Both books were funny. DadLabs would be the kind of book you get a guy who’s about to become a dad. The Guide to Pirate Parenting is perfect for a parent at any stage. I laughed loads during the reading of these books.

After 20-ish days, I’m pretty happy with the state of Dad-o-Matic, the site I started for dads to write about parenting. We have 33 authors, 65 posts, and over 230 regular RSS readers. I don’t have the daily stats visit number yet because I guess I didn’t install the stats thing the right way. But hey, 230 regular RSS readers in under a month is pretty cool, eh?

What I’m most pleased about is how excited and passionate the dads posting on the site are about their thoughts. It’s decidedly different than I thought the project would go. For whatever reason, I thought I’d have to beg people to contribute. At this point, I’m just as surprised as anyone at the number of great posts I see there. I love what I’m reading, and I can say that, because it’s rarely something I’ve written.

So, what it’s teaching me is that great content ideas can launch well, that great authors are just waiting for a project that might spur their ideas, and that it’s not that difficult to launch a new project, if you have the support of a passionate community (that’s you).

Ed pointed out that the commenters on Dad-o-Matic are pretty kick-butt, and I can’t disagree. It’s really amazing how great people have been. Wonderful community forming there, and how can I not love that? Thanks for the reminder, Ed.

Note: I just made Paisano administrator. Why? Because he fricken rocks, and does a lot of great things. He’s writing on four blogs at this point. But if I were him, and if Pete and Ostrow plan for 2009, I’d dump me/Dad-o-Matic the moment Mashable offers him a full time gig.

Thanks for reading Dad-o-Matic. I’m loving it, and glad you’re into it, too.

Essentially, keep a fake, empty purse in your desk at work. When you have to leave, just put that purse somewhere visible, mess up the papers on your desk, leave the lamp on, and make it appear like you’ve just taken off to the ladies’ room for a moment, instead of the truth: that you’ve actually left for the day.

Are you unsure whether you want to be called (or deserve to be called a white trash mom? There’s a quiz on page 14. Answer yes or no to a few of these:

• My children call soda pop “kid beers.”
• My children learned to order pizza delivery by age seven.
• My children have gotten angry with me for borrowing cash from them.

Chapter 6 on the “Muffia” is the best in my opinion. It deals with the “mean and snobby mothers who usually run the school your child attends.” Totally fun.

Okay, it might not be the book for everybody, but I tell you this: it’s fun, written for laughs, and definitely a great gift for that friend you like to tease.

What’s this have to do with social media? Michelle’s active on blogs, Facebook, and you can follow @michellelamar on Twitter, too. That’s how we know each other, and I’m glad I’m getting to know her through her blog, her tweets, and her book.

The book is The White Trash Mom Handbook, and you can get it at bookstores everywhere.