Send Him to Boot Camp! Basic Training All New Dads Need

For nearly all new fathers, the joy of that magical moment when they hold their tiny, crying, red-faced little miracle for the first time is tempered by an unsettling question: Now what do I do?

Boot Camp for New Dads (BCND), a California-based organization dedicated to creating a vibrant, new culture of fatherhood throughout America, offers an answer to that question. And new dads will be thrilled to hear that the answer won't come in the form of 200 pages of single-spaced scholarbabble—it comes in the form of straight talk from real fathers living in their area.

During the last 15 years, BCND programs have been held at hospitals, community centers, and US military bases in 39 states and overseas. Generally, programs include discussion between a coach, three or four veteran dads ("veteran dad," in this case, denotes a father with a child aged zero to a few months old), and a number of expectant fathers.

Roughly one-third to one-half of the rookies return to BCND to serve as veterans for the next class of rookies after their children are born.