August 26, 2025 • 32 mins
School is almost back in session, and for the Packers this means entering a new era of parenting. As the kids get ready to go off to school, Madison and Anya’s plates are full with shopping, scheduling extracurriculars, and the hope of making parent friends. On top of that, the Packers are navigating the never-ending quest to overcome mom guilt. Despite the chaos and the cruel realization that school supplies and athletic gear are so expensive these days, Madison and Anya couldn’t be more excited to watch their kiddos start to grow into individuals. Grab your lunch box and hop on the bus as the Packer children tackle this next chapter one custom Pottery Barn backpack at a time.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
Hi, everyone, Welcome to these packs puck. I'm Madison Packer.
Speaker 2 (00:05):
And I'm Anya Packer. Madison and I are both former
pro hockey players. We met through hockey and fell in love,
and now we're married with two awesome toddlers, ages two
and four.
Speaker 1 (00:15):
These days, we're opening up about the chaos of our
daily lives between the juggle of being athletes, raising kids.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
And all the messiness in between. So buckle the puck
up because there is a lot to talk about. Hi, Maddie, Hello,
do you want to get into our hockey hot take
because I think you'd like I'm a I'm.
Speaker 1 (00:37):
A little spicy before the episode starts because of the
topic of conversation and your nitpickiness. Oh gosh, that'll makes
sense for everyone in a minute.
Speaker 2 (00:48):
Yeah, go right ahead. Then you get into your hockey
hot take. It's your hot take, my hot take. It's
your hot take. It's a general tie pushback. Fine, let's
get into it then, shall we.
Speaker 1 (01:00):
Hockey hot take?
Speaker 2 (01:04):
My hockey hot take is that it is the time
of year that everything now is like, buy your backpacks,
buy your this, buy her that, buy your hockey gear.
The newest, hottest things are coming out marketing is crazy.
Everybody's talking about all the things that they need to have,
like it is expensive, it is insane, and it is
(01:25):
all very very tense. For the parent of little hockey players,
the cost of everything is up.
Speaker 1 (01:32):
Okay, our kids are starting school for the first time,
and I'm very particular and I want them to have
a certain thing. So we were looking at backpacks and
lunchboxes because my sister in law, who I think always
has the best stuff, shout out Steph Packer. Her kids
always had the cutestuff. So I asked her where she
got their school stuff, and we were just gonna go
get them like something random. Nothing against that, but like
(01:54):
I'm over the Spider Man lunchbox and like the backpack
that doesn't match. Like I want them to like have
the stuff and feel the confidence, look good, feel good,
play good. So long story short, I went on Pottery
Barn Kids and I designed custom backpacks and custom lunchboxes
and bento boxes to go inside the lunch boxes. And
it cad like once you go down that rabbit hole,
then there's like the silverware and the flask right like
(02:16):
they have yetti cups. We don't want to lose their
yetti cups at school, so I got them little matching kids,
Like Whalen has a custom blue backpack with light blue
lettering that has his initials, so he knows which stuff
is his, so we don't have to put the labels
on it. And then it's got like cute little iron
on patches and he can put different ones. And then
it's got a minecraft bento box that goes inside of
(02:36):
his lunch box and stays cold. And then he's got
batching silverware.
Speaker 2 (02:41):
Just a few things, just a few little a little
assortment of things, just a cart that had fourteen in
front of it. And that cart was almost three hundred
dollars for two children to go to school for backpacks
and lunch boxes and reusable silverware, Like we're gonna wash
that and send it with them. We won't, but okay,
So I say, okay, cool sounds good and that, and
I said, because Whalem won't play hockey yet he thinks
(03:04):
that's mama's thing. He wants his own things, so he's
decided he's a baseball player. So backpack Gate ac curs,
and I call back to a time where you went
to Dick's Sporting Goods a few hundred times before baseball,
before youth baseball, and Whaleen's never played baseball before. Yes,
he's four. So he's four years old and he's going
(03:25):
to baseball, and you say, I'm gonna go get him
a few things, which is probably a you know, thirteen
dollars pair of baseball pants, maybe a pair of socks,
maybe a belt for said pants. And I really wanted
him to have a helmet. I don't want the sharing
of the helmet situation. Did he come back with multiple
pairs of baseball pants as though we don't do laundry
every day? Yes? Did he come back with a bat
(03:46):
that is the size of him and is not necessary? Also?
Speaker 1 (03:50):
Yes?
Speaker 2 (03:51):
Did he come back with air jorded cleats top of
the lied cleats for this kid that can't run faster
than four miles an hour.
Speaker 1 (03:58):
You're making him sound like he's so bad at sports.
Speaker 2 (04:02):
I'm making himself like he's four.
Speaker 1 (04:04):
I think he needed it, you know what, he got
to show up confidence.
Speaker 2 (04:07):
He had baseball batting gloves.
Speaker 1 (04:09):
He needed them. He dropped his bat and got yelled
at for it.
Speaker 2 (04:12):
I don't know if he needed them. That he had
baseball he had like no more Garcia Park baseball glasses.
Speaker 1 (04:18):
Okay, those were unnecessary, but he did ask for like
he asked for the sunglasses.
Speaker 2 (04:23):
Anyway, it's clear to me that you're gonna walk into
a Dick Sporting Goods or insert brand here, and you're
gonna be sold every item under the sun that your
children need to play this sport. And if you're me,
they'll come with half of what they need and the
team will have extras and hand me downs to fill
(04:43):
in the rest. And if you're my wife, they will
come with everything plus two to share with everyone. And
then lose because Madison, where is our bat right now in.
Speaker 1 (04:55):
The batting bag where it belongs?
Speaker 2 (05:00):
Got it at the field?
Speaker 1 (05:01):
Well, he lost his gloves and I got him new gloves.
And the rule was if you lose something else, that's it.
So he'll get it back on Wednesday, and if not,
then he'll just have to share.
Speaker 2 (05:11):
And we will have contributed a seventy dollars bat for
a four year old to Stanford Little League.
Speaker 1 (05:17):
All of this to say back to Anya's hot take,
which seems like it's just a hot rip on Madison session.
The rising cost of everything is insane, Specifically the rising
cost and We've talked about this a little bit before,
with like hockey becoming very privatized and like VC firms
buying up all the equipment companies, et cetera. There's a
(05:37):
story with that I don't think we've shared before about
Shaq shoes, right, Yes, there was a woman a long
time ago who approached not the exact story, but so
somewhere long the's lines approached Shack at an event and
was like, shame on you, like you have designed these
shoes that have now become unaffordable to the community that
has supported you throughout your whole career. And he really
took that to heart. And now his shoe is is
(05:58):
it Kmart or Walmart?
Speaker 2 (06:00):
It was Walmart at the time. You can get him
everywhere now, but yeah, it was Walmart at the time.
Speaker 1 (06:03):
He was like, you know what, You're right, and he
has committed to keeping his shoes affordable so that kids
can always have like a thing. And I think it's
hard because as a parent, you don't want your kids
to become a materialistic You don't want to have that
be the focus, but also you want them to have
the thing to make sure that they feel like they
fit in et cetera. Like we go to baseball and
as much stuff as Whalan has, there are still kids
who look like they're like they show up looking like
(06:25):
Sammy Sosa. Yep, you and I grew up on opposite
ends of the spectrum. I think it's hard to find
the middle ground. And I just want our kids to
like have the stuff, like feel like confident.
Speaker 2 (06:36):
Well, I think the other challenge is this, and this
is this is where the baseball thing makes so much sense.
The features of the bat at four years old, they're
completely unnecessary because the answer is he can't even hit
the ball let alone. Need the carbon light fiber bat
with the rap and the blah blah blah, and like
(06:58):
that's not necessary. Like did you play hockey with the
graphite stick when you were kid? Did you?
Speaker 1 (07:05):
No? I had the Christian all wood woody.
Speaker 2 (07:08):
The woodie that was ten bucks and it was and
it was made out of an actual tree. It was unbreakable.
My mom drove over my hockey stick with her truck
and it did not snap. And this is my point.
I'm just trying to literally move the puck from left
to right in my hands. I needed nothing more. But
we've put out all this marketing and features and what
(07:31):
are we doing to these kids and to these families.
So then talk about what we're doing with the Junior Rangers,
because I think that we've talked about this a little
bit before, but I think in this context is really important.
Speaker 1 (07:41):
So our kids are going to play Junior Rangers. But
the NHL has started to Learn to Play initiative. It's
been around for a while, but basically, you get the
whole bag of gear plus a season of learn to
Play hockey. It's a little bit different depending on the market,
but it's about five hundred bucks. You get everything but
the stick and skates and helmet. Maybe yeah, you get
the whole.
