Review: Quick read
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 09 12, 2013
Firstly, I have to admit that I was a bit confused about who was writing this book. Writing credit goes to Pete Sortwell and it is all written in the first-person but at one point the father identifies himself as Graham. It seems that there are co-authors for this, but it's unclear who's the "hapless father" or whether this book is an amalgam of their stories?As another reviewer has pointed out, the title is entirely accurate. I can't fault people for being ignorant of what a newborn child needs, but I had to shake my head more than a few times while reading this. I mean, they are from a First World country and by all accounts part of the NHS in the UK which even included a post-natal home inspection and additional new parent coaching -- it just didn't seem like they should be quite so clueless, especially in regard to giving an infant liquor to help him sleep. It wasn't until after they'd been doing that for a while that they looked it up online (again, how can you remain THAT ignorant with the internet at your fingertips?) and decided that they probably shouldn't continue giving the baby liquor. I'm not some finger-wagger just looking to shame new parents who maybe don't know better, but it seems like there are some basic things that are self-evident.As to the good parts of this book, I do have to tip my hat to this young couple who seem to be doing their very best. The hapless father (whoever he is) has an unhappy job for a very low salary which takes up a good deal of his time and his patience and yet he soldiers on to care for his family. All of this on top of the fact that he is still actually just getting to know the mother of his child (she got pregnant very quickly when they'd started dating). Parenthood is a significant strain on any relationship and has to be doubly difficult for people who'd hardly known each other before embarking on this life-long journey. I do wish them well and I hope the author can use some of his Amazon earnings to alleviate some of the financial tension at home.