August 19, 2025 • 38 mins
Back with another solo episode, Madison and Anya kick things off by calling attention to a phallus fad plaguing the WNBA. Dildos have been thrown on the court at multiple games and no one quite knows why. Some think it’s a marketing ploy, others say it’s innocent fun, but many see it as an act of misogyny and disrespect. In light of this, The Packers give a little insight to the sexism experienced during their entire athletic career. Then, get a peek into the Packer household with an update on our favorite kiddos plus an inside scoop on the planning of a joint birthday party!
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Hi, everyone, Welcome to these packs puck. I'm Madison Packer
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 2 (00:15):
These days, we're opening up about the chaos of our
daily lives, between the juggle of being athletes, raising kids and.
Speaker 3 (00:21):
All the messiness in between. So buckle the puck up,
because there is a lot to talk about.
Speaker 2 (00:29):
Hello, Anya, Hello Madison, how you doing? Girly?
Speaker 3 (00:34):
People call you Madison.
Speaker 2 (00:35):
They get Maddie more often. You call me Madison when
you get.
Speaker 3 (00:38):
Mad at me, Madison.
Speaker 2 (00:39):
Enough Madison, Enough Madison.
Speaker 3 (00:43):
Well you're not in trouble today, but I did call
you Madison. So Hi, Maddie. What's up girl? What's your
hot take for the day. I think we're going to
get right into it cause it's a little bit risque,
so let's jump.
Speaker 2 (00:54):
In hockey hot take. The hot take is I want
to talk about the flagrant disrespect for female athletes, the
most recent example being the throwing of dildos on the
court at WNBA games and two things. One out Sports
(01:17):
wrote an article recently and the headline was throwing sex
toys at WNBA players is homophobic, dangerous, and dumb. I
agree with all those things, definitely dangerous and dumb. However,
the homophobic part I want to maybe challenge a little
bit because I think it's deeper than that, right, Like,
I don't think that people are throwing dildos on the
(01:38):
court because they're like trying to be targeting the LGBTQ
plus community. I just think it's a complete flagrant lack
of respect for women in general.
Speaker 3 (01:47):
Well, to this point, it's happened at six separate games,
so it's not one or two things. I think the
first time it happened, it was like people kind of
laughed it off. It's like, hahaha, this is ridiculous. It's
now happened six times. There's theory and like concepts of
what's going on if it's a marketing employ et cetera.
But all of that to say it's.
Speaker 2 (02:06):
A terrible marketing stupid it is because it's super dunny.
Speaker 3 (02:08):
But all that to say it is misogynistic. And here's
why the disrespect for women, especially female athletes, is to
feminize them, to hyper sexualize them, to make it about
literally anything except the sport, and throwing sex toys is
not only going to hurt somebody. Imagine in basketball, you
(02:29):
throw it at someone as they're taking the jumper and
they come down on their ankle, Like it's just dangerous,
but also it's disgustingly abusive to the fact that these
are women, and it is like a very heinous and
violent thing to start thrusting upon women generally, is that
they're going to be approached with sexual experience in the workplace.
(02:51):
Like imagine I was sitting at my desk and someone
just lobbed a dildo over my cubicle wall, Like it's
their workplace and they are not sexual beings. They are
playing a sport, and that's where the misogyny freaks me out.
Speaker 2 (03:07):
And I just think that right, like you see the
p Rehl draft happened and there were all these comments about,
oh that that player is a man. We saw it
at the Olympics with certain athletes. We've seen sprinters and jumpers,
track and field athletes in particular, and gymnasts be challenged
by men, and it's like, what are you getting at
to have this constant like denigration and disparagement, Like at
(03:31):
what point are we just going to respect women? And
I think that it's escalating, right because you look at
the societal you know, climate and temperature and in the
political temperature, Like, we just have a complete lack of
respect for women, period, one thousand percent. We have moved
so far backward and we don't respect them in their homes,
we don't respect them in their workplace, we don't respect
(03:52):
what they do, and it's it's absurd and at what
point are we just going to accept these women as
they are? They are phenomenal athletes, and why does it
always happen? I mean, like, can a man not walk
in a mall and see a woman and be anything
other than like absolutely horny. It's crazy that that we
can't try, right, Like, it's crazy that we can't look
at women on a sports court and think anything other than, oh,
(04:16):
I gotta.
Speaker 3 (04:16):
Get down, listen. I can't stress this enough. As a
female athlete, and you've dealt with this as well, I
would say, oh, I'm a defender, and it would be
like either some weird sexual pun or like, yeah, my
high school team could have kicked your ass, or yeah,
let's play one on one, And I'm like, why does
(04:37):
it so deeply offend you that I am a professional
athlete and you, my friend, hung up the skates in
your heyday glory era of junior varsity high school hockey,
like breathe. First of all, go touch some grass. I
didn't say anything about you. I just told you what
my profession was. And I remember so often like people
would say, oh, do you guys need more people at
(04:59):
your game? You guys should do a sexy jersey photoshoot, calendar,
you guys should do a blah blah blah, or I
would say something in the first comment out of a
single man's mouth when I said I played hockey, they'd
be like, you're too pretty for hockey. You're gorgeous, You're
and I'm like, dude, take any break, okay, But like
they're like, oh, your face isn't messed up, or like
(05:20):
you still have all your teeth, or like, you know,
women are too pretty to be hitting like that like
some And I'm like.
Speaker 2 (05:24):
First of all, abo's upsetting because I get hit with
a you look like a hockey player all the time,
So I'll have to unpack that later.
Speaker 3 (05:30):
I'm just saying I think that the misogyny when when
we talk about it, and I think naturally throwing it
a sex object at a bunch of women is so vulgar,
But that is the life of a female athlete, Right
Like when you told somebody that you played hockey professionally,
how often did they say, what does your husband do?
What else do you have to do?
Speaker 2 (05:50):
What?
Speaker 3 (05:50):
Blah blah blah?
Speaker 2 (05:51):
Like never that never, No one ever asked me what
my husband does. That's crazy, but you.
Speaker 3 (05:57):
You get it all the time, eh Ma, hands that due.
Speaker 2 (06:03):
I think that it's frustrating, Like it's just continuously back
to this need to like exert dominance over women and
show superiority over women.
Speaker 3 (06:16):
How angry when you were younger, How angry did people
get when you were playing against their little boys and
clipping them or just generally doing anything well at all.
I remember fathers used to like climb the glass and
scream at their sons.
Speaker 2 (06:36):
Get that girl, Get that girl.
Speaker 3 (06:38):
And I'm like, why why is my presence here so
upsetting to you? Because everything statistically says girls as they
develop develop quicker, they're taller, they're stronger, Right Like, there's
this apex age that no matter skill level or otherwise,
girls are just better at sports for a period of time.
And I remember during that period of time, like watching
(06:59):
five there's adult men screaming to hurt me, and I
just like that has never gone away. That's just like
it deeply entrenched in sport and this idea that women
can't do it without needing to be hurt or assaulted
or like if a player. I've seen it at WNBA games.
(07:21):
We're sitting courtside and like somebody will go to inbound
a ball and like all the guys around them sitting
behind their butt. Yo, look at her, uh so big,
Like she's strong as hell, yet it's got a big butt,
Like it's okay, you're gonna be all right.
Speaker 2 (07:34):
Yeah, And I think that, I mean, we could talk
about this for days, right, but I think we need
a huge culture shift. Either. We need everyone to have
a daughter. They do, they have sisters, they have daughters,
and it's like, that's what you think of your kid,
that's what you want someone else to think of your kid.
That's the norm that you want to set or right.
And then it's not everybody. We run into guys in
(07:57):
the rink all the time who are like, oh my daughter, no,
she looks up to you. This that like, there are
a lot of good guys out there. This is not
a shit on men's session. However, I think that we
need to be more comfortable shutting it down when we
see it. To your point about going into the rink,
I used to have to tuck my hair into my
helmet and get changed in the bathroom, and dads would
be like rip her head off. I mean, kids would
(08:18):
try to find out. And it's like, if we believe
truly that men are so much that brief and we
are upset, we are upset that a girl or a
woman is competing equally, Think about how much stronger society
would be as a whole if all these women, all
of a sudden, could could be quote unquote as good
as the men.
Speaker 3 (08:37):
Yeah, I mean all of that. Plus it's not lost.
I mean, like it's not lost on me that social
media posts for any athlete, hockey players. If you posted
an entire social media page that was entirely dedicated to
you wearing your gear, guess what. No one's gonna follow you,
no one's gonna like your stuff. The algorithm isn't gonna
(08:59):
push forward. But you post one summer training pick, you
post one bikini pick. You post one picture where your
hair is down and not tucked in your helmet. I
would challenge the data scrapers of the world to look
at every single professional female athlete and let me know
their highest engagement posts. It's Sophie Cunningham when she posts
(09:21):
some sexy walk in photo and she does a transition.
It's Taylor Girard when she's in a bikini. It's I
could go through all of these athletes and it's no knock.
I'm not being shady. They are gorgeous. They have sick bodies.
