By way of Mind and Media, I have been given a copy of Time Bete’s “In the Beginning There Were No Diapers” and it is an absolute riot.

I’ve read lots of parenting books, to the point where it seems repititious after a while. Lots of experts have different theories on the subject, of course, but after a while there are only so many ways you can discuss potty training, behavioral training and enforcement, etc. But Tim puts a completely new spin on things.

This book will have you laughing out loud. It will have you saying to your spouse over and over “Hey honey, let me read you this paragraph!” And you will laugh together (or may be cry together, depending on the paragraph and how much you can directly relate). Tim takes the best and the worst of parenting and sums it up in a uniquely humorous way. There were many times I was reading a chapter and wondered to myself if he had set up a secret recording device in my house.

Rather than belabor the point, suffice it to say, this book is hilarious. If you are a parent who has had young children, you absolutely must buy this book.

On a somewhat related note, Tim Bete has also recently won the award of the 2005 Writer’s Digest Best Writer’s Web Site.

“Humor helps people reflect on their lives and can be very healing, especially for parents raising young children,” says Bete. And he adds, children who drive their parents crazy are nothing new, speculating there must have been a thousand children present when Jesus multiplied the loaves and fish.

“By my calculation, 500 kids would have said they ‘didn’t like fish,’” says Bete. “Three hundred would have complained that their ‘bread was touching their fish.’ Two hundred kids would have whined that their fish was ‘inedible without tartar sauce.’ It’s a miracle when you can get your kids to eat something that’s good for them.”

Bete’s humor has also appeared in the Christian Science Monitor, Sacramento Bee and more than a dozen parenting magazines. He is a contributor to the books, Chicken Soup for the Father & Daughter Soul, Amazing Grace for the Catholic Heart and Misadventures of Moms and Disasters of Dads. Bete is also the creator of HumorWriters.org, which was picked as one of the Best 101 Web Sites for Writers by Writer’s Digest, and FlightHumor.org, which was picked by the Houston Chronicle as one of their 101 Favorite Travel Web Sites.

“For me, there is a difference between being a Catholic writer and writing about Catholic things,” says Bete. “There are many members of the Body of Christ. I just happen to be the funny bone.”

Other reviews can be found here…

Great book, two thumbs up, 5 stars, a+, and all those other good ratings!

… and here …

There were quite a few times that a passage got me so tickled that my husband took the book away from me just to read what was so funny.