasses your kids and your wife, and I bet they have stories.

Chip Leighton, the guy on social media who posts embarrassing texts from teenagers, has written a book celebrating the dads. After all those teenager texts, the teenagers started sharing their own stories, and now Leighton has compiled them into a book that is a perfect gift for dads or those who love them. Or those who love to laugh at them.

These funny stories run the gamut of home and vacations, driving and eating, taking the kids to school (hopefully the right one) and dealing with childbirth. Each chapter includes quizzes to find out just how dad you are, with answers for basic dads, mid, and extra. And they all offer up equally funny and embarrassing things that the kids have said, so you get input from the whole family. In fact, Leighton’s kids chime in several times to offer their point of view on their dad, his social media presence, and this book.

So if you’re the dad who complained about the texture of the fruit roll-up (it was still attached to the plastic) or the one who took the kids to the dentist and when asked their birthdays, got 3 out of 4 wrong, then these stories are for you. If you ever took a wrong turn and ended up in Canada, if you can snore so loudly that other campers think there is a bear, if you ever stored your leftover pizza in a hotel safe or got your wallet stolen by a goose and had to chase it to get it back, then you will find kindred spirits in these stories.

I listened to Dad Can You Not? on audio, read by the author in his droll style, and I have to admit that there were times I had to stop listening. Most of these stories are kind of funny or a little embarrassing, but there are a few that had me laughing so hard that I was almost crying. Like the heat of a chili pepper, it builds up until it burns so hard you can’t stop laughing.

You can listen to this with the family, obviously. It would be a lot of fun. But I’m sure it would also bring out all your personal stories from family moments, which would have pros and cons. Only a dad can decide if that would be worth the risk. It may depend on if he ever mistook Superglue for hemorrhoid cream or went down the wrong street and ended up as the lead car in a parade. Either way, Dad Can You Not? is a reminder of how we are all human, just doing our best, even when you give your kids peanut butter snacks for two years before realizing that they were dog treats.

A copy of the audio book for Dad Can You Not? has been provided by RBMedia through NetGalley, with many thanks, but the opinions are mine.