But Dad!: A Survival Guide for Single Fathers of Tween and Teen Daughters

by Gretchen Gross, Patricia Livingston

You’re a smart guy. You read The Perfect Storm and now you find yourself living it. Your daughter, who yesterday was happy to hang out with you at Home Depot, now cries for no known reason. Last week you were her soccer coach and ‘the best dad there ever was, really,’ and today on the way home from practice she turned away and stared sadly out the window and wouldn’t say a word to you. She’s hovering around adolescence and all of a sudden you’re flopping on the daddy-deck in a panic. What the heck is about to happen and how are you going to get through this? How can you help her get through these difficult years when honestly, you don’t totally understand it yourself? If you’re a single dad, it can get all the more complicated. You might not know who or where to go to for the real deal, the inside scoop. When did her body start to change? Where the heck do you buy a training bra, and when? Do you have to take her or can you pay someone else to do it? What about dating? Or the girl clique thing you’ve heard about. Can’t you just ignore it and raise her just like you would a son, just like you were raised?

This book is for any man raising a tween or teen daughter, but particularly the single man who does or doesn’t have full-time custody. This is the definitive guide to helping dad and daughter get past ‘survive’ and onto ‘thrive.’ Written for any man raising daughters, the authors geared this book for the single dad who may not have a woman in his life with whom to confer about issues their daughters may be facing like sex, friendships, boyfriends, alcohol and drugs, and personal hygiene. This book covers it all, from what to keep stocked in the bathroom to how to talk about sex without being blown off. The authors help dads gain a better sense of what their daughters are going through, how their bodies are changing, how their relationships are changing, and how best to handle the ups and downs of these challenging years.

192 pages, Paperback

First published February 1, 2012

Reviews

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Intersting guide to teenage girls, although I think it oversimplifies teenage girls thought process. It also underestimates their ability to embarrassed by their fathers. I think there could have been more advice on getting your daughter to like you, which the book sort of assumes is the case, but might not be in actuality.

[Jeff Rosendahl · Rating 3 out of 5]

I grabbed this book because, although I'm not a single father, I do have a tween daughter. So not everything in the book was necessarily for me, but there were some interesting tidbits. And if I was an overwhelmed single father, I think I'd be tempted to take all the advice to heart and follow it to the letter. I felt the book was written in an easygoing style that wasn't necessarily preach-y, although there are many scary issues raised. For myself, I've heard and read it before, but it's not a bad thing for "experts" to continue to tell Dads about the terrors of teen sex, depression, suicide, etc etc. I like the way the authors give specific tasks for Dads to do when navigating this time of their lives. Good, solid advice.

[Kristi · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found this when looking up parenting books, specifically for dads of daughters, that I could use for research in a story that I'm writing. It was such a fantastic resource. I think that it provides good advice for single dads with tween and teen daughters. I would definitely recommend it.

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

Necessary. Strikes an excellent tone: I get the sense that these are the parents I could trust, which is not always the case. I now know more about feminine hygiene products than my actual tween.

[Christopher · Rating 4 out of 5]

Obviously, I'm not a single dad, but I was looking for some information tween daughters. It had some great explanations, examples and information to help me a better dad.