Ronn Blankenship wrote:
>
> At 07:57 AM 6/9/02, Jim wrote:
>
> >However, on the other hand, you can't deny that there are a lot of people
> >out there that lack the basic skills to be parents, operate a gun, or vote
> >responsibly. While I certainly don't support the idea of testing for
> >fitness in a literal way, I have absolutely though on occasion that there
> >*ought* to be a license to parent. Of course, given that I have lived
> >right up on some pretty impoverished areas of the Eastern US, I may have a
> >different perspective. I'd never vote for anything like that, but I'd be
> >lying if I said I never wondered how certain folks could be permitted to
> >raise children.
>
> Which is why I wonder every time I see them in the bookstore whether the
> "Sex for Dummies" books are really such a good idea. After all, if they're
> such "dummies" they need a manual for that first step, what kind of parents
> can we expect them to make?
<cynical>
Well, there's also _Pregnancy for Dummies_ and _Parenting for Dummies_,
so I guess it's all just a ploy by IDG Books to sell more books....
</cynical>
BTW, _Pregnancy for Dummies_ is probably not the most recommended book
on pregnancy. I think it's a lot more likely that _What To Expect When
You're Expecting_ is. (But if you're going to buy 3 or more books on
pregnancy, the Dummies book could reasonably be among them. The first
two ought to be WTEWYE and _The Girlfriend's Guide to Pregnancy_. Those
two will get you through a lot.) I know nothing of _Parenting for
Dummies_ to be able to rate it, but it's not the single parenting book
my pediatrician recommended for infancy. (_What To Expect the First
Year_ is. And I'd throw in _The Girlfriend's Guide to Surviving the
First Year of Motherhood as an auxilliary.)
Julia