Alona mar walking in the runway with her bikini on
like I was like, holy shit, that's a that's what
a real body looks like. But she's half naked and
(09:43):
proud of it. And I'm not shading the half naked part.
But that's what society wants. They want to see us
without our clothes on. They want to throw sex toys
on our arenas, on our fields and our courts. They
want us to be sexual beings. And that misogyny runs
deep as hell. That's the problem. That's the hockey hot take.
(10:06):
There's no solving it right now, but it's acknowledging it.
It's calling it out and it's being okay to know
that while it's present, it needs to be dismantled.
Speaker 2 (10:15):
Yeah, I agree wholeheartedly. And like I said, we could
talk about this for hours, days, weeks.
Speaker 3 (10:21):
But we don't get time for that.
Speaker 2 (10:23):
I'm I'm sweating and I'm sweating. But let's get into
a check in so where we at how we feel
and give me a number.
Speaker 3 (10:35):
From one to one hundred. I actually feel pretty good.
We're going on a mini vacation for a wedding. There's
about nine events for this wedding, which actually is fun.
It'll keep the whole mood livened up. I've got a
couple of different outfits that I'm really excited to wear.
So I would say I'm a cool eighty five. I
feel good. I mean like things have been a little
(10:55):
chaotic here, but what's life with two toddlers if not chaotic.
You worked all weekend so I was solo mom basically
for the weekend, and I actually had a blast. I
really enjoyed it. So I'm at an eighty five. I
feel amazing. How about you? Good?
Speaker 2 (11:09):
I'm like an eighty ooh, maybe said maybe seventy five.
I'm like really bummed out. For those who listened a
few episodes ago we talked about our car debacles and trauma,
we are experiencing that yet again the defenders in the shop.
We get tire fault airs on the Audie again, and
(11:32):
that just seems like a never ending nightmare. No matter
how much money or where can we put into fixing
the problem.
Speaker 3 (11:36):
Things are so expensive and everything is just so low quality.
I swear the cars made out of plastic.
Speaker 2 (11:41):
Yeah, so that bummed me out. But I had a
good workout with Vic. He almost passed away on me
today choked on some Candleope. It was actually quite scary,
but the head trainer was there to literally perform the
Heimlich and saved his life. So shout out again to Vic,
who is still kicking it. No more candle up than them,
But because are the rules. Got my new boxing gloves,
(12:03):
my new boxing shoes. Yeah, I got my whole new setup,
So that's bringing me up. I'm also really tired because
a few early mornings and a long weekend of working,
but no complaints. Like you said, we're going on vacation.
I'm excited. We're gonna spend the whole week slash end
on the lake in one of my favorite places with
most of my favorite people, with your.
Speaker 3 (12:23):
Entire extended family.
Speaker 2 (12:25):
So yeah, well we can unpack that later.
Speaker 3 (12:27):
While we're not not excited for that, everyone also should
shoot a little prayer up to the sky for you, girl,
because yeah, a lot of packers in one space. We
ordered extra flares. It's an intensity. But you know what,
I think this episode, it probably makes sense. We'll take
a little break and then we'll get into like a
maybe like, let's do a packer regroup. Where are we
at with everybody? We have some birthdays coming up, so
(12:48):
let's do a little recap. But let's take a first
little break and then we'll do a whole re meet
the packers. Hi, mama, welcome back. We're going to talk
(13:08):
about all the things. I'm excited to kind of regroup
where we're at. So hit me with Actually I need
to start. Yesterday, Harlan, completely unprovoked, walked into the bathroom
and she pulled down her little pants and she peed,
and she pooped on the potty, and it was quite liberated.
Speaker 2 (13:26):
Didn't tell me that, Yes.
Speaker 3 (13:28):
I did not change a poop diaper, but I did
have to deal with the like poop and the kitty potty.
That was kind of a bummer. But I will say
I did nothing for it. I did no work. But
Harlan pooped in the potty yesterday.
Speaker 2 (13:41):
Yeah, Well she's almost three, and Whalen was potty trained
fully by three. But he was a lot easier I
think in the beginning. And also I think that we
tried harder, right like when Harlan like started getting ready
to potty train, like we were down in Florida, And that's.
Speaker 3 (13:58):
What I was just gonna say.
Speaker 2 (13:59):
Girl, even in Fluck, girls also have to sit on
the potty. But she's like, now that she's more comfortable,
she's like off and running.
Speaker 3 (14:06):
Yeah, she takes her diper off, like takes her diper off.
She just doesn't want to wear a diaper anymore, which
I think is part of the problem.
Speaker 2 (14:11):
She's also obsessed with washing her hands.
Speaker 3 (14:14):
She likes water. She just wants to make a mess.
Speaker 2 (14:16):
Climbs on the counter, gets soap everywhere. She puts the
soap on the mirror, she.
Speaker 3 (14:20):
Puts the soap on the sink, like on the handle
of She's a nightmare. But I want you to talk
about Whalen's baseball because I wasn't there. I'm so sad.
I was traveling for work. But Whalen won his first trophy.
Speaker 2 (14:34):
My gosh, she so kilfee Kilfie. Yeah, we played under
the lights. So, like it's kind of funny because baseball
obviously just started for them. This would be week three.
They had one practice and then they did a game
where they gave out trophies at the beginning of the
season because I think it was like an issue with
booking the field. So they practice at the baseball field
(14:54):
for the school right over by our house. But the
little league kids get to play like quote un quote
under the lights, like a big thing. They play on
the big field. They turned the lights on, there's an announcer,
they got umpire like it's a whole big thing, and
they hand out trophies. Normally it happens like more towards
the end of the season, but they literally did it
week two this year because, like I said, I think
(15:14):
that they couldn't book the field and so you were
out of town because you had to be gone for
a work conference. So I like rallied a crew. Killie
Fratkin's husband came and he was Waylan's bench coach. Your
mom came into town, Harlan and I made a bunch
of signs. We went out to Habachi afterward. But he
got a trophy at the end, and it was like
you would have thought it was plated gold.
Speaker 3 (15:35):
It was.
Speaker 2 (15:36):
Every single person that comes in his house, the first
thing he does, oh, it runs upstairs, grabs his trophy.
He's got it like in a little case with a
light on it.
Speaker 3 (15:44):
He o case, so the light, it was so interacting. Well.
He also, here's the thing is I also think we
did a good job framing it. He was super into it.
We knew it was coming either way, but we told
him it was the hard workers trophy, so he only
got it if he worked hard. And I don't know why,
but for some reason, I'm obsessed with not telling them
that he's good at anything, but obsessed with telling him
(16:05):
that he's working really hard. So he got his hard
working trophy. When I got home from Vegas, it was
the first thing. He ran upstairs, retrieved the hard Worker's trophy,
brought it to me, and then showed it to me.
And I've never seen him more proud of anything in
his life. He was. He was the hardest worker of
the day. Everyone else worked really hard, but he got
the hardest worker trophy. None of the coaches were read
(16:27):
in on that, so nobody said it to him that way.
But he knew what he knew, and that was really fun.
He was really proud of himself. I love watching him
be proud of himself, which kind of like is the
perfect dichotomy to when he's being naughty and he knows
he's being naughty and he's terrorizing everybody around us. That's
(16:47):
where he's at.
Speaker 2 (16:48):
So they're starting school soon, which is exciting. Our kids
have kind of pingponged a lot. Our kids are very
good at being adaptable and fluid because we are just
like constantly on the run. So again we've talked about
like our time in Florida, our time here there and everywhere.
But in that he has spent a lot of time
with adults, and so one right, we talked to him
like an adult, and he's very smart, but he is
(17:11):
so sassy. It's hard and he's so bad. Like when
you and I were were whatever we were arguing about
the other night, there was something ridiculous down in the kitchen,
like whatever project we were working on, and he comes downstairs.
He's supposed to be in bad comes downstairs and goes,
you too need to take some space. Yeah, he's he
is challenging, but we weren't even yelling, Like I'm like,
I'm like, how long have you been sitting.
Speaker 3 (17:31):
On the stir doing about us conversating. I'm really excited
for him to be back in the school structure. He's
great when he's in school. He's great around other kids.
When he is the leader. Left to his own devices,
he's gonna be naughty.
Speaker 2 (17:44):
Naughty, and he's not naughty. He's curious to your point,
like he tests boundaries. But again we don't like everyone's like, oh,
boys need a firm hand and all these things, like
he doesn't. I don't think that he is like out
of control. He just he is four almost five, because
Harlan's going to be three end of August, Whalen's going
to be five a week later. He's seeing what he
(18:05):
can get away with, like he's learning the limits. And
I do agree that he does best in a school setting,
and I think that that is the challenge. That is,
he's cool. He makes friends very easily. Everyone wants to
sit at Whalen's table. He's very inclusive of other people, right,
like if someone doesn't have something like perfect example, the
kid at baseball lost his hat and Walen goes up
(18:25):
to him and goes, here, buddy, you can have mine,
and then Whalan took my hat was the only kid
on the on the field that didn't have a matching hat. Like,
he makes space for everybody, and I think that that
allows him to make friends easily. But he doesn't do
so great when it's just him one on one and
he wants to play cards. He wants to do this,
he wants to do that. So that's been a bit
of a grind. But another update, he has been sleeping.
