Andrew Clover at Bridport Arts Centre (From Dorset Echo)

Andrew Clover at Bridport Arts Centre

8:10am Tuesday 2nd March 2010 in

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GOT the parenting blues? Andrew Clover is the man to give them the elbow. The comedian, actor and writer is coming to Dorset to shed light on the mysteries of parenting and make mummies and daddies everywhere feel better about themselves.

Andrew is best known by adults as the author of Dad Rules, a Sunday Times column and light-hearted instruction manual for fathers everywhere, and by youngsters as the star of My Almost Famous Family, a comedy about a family who are . . . almost famous.

He has also been approached by the Government to put together a manual for first-time fathers.

“I’m not trained and I’m not Gina Ford – I’m scared but I love being a parent,” said Andrew, who is married with three young daughters.

“I remember standing in a bookshop and there was a whole wall devoted to parenting books and they all seemed so joyless and controlling.

“I think that having children is a licence to be stupid – it’s the chance to do the things that kids want to do. They see a button, they want to push it.”

When Andrew was growing up he lived with his parents in Luxembourg where his mother ran an international nursery.

“It was an amazing thing, looking after these 30 kids,” he said. “They would be on the floor and you’d get them to pretend to be sausages and say they were about to go through the sausage machine and there would be bedlam.”

The Dad Rules that have grown from Andrew’s experiences, and which make up his one-man show, are a combination of seriously good ideas and flippant explanations.

They include: “Don’t serve snacks. Serve them broccoli and tell them they’re dinosaurs who love chomping the juicy green trees. There is no child on Earth who will eat a vegetable, once they’ve seen a biscuit.”

And: “Leave them alone as often as possible, or they’ll depend on you for entertainment. Really, it should be the other way round. Enjoy them. Admire them. They have much to teach you.”

Andrew said: “There are so many joyous moments in life and you remember them when you have kids. The first thrill of snow, walking in a pond barefoot and feeling the slush squidging between your toes.”

Andrew is at Bridport Arts Centre on Friday at 8pm. £10 plus concessions from the box office on 01308 424204.

* Andrew’s wife Livy has her own Mum Rules. These include “Don’t let Dad have all the fun. If you find yourself washing up, too often, while he plays swingball, it’s time to hand over the rubber gloves.”