This book is a chronological collection of real conversations I’ve had with my offspring, or that they’ve had with me — mostly against my will. Sometimes another adult will appear briefly, but we should always remember who the main characters/problems here are — the youth.
They’re old enough now to give their meaningful consent for publication. The ages in the text are the ages they really were at the time. There are two of them — not unlike Thing One and Thing Two in The Cat in the Hat — and they are fewer than two years apart. Sometimes the fluffy one seems to catch up in age to the squeaky one, but that’s just because of when their birthdays fall.
As to why this is being published at all, the answer is that it’s a joke book * : Van der Merwe meets yo’ mama. Telling jokes is one of the ways humans connect with their communities. Humour is illuminating when it comes to social and sexual anxieties, and it helps us find meaning and healing and support in our shared experiences. And for fun, goddammit, because what are you going to do? Cry about it? As my first stepfather used to say: “I’ll give you something to cry about!” …
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