Speaker 3 (18:50):
Much much better. Oh he's been sleep Yes, Yes, it's
been so nice.
Speaker 2 (18:55):
Yes, that has been an absolute amazing delight. McCall gordon
did change arms, Yeah.
Speaker 3 (19:01):
Because we just incorporated some of the things that she
was saying. Right, Instead of it being like a lineup
and knock down every single night, we started doing the list.
We started doing like a plan where we pre agreed
on it, and if he asked for the water or
the whatever, like it just changed the conversation to like, hey,
that can be a tomorrow thing if we really want
to incorporate it. But tonight we're doing this, this and
this and that, just creating. Which is why I go
(19:23):
back to my original sentiment, is like the structure for
him is really important. It helps us be better parents.
Like today he got in trouble with the nanny. He
got put into his room and he absolutely destroyed it.
And then you walked upstairs and you started to clean it,
and I said, put everything down, and I said, I'm
gonna bring him back up here. I'm gonna have a
conversation with him while we clean it. So I talked
(19:44):
to him about what was going wrong. I brought him
into his room and I said, hey, dude, I see
that this room is really messy. Who did this? And
he said me, I did it. And I said, okay,
I'm happy to help you clean it, but your messes
are your messes and you need to sort through them.
And he goes, can I put the top shelf books
and you put the bottom shelf books. Can I pick
up my stuff the animals, and you make my bed? Right?
Speaker 2 (20:06):
Like?
Speaker 3 (20:06):
He started doing the negotiations and I said, sure, yeah,
let's do that, bing bang boom, get it all done.
He asked Mommy, can I sit in my chair and
just read myself a book? Yeah, you can do that.
Take a little space, calm yourself down, like totally respect.
Sit here, read the book. When you're done, put the
book on the shelf, and then you can come back downstairs.
So I don't think I take a markedly different approach.
(20:30):
And couple that with the fact that Harlan's got her
new like touch her even one hair out of place,
and she's screaming, crying for five minutes, which is also
very difficult to deal with.
Speaker 2 (20:43):
I want to talk about Harlan for a little bit,
because we've already talked about her explosive foul mouth when
she's around my dad and then repeats things like when
she dropped her all those toys the other day and
she looks down and she's like, oh fucking shit, and
we both are like, uh, I mean correct, use that terminology.
Speaker 3 (21:01):
Contexts is right, So it's hard.
Speaker 2 (21:02):
To be mad. But then I think it started. I'll
tell a little story because we're going back to Mackinaw
Island and my dad offered to order water shoes for everyone,
and I was like, Hey, by the way, would you
mind getting me a pair because we were on Macina Island.
You had another work fire that exploded. We were supposed
to go for a ride around the island. So for
those who don't know what Macina island, it's in northern Michigan.
(21:24):
We're gonna go for a bike ride around the island.
My dad decides to stop at the beach. Whalen and
Harlan go out in the water and it's like Lake
Michigan is very shallow by the beach, like by the shoreline,
and then like I mean you can walk out like
two hundred yards and still be in only like knee
high water. It's very very rocky in most places. Harlan
(21:44):
and Whalen have their bathing suits on. They you know,
they go walking out in their crocs, and Harlan gets
about one hundred and twenty yards from shore, takes her
shoes off and has an absolute meltdown. Will not let
Whalan help her, will not let Whylean touch her, screaming, bloody,
murder like ballistic, and I'm like, this is happening. So
(22:10):
I start walking out because I had my Travis Scotts on,
because who rides a bike in Horsepoop Town In Travis
Scott's me you. So I'm like, okay, I can't walk
out into the water in these shoes. My dad, mind you,
was wearing boat shoes, so not sure why he didn't
just shoot on out there in that ankle high water.
But I'm walking on these rocks, like cutting my feet,
(22:32):
cutting my knees. Like you saw me afterwards. It looked
like I had run through like a glass door. At
one point, I'm just like, ah, screw it. I start
army crawling across the water to get out to help Harlan.
Like literally, I was like army crawling, just scraping my
arms and legs.
Speaker 3 (22:47):
They're very sharp rocks.
Speaker 2 (22:48):
Get out there to help her. Immediately stops crying, and
I'm like what She's like my shoe, put her shoe on,
walks back to the shore perfectly fine, other tidbit ride
our bikes no less than two tents a mile, and
my dad goes, oh, shoot, I totally forgot about this
(23:08):
groomed beach that they just put in all perfect sand.
I'm like, no, keep going. But all of that to say,
that was the start of the meltdown era, and it's
been NonStop since.
Speaker 3 (23:21):
So here's the thing I deal with it differently than
you do. It's parenting styles, and I think that the
thing about it is for me. I let her cry
fully in my face. So I'll give you an example.
Last night, I washed her hair. She didn't like the
way I washed it. She was upset that she had
to wash her hair. She was beside herself, screaming, thrashing,
(23:44):
pod like everything about her bad, bad, bad. You came
in and I had just been with her all day,
so you came in to try to solve it. And
I understand why you were coming in to try to
tap me out because I was definitely right at the
end of my rope and she's losing her marbles. I
just sit there with her and let her do that.
I let her be really upset, and I just kind
(24:06):
of like let her scream and cry. And I said, Harlan,
are you upset with mommy? Because you didn't like the
way I did your hair? And she just couldn't stop crying,
couldn't stop yelling, was hitting, just frustrated. So I backed up.
I said, I'm not going to let you hit me,
but are you upset with me? For ABC and D Eventually,
when she collected herself, she said yes, and I said,
(24:29):
I'm sorry I needed to wash your hair. Can I
give you a hug? I can sit with her screaming,
crying for fifteen to twenty minutes, it wouldn't bother me.
I want to get to the point where she's okay
to be upset, show her emotions, and then either hug
it out or say I don't want to hug, but
get to a point where she can calm down and
then communicate how she feels. But like, that is how
(24:53):
I'm dealing with these tantrums. In the moment when it's happening,
though it's so easy to be like, Harlan, stop crying.
I can't understand you stop. But I remember being little
and my mom telling me to stop crying, And now
as an adult, I have such a hard time crying,
being upset, and I get upset with you girl, You're safe,
(25:15):
But anywhere else I find it really difficult. And I
don't know, Like for me, that's maybe how I'm dealing
with the tantrums. I don't necessarily know if that's the
greatest answer, But I don't want her to feel like
she can't be upset about things because she gets very upset,
and I think the hardship is she is so sweet,
(25:37):
like my day, just so everyone knows my day.
Speaker 2 (25:39):
Every day, every day starts with a hug and a
kiss from her own. She comes in our room, cracks
the door open, climbs in next to Anya. She slept
with us last night, which at one point she like
flipped and was had her feet up by our head.
But every day she comes in our room when she
wakes up, climbs out up or she's still in a crib,
climbs out, walks in the room like planks on top
(26:02):
of me and gives me a kiss on my forehead,
a big tight squeeze, and then sometimes a kiss on
the lips. This morning, we were leaving for the gym,
and when you're walking out and she gives you a
high five and then a Knox, and then I go, hey,
where's mine, thinking I was going to get a high
five and a knox too, And she goes, oh, gave
me a hug and a kiss and a.
Speaker 3 (26:18):
High She's so sweet.
Speaker 2 (26:20):
She's just the sweetest little thing. So when she has
the tantrum, it's like, I mean, like there are days
where like literally I'm just the other day with the nanny.
She was melting down because she wanted Pirate's booty, which
she calls pirates meaty.
Speaker 3 (26:34):
She calls it something not right.
Speaker 2 (26:36):
The problem is, I'm compulsive and very organized, so like
we have our perfect pantry and then all the extra
snacks are in like a very accessible wicker basket underneath
the butcher block. She's like a snack smurf. She just
walks in and anytime she wants can take a snack. Yeah,
we finally realize it's happening. I'm like, no, you cannot
start your day off with lays and cheese. Its like
we gotta We're gonna have some eggs, some sausage. The
(26:57):
kid can eat like eighteen sausage in one sitting.
Speaker 3 (26:59):
Then can have the lays.
Speaker 2 (27:01):
But she was going berserk. So I said to the nanny,
I'm like, just put her in the car and drive,
because like the other thing is she needs to know.
She refuses to. I was gonna say that we're having
problems with the tantrums. So all of this to say,
this is another cry for help. If you calling all people, yeah,
anybody who have a hack for dealing with toddler tantrums,
(27:22):
Like we never experienced the terrible twos with Waylan. I
like to call it the ferocious fours because it's been
a real rip. But Harlan, we've gotten some terrible twos
in the last couple of months, so I am terrified
for three.
Speaker 3 (27:48):
I actually have heard this that the terrible two is
aren't really a thing that it really is, like three
eighty years old is hellscape. But it's funny because she
loves to play by herself, she loves peace, she's very
very sweet, like she does all these kind kind things.
