We made our own Peppa Pig book

Sierra has recently become OBSESSED with Peppa Pig, a UK based show about a little pig and her friends and family. The other day she told me a story she made up about Peppa going to daycare so we decided to make it into a little book. Total time: 20 mins. Check it out below.

Tools needed:

• Paper
• Sharpie
• Crayons
• 3 Hole Punch
• Yarn
• Scotch Tape

BOOK REVIEW: "Alternadad: The True Story of One Family's Struggle to Raise a Cool Kid in America"

Since the fateful day I was told: 'Read the Baby books or Die' I hoped and wished for the "hip-dad" equivalent to the famed "What To Expect When You're Expecting". When i heard about Neal Pollack's "Alternadad" with it's hand drawn cover art featuring tattoos, nose rings and an Aqua Bat's tee I rejoiced thinking I had found the holy grail of the hip how-to. Although an interesting read, it's falls short of expectations.

The main issue I have with the book is it's outright dumbing down of a father's role in parenting. Within the first 5 pages his wife says "Entertain him!" Now!" to which he replies "He didn't need to be entertained; he needed to be pacified. I turned on the TV". The stereotyping of the 'idiot dad' does not stop there, Pollack goes on to talk about how during his wife's pregnancy she read every book, began eating healthier and stopped attending events where people may be smoking. While on the other hand he began drinking more heavily, attending more rock concerts and smoking more pot. The book is written well but I am not a fan of anything that makes Dad's seem like unhelpful, incompetent idiots.

The book describes the journey from over privileged teenager to a beatnik writer in his early 30's who finds himself married and broke with a kid on the way. It is a quick read with lots of funny stories and insights into new parenting covering topics such as naming, circumcision, picking a school and the general up bringing of new baby. Although entertaining I found myself appalled at some of the things Pollack did as a parent, that he was so proud of he felt the need to write a book about it. I am in no way trying to claim to be the 'perfect parent', but some of the stuff in the book was so bad I almost stopped reading. I won't ruin the book for you but some examples that really stuck out to me were bringing their sleeping infant to loud parties (as long as the party goers smoked outside of course) and leaving his wife and three month old infant to go to Amsterdam for a poet's convention where he got so high he poured water on his head on stage and then publicly insulted a fellow poet's ethnicity. Another one was when he left to tour the country with a band he had started leaving his wife and child at home yet again, and don't get me started on "Daddy Time" and "Mommy Time" and the arguments that broke out about who's 'turn' it was to play with the baby.

I kept waiting for that moment in the book where he would realize how shitty he was being and change his ways and become a Dad worth writing a book about, but it never came. His wife, Regina, was no saint either who for the first year of their son's life realized that she could watch entire series of TV shows and complete video games front to back all while nursing, the book literally reads "i did nothing but watch TV", what a great way to bond with your child over the first few months. There were however shining moments where I said "aww", moments where he seemed like a good Dad such as "Music School" where he taught his son Elijah about rocking out, moshing and what he considered good music, but the cons outweighed the pro's too heavily for me to really enjoy this book or recommend it to anyone. I would be interested in a sequel to see if things have changed for the Pollack family because like I said I enjoyed the writing style, just not the content.

LINKS:

• Buy "Alternadad"

• Neal Pollack's Official Website

• Follow Neal on Twitter

BOOK REVIEW: "Cinderella Ate My Daughter: Dispatches from the Front Lines of the New Girlie-Girl Culture"

A few weeks ago Lauren told me about a book she heard about on NPR called "Cinderella Ate My Daughter". She said that she really wanted to read it and how great it sounded, so being the amazing boyfriend I am, I went to a Borders and shelled out $25.99 for it. Little did I know she'd read it in two days and then beg me to read it because, according to her it was important to read for someone with a daughter - what could I say? So here I was reading a big pink book on the subway. Not only is it pink, but it's covered in glitter and features a princess on the cover - I assure you I looked very manly reading this. Once I began reading it I felt the irony of my embarrassment.

I've never reviewed a book before so bear with me here. The first few chapters really grabbed me and I was very impressed by the thoughts, ideas and concepts that Orenstein brought up. The premise of the book is to show that the 'pretty pink princess' phase isn't as safe and cute as parents and children are made to think. The book starts off well enough and she pulls you in with her witty comments, my favorite of which was "Sesame Street Walker" referring to the portrayal of the (few and far between) female characters on Sesame Street. She does not stop at Seasame Street, she goes on to trash disney, dora, barbie and britney. The book raises a lot of interesting ideas about what these things really stand for, for example disney princesses are fine and dandy but when we look past surface we see at what they represent; weak women waiting for a wealthy man to rescue her, The Little Mermaid's Ariel even gives up her voice for a man.

One of the aspects I loved about the book was how personal it was. Each chapter tackles a new 'phase' in a young girls life through not only statistics and interviews but through intimate stories about her own battles between herself and her daughter Daisy. Hearing the stories, quotes and situations she went through personally really helps the reader connect and feel the 'fear' of these phases. Orenstein is a leader in children's studies and it was a breath of fresh air to hear her admit to struggling with these things just like us regular parents.

Although the book brings up a lot of interesting questions, it provides little to no answers. I understand it's not a how-to or self-help book but I expected to feel more prepared how to protect my daughter from this culture not more confused than ever. Perhaps there just isn't an "answer". Even Orenstein's daughter Daisy who was brought up by one of the biggest crusaders against all things pink went through a Disney Princess phase, so perhaps it really is just unavoidable. Maybe the 'great big marketing machine that is Disney' (and Matel, and Nickelodeon, and MTV and and and...) is just too big and we just can't fight it - but we can sure as hell try!  Although the book doesn't say "do this to stop that..." it does bring up a lot of very interesting thoughts you may not have considered before, it is important to be aware that these influences do exist and I suggest this book to any father of a young daughter.

EDIT --- Peggy Orenstein contacted us! She noticed my complaint of 'lack of answers' and let us know that although they may not be in the book she does provide 'idead to combat' here: http://peggyorenstein.com/resources.html - Check it out guys, lot's of neat links and ideas!

CHECK OUT PEGGY ORENSTEIN'S WEBSITE HERE

BUY "CINDERELLA ATE MY DAUGHTER" HERE

FOLLOW HER ON TWITTER HERE @PeggyOrenstein