Speaker 2 (07:58):
Bag of gear. I don't know if you get the helmet.
Speaker 1 (08:00):
It's the whole like preseason, which I think is good
to get kids into the game, but then we need
to find a way to keep that affordable.
Speaker 2 (08:07):
Well, I think the part that's really the most frustrating
is actually like getting out of Learn to Play, right,
It's that tweener time from going from Learn to Play
to the youth skate being one hundred and twenty five dollars, right, Like,
it's that tweener time from I'm learning to play hockey,
and now I identify as a hockey player. I'm a
(08:29):
hockey player. I play. I don't want a wooden stick anymore.
I'm seven and I want a three hundred and thirty
five dollars vapor light. And it was expensive, but my
mom was like, that's on you, girl, Like you got
to figure it out. So I worked at the skate
shop and I took all the hand me downs, and
someone would bring a skate with a rivet broken and
I'd fix it and I'd keep it and I'd and
it would be mine, Like I remember at that time
(08:53):
doing anything I could. But like if every hockey shop
only has two positions, right, like two people that could
work there for that opportunity, Like that's not for everybody.
And so I spent, oh my gosh, so much time
picking one thing up and then going two weeks later.
I went to play it against sports probably every week
when I was younger, and I didn't get a new
(09:14):
pair of skates until I was in college, and I
remember getting my first pair of skates and I had
never baked a pair of skates either. So for hockey skates,
for context, excuse me, when you buy new skates. You
have to put them in an oven and then put
them on your feet so that they mold to your
feet so that when you skate and stride, it like
hugs your foot and the features all work and you
don't get blisters or bower bomps or the CCM scrape
(09:37):
or whatever. You know, we need to make up all
these names. But the first pair of skates that I
ever baked, I was eighteen years old and I was
in college, and I remember crying, and my teammates who
had Olympic gold medals right like this is where I
was at at Boston University, were like, what's wrong? Is
it too hot? I was like, no, I've never done
this before. I've never done this. This is the the
(09:59):
best thing. I I've never had a new pair of
skates a day in my life.
Speaker 1 (10:01):
Well maybe that's where we disagree on the backpack thing.
Speaker 2 (10:04):
And so now going back to the backpacks, that's the
biggest thing is I think the shame of going to
play it against sports to make it work for your
kids and make it work for yourself. That shame of
hand me downs and not having the brand new, sexiest
marketed whatever it is. We have to let it go
away because the excess, waste and the cost and all
(10:24):
of it is it's crazy. So this October, if it's
a little snug, go to play it against sports. This
is not an ad. This is from my heart with love.
Speaker 1 (10:35):
Yeah, play it against sports is underrated.
Speaker 2 (10:37):
It's the goat. Okay, I'm done with my rant. I'm
done making fun of you too. I'm not ever actually
done making fun of you. I'm sure you'll buy something
ridiculous in thirty seconds and we'll get an alert while
we're recording this podcast. But until then, why don't we
(10:58):
move into a little check in girlfriend?
Speaker 1 (11:00):
How are we doing? How about we check in with
you first? Because it's been a it's been a doo z.
Speaker 2 (11:06):
I'm low, I sound high. I think I'm really good
at the facade like I'm good at just like the
packer push through.
Speaker 1 (11:13):
The packer pushed through. Yeah, I love that.
Speaker 2 (11:15):
That's what we're gonna do. That's what I call it.
Like I'm not a packer through blood by choice, by choice,
I am going to work with the packer push through.
I'm kicking it at like a I'm kicking it at like.
Speaker 1 (11:27):
A twelve boy. We're in trouble because I'm coaching tonight
lo Thos in town. Though.
Speaker 2 (11:33):
Yeah, I was just gonna say my mom's in town.
My mom heard the call and she got in her
car and she drove here. And she is my hero
because she could tell I was at a very low number.
And we talk about this like needing a village to
be a mom. I would say my village is exclusively
my mom, and she just stops everything when I need it.
(11:54):
And it scares me for what happens when I become older,
because I'm gonna do the same thing for our kids.
You'll be like, honey, don't we have that date. I'll
be like, gotta go, gotta go, Harlan needs my help camp.
I will be gone for two weeks.
Speaker 1 (12:06):
Kind of sounds nice right now, I know it kind
of sounds nice.
Speaker 2 (12:08):
Any who, I'm at a twelve.
Speaker 1 (12:10):
Where are you at?
Speaker 2 (12:11):
What's going on?
Speaker 1 (12:13):
I could be an eighty eight. I'm a little tired.
We got a long day.
Speaker 2 (12:16):
You could be an eighty eight right now.
Speaker 1 (12:17):
I could if I needed to to bring us to
to bring us to well, well, we have to be
what seventy I.
Speaker 2 (12:22):
Think we see is fine.
Speaker 1 (12:23):
Sees get degrees Okay, I could be a I could
be a sixty five that brings us to a seventy seven.
That's a high sea. Yeah. Plus I'm a little tired,
even though we got to sleep in. But today's the
last long day. Then tomorrow I'm gonna take the kids
school shopping and.
Speaker 2 (12:39):
No, you're not, No, you're not, No, you're not.
Speaker 1 (12:43):
We just got back from a long wedding weekend, so
it's just like resetting.
Speaker 2 (12:46):
But we're home for a few days, which is nice
when we're in our own space with control of our
own things. Even at twelve, feels like enough. It's not
enough for all the moving and parts and chaos, but
when you're in your own space, I feel like a
three is enough. Like I'm just awake, I'm alive.
Speaker 1 (13:02):
Well good, I will rally and carry the torch a
little bit, do it after I get home from being
gone all night from coaching.
Speaker 2 (13:09):
After you've put the kids to bed by yourself, make
me dinner and kick me out.
Speaker 1 (13:13):
Very well.
Speaker 2 (13:15):
This is going to be another solo episode, so I
am excited to have some fun. We'll talk about all
things school and future and what our life looks like
and Maddie the new era of being school age children moms.
So we have a lot to cover. Let's go to
a quick break and then we're going to dive in.
Speaker 1 (13:43):
So we recently did a little life update with the kids.
This episode is going to kind of continue. Our kids
are starting school for the first time, so we are
going to talk about bum bum mom guild. It's all
the things mom guilt is heavily wrapped into this. But
it's like back to school and what that looks like
and all the activities and the schedule and the regimen
(14:04):
and the you're traveling, I'm traveling. Mom guilt is going
to start to kick in because we've had like a
summer full of fun and it's winding down and I
feel like a lot of people are in the same
place with that. But then it's like your kids start
scheduled activities. We have a lot of that going on.
It's like, what do I said with my kid? Our
kids are starting a new school. What if they don't
(14:24):
like it? What if they don't make friends? What if
they do? How do we make friends? We need mom.
Speaker 2 (14:28):
Friends, You need mom friends. I think the other challenges
it's hard to navigate, especially for us because we don't
have like super structure in our lives. We've always kind
of just gone wherever it's fun and makes sense, and
we're about to enter this new era of we are
beholden to the school schedule. And actually I'm really excited
(14:50):
about it. I loved school Waylan's been really into like
sitting and coloring and reading books, and like he's in
this new phase as he preps for school that he
likes that stuff. And while it feels crazy to me
that Harlan is going to walk into a school setting
(15:11):
because she kind of never has and she never has
had to, I'm really excited for what the new routine
looks like with the support of the structure and the school.
Speaker 1 (15:24):
Harlan is not excited.
Speaker 2 (15:26):
Pitch is not excited. No, she's not.
Speaker 1 (15:29):
It is every time we mentioned school.
Speaker 2 (15:32):
No, no, she's not excited. I think it's gonna be
fun because she loves to play with her little friends,
but it's not like when she went for her like tour.
It was very school and I'm certain that she's going
to be very rebellious to that concept.
Speaker 1 (15:46):
Yeah you know what, though, I think she's gonna end
up liking it more than she thinks. Though the first
week's gonna be hard, though, Whalen is all fired up,
so it's still pre k because Whalen is a September
eighth birthday.
Speaker 2 (15:57):
This is dumb. Whalen's going to preschool again again and
he he's six' four and he's and he's like a.