So when she has big emotions, it feels really aggressive
(28:09):
or it feels like super out of place for her.
So it's like, how can I jump to solve this problem?
Because I found myself jumping to solve the problem, like immediately,
what can I give you? What can I do? Can
I stimmly?
Speaker 2 (28:19):
Like?
Speaker 3 (28:19):
Can I blah blah blah like? And then I recognized
I'm deflecting the fact that she has feelings and I
just want her to be sweet and kind all the time,
and that's not really how it is. And like like
you can get her to nap in the car and
sometimes I can too, but at school when everyone else
I'm just obsessed with school when everyone else is napping.
(28:40):
Our kids, for the most part, lay down. They don't
necessarily sleep all the time, but they lay down. And
I think when Wayland doesn't lay down at home, it
causes Harlan to think, oh, we don't nap, and then
she gets overtired and then she starts to cry. I
notice it the most on the boat, because the boat
she'll sleep because it like rocks. So when we would
take a day trip on the boat and to be
(29:01):
crying in the bathroom at the boat, like screaming, screaming, crying,
and I would just let her cry, let her calm down,
give her a hug. She'd be asleep on someone's chest
in a millisecond.
Speaker 2 (29:11):
It's it's like that video did you nap today? You
need it?
Speaker 3 (29:16):
Like that's where I think she's at right now. And
she's also and I laugh with you, like I started
sending you potential things that they can do in the fall,
and you're like, what if we did them all? And
I was like, whoa, well, whoo loo, We're not going
to go from having our kids.
Speaker 2 (29:30):
In dance, football, baseball, gymnastics, hockey.
Speaker 3 (29:34):
One sport with a nanny to school and nine after
school activities, like that's too.
Speaker 2 (29:39):
Much multi sport athletes, but multi sports.
Speaker 3 (29:42):
We have to be cognizant when we introduce all these
very stressful things. Even though they seem exciting, they create
stress for these little babes, And I think.
Speaker 2 (29:52):
So, what are they doing? What do we do?
Speaker 3 (29:53):
So I think Wale's gonna do flag football. There's fall baseball,
but again he's already played baseball now two stints in
a row, did spring ball and summer ball, and I
think you should do something else now, So Whale's gonna
do flag football. I always feel like swimming or tennis
or something should be like on the table, something that's
like we can drop them off and kind of step
away and we'll just have no connection to.
Speaker 2 (30:15):
Like organized babysitting.
Speaker 3 (30:17):
Yeah. Correct, So Whale will do one of those two things.
Harlan's super jazzed about gymnastics. I also think structurally, like in.
Speaker 2 (30:25):
They're doing hockey, hockey, starting hockey. I already signed up
the doiting hockey.
Speaker 3 (30:29):
But I think like, so, I think Whale's either doing
flag football and hockey and possibly something with Harlan. So
that's either swimming or tennis and Harlan will do gymnastics, hockey,
and the other thing with Whitalan swimming or tennis. And
I think if we just do that, we can get
to a place where they have the structure. It happens
every day, they have the cyclical understanding of what's going on,
(30:50):
and hopefully school plus that, plus you and I getting
a break from them and letting them go make other
connections gives us a household of peace.
Speaker 2 (31:02):
Please, we joined a new gym, and so I like
that they can do because we could even add one
more in there and they could both do.
Speaker 3 (31:08):
Problems, we could go crazy and add another one, like
what's wrong with you?
Speaker 2 (31:12):
You didn't just hear me say so much room for activities?
Speaker 3 (31:15):
You have problems. Madison is used to training every day
for two and a half hours a day and then
coming home and getting her rest and then going onto
the ice. And that is not how people live. That's
not how toddlers live.
Speaker 2 (31:28):
Hope we'll see. So before we wrap, I want to
talk about the most exciting upcoming thing.
Speaker 3 (31:37):
For the most exciting thing is is our anniversary that's
coming in this week. Oh okay, wrong, agab.
Speaker 2 (31:45):
Yes, we did just have an anniversary, which was very exciting. However,
I'm talking about the upcoming birthdays.
Speaker 3 (31:53):
Hmmm, what's it going to be? Party plan aire.
Speaker 2 (31:57):
So we've done where the Wild Things Are? Yep, we've
done on a dinosaur party. Where the Wild Things Are
was Whalen's one. Dinosaur theme was Whalen's two. Mawana was
a joint party for one and three that was cute.
Trolls was maybe the best one yet.
Speaker 3 (32:12):
Yeah, Trolls was dope.
Speaker 2 (32:13):
Anya bought this, like is it called twill?
Speaker 3 (32:16):
No, what's it called twill?
Speaker 2 (32:17):
What's it called?
Speaker 3 (32:18):
Keep guessing?
Speaker 2 (32:19):
What's it called? Fabric? Like fishnet like looking fabric? What's
it called? Come on, just tell me what it's called? Tool? Tool?
Twill tool? I mean I was like not that far off.
Anya ordered multi colored tool, so like five or six
different colors, and then a bunch of headbands and spent hours.
Speaker 3 (32:40):
Yeah, it was a long ass time, hours.
Speaker 2 (32:42):
And hours and hours looping these things through like almost
like crochet and then tying them up in a ponytail.
So all these kids and parents showed up to the
Trolls party. We had the Trolls music, we had a
Trolls bounce house, we had trolls Pinata like everything was
all trolls down trolls and everyone or the troll hair.
Speaker 3 (33:03):
It was epic.
Speaker 2 (33:04):
So this year we're gonna celebrate their birthdays. I think
do a habachi party at the house because in case
those who haven't picked up our kids love habachi. Because
they're starting a new school. I feel a little weird
about like starting school and then having a birthday party
because even when you tell people not to bring a gift,
they always bring a gift. So I think we're just
gonna do like a start of the year kickoff.
Speaker 3 (33:23):
I didn't surprise everyone with a cake boo.
Speaker 2 (33:26):
Yeah, we'll do like a like back to school cake.
But again, open to suggestions, slide into our dms because
we are torn. Harlem wants a princess party, Whalen wants
a Minecraft party. So we're trying to marry the two
and do a princess Minecraft party or a Minecraft Princess party,
So open to suggestions out there.
Speaker 3 (33:46):
We're officially at the point where they like the same things,
but they don't. They don't want the same birthday party.
Speaker 2 (33:52):
I thought they were going to do Mario, which would
have been easy because like Princess pach Whaleen was into
the Mario thing for a while. I might be able
to get him back on track, but they're pretty heavy
into the Minecraft. She likes me loft, she loves all
the minecrafts. She's just obsessed with Princess. So like, maybe
we could figure out a way again suggestions. We have
a very high bar set.
Speaker 3 (34:12):
Yeah, it has to be fun. It has to be
fun and Minecraft. Also, we've seen the movie, but no
one in this house plays the game, and no one
in this house goes any deeper than just watching Jack
Black sing La la la la ba Chicken ooh la ticket,
not to be confused with the fact that Madison puts
that on when the kids are not in the car.
(34:34):
So also shout out to Jack Black, you are obviously
the packer's favorite artist of the last three months.
Speaker 2 (34:41):
The birthday party is essentially just an excuse for all
of the school parents to get together and let the
kids beat the crap out of each other in the
bounce house and have access to an open bar because
we have a full barbecue a full bar. All the
parents come. The MVP of last year's party, it rained
the night before. I covered the couch, but I didn't
(35:01):
cover all the chairs that go to the table. And
this guy, I mean, he was dressed to the nines.
He had like Louis Vuitton loafers on these really just a.
Speaker 3 (35:11):
Very dapper dude.
Speaker 2 (35:12):
Yeah, he was a colored pants, a belt. He had
the suit supply like crochet knit polo. The guy looks great.
He sits down and he was the only parent who
did not move the whole party. I'm like, I'm like,
what's up with this guy? Maybe like three hours go
by and he stands up to go check it on
his girly no joke. His entire backside was soaked, but
(35:36):
back of his hamstrings all the way up through his crotch.
I said, on you, I'm like that dude, pete his pants?
No like so no doubt that Peter's pants. And he
never said anything to us. I'm like, what is going on?
Fast forward two birthday parties later. Anya goes and I
met her late and his wife was there and she's like,
I have to tell you the story. My husband sat
(35:56):
down on the cushion and didn't realize until he was
sitting down that the cushion was wet. But he was
so embarrassed because he thought that everyone at the party
was going to think that he peed his pants. There
was one other cushion that was wet, and I flipped
it up, but I didn't realize that that one was
wet because he had already sat down. The poor guy.
Everyone at the party did think that he peed his
pants for a little while, and it took almost a
(36:17):
full calendar year later for his wife to be like,
oh no, he said, just sat in a white chair
and owned it and was too embarrassed.
Speaker 3 (36:23):
He had me dying laughing too, because then another point
during the party, something happened with his daughter and he
had to get up and help her, and he was like,
fully owned the full wet butt. And then I go
doing a towel for your car ride home, and he
was like, nah, just let it ride, Just let it ride.
