Car Seat Conversations by Jon Woolley

The Secret Life of a Dad

Real Life Comes with Love and Plenty of Laughs in Debut Author Jon Woolley’s New Essay Collection, Car Seat Conversations

TRAVERSE CITY, MICHIGAN — Even with multiple degrees and decades of middle school teaching under his belt, nothing could have prepared Ohio-based author Jon Woolley for the devastating, humbling, and often hilarious world of fatherhood.

“I have a really close relationship with both of my daughters,” he said. “We became a team of three, and suddenly I felt like my life had purpose.”

Car Seat Conversations:The Secret Life of a Dad

It wasn’t always like that, though. In fact, Woolley found forming a parental bond with his oldest daughter extremely difficult, even grappling with male postpartum depression after her birth (a topic that remains highly underrepresented in modern literature, he noted). As the husband of a corporate lawyer and a default dude in countless “mommy groups,” he also bore firsthand witness to societal stigmas that often surround stay-at-home dads.

All of that uncertainty went out the window, however, the moment Woolley’s firstborn recognized him. “She looked at me like, ‘I know you. You’re my dad,’ and she started smiling,” he said. “That saved me.”

Finding the Humor in Real Life

It’s the importance of that father-child relationship that is the core of Woolley’s debut essay collection, Car Seat Conversations: The Secret Life of a Dad. Inspired by the darndest things his kids coined in their early childhood years, the collection began as a few funny quotes posted to Facebook,  and snowballed into 16 original essays, peppered with conversation snapshots and images.

In it, Woolley regales readers, in side-splitting fashion, with the daily moments and singular humor that make life as a parent so special—from early stories, like “Fur Baby,” in which Woolley and his wife become pet parents; to a series of essays called “Kate (Almost) Kills Dad,” dedicated to his ornery youngest; the whirlwind birth of his second daughter on a bathroom floor; trips to the hair salon and Disney; and everything in between.

Told in Woolley’s signature David-Sedaris-but-cleaner style—“This is a book you could give to your grandma,” he noted—this totally-true collection is the road to parenthood at its finest, complete with occasional bumps and scenic detours. We recommend reading it with the top down.

“I hope [readers] laugh,” Woolley added, “and that they [recognize] the importance of the relationship between a dad and his daughters. I now have a forever record of fatherhood—that other people get to read it is just a bonus!”

Advanced Praise

“We need more dads like Jon—who find the magic in the mess and the beauty in showing up. Car Seat Conversations is funny, tender, and true—a joyful reminder of what really matters in fatherhood.” —Paula Faris, award-winning journalist, author, and founder of CARRY Media

“Car Seat Conversations is a heartfelt reminder that fatherhood is as holy as it is hilarious. Jon Woolley captures the sacred weight of being a dad in the everyday chaos of haircuts, grocery trips, and bedtime negotiations. As a dad myself, I believe we need more of these honest, faith-filled stories shared because they remind us that God’s grace shows up even in the smallest moments. Every dad and every family will see themselves in these pages and walk away encouraged.” —Dr. Michael Dorsey, speaker, author, contestant on The Biggest Loser

Author, Jon Woolley

The Author

Jon Woolley has been a classroom teacher for nearly 30 years. He thought he knew children—until he had two of his own. His education degrees didn’t help much when his youngest daughter was accidentally born on the bathroom floor. Jon’s work has appeared in The Writing Disorder, Come on Georgia, and his humorous essay, “Record Low,” was published in The Columbus Dispatch. A former Division I basketball player, Jon is now exactly 80 inches tall for no reason. He lives in Columbus, Ohio, with his lawyer wife and is often the primary caregiver for their two daughters. They are the reason he writes.

The Book

Car Seat Conversations: The Secret Life of a Dad

Jon Woolley

276 pages, 6” x 9”, B/W

Nonfiction/Family & Relationships/Parenting/Humor

ISBN: 978-1-968761-19-6, $24.95 (Hardcover)

ISBN:978-1-968761-18-9, $17.95 (Softcover)

Mission Point Press, April 7, 2026

Copies are available for preorder at Bookshop.org and Amazon. On its April 7, 2026, publication date, it will be available for purchase wherever books are sold. For information or to arrange for signings and events, contact the author at carseatconversations@gmail.com  or visit jonwoolleyauthor.com.