Real Fatherhood
The Path of Lyrical Parenting
by
Book Cover & Preview Text
There’s a creek that runs through the center of our town with one particular stretch where the bullfrogs come for the singular purpose of spreading bullfrog fever over the land. Ben came down with it first, of course. We were walking by that section of creek one evening when a bullfrog flashed his yellow eyes out of the dark at my unsuspecting boy. Next thing I knew, Ben had that big ol’ bullfrog by the belly, but that bullfrog, he had Ben by the brain! We looked at that bullfrog. He looked at us. We stroked him with gentle fingertips. He stroked us back with merciless magical words. Then we let him go and watched him swim into the darkness. The next night at dinner, through a mouthful of mashed potatoes, Ben suddenly shouted, "I just gotta catch me a bullfrog!" I looked up from my plate and, to my total surprise, responded, "Me, too!" Then we blurted in unison, "We just got to catch us a bullfrog!" We grabbed our big ol’ fishing net from the garage and headed for the creek. As we were walking down the path to that stretch of water where the bullfrogs give out the fever, we started singing, "We got bullfrog fever! We got bullfrog fever! We got bullfrog fever! We just got to catch us a bullfrog!" The people we passed, they thought we were crazy but I stopped and looked one man straight in his face and said, "You just bring your kid down here and see if you can resist bullfrog fever!" A half-hour later, that man showed up with his kid. Next thing we knew, Dad was running all over the rocks yelling, ‘Over there! Get him! Get that bullfrog!" His kid was looking at him like, "Wait a minute--is this my dad?" I got right down next to his ear and whispered, "Your daddy’s got bullfrog fever!" The kid looked at me with pupils the size of volleyballs. A sudden flash of yellow spiked through them and he said, "We just got to catch us a bullfrog!" And I said, "Uh, yeah.*
* Featured on the CD, Real Fatherhood, available at on-line book and music stores.
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About the Book
To buy Bob Kamm's musical CD, Real Fatherhood, visit
Real Fatherhood chronicles key events in the first nine years of an actual father-son relationship so rare, it’s doubtful it has an equal in the annals of fiction or non-fiction. Surprising, humorous and inspiring, this book is also rich with vignettes instructive for any parent facing the difficulties of raising children in the information age.
From the moment Bob meets his son in the delivery room he responds with an innovative spirit, often going directly against the conventional wisdom.
Rather than focusing on a career during Ben’s most vulnerable years, he’s willing to work at anything that pays the bills and allows enough time to be a fully present dad. Several years later, when he does rise to the top of his profession, it’s not competitive drive that gets him there, but the same enduring determination to be with Ben. For the same reason, he waits years before purchasing a home. Debt will only mean more work. "Work takes time," he writes. "Love needs time, lots of time. Beyond a certain point, work is the thief of love. A real father fights to keep that thief from his home."
When his marriage falls apart and Ben suddenly begins to stutter, Bob is convinced he can "love the problem away" himself rather than look to a professional to solve it. The description of what follows is bound to become a classic, so richly does it draw the personality of a three-year-old boy.
When Ben’s mother, Stacey, begins a descent into substance abuse, a custody transfer is crafted without lawyers.
When Ben’s teachers believe he doesn’t want to learn to read, his dad discovers what’s really going on.
When friends urge cutting Stacey off from all contact with her son because of her emotional turmoil, Bob manages to set boundaries, walk the edges that must be walked and maintain the relationship.
Through these and many other challenges emerges a courageously honest and lyrical image of fatherhood during the critical early years – years too often missed by work-driven dads.
Real fatherhood. Real boyhood. Real inspiration.
About the Author
Bob Kamm is a poet, singer and songwriter who set aside his career ambitions to give his son the kind of childhood he felt he deserved. In the process, he became a highly successful and innovative businessman, ultimately developing a consulting practice devoted to leadership development, organizational change and family-work life issues. His clients revere him as a Renaissance man of rare life experience, wisdom and heart. Among them are J.D. Power & Associates, General Motors, The Ford Motor Company, Mercedes-Benz of North America, the Maritz Corporation, Toyota of Canada and Honda American Finance. Individual clients attending his widely praised leadership workshops and seminars have come from fields as diverse as technology, medicine, nursing, Olympic competition, insurance, real estate, architecture, public relations, engineering, psychotherapy and counseling, business consulting, teaching, the performing arts, a wide array of entrepreneurial interests and, most important of all, parenting. The controversial analysis of the American workplace in his first book, The Superman Syndrome: Why the Information Age Threatens Your Future and What You Can Do About It, landed him interviews on CNN, National Public Radio, Fox-TV San Francisco, CBS Radio and KFI in Los Angeles, C-Net, Yahoo and numerous other electronic and print media. He has written dozens of articles for business magazines on a wide array of topics all revolving around the question of how we can realign the relationship between work and family. A father, step-father and grandfather, he lives with his wife Della in California. Author’s Website: