Dad is Fat by Jim Gaffigan

Dad is Fat is the story of every parent. Jim Gaffigan is a comedian with five children ages eight to zero living in a two bedroom walk-up (five stories up) in New York City. He tells small, but hilarious vignettes of his life from a man in love (with his now wife) wondering at the strange behavior of his friends with kids, to his understanding of the chaos, hilarity, and love that is parenthood.


I loved how this book made me laugh out loud a lot. I read various bits out loud to my husband and he was amused as well. I also love that a book can make me laugh this much and it is not vulgar. So much “humor” these days is just crass and I do not find it funny at all. It’s nice to find a comedian that I can truly enjoy.

Some of my favorite quotes:

About home birth: “At times, it seems we elected to have our babies at home mostly to make other people feel uncomfortable. I quickly learned that people don’t want to hear about home births. Their first reaction seems to be, ‘Oh, you had your baby at home. Yeah, we were going to do that, too, but we wanted our baby to live.’”

About newborn love: “The good news is when your baby is born, something happens. I can’t explain it. You just love your baby. Unconditionally. Even if you didn’t get the baby thing before, when you experience your own, you immediately fall in love and fell like you could kill or die for that baby. I was born with a heart that was two sizes too small, but when I saw my baby, it was like the Grinch discovering the true meaning of Christmas.”

About taking kids to Church: “Anyone who has ever taken their babies and kids to a church, a temple, a mosque, a wedding, funeral or any other place of reverence understands the true meaning of torture. Obviously I am against torture, yet I still take my kids to church. The question remains, who am I really torturing? Am I torturing myself, because it’s virtually impossible to get a young child to sit still and listen to some old guy go on and on about metaphors they don’t understand? Am I torturing my children, because church is the opposite of a video game? Am I torturing the innocent churchgoers sitting around me trying to listen and being distracted by my kids climbing on the pews or playing peek-a-boo with them? The answer is ‘All of the above.’”

The last quote pretty much sums up my church going experience with the kids. I found myself nodding profusely while reading this book, which is embarrassing when you are reading it in public. Gaffigan has captured what it is to be a parent of young kids, and it was nice to know that someone else is in the safe boat. It was also wonderful to find the humor in it all.

Overall, this is a must read for parents.

Book Source: The Kewaunee Public Library