Monster i'm not certain how this is going to. Go,
However i'm really excited about the. Program you know what
it is Is i'm excited for them to go to
school and come home and, say, mommy, mama this is
What i've, Learned like this is how butterflies turn from
catapillaries to. Butterflies like they never came back from any
(16:20):
of their daycare style things with any new. Knowledge And
whyland's starting to like pick up new. Knowledge he's starting
to tell me things And i'm really excited for him
to learn things that he can't. Know IF i agree with, that,
OH i totally think that there's never been a chance
for them to take a, lesson think about it, critically
come home like now he'll ask. Us i'll, say, oh
(16:40):
wash your. Hands you have, Germs and he's, like can
you show me a picture on your phone what a
germ looks? Like like he's interested in.
Speaker 1 (16:45):
Things i'm just excited because it's going to be like
an actual. School, yeah he's really excited, too and he's
like getting into. Reading he's super into, drawing which is.
Speaker 2 (16:53):
Fun, yeah he is really into. Drawings he's very. Good
like this sounds, dumb are we? Idiots he's a good
Color he colors well inside the.
Speaker 1 (17:02):
Line he does color very well. Inside like.
Speaker 2 (17:06):
What AM i bragging?
Speaker 1 (17:07):
About hand eye the dexterity to hold the cran and
get it inside the. Line but all of, that kids
are going to. School harlan's starting, dance, gymnastics, hockey.
Speaker 2 (17:17):
Yeah, Right, yeah everyone's doing. Hockey both of them are doing.
Speaker 1 (17:19):
Hockey whyalan's doing football hockey AND i don't.
Speaker 2 (17:25):
Know we've got to figure out what happens at the
same time it's her, gymnastics BECAUSE i want them to
do some things. SEPARATELY i think them doing everything together
just continues to like shape them into the same. Person
AND i like that they like different, things SO i
want TO i want to figure out some. Differences like,
obviously we're not gonna Stop harlan from playing flag football
if she so chooses to want to try, that or
(17:45):
baseball or, whatever like she doesn't only have to do certain.
Things it's not like. Roles but if he wants to do,
gymnastics maybe put her into. Swimming Like i'm okay with.
THAT i just want them to do some things apart
and not have you AND i doing sixteen activities per.
Child that's the other thing That i'm really cognizant.
Speaker 1 (18:03):
Enough, yeah and we're going from a very travel heavy
summer with not much activity structure. Too now your work
schedule is kicking back up for. Travel i'm starting to work.
More it's going to be a. Lot enter into the.
Chat what we wanted to talk most, ABOUT i think mom.
Speaker 2 (18:24):
Guilt, OH i don't like mom. GUILT i had to
travel on a work trip During Whalan's baseball award, ceremony
and my mom came down because again she's the goat of,
Like i'm, stressed so she's going to be. Supportive so
she came down and her job exclusively was to FaceTime
me the whole. Time AND i felt so badly for missing.
(18:49):
It AND i. CAN'T i can't stop being, me or
a working, person or a person that likes, yoga or
a person that likes to go to the gym LIKE
i can't stop all those things BECAUSE i had. CHILDREN
i know, that but that doesn't mean in the, moment
when something else is coming up and you have to
do something for your, kids you don't think to, yourself,
WOW i am the most selfish person in the. World
(19:11):
That i'm here doing literally anything else when my kids
are doing. Blank SO i never really understood that because
that was your foundational knowledge of being a, mom was
receiving things through the.
Speaker 1 (19:24):
Phone AND i think it's changed now That i've been
home more and like SO i obviously when we first had,
kids was traveling all the time for hockey on the
road a. LOT i didn't know any. Different Now i've
been home for you, know nine ten, months like doing
some working stuff from, home but like not really being
gone that. Much and then in that started to kind
(19:44):
of start to travel, more like WHEN i was doing
some stuff round The Stanley cup, playoffs et. Cetera and
WHEN i would leave it was so much, Harder like
it was always hard to leave after being, home but
like we spent a summer, apart it was it was
always harder to leave after the summer and like go
back to the. Season but now That i've had so
much time with, them and they're a little, older so
it's more, engaging and like they're more aware WHEN i
(20:06):
miss something and they're, like where's, Mama or When i'm
with them and they're and they're constantly, like where's, Mommy i'm, like,
okay well When i'm gone that they're doing the same
thing to you about. Mama they're, aware and they're, engaged
and they they're curious and they process things like when
you weren't going to be A whalen's baseball with, THEM
i was, like mommy's going to miss my first baseball,
game which is not like as deep as he's making it, sound,
right but like we hear that and we're, like oh my,
(20:28):
gosh it's like soul.
Speaker 2 (20:29):
Crushing AND i talked about this with my. Coworker he,
SAYS i go on the road all the, time SO
i get home AND i get to be the, hero
and my wife feels LIKE i just get to come
in and be the. Hero and she just shlept through
all the, activities all the, work all the, things and
it was really. Painful AND i remember so clearly When
whelan started to understand that you were going for, work
(20:50):
going for hockey and then coming, BACK i would go
through hell with a newborn and a two year, old
AND i would do it all. HAPPILY i love, YOU
i support. You you would do the same WHEN i was,
out but like, Whatever AND i remember you came home
with like a little stuffed toy and you were like
the freakin' queen Of, chiba and it was so, frustrating
(21:12):
AND i couldn't be frustrated with, you BUT i. WAS
i was envious that you got to come home and
be fun all the. Time, Yeah so that's, where, LIKE
i think the guilt also comes in BECAUSE i want
to be. MAD i know you want to be mad
at me, too and it's easy to play tit for
tat in that. Way Like i'll come home from a
work trip off a red eye And i'll need a,
(21:32):
nap and you'll be, Like i've just been with these
kids for five days straight without any, support so like
your nap can. Wait but we're not. Fighting we're both
going through the same. Thing AND i think that's where
the guilt is even, worse.
Speaker 1 (21:46):
The constant battle of, like, well no one person's, job,
role or experience is more or less, important but like
we can both come back into the situation feeling. EXHAUSTED
i think that everyone can relate to, that where it's,
Like i'm exhausted for spending all this time with the,
Kids you're exhausted from being, working traveling time, zones et.
Cetera then it flips and it's just like the exhaustion never,
ends AND i think never never. Ends you'll never sleep
(22:10):
again if you have kids eighteen years THEN i heard
you still don't sleep after. That but finding space for
each other whether or for, yourself right if you're a
single parent or you're, married and you have it like
it's when generally when couples experience the most turmoil and
pressure and heaviness because you feel unsupported or you feel
(22:32):
like you can't ask for something because your other person
is also, struggling AND i think it can lead to
resentment or like breakdowns and communication like et. Cetera, right
even more, so especially if you're a single parent trying
to do all of. It AND i think we wanted
to talk about the mom guilt because it is a real,
thing but it's also you can't be a mom until
you can be, yourself AND i think it took us
a while to figure that. Out individually and like getting
(22:53):
frustrated on our own right and then being, like, okay,
NO i need. This we've both gotten a lot better
about asking for what we. NEED i need to go
to the, gym you need to go to the, gym
you need to eat a certain, Thing like we've kind
of figured out what our non negotiables are to like
show up and at least be. Baseline.
Speaker 2 (23:09):
Okay, well then it's also all of that combined with
the fact that this specific fall we enter the brand
newest era to, us which is being parents to school age.
Children harlan is still going to be a toddler she's,
three but she has the school time, Structure so for,
(23:30):
us it's like all those things and then having school
to be the double's. Partner, right we are the doubles
partners for one another now and now it almost gets
to be school on one side of the court and
us as a partner pair on the other. Side so
it's then navigating all, right who does drop? Off is?
It drop, off go to the, gym come, home switch,
(23:51):
Car like school is a whole new era for, us
and there's so many parents that will be entering this
era that will have this new friend you know that
they can play with and, say, hey here's my kids
from eight to three or eight to. Five if you
do extended school, PROGRAMMING i need to make sure they have, food, water,
clothes and they're, there and Then i'm supporting their learning from.
(24:15):
Home AND i think if you can do that, well
school becomes a whole unlock of time for you that
more often than, not you're, working but there's those mini
moments across that workday that you can you can really be,
yourself AND i think that that's really. Attractive what gives
(24:47):
you the most excitement as we lean into momming with
school age, CHILDREN.
Speaker 1 (24:54):
I Think i'm most excited for like the growth because,
again we've been with them like every day for a while,
now like almost a year that we've had them home
almost every single, day and So i'm excited for. Them
Right like in the, beginning they were really excited to
be at, home And harlan's still kind of going through
that phase where she wants to. Stay BUT i think
once she goes a few, Times whalen cannot.
Speaker 2 (25:16):
Wait, yeah he does not want to be in this.
House he would skip to.
