Rule #1 in the parenting handbook: "Keep 'em off guard." Then along comes Cathy Hamilton (a forty-something mother of two, by the way) who blows the whole cover for fatherdom. Okay, Dad will still have a trick or two up his sleeve, but Dadgummit goes a long way toward giving the "other side" some boisterously entertaining explanations about parental messages.

Consider the author's take on this dadism:

"Let's nip this in the bud right now." Dads love nipping things in the bud. Some dads could go around bud-nipping all day. Among the most nippable . . . cussing, budding young romance, and a daughter's dreams of becoming a Vegas showgirl.

Dadgummit knows just where Dad is coming from . . . and fatherhood will never be the same.