Tea Parties for Dads: A Crash Course in Daughters for New Fathers

by Jenna McCarthy, Sasha Barr (Illustrations)

Uh-oh, it’s a girl. For new fathers, understanding the world of girls can be puzzling — what with their obsessions for fairies, mermaids, glitter and pink, ballerinas, and, well, tea parties. Tea Parties for Dads is a friendly cheat sheet for new dads that demystifies these topics and delivers some key “talking points.” Twenty-five key topics that all good fathers should know and understand if they want to know and understand their daughters — from dress up to dolls, from horses to magic and spells. With a smart sense of humor, parent and author Jenna McCarthy explains just what’s so fascinating about all things pink and even unicorns — and then gives dads some cool insider knowledge, or a reading list, or a fun activity.

128 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2010

About the author

I’ve been writing for a long time.

I submitted my first short story to Highlights magazine in 1977.

I never got a reply.

In high school I wrote a lot of really bad poetry. Mercifully, I didn’t save any of it.

The first thing I ever had published was an essay in my college newspaper. The typesetter misspelled the word "sing" as "sign" in the last line and the whole thing made no sense whatsoever.

After graduation I got a job writing copy for a big advertising agency. I would have stayed there forever if I hadn’t gotten laid off on my twenty-fifth birthday. I grabbed a stapler and some sticky notes before I was escorted out of the building by a police officer.

I started writing fabulous articles and submitting them to all of the Fancy New York City Magazines (FNYCMs). None of them were ever published, although I did get one really nice, hand-written rejection letter.

One day, a FNYCM Editor offered me a job. I was so excited that I took it without knowing the salary. A few years later, I moved to another FNYCM. And then another. Dozens more asked me to write articles in exchange for actual money. I moved to California, wrote a book, had some babies, and wrote several more books. I gave a TED talk, flipped a house on TV and learned how to play tennis. Right now I’m trying to give up processed food and teach myself how to write a screenplay. At the same time. It’s not easy.

Someday I’d like to start a petition to have the words mauve and moist removed from the English language.

I don’t like to brag, but I’m the luckiest person I know. I’m married to my best friend, I work in my pajamas and I have two beautiful, healthy, hilarious daughters. I like cats and sparkly things and laughing until my sides hurt. And hats. I really like hats.

Oh, and I’m not Jenny McCarthy. But you knew that, right?