Speaker 1 (25:19):
School i'm just so excited to see what they. LEARN i,
MEAN i think that both our kids are really, smart
and So i'm excited for them to come home and
just be like excited to tell us the most random
things and like learn things THAT i didn't even know
or like don't even, remember because kids just have like
the most random. Knowledge and you know WHAT i, Mean,
Like i'm excited for. That i'm excited for like.
Speaker 2 (25:39):
You're excited to? Play are you smarter than a first?
Speaker 1 (25:41):
Grader the dioramas and all the school projects Where i'm
like staying up till like crazy hours fixing the. Poster i'm.
Pumped i'm fired. Up we're going To dicks after.
Speaker 2 (25:50):
This maddie just wants to go to school, again is
ALL i? Hear you're going To Billy madison this you're
enjoying whaleen in? Class, yes, yes that's very. Exciting i'm
super excited about. THAT i think that they're going to
become people. MORE i always love when our kids like
start to become people and they do like little people,
things AND i think that's really. Cute and THEN i
can be like that's All maddie or that's all, me
and then this little section is going to be like
(26:11):
that's all school or that's all whalan that's who he,
Is SO i think he's gonna become a little, person
which is. Exciting BUT i can't. LIE i am incredibly
excited about the prospect of mom. Friends we have a
lot of, friends but they don't have. Kids the friends
that we do have that have kids in the, summer
they're doing the same thing we. Are our hair is
on fire and we're trying to make it make sense
(26:33):
and try to see each other possibly being a mom, second.
Speaker 1 (26:36):
Just trying to.
Speaker 2 (26:36):
Survive you're just trying to, Survive LIKE i think having
mom friends is really, Exciting, like can you not wait
to have a mom?
Speaker 1 (26:46):
FRIEND i think you're probably more excited about the mom
friend thing than. Me i'm more of a dad's.
Speaker 2 (26:51):
Friend you could have dad. FRIENDS i, mean you. DON'T
i don't want to hang out with a group of
men ever in my. Life just now putting that out
into the.
Speaker 1 (26:57):
Ether you know What i'm most excited, About, no aside
From whalen's first day, OUTFIT i am very excited about
lunches BECAUSE i usually packed the lunches and we have
these really, fun Cool bento boxes that are. COMING i
don't know if we've talked about them, yet And whalen's Is,
minecraft ALTHOUGH i think that they're going to fight over
The minecraft, one so we might have to order Another
minecraft one For, harlem but we can cross that program
(27:18):
we get to.
Speaker 2 (27:19):
There oh that'd be a bummer if we have to
make another order for more. Things But i'm excited for the.
Speaker 1 (27:23):
LUNCHES i like looked up a chart. ONLINE i got
tons of different ideas so that we don't repeat. Lunches
i'm like that mom put a little note in, there
even though they can't. Read the scratch and sniff sticker.
Thing i'm so.
Speaker 2 (27:34):
Excited you, know if you send a scratch and sniff
sticker with, Lunch i'm not going to talk to you.
Speaker 1 (27:38):
Anymore, no it's, well it's like a scratch and sniff,
concept but it's like you like write a note and
then you scratch it. Off SO i ordered a label
maker today and all these like little lunch pop note.
Things there's more stuff coming From. Amazon are you.
Speaker 2 (27:50):
Talking about a scratch?
Speaker 1 (27:51):
Ticket, well, yeah but they like make scratched.
Speaker 2 (27:53):
Cars i's gonna sniff it, though just be.
Speaker 1 (27:55):
Clear, yeah they make scratch and sniff ones, too and
then they have napkins that have like any faces on,
them so when the kids go to use them and
gives them like a mustache or like a funny. NOSE
i order dose.
Speaker 2 (28:05):
Today do we think this is gonna be something that
we do every day or we think this is like
a one month thing and then we just like slammed
some crap in The bento box and move.
Speaker 1 (28:12):
On, well you can't do, that because The bento box
is specifically designed by.
Speaker 2 (28:15):
Portion you're gonna have a very Colorful bento. Box is
that the? Goal a, fruit of, veggie a, grain a.
Speaker 1 (28:22):
Protein they recommend one to two servings of, dairy although
our kids are gonna need sixteen.
Speaker 2 (28:27):
R, kid, wait please talk about the alerts that we
got for our grocery.
Speaker 1 (28:31):
Order it was like we went to the grocery store
the other day and it like sends you a recact
of what you, bought and it was, like notice this
has like it was.
Speaker 2 (28:41):
It was a one and seventy five servings of dairy
and are in our grocery hall.
Speaker 1 (28:47):
Because we got we got Some YAsO, bar.
Speaker 2 (28:50):
We Got YAsO, bars we got cheese, sticks we Got american,
Cheese we've got. Milks like please come, on they're dairy.
KIDS i ate four last. Night four YAsO bars is
not a good. Decision, HOWEVER i. Am i'm happy that
you're excited about. That, HONESTLY i do most of the
cooking in this, house and SO i always appreciate that
you then become the lunch, mom because If i'm gonna
(29:11):
make like the, breakfast.
Speaker 1 (29:12):
Oh you're gonna say lunch.
Speaker 2 (29:13):
Lady, yeah you look like the lunch. Lady, no But
i'm saying like the lunch mom is an important step
in the process of, school AND i appreciate because you
always had the lunch done the night before in the
fridge ready to, go so no matter who takes them to,
school the kids have a very well organized. Lunch my
mom used to leave me notes in my lunch, too
and my mom was so, busy SO i felt like
it always felt really good to me WHEN i opened
(29:36):
up my. LUNCH i opened up MY i don't know WHY
i said it like, that but that felt. Good i'm
happy that you're the lunch. Mom i'm happy that you're
excited about.
Speaker 1 (29:43):
That i'm very.
Speaker 2 (29:44):
Excited i'm gonna buy you lunch themed accessories as little
gifts because you. Love that's how you. Love you like
gifts and, presents like you like to feel thought. Of
So i'm gonna get you little cute things so that
you can accessorize your children's. Lunches that would be the perfect.
Speaker 1 (29:58):
Gift, Honestly, NO I i, KNOW i think it would. BE
i would love.
Speaker 2 (30:02):
That, well that makes me, happy AND i think that
all that to, say you will be the lunch. Lady
And i'm only gonna call you a lunch. Lady if
no on.
Speaker 1 (30:09):
Works for, Me i'll leave it. There Christian joe extra sloppy, Right,
well in the spirit of, Excitement i'm excited for the
kids to start. School i'm excited for. Lunches i'm excited
for the first. Outfits i'm excited for the first. Friends
i'm excited for the first lots of FIRST i was
like the, VERSE i was gonna say first phone. Call
(30:30):
but THEN i thought about that AND i was, Like.
Speaker 2 (30:32):
I'm not you know What i'm not excited. FOR i
will say one thing before we. Wrap the first TIME
i hear from the school, Nurse i'm gonna hang. UP
i used to abuse our school. NURSE i go to be,
Like i'm, hungry my belly. HURTS i have a. HEADACHE
i shouldn't want to sit in, class which was crazy
BECAUSE i loved, school BUT i loved our nurse Was
Dominic covillo's, Mother. ANDREA i thought being the school nurse
(30:52):
was the coolest thing. Ever always wanted to sit in
there and touch like the tongue. Depressors that's gonna Be
HARLAN a. THOUSAND i, mean, so whoever becomes the school
nurse's favorite is that's a problem right off the. Rip
i'm sure it's gonna be one of our. Kids But
i'm excited, too. Babe i'm really. Excited so next time we,
speak we'll have school age children and we can talk
about all the. Firsts or actually we'll probably be like
(31:16):
one week prior to all the, firsts and you'll have
the school outfits picked, out and you'll spend nine hundred
and fifty thousand dollars on pencils or, something so we
can get into.
Speaker 1 (31:26):
It we all heard it here. First that's the pencil
budget that she gave.
Speaker 2 (31:29):
ME i have a budget Right, well till next, time
buy your kids hockey gear at play it against. Sports thank.
Speaker 1 (31:37):
You that's it for this. Week thanks for listening.
Speaker 2 (31:47):
And if you like what you, heard spread the word
seriously right, now take your phone, Out text a friend
and tell them to, subscribe.
Speaker 1 (31:53):
And be sure to rate and review us On Apple
podcasts And spotify if you haven't. Already it really really.
Helps next, Week I'm Madison packer And.
Speaker 2 (32:02):
I'm Onya packer and this Was these Pas.
