Bete, Tim: In the Beginning...There Were No Diapers

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Tim Bete's In the Beginning...There Were No Diapers is based on the author's syndicated column "Where I Live," which appears in the Christian Science Monitor, among other places. The 19 chapters of the book read like individual essays, each a vehicle for Bete's reflections on a life lived with three children. He writes, for example, about the logistics of disposing of soiled diapers on an airplane, about the longevity of playground rhymes, about playing miniature golf in arctic conditions--apparently a family tradition. His stories--sometimes cute and sometimes corny, and informed by their author's Christianity--are gently humorous: "One of my young nephews once said, while opening a birthday present, 'This is going to be really hard to break.' He didn't mean that the toy car was durable. He meant that he would have to use extraordinary measures to demolish it." Bete  himself--a self-confessed "mild" guy whose idea of a good time is family movie night--comes across as entirely likeable. The book will be a good read for expectant and current dads for whom a small dose of religiosity won't be unpalatable.