Book Review: Daddy Dates by Greg Wright

PUBLISHER’S OVERVIEW: Daddy Dates gives the average Joe easy steps to actively and successfully engage with his daughter and raise a confident woman-to-be. When faced with the reality of raising four (4!) teen daughters, Greg Wright went on a soul quest. He came back with a mission: Don’t Screw Up. This funny, insightful, and relatable book poses the wildly original concept that should be a “duh” for most dads—but isn’t: In order to raise a confident woman-to-be, show your daughter what it feels like to be treated with love, respect, and true interest by a man who loves her. Daddy Dates shows the average father how to actually do that. It is written in an original voice and will appeal to both men and women. It is the kind of action-oriented “how to” material that guys enjoy, and so many others will recommend to other dads.

MY THOUGHTS: This was a book that I was really looking forward to reading and reviewing. Not because I knew the author – I did not. It was because of the subject matter of this book: a dad and his daughters. As a father of four girls all under the age of 7, I realize I have my hands full – as many people “kindly” like to point out after they realize all our girls are in fact girls. There “helpful” reminders usually come after a version of the phrase, “No boys, huh?…..are you going to keep trying?….etc.” as if it is a bad thing to have only girls and we need a boy to be complete. Who knows what are future holds in store, but this one thing I know: I have A LOT to learn about when it comes to raising daughters.

The author, Greg Wright, does a great job relating what he has, and is, doing with his daughters, which is what makes this book unique. It is not written “after the fact,” but by someone who is currently, “going through it.” Sometimes, after we have experienced something, we forget all the details of the everyday battles and struggles, and he does a good job covering it and you can relate in many ways to what he is going through. Though, I must admit that it makes me want to read a “10-years later” chapter to see how it all worked out.

His ideas on how to deal individually with each daughter, and how he goes about it, are very helpful and something that I will be implementing in my relationship with my girls. I especially enjoyed the chapter on dealing with your daughter as she turns thirteen, and the fact that, like me, he does not allow his daughters to date while they are in high school (not that we are there yet, but I have made that determination. In my mind, there in NOTHING good that can come from High School dating. As I once read somewhere else, it is nothing more than showing kids how to divorce when they get older.). Not too many people that I have come across share this idea, and so it was refreshing to see that I was not the only one.’

MY RECOMMENDATION: Now, if you are looking for a book that is heavy on Bible verses and characters, this is not the book for you. While there are some underlying biblical principles in the book, and the occasional church/youth group mention, that is not his focus. And while I do not agree with the author on areas of children and music/movies/etc., overall this is a really good book and anyone who is a dad to daughters would benefit greatly by reading it.

BookSneeze® has provided me with a complimentary copy of this book for review.