Speaker 1 (32:04):
Puck these Packs puck is a production Of iHeart Women's
sports And Deep Blue sports And. Entertainment it's hosted by
Us madison And. Onyapacker Emily meronoff is our senior producer
and story. Editor we were mixed and mastered By Mary.
Deo our executive producers Are Jennifer, Bassett Jesse, katz And Ali.
Perry
Hi, everyone, Welcome to these packs puck. I'm Madison Packer.
Speaker 2 (00:05):
And I'm Anya Packer. Madison and I are both former
pro hockey players. We met through hockey and fell in love,
and now we're married with two awesome toddlers, ages two
and four.
Speaker 1 (00:15):
These days, we're opening up about the chaos of our
daily lives between the juggle of being athletes, raising kids.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
And all the messiness in between. So buckle the puck
up because there is a lot to talk about. Hi, Maddie, Hello,
do you want to get into our hockey hot take
because I think you'd like I'm a I'm.
Speaker 1 (00:37):
A little spicy before the episode starts because of the
topic of conversation and your nitpickiness. Oh gosh, that'll makes
sense for everyone in a minute.
Speaker 2 (00:48):
Yeah, go right ahead. Then you get into your hockey
hot take. It's your hot take, my hot take. It's
your hot take. It's a general tie pushback. Fine, let's
get into it then, shall we.
Speaker 1 (01:00):
Hockey hot take?
Speaker 2 (01:04):
My hockey hot take is that it is the time
of year that everything now is like, buy your backpacks,
buy your this, buy her that, buy your hockey gear.
The newest, hottest things are coming out marketing is crazy.
Everybody's talking about all the things that they need to have,
like it is expensive, it is insane, and it is
(01:25):
all very very tense. For the parent of little hockey players,
the cost of everything is up.
Speaker 1 (01:32):
Okay, our kids are starting school for the first time,
and I'm very particular and I want them to have
a certain thing. So we were looking at backpacks and
lunchboxes because my sister in law, who I think always
has the best stuff, shout out Steph Packer. Her kids
always had the cutestuff. So I asked her where she
got their school stuff, and we were just gonna go
get them like something random. Nothing against that, but like
(01:54):
I'm over the Spider Man lunchbox and like the backpack
that doesn't match. Like I want them to like have
the stuff and feel the confidence, look good, feel good,
play good. So long story short, I went on Pottery
Barn Kids and I designed custom backpacks and custom lunchboxes
and bento boxes to go inside the lunch boxes. And
it cad like once you go down that rabbit hole,
then there's like the silverware and the flask right like
(02:16):
they have yetti cups. We don't want to lose their
yetti cups at school, so I got them little matching kids,
Like Whalen has a custom blue backpack with light blue
lettering that has his initials, so he knows which stuff
is his, so we don't have to put the labels
on it. And then it's got like cute little iron
on patches and he can put different ones. And then
it's got a minecraft bento box that goes inside of
(02:36):
his lunch box and stays cold. And then he's got
batching silverware.
Speaker 2 (02:41):
Just a few things, just a few little a little
assortment of things, just a cart that had fourteen in
front of it. And that cart was almost three hundred
dollars for two children to go to school for backpacks
and lunch boxes and reusable silverware, Like we're gonna wash
that and send it with them. We won't, but okay,
So I say, okay, cool sounds good and that, and
I said, because Whalem won't play hockey yet he thinks
(03:04):
that's mama's thing. He wants his own things, so he's
decided he's a baseball player. So backpack Gate ac curs,
and I call back to a time where you went
to Dick's Sporting Goods a few hundred times before baseball,
before youth baseball, and Whaleen's never played baseball before. Yes,
he's four. So he's four years old and he's going
(03:25):
to baseball, and you say, I'm gonna go get him
a few things, which is probably a you know, thirteen
dollars pair of baseball pants, maybe a pair of socks,
maybe a belt for said pants. And I really wanted
him to have a helmet. I don't want the sharing
of the helmet situation. Did he come back with multiple
pairs of baseball pants as though we don't do laundry
every day? Yes? Did he come back with a bat
(03:46):
that is the size of him and is not necessary? Also?
Speaker 1 (03:50):
Yes?
Speaker 2 (03:51):
Did he come back with air jorded cleats top of
the lied cleats for this kid that can't run faster
than four miles an hour.
Speaker 1 (03:58):
You're making him sound like he's so bad at sports.
Speaker 2 (04:02):
I'm making himself like he's four.
Speaker 1 (04:04):
I think he needed it, you know what, he got
to show up confidence.
Speaker 2 (04:07):
He had baseball batting gloves.
Speaker 1 (04:09):
He needed them. He dropped his bat and got yelled
at for it.
Speaker 2 (04:12):
I don't know if he needed them. That he had
baseball he had like no more Garcia Park baseball glasses.
Speaker 1 (04:18):
Okay, those were unnecessary, but he did ask for like
he asked for the sunglasses.
Speaker 2 (04:23):
Anyway, it's clear to me that you're gonna walk into
a Dick Sporting Goods or insert brand here, and you're
gonna be sold every item under the sun that your
children need to play this sport. And if you're me,
they'll come with half of what they need and the
team will have extras and hand me downs to fill
(04:43):
in the rest. And if you're my wife, they will
come with everything plus two to share with everyone. And
then lose because Madison, where is our bat right now in.
Speaker 1 (04:55):
The batting bag where it belongs?
Speaker 2 (05:00):
Got it at the field?
Speaker 1 (05:01):
Well, he lost his gloves and I got him new gloves.
And the rule was if you lose something else, that's it.
So he'll get it back on Wednesday, and if not,
then he'll just have to share.
Speaker 2 (05:11):
And we will have contributed a seventy dollars bat for
a four year old to Stanford Little League.
Speaker 1 (05:17):
All of this to say back to Anya's hot take,
which seems like it's just a hot rip on Madison session.
The rising cost of everything is insane, Specifically the rising
cost and We've talked about this a little bit before,
with like hockey becoming very privatized and like VC firms
buying up all the equipment companies, et cetera. There's a
(05:37):
story with that I don't think we've shared before about
Shaq shoes, right, Yes, there was a woman a long
time ago who approached not the exact story, but so
somewhere long the's lines approached Shack at an event and
was like, shame on you, like you have designed these
shoes that have now become unaffordable to the community that
has supported you throughout your whole career. And he really
took that to heart. And now his shoe is is
(05:58):
it Kmart or Walmart?
Speaker 2 (06:00):
It was Walmart at the time. You can get him
everywhere now, but yeah, it was Walmart at the time.
Speaker 1 (06:03):
He was like, you know what, You're right, and he
has committed to keeping his shoes affordable so that kids
can always have like a thing. And I think it's
hard because as a parent, you don't want your kids
to become a materialistic You don't want to have that
be the focus, but also you want them to have
the thing to make sure that they feel like they
fit in et cetera. Like we go to baseball and
as much stuff as Whalan has, there are still kids
who look like they're like they show up looking like
(06:25):
Sammy Sosa. Yep, you and I grew up on opposite
ends of the spectrum. I think it's hard to find
the middle ground. And I just want our kids to
like have the stuff, like feel like confident.
Speaker 2 (06:36):
Well, I think the other challenge is this, and this
is this is where the baseball thing makes so much sense.
The features of the bat at four years old, they're
completely unnecessary because the answer is he can't even hit
the ball let alone. Need the carbon light fiber bat
with the rap and the blah blah blah, and like
(06:58):
that's not necessary. Like did you play hockey with the
graphite stick when you were kid? Did you?
Speaker 1 (07:05):
No? I had the Christian all wood woody.
Speaker 2 (07:08):
The woodie that was ten bucks and it was and
it was made out of an actual tree. It was unbreakable.
My mom drove over my hockey stick with her truck
and it did not snap. And this is my point.
I'm just trying to literally move the puck from left
to right in my hands. I needed nothing more. But
we've put out all this marketing and features and what
(07:31):
are we doing to these kids and to these families.
So then talk about what we're doing with the Junior Rangers,
because I think that we've talked about this a little
bit before, but I think in this context is really important.
Speaker 1 (07:41):
So our kids are going to play Junior Rangers. But
the NHL has started to Learn to Play initiative. It's
been around for a while, but basically, you get the
whole bag of gear plus a season of learn to
Play hockey. It's a little bit different depending on the market,
but it's about five hundred bucks. You get everything but
the stick and skates and helmet. Maybe yeah, you get
the whole.
Speaker 2 (07:58):
Bag of gear. I don't know if you get the helmet.
