Books Report: "What to Expect When Your Wife is Expanding: A Reassuring Month-by-Month Guide For The Father-to-Be, Whether He Wants Advice Or Not"

Thomas Hill and Cader Books, 2007

This book/pamphlet was a gift from Jim (father of Brenna and Delamie), who is a funny guy and pretty smart, too. Now, some people will say that this book has almost zero useful information in it, because it's meant to be humorous (it calls itself a "parody" right on the cover there). However, every once in a while, the book would surprise me with some actual knowledge cloaked in "humor". Stuff that it helped me to know, even if it didn't change my actions, simply because it tempered my expectations. For instance, I wasn't going to skip any of Stef's doctor visits that I could possibly make, but it was nice to know that a bunch of them are just (i) Stef peeing in a cup, (ii) the Doctor reassuring her that her horrible symptoms are normal, and (iii) setting up the next appointment.

As for the jokes? Some were funny, some were really not. I try and be really supportive of Stef, so it's hard for me to laugh at her misfortune, and a bunch of the "humor" in the book is in that vein. Every once in a while though, there would be something actually ha-ha funny, but for the most part, I laugh more at the conversations I have with Jim (or reading these blogs) than I did reading this book.