Like these are we're broken. All of us as parents
are just broken. When you sit at a child's birthday
(36:46):
party and you look like you fully ped your pants,
and instead of receiving the help of a towel, you say,
just let it ride. That's where we're all out collectively,
we're just letting it ride. So you've gotten the Packer
family update. You're hearing the chaos. Harlan the highs and lows.
She's pooped in the poddies. She may kill one of us.
Whylan he's got his trophy, He's losing his marbles with
(37:10):
this lack of structure. Who knows what's coming next week.
If you have the answers to the test, call us please,
and if not, laugh at our pain because we are
all just letting it ride.
Speaker 2 (37:25):
That's it for this week. Thanks for listening, and if
you like what you.
Speaker 3 (37:29):
Heard, spread the word seriously right now, take your phone out,
Text a friend and tell them to subscribe.
Speaker 2 (37:34):
And be sure to rate and review us on Apple
Podcasts and Spotify if you haven't already. It really really
helps until next week. I'm Madison Packer and.
Speaker 3 (37:43):
I'm Onya Packer and this was These Packs Puck.
Speaker 2 (37:46):
These Packs Puck is a production of iHeart Women's Sports
and Deep Blue Sports and Entertainment. It's hosted by us
Madison and Onya Packer. Emily Meronoff is our senior producer
and story editor. We were mixed and mastered by Mary dew.
Our executive producers are Jennifer Bassett, Jesse Katz, and Ally Perry.
Hi, everyone, Welcome to these packs puck. I'm Madison Packer
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 2 (00:15):
These days, we're opening up about the chaos of our
daily lives, between the juggle of being athletes, raising kids and.
Speaker 3 (00:21):
All the messiness in between. So buckle the puck up,
because there is a lot to talk about.
Speaker 2 (00:29):
Hello, Anya, Hello Madison, how you doing? Girly?
Speaker 3 (00:34):
People call you Madison.
Speaker 2 (00:35):
They get Maddie more often. You call me Madison when
you get.
Speaker 3 (00:38):
Mad at me, Madison.
Speaker 2 (00:39):
Enough Madison, Enough Madison.
Speaker 3 (00:43):
Well you're not in trouble today, but I did call
you Madison. So Hi, Maddie. What's up girl? What's your
hot take for the day. I think we're going to
get right into it cause it's a little bit risque,
so let's jump.
Speaker 2 (00:54):
In hockey hot take. The hot take is I want
to talk about the flagrant disrespect for female athletes, the
most recent example being the throwing of dildos on the
court at WNBA games and two things. One out Sports
(01:17):
wrote an article recently and the headline was throwing sex
toys at WNBA players is homophobic, dangerous, and dumb. I
agree with all those things, definitely dangerous and dumb. However,
the homophobic part I want to maybe challenge a little
bit because I think it's deeper than that, right, Like,
I don't think that people are throwing dildos on the
(01:38):
court because they're like trying to be targeting the LGBTQ
plus community. I just think it's a complete flagrant lack
of respect for women in general.
Speaker 3 (01:47):
Well, to this point, it's happened at six separate games,
so it's not one or two things. I think the
first time it happened, it was like people kind of
laughed it off. It's like, hahaha, this is ridiculous. It's
now happened six times. There's theory and like concepts of
what's going on if it's a marketing employ et cetera.
But all of that to say it's.
Speaker 2 (02:06):
A terrible marketing stupid it is because it's super dunny.
Speaker 3 (02:08):
But all that to say it is misogynistic. And here's
why the disrespect for women, especially female athletes, is to
feminize them, to hyper sexualize them, to make it about
literally anything except the sport, and throwing sex toys is
not only going to hurt somebody. Imagine in basketball, you
(02:29):
throw it at someone as they're taking the jumper and
they come down on their ankle, Like it's just dangerous,
but also it's disgustingly abusive to the fact that these
are women, and it is like a very heinous and
violent thing to start thrusting upon women generally, is that
they're going to be approached with sexual experience in the workplace.
(02:51):
Like imagine I was sitting at my desk and someone
just lobbed a dildo over my cubicle wall, Like it's
their workplace and they are not sexual beings. They are
playing a sport, and that's where the misogyny freaks me out.
Speaker 2 (03:07):
And I just think that right, like you see the
p Rehl draft happened and there were all these comments about,
oh that that player is a man. We saw it
at the Olympics with certain athletes. We've seen sprinters and jumpers,
track and field athletes in particular, and gymnasts be challenged
by men, and it's like, what are you getting at
to have this constant like denigration and disparagement, Like at
(03:31):
what point are we just going to respect women? And
I think that it's escalating, right because you look at
the societal you know, climate and temperature and in the
political temperature, Like, we just have a complete lack of
respect for women, period, one thousand percent. We have moved
so far backward and we don't respect them in their homes,
we don't respect them in their workplace, we don't respect
(03:52):
what they do, and it's it's absurd and at what
point are we just going to accept these women as
they are? They are phenomenal athletes, and why does it
always happen? I mean, like, can a man not walk
in a mall and see a woman and be anything
other than like absolutely horny. It's crazy that that we
can't try, right, Like, it's crazy that we can't look
at women on a sports court and think anything other than, oh,
(04:16):
I gotta.
Speaker 3 (04:16):
Get down, listen. I can't stress this enough. As a
female athlete, and you've dealt with this as well, I
would say, oh, I'm a defender, and it would be
like either some weird sexual pun or like, yeah, my
high school team could have kicked your ass, or yeah,
let's play one on one, And I'm like, why does
(04:37):
it so deeply offend you that I am a professional
athlete and you, my friend, hung up the skates in
your heyday glory era of junior varsity high school hockey,
like breathe. First of all, go touch some grass. I
didn't say anything about you. I just told you what
my profession was. And I remember so often like people
would say, oh, do you guys need more people at
(04:59):
your game? You guys should do a sexy jersey photoshoot, calendar,
you guys should do a blah blah blah, or I
would say something in the first comment out of a
single man's mouth when I said I played hockey, they'd
be like, you're too pretty for hockey. You're gorgeous, You're
and I'm like, dude, take any break, okay, But like
they're like, oh, your face isn't messed up, or like
(05:20):
you still have all your teeth, or like, you know,
women are too pretty to be hitting like that like
some And I'm like.
Speaker 2 (05:24):
First of all, abo's upsetting because I get hit with
a you look like a hockey player all the time,
So I'll have to unpack that later.
Speaker 3 (05:30):
I'm just saying I think that the misogyny when when
we talk about it, and I think naturally throwing it
a sex object at a bunch of women is so vulgar,
But that is the life of a female athlete, Right
Like when you told somebody that you played hockey professionally,
how often did they say, what does your husband do?
What else do you have to do?
Speaker 2 (05:50):
What?
Speaker 3 (05:50):
Blah blah blah?
Speaker 2 (05:51):
Like never that never, No one ever asked me what
my husband does. That's crazy, but you.
Speaker 3 (05:57):
You get it all the time, eh Ma, hands that due.
Speaker 2 (06:03):
I think that it's frustrating, Like it's just continuously back
to this need to like exert dominance over women and
show superiority over women.
Speaker 3 (06:16):
How angry when you were younger, How angry did people
get when you were playing against their little boys and
clipping them or just generally doing anything well at all.
I remember fathers used to like climb the glass and
scream at their sons.
Speaker 2 (06:36):
Get that girl, Get that girl.
Speaker 3 (06:38):
And I'm like, why why is my presence here so
upsetting to you? Because everything statistically says girls as they
develop develop quicker, they're taller, they're stronger, Right Like, there's
this apex age that no matter skill level or otherwise,
girls are just better at sports for a period of time.
And I remember during that period of time, like watching
(06:59):
five there's adult men screaming to hurt me, and I
just like that has never gone away. That's just like
it deeply entrenched in sport and this idea that women
can't do it without needing to be hurt or assaulted
or like if a player. I've seen it at WNBA games.
(07:21):
We're sitting courtside and like somebody will go to inbound
a ball and like all the guys around them sitting
behind their butt. Yo, look at her, uh so big,
Like she's strong as hell, yet it's got a big butt,
Like it's okay, you're gonna be all right.
Speaker 2 (07:34):
Yeah, And I think that, I mean, we could talk
about this for days, right, but I think we need
a huge culture shift. Either. We need everyone to have
a daughter. They do, they have sisters, they have daughters,
and it's like, that's what you think of your kid,
that's what you want someone else to think of your kid.
That's the norm that you want to set or right.
And then it's not everybody. We run into guys in
(07:57):
the rink all the time who are like, oh my daughter, no,
she looks up to you. This that like, there are
a lot of good guys out there. This is not
a shit on men's session. However, I think that we
need to be more comfortable shutting it down when we
see it. To your point about going into the rink,
I used to have to tuck my hair into my
helmet and get changed in the bathroom, and dads would
be like rip her head off. I mean, kids would
(08:18):
try to find out. And it's like, if we believe
truly that men are so much that brief and we
are upset, we are upset that a girl or a
woman is competing equally, Think about how much stronger society
would be as a whole if all these women, all
of a sudden, could could be quote unquote as good
as the men.