Speaker 1 (08:00):
It's the whole like preseason, which I think is good
to get kids into the game, but then we need
to find a way to keep that affordable.
Speaker 2 (08:07):
Well, I think the part that's really the most frustrating
is actually like getting out of Learn to Play, right,
It's that tweener time from going from Learn to Play
to the youth skate being one hundred and twenty five dollars, right, Like,
it's that tweener time from I'm learning to play hockey,
and now I identify as a hockey player. I'm a
(08:29):
hockey player. I play. I don't want a wooden stick anymore.
I'm seven and I want a three hundred and thirty
five dollars vapor light. And it was expensive, but my
mom was like, that's on you, girl, Like you got
to figure it out. So I worked at the skate
shop and I took all the hand me downs, and
someone would bring a skate with a rivet broken and
I'd fix it and I'd keep it and I'd and
it would be mine, Like I remember at that time
(08:53):
doing anything I could. But like if every hockey shop
only has two positions, right, like two people that could
work there for that opportunity, Like that's not for everybody.
And so I spent, oh my gosh, so much time
picking one thing up and then going two weeks later.
I went to play it against sports probably every week
when I was younger, and I didn't get a new
(09:14):
pair of skates until I was in college, and I
remember getting my first pair of skates and I had
never baked a pair of skates either. So for hockey skates,
for context, excuse me, when you buy new skates. You
have to put them in an oven and then put
them on your feet so that they mold to your
feet so that when you skate and stride, it like
hugs your foot and the features all work and you
don't get blisters or bower bomps or the CCM scrape
(09:37):
or whatever. You know, we need to make up all
these names. But the first pair of skates that I
ever baked, I was eighteen years old and I was
in college, and I remember crying, and my teammates who
had Olympic gold medals right like this is where I
was at at Boston University, were like, what's wrong? Is
it too hot? I was like, no, I've never done
this before. I've never done this. This is the the
(09:59):
best thing. I I've never had a new pair of
skates a day in my life.
Speaker 1 (10:01):
Well maybe that's where we disagree on the backpack thing.
Speaker 2 (10:04):
And so now going back to the backpacks, that's the
biggest thing is I think the shame of going to
play it against sports to make it work for your
kids and make it work for yourself. That shame of
hand me downs and not having the brand new, sexiest
marketed whatever it is. We have to let it go
away because the excess, waste and the cost and all
(10:24):
of it is it's crazy. So this October, if it's
a little snug, go to play it against sports. This
is not an ad. This is from my heart with love.
Speaker 1 (10:35):
Yeah, play it against sports is underrated.
Speaker 2 (10:37):
It's the goat. Okay, I'm done with my rant. I'm
done making fun of you too. I'm not ever actually
done making fun of you. I'm sure you'll buy something
ridiculous in thirty seconds and we'll get an alert while
we're recording this podcast. But until then, why don't we
(10:58):
move into a little check in girlfriend?
Speaker 1 (11:00):
How are we doing? How about we check in with
you first? Because it's been a it's been a doo z.
Speaker 2 (11:06):
I'm low, I sound high. I think I'm really good
at the facade like I'm good at just like the
packer push through.
Speaker 1 (11:13):
The packer pushed through. Yeah, I love that.
Speaker 2 (11:15):
That's what we're gonna do. That's what I call it.
Like I'm not a packer through blood by choice, by choice,
I am going to work with the packer push through.
I'm kicking it at like a I'm kicking it at like.
Speaker 1 (11:27):
A twelve boy. We're in trouble because I'm coaching tonight
lo Thos in town. Though.
Speaker 2 (11:33):
Yeah, I was just gonna say my mom's in town.
My mom heard the call and she got in her
car and she drove here. And she is my hero
because she could tell I was at a very low number.
And we talk about this like needing a village to
be a mom. I would say my village is exclusively
my mom, and she just stops everything when I need it.
(11:54):
And it scares me for what happens when I become older,
because I'm gonna do the same thing for our kids.
You'll be like, honey, don't we have that date. I'll
be like, gotta go, gotta go, Harlan needs my help camp.
I will be gone for two weeks.
Speaker 1 (12:06):
Kind of sounds nice right now, I know it kind
of sounds nice.
Speaker 2 (12:08):
Any who, I'm at a twelve.
Speaker 1 (12:10):
Where are you at?
Speaker 2 (12:11):
What's going on?
Speaker 1 (12:13):
I could be an eighty eight. I'm a little tired.
We got a long day.
Speaker 2 (12:16):
You could be an eighty eight right now.
Speaker 1 (12:17):
I could if I needed to to bring us to
to bring us to well, well, we have to be
what seventy I.
Speaker 2 (12:22):
Think we see is fine.
Speaker 1 (12:23):
Sees get degrees Okay, I could be a I could
be a sixty five that brings us to a seventy seven.
That's a high sea. Yeah. Plus I'm a little tired,
even though we got to sleep in. But today's the
last long day. Then tomorrow I'm gonna take the kids
school shopping and.
Speaker 2 (12:39):
No, you're not, No, you're not, No, you're not.
Speaker 1 (12:43):
We just got back from a long wedding weekend, so
it's just like resetting.
Speaker 2 (12:46):
But we're home for a few days, which is nice
when we're in our own space with control of our
own things. Even at twelve, feels like enough. It's not
enough for all the moving and parts and chaos, but
when you're in your own space, I feel like a
three is enough. Like I'm just awake, I'm alive.
Speaker 1 (13:02):
Well good, I will rally and carry the torch a
little bit, do it after I get home from being
gone all night from coaching.
Speaker 2 (13:09):
After you've put the kids to bed by yourself, make
me dinner and kick me out.
Speaker 1 (13:13):
Very well.
Speaker 2 (13:15):
This is going to be another solo episode, so I
am excited to have some fun. We'll talk about all
things school and future and what our life looks like
and Maddie the new era of being school age children moms.
So we have a lot to cover. Let's go to
a quick break and then we're going to dive in.
Speaker 1 (13:43):
So we recently did a little life update with the kids.
This episode is going to kind of continue. Our kids
are starting school for the first time, so we are
going to talk about bum bum mom guild. It's all
the things mom guilt is heavily wrapped into this. But
it's like back to school and what that looks like
and all the activities and the schedule and the regimen
(14:04):
and the you're traveling, I'm traveling. Mom guilt is going
to start to kick in because we've had like a
summer full of fun and it's winding down and I
feel like a lot of people are in the same
place with that. But then it's like your kids start
scheduled activities. We have a lot of that going on.
It's like, what do I said with my kid? Our
kids are starting a new school. What if they don't
(14:24):
like it? What if they don't make friends? What if
they do? How do we make friends? We need mom.
Speaker 2 (14:28):
Friends, You need mom friends. I think the other challenges
it's hard to navigate, especially for us because we don't
have like super structure in our lives. We've always kind
of just gone wherever it's fun and makes sense, and
we're about to enter this new era of we are
beholden to the school schedule. And actually I'm really excited
(14:50):
about it. I loved school Waylan's been really into like
sitting and coloring and reading books, and like he's in
this new phase as he preps for school that he
likes that stuff. And while it feels crazy to me
that Harlan is going to walk into a school setting
(15:11):
because she kind of never has and she never has
had to, I'm really excited for what the new routine
looks like with the support of the structure and the school.
Speaker 1 (15:24):
Harlan is not excited.
Speaker 2 (15:26):
Pitch is not excited. No, she's not.
Speaker 1 (15:29):
It is every time we mentioned school.
Speaker 2 (15:32):
No, no, she's not excited. I think it's gonna be
fun because she loves to play with her little friends,
but it's not like when she went for her like tour.
It was very school and I'm certain that she's going
to be very rebellious to that concept.
Speaker 1 (15:46):
Yeah you know what, though, I think she's gonna end
up liking it more than she thinks. Though the first
week's gonna be hard, though, Whalen is all fired up,
so it's still pre k because Whalen is a September
eighth birthday.
Speaker 2 (15:57):
This is dumb. Whalen's going to preschool again again and
he he's six' four and he's and he's like a.
Monster i'm not certain how this is going to. Go,
However i'm really excited about the. Program you know what
it is Is i'm excited for them to go to
school and come home and, say, mommy, mama this is
What i've, Learned like this is how butterflies turn from
catapillaries to. Butterflies like they never came back from any
(16:20):
of their daycare style things with any new. Knowledge And
whyland's starting to like pick up new. Knowledge he's starting
to tell me things And i'm really excited for him
to learn things that he can't. Know IF i agree with, that,
OH i totally think that there's never been a chance
for them to take a, lesson think about it, critically
come home like now he'll ask. Us i'll, say, oh
(16:40):
wash your. Hands you have, Germs and he's, like can
you show me a picture on your phone what a
germ looks? Like like he's interested in.
