Review: Guide to Pirate Parenting
I read a lot of books about child development and research pertaining to effective parenting. Sometimes I run across conflicting information and sometimes it seems like I’m reading the same thing over and over again. So when I picked up a copy of Cap’n Billy “The Butcher” MacDougall’s Guide to Pirate Parenting I didn’t quite know what to expect. I didn’t know whether to brace myself for some really bizarre ideas that were based on some scientific research or if instead I was going to have a good laugh at the humor contained within.
Luckily for me, the book is intended as a comedic, tongue-in-cheek instructional manual for raising kids as pirates.  I was really glad to find this out because I really didn’t think I could handle sifting through 117 pages of pirate parenting that was meant to be taken seriously.
This book made me laugh. I read the bulk of it at the gym while on the elliptical machine and the other people around me kept peering at the cover to see what book was making me laugh out loud. Here is the first line that made me laugh out loud and also reassured me that this would indeed be a fun read:
Without going into a textbook lecture about genetics, all you need to know is that the “Y” in “Y chromosome is short for “Why don’t we raise our kids as pirates, honey?”
This isn’t a book you should buy if you are still in the phase of being hungry for all the (serious) parenting advice that you can get your hands on. If this is the stage of life that you are in then you will probably make it through the first couple of chapters before tossing it aside and grabbing a parenting book written by some expert who probably doesn’t know a thing about pirates or humor. If, on the other hand, you’ve read your fair share of serious parenting books and you’re ready to get some chuckles out of a read, then this is a great book.
After all, where else can you read parenting advice like this gem:
Your son may not obey you when you say, “Stop fighting with your sister,” but he’ll listen when you bellow, “Avast ye scurvy dog or I’ll give ye a taste of me hook!”
I think I’m going to try that the next time my son is fighting with my daughter.
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Melissa H says...
SOLD! This sounds like a fun read. I just may have to pick this one up!!!!