Speaker 3 (08:37):
Yeah, I mean all of that. Plus it's not lost.
I mean, like it's not lost on me that social
media posts for any athlete, hockey players. If you posted
an entire social media page that was entirely dedicated to
you wearing your gear, guess what. No one's gonna follow you,
no one's gonna like your stuff. The algorithm isn't gonna
(08:59):
push forward. But you post one summer training pick, you
post one bikini pick. You post one picture where your
hair is down and not tucked in your helmet. I
would challenge the data scrapers of the world to look
at every single professional female athlete and let me know
their highest engagement posts. It's Sophie Cunningham when she posts
(09:21):
some sexy walk in photo and she does a transition.
It's Taylor Girard when she's in a bikini. It's I
could go through all of these athletes and it's no knock.
I'm not being shady. They are gorgeous. They have sick bodies.
Alona mar walking in the runway with her bikini on
like I was like, holy shit, that's a that's what
a real body looks like. But she's half naked and
(09:43):
proud of it. And I'm not shading the half naked part.
But that's what society wants. They want to see us
without our clothes on. They want to throw sex toys
on our arenas, on our fields and our courts. They
want us to be sexual beings. And that misogyny runs
deep as hell. That's the problem. That's the hockey hot take.
(10:06):
There's no solving it right now, but it's acknowledging it.
It's calling it out and it's being okay to know
that while it's present, it needs to be dismantled.
Speaker 2 (10:15):
Yeah, I agree wholeheartedly. And like I said, we could
talk about this for hours, days, weeks.
Speaker 3 (10:21):
But we don't get time for that.
Speaker 2 (10:23):
I'm I'm sweating and I'm sweating. But let's get into
a check in so where we at how we feel
and give me a number.
Speaker 3 (10:35):
From one to one hundred. I actually feel pretty good.
We're going on a mini vacation for a wedding. There's
about nine events for this wedding, which actually is fun.
It'll keep the whole mood livened up. I've got a
couple of different outfits that I'm really excited to wear.
So I would say I'm a cool eighty five. I
feel good. I mean like things have been a little
(10:55):
chaotic here, but what's life with two toddlers if not chaotic.
You worked all weekend so I was solo mom basically
for the weekend, and I actually had a blast. I
really enjoyed it. So I'm at an eighty five. I
feel amazing. How about you? Good?
Speaker 2 (11:09):
I'm like an eighty ooh, maybe said maybe seventy five.
I'm like really bummed out. For those who listened a
few episodes ago we talked about our car debacles and trauma,
we are experiencing that yet again the defenders in the shop.
We get tire fault airs on the Audie again, and
(11:32):
that just seems like a never ending nightmare. No matter
how much money or where can we put into fixing
the problem.
Speaker 3 (11:36):
Things are so expensive and everything is just so low quality.
I swear the cars made out of plastic.
Speaker 2 (11:41):
Yeah, so that bummed me out. But I had a
good workout with Vic. He almost passed away on me
today choked on some Candleope. It was actually quite scary,
but the head trainer was there to literally perform the
Heimlich and saved his life. So shout out again to Vic,
who is still kicking it. No more candle up than them,
But because are the rules. Got my new boxing gloves,
(12:03):
my new boxing shoes. Yeah, I got my whole new setup,
So that's bringing me up. I'm also really tired because
a few early mornings and a long weekend of working,
but no complaints. Like you said, we're going on vacation.
I'm excited. We're gonna spend the whole week slash end
on the lake in one of my favorite places with
most of my favorite people, with your.
Speaker 3 (12:23):
Entire extended family.
Speaker 2 (12:25):
So yeah, well we can unpack that later.
Speaker 3 (12:27):
While we're not not excited for that, everyone also should
shoot a little prayer up to the sky for you, girl,
because yeah, a lot of packers in one space. We
ordered extra flares. It's an intensity. But you know what,
I think this episode, it probably makes sense. We'll take
a little break and then we'll get into like a
maybe like, let's do a packer regroup. Where are we
at with everybody? We have some birthdays coming up, so
(12:48):
let's do a little recap. But let's take a first
little break and then we'll do a whole re meet
the packers. Hi, mama, welcome back. We're going to talk
(13:08):
about all the things. I'm excited to kind of regroup
where we're at. So hit me with Actually I need
to start. Yesterday, Harlan, completely unprovoked, walked into the bathroom
and she pulled down her little pants and she peed,
and she pooped on the potty, and it was quite liberated.
Speaker 2 (13:26):
Didn't tell me that, Yes.
Speaker 3 (13:28):
I did not change a poop diaper, but I did
have to deal with the like poop and the kitty potty.
That was kind of a bummer. But I will say
I did nothing for it. I did no work. But
Harlan pooped in the potty yesterday.
Speaker 2 (13:41):
Yeah, Well she's almost three, and Whalen was potty trained
fully by three. But he was a lot easier I
think in the beginning. And also I think that we
tried harder, right like when Harlan like started getting ready
to potty train, like we were down in Florida, And that's.
Speaker 3 (13:58):
What I was just gonna say.
Speaker 2 (13:59):
Girl, even in Fluck, girls also have to sit on
the potty. But she's like, now that she's more comfortable,
she's like off and running.
Speaker 3 (14:06):
Yeah, she takes her diper off, like takes her diper off.
She just doesn't want to wear a diaper anymore, which
I think is part of the problem.
Speaker 2 (14:11):
She's also obsessed with washing her hands.
Speaker 3 (14:14):
She likes water. She just wants to make a mess.
Speaker 2 (14:16):
Climbs on the counter, gets soap everywhere. She puts the
soap on the mirror, she.
Speaker 3 (14:20):
Puts the soap on the sink, like on the handle
of She's a nightmare. But I want you to talk
about Whalen's baseball because I wasn't there. I'm so sad.
I was traveling for work. But Whalen won his first trophy.
Speaker 2 (14:34):
My gosh, she so kilfee Kilfie. Yeah, we played under
the lights. So, like it's kind of funny because baseball
obviously just started for them. This would be week three.
They had one practice and then they did a game
where they gave out trophies at the beginning of the
season because I think it was like an issue with
booking the field. So they practice at the baseball field
(14:54):
for the school right over by our house. But the
little league kids get to play like quote un quote
under the lights, like a big thing. They play on
the big field. They turned the lights on, there's an announcer,
they got umpire like it's a whole big thing, and
they hand out trophies. Normally it happens like more towards
the end of the season, but they literally did it
week two this year because, like I said, I think
(15:14):
that they couldn't book the field and so you were
out of town because you had to be gone for
a work conference. So I like rallied a crew. Killie
Fratkin's husband came and he was Waylan's bench coach. Your
mom came into town, Harlan and I made a bunch
of signs. We went out to Habachi afterward. But he
got a trophy at the end, and it was like
you would have thought it was plated gold.
Speaker 3 (15:35):
It was.
Speaker 2 (15:36):
Every single person that comes in his house, the first
thing he does, oh, it runs upstairs, grabs his trophy.
He's got it like in a little case with a
light on it.
Speaker 3 (15:44):
He o case, so the light, it was so interacting. Well.
He also, here's the thing is I also think we
did a good job framing it. He was super into it.
We knew it was coming either way, but we told
him it was the hard workers trophy, so he only
got it if he worked hard. And I don't know why,
but for some reason, I'm obsessed with not telling them
that he's good at anything, but obsessed with telling him
(16:05):
that he's working really hard. So he got his hard
working trophy. When I got home from Vegas, it was
the first thing. He ran upstairs, retrieved the hard Worker's trophy,
brought it to me, and then showed it to me.
And I've never seen him more proud of anything in
his life. He was. He was the hardest worker of
the day. Everyone else worked really hard, but he got
the hardest worker trophy. None of the coaches were read
(16:27):
in on that, so nobody said it to him that way.
But he knew what he knew, and that was really fun.
He was really proud of himself. I love watching him
be proud of himself, which kind of like is the
perfect dichotomy to when he's being naughty and he knows
he's being naughty and he's terrorizing everybody around us. That's
(16:47):
where he's at.
Speaker 2 (16:48):
So they're starting school soon, which is exciting. Our kids
have kind of pingponged a lot. Our kids are very
good at being adaptable and fluid because we are just
like constantly on the run. So again we've talked about
like our time in Florida, our time here there and everywhere.
But in that he has spent a lot of time
with adults, and so one right, we talked to him
like an adult, and he's very smart, but he is
(17:11):
so sassy. It's hard and he's so bad. Like when
you and I were were whatever we were arguing about
the other night, there was something ridiculous down in the kitchen,
like whatever project we were working on, and he comes downstairs.
He's supposed to be in bad comes downstairs and goes,
you too need to take some space. Yeah, he's he
is challenging, but we weren't even yelling, Like I'm like,
I'm like, how long have you been sitting.
Speaker 3 (17:31):
On the stir doing about us conversating. I'm really excited
for him to be back in the school structure. He's
great when he's in school. He's great around other kids.
When he is the leader. Left to his own devices,
he's gonna be naughty.