Speaker 1 (16:45):
Things i'm just excited because it's going to be like
an actual. School, yeah he's really excited, too and he's
like getting into. Reading he's super into, drawing which is.
Speaker 2 (16:53):
Fun, yeah he is really into. Drawings he's very. Good
like this sounds, dumb are we? Idiots he's a good
Color he colors well inside the.
Speaker 1 (17:02):
Line he does color very well. Inside like.
Speaker 2 (17:06):
What AM i bragging?
Speaker 1 (17:07):
About hand eye the dexterity to hold the cran and
get it inside the. Line but all of, that kids
are going to. School harlan's starting, dance, gymnastics, hockey.
Speaker 2 (17:17):
Yeah, Right, yeah everyone's doing. Hockey both of them are doing.
Speaker 1 (17:19):
Hockey whyalan's doing football hockey AND i don't.
Speaker 2 (17:25):
Know we've got to figure out what happens at the
same time it's her, gymnastics BECAUSE i want them to
do some things. SEPARATELY i think them doing everything together
just continues to like shape them into the same. Person
AND i like that they like different, things SO i
want TO i want to figure out some. Differences like,
obviously we're not gonna Stop harlan from playing flag football
if she so chooses to want to try, that or
(17:45):
baseball or, whatever like she doesn't only have to do certain.
Things it's not like. Roles but if he wants to do,
gymnastics maybe put her into. Swimming Like i'm okay with.
THAT i just want them to do some things apart
and not have you AND i doing sixteen activities per.
Child that's the other thing That i'm really cognizant.
Speaker 1 (18:03):
Enough, yeah and we're going from a very travel heavy
summer with not much activity structure. Too now your work
schedule is kicking back up for. Travel i'm starting to work.
More it's going to be a. Lot enter into the.
Chat what we wanted to talk most, ABOUT i think mom.
Speaker 2 (18:24):
Guilt, OH i don't like mom. GUILT i had to
travel on a work trip During Whalan's baseball award, ceremony
and my mom came down because again she's the goat of,
Like i'm, stressed so she's going to be. Supportive so
she came down and her job exclusively was to FaceTime
me the whole. Time AND i felt so badly for missing.
(18:49):
It AND i. CAN'T i can't stop being, me or
a working, person or a person that likes, yoga or
a person that likes to go to the gym LIKE
i can't stop all those things BECAUSE i had. CHILDREN
i know, that but that doesn't mean in the, moment
when something else is coming up and you have to
do something for your, kids you don't think to, yourself,
WOW i am the most selfish person in the. World
(19:11):
That i'm here doing literally anything else when my kids
are doing. Blank SO i never really understood that because
that was your foundational knowledge of being a, mom was
receiving things through the.
Speaker 1 (19:24):
Phone AND i think it's changed now That i've been
home more and like SO i obviously when we first had,
kids was traveling all the time for hockey on the
road a. LOT i didn't know any. Different Now i've
been home for you, know nine ten, months like doing
some working stuff from, home but like not really being
gone that. Much and then in that started to kind
(19:44):
of start to travel, more like WHEN i was doing
some stuff round The Stanley cup, playoffs et. Cetera and
WHEN i would leave it was so much, Harder like
it was always hard to leave after being, home but
like we spent a summer, apart it was it was
always harder to leave after the summer and like go
back to the. Season but now That i've had so
much time with, them and they're a little, older so
it's more, engaging and like they're more aware WHEN i
(20:06):
miss something and they're, like where's, Mama or When i'm
with them and they're and they're constantly, like where's, Mommy i'm, like,
okay well When i'm gone that they're doing the same
thing to you about. Mama they're, aware and they're, engaged
and they they're curious and they process things like when
you weren't going to be A whalen's baseball with, THEM
i was, like mommy's going to miss my first baseball,
game which is not like as deep as he's making it, sound,
right but like we hear that and we're, like oh my,
(20:28):
gosh it's like soul.
Speaker 2 (20:29):
Crushing AND i talked about this with my. Coworker he,
SAYS i go on the road all the, time SO
i get home AND i get to be the, hero
and my wife feels LIKE i just get to come
in and be the. Hero and she just shlept through
all the, activities all the, work all the, things and
it was really. Painful AND i remember so clearly When
whelan started to understand that you were going for, work
(20:50):
going for hockey and then coming, BACK i would go
through hell with a newborn and a two year, old
AND i would do it all. HAPPILY i love, YOU
i support. You you would do the same WHEN i was,
out but like, Whatever AND i remember you came home
with like a little stuffed toy and you were like
the freakin' queen Of, chiba and it was so, frustrating
(21:12):
AND i couldn't be frustrated with, you BUT i. WAS
i was envious that you got to come home and
be fun all the. Time, Yeah so that's, where, LIKE
i think the guilt also comes in BECAUSE i want
to be. MAD i know you want to be mad
at me, too and it's easy to play tit for
tat in that. Way Like i'll come home from a
work trip off a red eye And i'll need a,
(21:32):
nap and you'll be, Like i've just been with these
kids for five days straight without any, support so like
your nap can. Wait but we're not. Fighting we're both
going through the same. Thing AND i think that's where
the guilt is even, worse.
Speaker 1 (21:46):
The constant battle of, like, well no one person's, job,
role or experience is more or less, important but like
we can both come back into the situation feeling. EXHAUSTED
i think that everyone can relate to, that where it's,
Like i'm exhausted for spending all this time with the,
Kids you're exhausted from being, working traveling time, zones et.
Cetera then it flips and it's just like the exhaustion never,
ends AND i think never never. Ends you'll never sleep
(22:10):
again if you have kids eighteen years THEN i heard
you still don't sleep after. That but finding space for
each other whether or for, yourself right if you're a
single parent or you're, married and you have it like
it's when generally when couples experience the most turmoil and
pressure and heaviness because you feel unsupported or you feel
(22:32):
like you can't ask for something because your other person
is also, struggling AND i think it can lead to
resentment or like breakdowns and communication like et. Cetera, right
even more, so especially if you're a single parent trying
to do all of. It AND i think we wanted
to talk about the mom guilt because it is a real,
thing but it's also you can't be a mom until
you can be, yourself AND i think it took us
a while to figure that. Out individually and like getting
(22:53):
frustrated on our own right and then being, like, okay,
NO i need. This we've both gotten a lot better
about asking for what we. NEED i need to go
to the, gym you need to go to the, gym
you need to eat a certain, Thing like we've kind
of figured out what our non negotiables are to like
show up and at least be. Baseline.
Speaker 2 (23:09):
Okay, well then it's also all of that combined with
the fact that this specific fall we enter the brand
newest era to, us which is being parents to school age.
Children harlan is still going to be a toddler she's,
three but she has the school time, Structure so for,
(23:30):
us it's like all those things and then having school
to be the double's. Partner, right we are the doubles
partners for one another now and now it almost gets
to be school on one side of the court and
us as a partner pair on the other. Side so
it's then navigating all, right who does drop? Off is?
It drop, off go to the, gym come, home switch,
(23:51):
Car like school is a whole new era for, us
and there's so many parents that will be entering this
era that will have this new friend you know that
they can play with and, say, hey here's my kids
from eight to three or eight to. Five if you
do extended school, PROGRAMMING i need to make sure they have, food, water,
clothes and they're, there and Then i'm supporting their learning from.
(24:15):
Home AND i think if you can do that, well
school becomes a whole unlock of time for you that
more often than, not you're, working but there's those mini
moments across that workday that you can you can really be,
yourself AND i think that that's really. Attractive what gives
(24:47):
you the most excitement as we lean into momming with
school age, CHILDREN.
Speaker 1 (24:54):
I Think i'm most excited for like the growth because,
again we've been with them like every day for a while,
now like almost a year that we've had them home
almost every single, day and So i'm excited for. Them
Right like in the, beginning they were really excited to
be at, home And harlan's still kind of going through
that phase where she wants to. Stay BUT i think
once she goes a few, Times whalen cannot.
Speaker 2 (25:16):
Wait, yeah he does not want to be in this.
House he would skip to.
Speaker 1 (25:19):
School i'm just so excited to see what they. LEARN i,
MEAN i think that both our kids are really, smart
and So i'm excited for them to come home and
just be like excited to tell us the most random
things and like learn things THAT i didn't even know
or like don't even, remember because kids just have like
the most random. Knowledge and you know WHAT i, Mean,
Like i'm excited for. That i'm excited for like.
Speaker 2 (25:39):
You're excited to? Play are you smarter than a first?
Speaker 1 (25:41):
Grader the dioramas and all the school projects Where i'm
like staying up till like crazy hours fixing the. Poster i'm.
Pumped i'm fired. Up we're going To dicks after.
Speaker 2 (25:50):
This maddie just wants to go to school, again is
ALL i? Hear you're going To Billy madison this you're
enjoying whaleen in? Class, yes, yes that's very. Exciting i'm
super excited about. THAT i think that they're going to
become people. MORE i always love when our kids like
start to become people and they do like little people,
things AND i think that's really. Cute and THEN i
can be like that's All maddie or that's all, me
and then this little section is going to be like
(26:11):
that's all school or that's all whalan that's who he,
Is SO i think he's gonna become a little, person
which is. Exciting BUT i can't. LIE i am incredibly
excited about the prospect of mom. Friends we have a
lot of, friends but they don't have. Kids the friends
that we do have that have kids in the, summer
they're doing the same thing we. Are our hair is
on fire and we're trying to make it make sense
(26:33):
and try to see each other possibly being a mom, second.
Speaker 1 (26:36):
Just trying to.
Speaker 2 (26:36):
Survive you're just trying to, Survive LIKE i think having
mom friends is really, Exciting, like can you not wait
to have a mom?
Speaker 1 (26:46):
FRIEND i think you're probably more excited about the mom
friend thing than. Me i'm more of a dad's.
Speaker 2 (26:51):
Friend you could have dad. FRIENDS i, mean you. DON'T
i don't want to hang out with a group of
men ever in my. Life just now putting that out
into the.
Speaker 1 (26:57):
Ether you know What i'm most excited, About, no aside
From whalen's first day, OUTFIT i am very excited about
lunches BECAUSE i usually packed the lunches and we have
these really, fun Cool bento boxes that are. COMING i
don't know if we've talked about them, yet And whalen's Is,
minecraft ALTHOUGH i think that they're going to fight over
The minecraft, one so we might have to order Another
minecraft one For, harlem but we can cross that program
(27:18):
we get to.
Speaker 2 (27:19):
There oh that'd be a bummer if we have to
make another order for more. Things But i'm excited for the.
Speaker 1 (27:23):
LUNCHES i like looked up a chart. ONLINE i got
tons of different ideas so that we don't repeat. Lunches
i'm like that mom put a little note in, there
even though they can't. Read the scratch and sniff sticker.
Thing i'm so.
Speaker 2 (27:34):
Excited you, know if you send a scratch and sniff
sticker with, Lunch i'm not going to talk to you.
Speaker 1 (27:38):
Anymore, no it's, well it's like a scratch and sniff,
concept but it's like you like write a note and
then you scratch it. Off SO i ordered a label
maker today and all these like little lunch pop note.
Things there's more stuff coming From. Amazon are you.
Speaker 2 (27:50):
Talking about a scratch?
Speaker 1 (27:51):
Ticket, well, yeah but they like make scratched.
Speaker 2 (27:53):
Cars i's gonna sniff it, though just be.
Speaker 1 (27:55):
Clear, yeah they make scratch and sniff ones, too and
then they have napkins that have like any faces on,
them so when the kids go to use them and
gives them like a mustache or like a funny. NOSE
i order dose.
Speaker 2 (28:05):
Today do we think this is gonna be something that
we do every day or we think this is like
a one month thing and then we just like slammed
some crap in The bento box and move.
Speaker 1 (28:12):
On, well you can't do, that because The bento box
is specifically designed by.
Speaker 2 (28:15):
Portion you're gonna have a very Colorful bento. Box is
that the? Goal a, fruit of, veggie a, grain a.
Speaker 1 (28:22):
Protein they recommend one to two servings of, dairy although
our kids are gonna need sixteen.
Speaker 2 (28:27):
R, kid, wait please talk about the alerts that we
got for our grocery.
Speaker 1 (28:31):
Order it was like we went to the grocery store
the other day and it like sends you a recact
of what you, bought and it was, like notice this
has like it was.
Speaker 2 (28:41):
It was a one and seventy five servings of dairy
and are in our grocery hall.
Speaker 1 (28:47):
Because we got we got Some YAsO, bar.
Speaker 2 (28:50):
We Got YAsO, bars we got cheese, sticks we Got american,
Cheese we've got. Milks like please come, on they're dairy.
KIDS i ate four last. Night four YAsO bars is
not a good. Decision, HOWEVER i. Am i'm happy that
you're excited about. That, HONESTLY i do most of the
cooking in this, house and SO i always appreciate that
you then become the lunch, mom because If i'm gonna
(29:11):
make like the, breakfast.
Speaker 1 (29:12):
Oh you're gonna say lunch.
Speaker 2 (29:13):
Lady, yeah you look like the lunch. Lady, no But
i'm saying like the lunch mom is an important step
in the process of, school AND i appreciate because you
always had the lunch done the night before in the
fridge ready to, go so no matter who takes them to,
school the kids have a very well organized. Lunch my
mom used to leave me notes in my lunch, too
and my mom was so, busy SO i felt like
it always felt really good to me WHEN i opened
(29:36):
up my. LUNCH i opened up MY i don't know WHY
i said it like, that but that felt. Good i'm
happy that you're the lunch. Mom i'm happy that you're
excited about.
Speaker 1 (29:43):
That i'm very.
Speaker 2 (29:44):
Excited i'm gonna buy you lunch themed accessories as little
gifts because you. Love that's how you. Love you like
gifts and, presents like you like to feel thought. Of
So i'm gonna get you little cute things so that
you can accessorize your children's. Lunches that would be the perfect.
Speaker 1 (29:58):
Gift, Honestly, NO I i, KNOW i think it would. BE
i would love.
Speaker 2 (30:02):
That, well that makes me, happy AND i think that
all that to, say you will be the lunch. Lady
And i'm only gonna call you a lunch. Lady if
no on.
Speaker 1 (30:09):
Works for, Me i'll leave it. There Christian joe extra sloppy, Right,
well in the spirit of, Excitement i'm excited for the
kids to start. School i'm excited for. Lunches i'm excited
for the first. Outfits i'm excited for the first. Friends
i'm excited for the first lots of FIRST i was
like the, VERSE i was gonna say first phone. Call
(30:30):
but THEN i thought about that AND i was, Like.
Speaker 2 (30:32):
I'm not you know What i'm not excited. FOR i
will say one thing before we. Wrap the first TIME
i hear from the school, Nurse i'm gonna hang. UP
i used to abuse our school. NURSE i go to be,
Like i'm, hungry my belly. HURTS i have a. HEADACHE
i shouldn't want to sit in, class which was crazy
BECAUSE i loved, school BUT i loved our nurse Was
Dominic covillo's, Mother. ANDREA i thought being the school nurse
(30:52):
was the coolest thing. Ever always wanted to sit in
there and touch like the tongue. Depressors that's gonna Be
HARLAN a. THOUSAND i, mean, so whoever becomes the school
nurse's favorite is that's a problem right off the. Rip
i'm sure it's gonna be one of our. Kids But
i'm excited, too. Babe i'm really. Excited so next time we,
speak we'll have school age children and we can talk
about all the. Firsts or actually we'll probably be like
(31:16):
one week prior to all the, firsts and you'll have
the school outfits picked, out and you'll spend nine hundred
and fifty thousand dollars on pencils or, something so we
can get into.
Speaker 1 (31:26):
It we all heard it here. First that's the pencil
budget that she gave.
Speaker 2 (31:29):
ME i have a budget Right, well till next, time
buy your kids hockey gear at play it against. Sports thank.
Speaker 1 (31:37):
You that's it for this. Week thanks for listening.
Speaker 2 (31:47):
And if you like what you, heard spread the word
seriously right, now take your phone, Out text a friend
and tell them to, subscribe.
Speaker 1 (31:53):
And be sure to rate and review us On Apple
podcasts And spotify if you haven't. Already it really really.
Helps next, Week I'm Madison packer And.
Speaker 2 (32:02):
I'm Onya packer and this Was these Pas.
Speaker 1 (32:04):
Puck these Packs puck is a production Of iHeart Women's
sports And Deep Blue sports And. Entertainment it's hosted by
Us madison And. Onyapacker Emily meronoff is our senior producer
and story. Editor we were mixed and mastered By Mary.
Deo our executive producers Are Jennifer, Bassett Jesse, katz And Ali.
Perry
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