Speaker 2 (17:44):
Naughty, and he's not naughty. He's curious to your point,
like he tests boundaries. But again we don't like everyone's like, oh,
boys need a firm hand and all these things, like
he doesn't. I don't think that he is like out
of control. He just he is four almost five, because
Harlan's going to be three end of August, Whalen's going
to be five a week later. He's seeing what he
(18:05):
can get away with, like he's learning the limits. And
I do agree that he does best in a school setting,
and I think that that is the challenge. That is,
he's cool. He makes friends very easily. Everyone wants to
sit at Whalen's table. He's very inclusive of other people, right,
like if someone doesn't have something like perfect example, the
kid at baseball lost his hat and Walen goes up
(18:25):
to him and goes, here, buddy, you can have mine,
and then Whalan took my hat was the only kid
on the on the field that didn't have a matching hat. Like,
he makes space for everybody, and I think that that
allows him to make friends easily. But he doesn't do
so great when it's just him one on one and
he wants to play cards. He wants to do this,
he wants to do that. So that's been a bit
of a grind. But another update, he has been sleeping.
Speaker 3 (18:50):
Much much better. Oh he's been sleep Yes, Yes, it's
been so nice.
Speaker 2 (18:55):
Yes, that has been an absolute amazing delight. McCall gordon
did change arms, Yeah.
Speaker 3 (19:01):
Because we just incorporated some of the things that she
was saying. Right, Instead of it being like a lineup
and knock down every single night, we started doing the list.
We started doing like a plan where we pre agreed
on it, and if he asked for the water or
the whatever, like it just changed the conversation to like, hey,
that can be a tomorrow thing if we really want
to incorporate it. But tonight we're doing this, this and
this and that, just creating. Which is why I go
(19:23):
back to my original sentiment, is like the structure for
him is really important. It helps us be better parents.
Like today he got in trouble with the nanny. He
got put into his room and he absolutely destroyed it.
And then you walked upstairs and you started to clean it,
and I said, put everything down, and I said, I'm
gonna bring him back up here. I'm gonna have a
conversation with him while we clean it. So I talked
(19:44):
to him about what was going wrong. I brought him
into his room and I said, hey, dude, I see
that this room is really messy. Who did this? And
he said me, I did it. And I said, okay,
I'm happy to help you clean it, but your messes
are your messes and you need to sort through them.
And he goes, can I put the top shelf books
and you put the bottom shelf books. Can I pick
up my stuff the animals, and you make my bed? Right?
Speaker 2 (20:06):
Like?
Speaker 3 (20:06):
He started doing the negotiations and I said, sure, yeah,
let's do that, bing bang boom, get it all done.
He asked Mommy, can I sit in my chair and
just read myself a book? Yeah, you can do that.
Take a little space, calm yourself down, like totally respect.
Sit here, read the book. When you're done, put the
book on the shelf, and then you can come back downstairs.
So I don't think I take a markedly different approach.
(20:30):
And couple that with the fact that Harlan's got her
new like touch her even one hair out of place,
and she's screaming, crying for five minutes, which is also
very difficult to deal with.
Speaker 2 (20:43):
I want to talk about Harlan for a little bit,
because we've already talked about her explosive foul mouth when
she's around my dad and then repeats things like when
she dropped her all those toys the other day and
she looks down and she's like, oh fucking shit, and
we both are like, uh, I mean correct, use that terminology.
Speaker 3 (21:01):
Contexts is right, So it's hard.
Speaker 2 (21:02):
To be mad. But then I think it started. I'll
tell a little story because we're going back to Mackinaw
Island and my dad offered to order water shoes for everyone,
and I was like, Hey, by the way, would you
mind getting me a pair because we were on Macina Island.
You had another work fire that exploded. We were supposed
to go for a ride around the island. So for
those who don't know what Macina island, it's in northern Michigan.
(21:24):
We're gonna go for a bike ride around the island.
My dad decides to stop at the beach. Whalen and
Harlan go out in the water and it's like Lake
Michigan is very shallow by the beach, like by the shoreline,
and then like I mean you can walk out like
two hundred yards and still be in only like knee
high water. It's very very rocky in most places. Harlan
(21:44):
and Whalen have their bathing suits on. They you know,
they go walking out in their crocs, and Harlan gets
about one hundred and twenty yards from shore, takes her
shoes off and has an absolute meltdown. Will not let
Whalan help her, will not let Whylean touch her, screaming, bloody,
murder like ballistic, and I'm like, this is happening. So
(22:10):
I start walking out because I had my Travis Scotts on,
because who rides a bike in Horsepoop Town In Travis
Scott's me you. So I'm like, okay, I can't walk
out into the water in these shoes. My dad, mind you,
was wearing boat shoes, so not sure why he didn't
just shoot on out there in that ankle high water.
But I'm walking on these rocks, like cutting my feet,
(22:32):
cutting my knees. Like you saw me afterwards. It looked
like I had run through like a glass door. At
one point, I'm just like, ah, screw it. I start
army crawling across the water to get out to help Harlan.
Like literally, I was like army crawling, just scraping my
arms and legs.
Speaker 3 (22:47):
They're very sharp rocks.
Speaker 2 (22:48):
Get out there to help her. Immediately stops crying, and
I'm like what She's like my shoe, put her shoe on,
walks back to the shore perfectly fine, other tidbit ride
our bikes no less than two tents a mile, and
my dad goes, oh, shoot, I totally forgot about this
(23:08):
groomed beach that they just put in all perfect sand.
I'm like, no, keep going. But all of that to say,
that was the start of the meltdown era, and it's
been NonStop since.
Speaker 3 (23:21):
So here's the thing I deal with it differently than
you do. It's parenting styles, and I think that the
thing about it is for me. I let her cry
fully in my face. So I'll give you an example.
Last night, I washed her hair. She didn't like the
way I washed it. She was upset that she had
to wash her hair. She was beside herself, screaming, thrashing,
(23:44):
pod like everything about her bad, bad, bad. You came
in and I had just been with her all day,
so you came in to try to solve it. And
I understand why you were coming in to try to
tap me out because I was definitely right at the
end of my rope and she's losing her marbles. I
just sit there with her and let her do that.
I let her be really upset, and I just kind
(24:06):
of like let her scream and cry. And I said, Harlan,
are you upset with mommy? Because you didn't like the
way I did your hair? And she just couldn't stop crying,
couldn't stop yelling, was hitting, just frustrated. So I backed up.
I said, I'm not going to let you hit me,
but are you upset with me? For ABC and D Eventually,
when she collected herself, she said yes, and I said,
(24:29):
I'm sorry I needed to wash your hair. Can I
give you a hug? I can sit with her screaming,
crying for fifteen to twenty minutes, it wouldn't bother me.
I want to get to the point where she's okay
to be upset, show her emotions, and then either hug
it out or say I don't want to hug, but
get to a point where she can calm down and
then communicate how she feels. But like, that is how
(24:53):
I'm dealing with these tantrums. In the moment when it's happening,
though it's so easy to be like, Harlan, stop crying.
I can't understand you stop. But I remember being little
and my mom telling me to stop crying, And now
as an adult, I have such a hard time crying,
being upset, and I get upset with you girl, You're safe,
(25:15):
But anywhere else I find it really difficult. And I
don't know, Like for me, that's maybe how I'm dealing
with the tantrums. I don't necessarily know if that's the
greatest answer, But I don't want her to feel like
she can't be upset about things because she gets very upset,
and I think the hardship is she is so sweet,
(25:37):
like my day, just so everyone knows my day.
Speaker 2 (25:39):
Every day, every day starts with a hug and a
kiss from her own. She comes in our room, cracks
the door open, climbs in next to Anya. She slept
with us last night, which at one point she like
flipped and was had her feet up by our head.
But every day she comes in our room when she
wakes up, climbs out up or she's still in a crib,
climbs out, walks in the room like planks on top
(26:02):
of me and gives me a kiss on my forehead,
a big tight squeeze, and then sometimes a kiss on
the lips. This morning, we were leaving for the gym,
and when you're walking out and she gives you a
high five and then a Knox, and then I go, hey,
where's mine, thinking I was going to get a high
five and a knox too, And she goes, oh, gave
me a hug and a kiss and a.
Speaker 3 (26:18):
High She's so sweet.
Speaker 2 (26:20):
She's just the sweetest little thing. So when she has
the tantrum, it's like, I mean, like there are days
where like literally I'm just the other day with the nanny.
She was melting down because she wanted Pirate's booty, which
she calls pirates meaty.
Speaker 3 (26:34):
She calls it something not right.
Speaker 2 (26:36):
The problem is, I'm compulsive and very organized, so like
we have our perfect pantry and then all the extra
snacks are in like a very accessible wicker basket underneath
the butcher block. She's like a snack smurf. She just
walks in and anytime she wants can take a snack. Yeah,
we finally realize it's happening. I'm like, no, you cannot
start your day off with lays and cheese. Its like
we gotta We're gonna have some eggs, some sausage. The
(26:57):
kid can eat like eighteen sausage in one sitting.
Speaker 3 (26:59):
Then can have the lays.
Speaker 2 (27:01):
But she was going berserk. So I said to the nanny,
I'm like, just put her in the car and drive,
because like the other thing is she needs to know.
She refuses to. I was gonna say that we're having
problems with the tantrums. So all of this to say,
this is another cry for help. If you calling all people, yeah,
anybody who have a hack for dealing with toddler tantrums,
(27:22):
Like we never experienced the terrible twos with Waylan. I
like to call it the ferocious fours because it's been
a real rip. But Harlan, we've gotten some terrible twos
in the last couple of months, so I am terrified
for three.
Speaker 3 (27:48):
I actually have heard this that the terrible two is
aren't really a thing that it really is, like three
eighty years old is hellscape. But it's funny because she
loves to play by herself, she loves peace, she's very
very sweet, like she does all these kind kind things.
So when she has big emotions, it feels really aggressive
(28:09):
or it feels like super out of place for her.
So it's like, how can I jump to solve this problem?
Because I found myself jumping to solve the problem, like immediately,
what can I give you? What can I do? Can
I stimmly?
Speaker 2 (28:19):
Like?
Speaker 3 (28:19):
Can I blah blah blah like? And then I recognized
I'm deflecting the fact that she has feelings and I
just want her to be sweet and kind all the time,
and that's not really how it is. And like like
you can get her to nap in the car and
sometimes I can too, but at school when everyone else
I'm just obsessed with school when everyone else is napping.
(28:40):
Our kids, for the most part, lay down. They don't
necessarily sleep all the time, but they lay down. And
I think when Wayland doesn't lay down at home, it
causes Harlan to think, oh, we don't nap, and then
she gets overtired and then she starts to cry. I
notice it the most on the boat, because the boat
she'll sleep because it like rocks. So when we would
take a day trip on the boat and to be
(29:01):
crying in the bathroom at the boat, like screaming, screaming, crying,
and I would just let her cry, let her calm down,
give her a hug. She'd be asleep on someone's chest
in a millisecond.
Speaker 2 (29:11):
It's it's like that video did you nap today? You
need it?
Speaker 3 (29:16):
Like that's where I think she's at right now. And
she's also and I laugh with you, like I started
sending you potential things that they can do in the fall,
and you're like, what if we did them all? And
I was like, whoa, well, whoo loo, We're not going
to go from having our kids.
Speaker 2 (29:30):
In dance, football, baseball, gymnastics, hockey.
Speaker 3 (29:34):
One sport with a nanny to school and nine after
school activities, like that's too.
Speaker 2 (29:39):
Much multi sport athletes, but multi sports.
Speaker 3 (29:42):
We have to be cognizant when we introduce all these
very stressful things. Even though they seem exciting, they create
stress for these little babes, And I think.
Speaker 2 (29:52):
So, what are they doing? What do we do?
Speaker 3 (29:53):
So I think Wale's gonna do flag football. There's fall baseball,
but again he's already played baseball now two stints in
a row, did spring ball and summer ball, and I
think you should do something else now, So Whale's gonna
do flag football. I always feel like swimming or tennis
or something should be like on the table, something that's
like we can drop them off and kind of step
away and we'll just have no connection to.
Speaker 2 (30:15):
Like organized babysitting.
Speaker 3 (30:17):
Yeah. Correct, So Whale will do one of those two things.
Harlan's super jazzed about gymnastics. I also think structurally, like in.
Speaker 2 (30:25):
They're doing hockey, hockey, starting hockey. I already signed up
the doiting hockey.
Speaker 3 (30:29):
But I think like, so, I think Whale's either doing
flag football and hockey and possibly something with Harlan. So
that's either swimming or tennis and Harlan will do gymnastics, hockey,
and the other thing with Whitalan swimming or tennis. And
I think if we just do that, we can get
to a place where they have the structure. It happens
every day, they have the cyclical understanding of what's going on,
(30:50):
and hopefully school plus that, plus you and I getting
a break from them and letting them go make other
connections gives us a household of peace.
Speaker 2 (31:02):
Please, we joined a new gym, and so I like
that they can do because we could even add one
more in there and they could both do.
Speaker 3 (31:08):
Problems, we could go crazy and add another one, like
what's wrong with you?
Speaker 2 (31:12):
You didn't just hear me say so much room for activities?
Speaker 3 (31:15):
You have problems. Madison is used to training every day
for two and a half hours a day and then
coming home and getting her rest and then going onto
the ice. And that is not how people live. That's
not how toddlers live.
Speaker 2 (31:28):
Hope we'll see. So before we wrap, I want to
talk about the most exciting upcoming thing.
Speaker 3 (31:37):
For the most exciting thing is is our anniversary that's
coming in this week. Oh okay, wrong, agab.
Speaker 2 (31:45):
Yes, we did just have an anniversary, which was very exciting. However,
I'm talking about the upcoming birthdays.
Speaker 3 (31:53):
Hmmm, what's it going to be? Party plan aire.
Speaker 2 (31:57):
So we've done where the Wild Things Are? Yep, we've
done on a dinosaur party. Where the Wild Things Are
was Whalen's one. Dinosaur theme was Whalen's two. Mawana was
a joint party for one and three that was cute.
Trolls was maybe the best one yet.
Speaker 3 (32:12):
Yeah, Trolls was dope.
Speaker 2 (32:13):
Anya bought this, like is it called twill?
Speaker 3 (32:16):
No, what's it called twill?
Speaker 2 (32:17):
What's it called?
Speaker 3 (32:18):
Keep guessing?
Speaker 2 (32:19):
What's it called? Fabric? Like fishnet like looking fabric? What's
it called? Come on, just tell me what it's called? Tool? Tool?
Twill tool? I mean I was like not that far off.
Anya ordered multi colored tool, so like five or six
different colors, and then a bunch of headbands and spent hours.
Speaker 3 (32:40):
Yeah, it was a long ass time, hours.
Speaker 2 (32:42):
And hours and hours looping these things through like almost
like crochet and then tying them up in a ponytail.
So all these kids and parents showed up to the
Trolls party. We had the Trolls music, we had a
Trolls bounce house, we had trolls Pinata like everything was
all trolls down trolls and everyone or the troll hair.
Speaker 3 (33:03):
It was epic.
Speaker 2 (33:04):
So this year we're gonna celebrate their birthdays. I think
do a habachi party at the house because in case
those who haven't picked up our kids love habachi. Because
they're starting a new school. I feel a little weird
about like starting school and then having a birthday party
because even when you tell people not to bring a gift,
they always bring a gift. So I think we're just
gonna do like a start of the year kickoff.
Speaker 3 (33:23):
I didn't surprise everyone with a cake boo.
Speaker 2 (33:26):
Yeah, we'll do like a like back to school cake.
But again, open to suggestions, slide into our dms because
we are torn. Harlem wants a princess party, Whalen wants
a Minecraft party. So we're trying to marry the two
and do a princess Minecraft party or a Minecraft Princess party,
So open to suggestions out there.
Speaker 3 (33:46):
We're officially at the point where they like the same things,
but they don't. They don't want the same birthday party.
Speaker 2 (33:52):
I thought they were going to do Mario, which would
have been easy because like Princess pach Whaleen was into
the Mario thing for a while. I might be able
to get him back on track, but they're pretty heavy
into the Minecraft. She likes me loft, she loves all
the minecrafts. She's just obsessed with Princess. So like, maybe
we could figure out a way again suggestions. We have
a very high bar set.
Speaker 3 (34:12):
Yeah, it has to be fun. It has to be
fun and Minecraft. Also, we've seen the movie, but no
one in this house plays the game, and no one
in this house goes any deeper than just watching Jack
Black sing La la la la ba Chicken ooh la ticket,
not to be confused with the fact that Madison puts
that on when the kids are not in the car.
(34:34):
So also shout out to Jack Black, you are obviously
the packer's favorite artist of the last three months.
Speaker 2 (34:41):
The birthday party is essentially just an excuse for all
of the school parents to get together and let the
kids beat the crap out of each other in the
bounce house and have access to an open bar because
we have a full barbecue a full bar. All the
parents come. The MVP of last year's party, it rained
the night before. I covered the couch, but I didn't
(35:01):
cover all the chairs that go to the table. And
this guy, I mean, he was dressed to the nines.
He had like Louis Vuitton loafers on these really just a.
Speaker 3 (35:11):
Very dapper dude.
Speaker 2 (35:12):
Yeah, he was a colored pants, a belt. He had
the suit supply like crochet knit polo. The guy looks great.
He sits down and he was the only parent who
did not move the whole party. I'm like, I'm like,
what's up with this guy? Maybe like three hours go
by and he stands up to go check it on
his girly no joke. His entire backside was soaked, but
(35:36):
back of his hamstrings all the way up through his crotch.
I said, on you, I'm like that dude, pete his pants?
No like so no doubt that Peter's pants. And he
never said anything to us. I'm like, what is going on?
Fast forward two birthday parties later. Anya goes and I
met her late and his wife was there and she's like,
I have to tell you the story. My husband sat
(35:56):
down on the cushion and didn't realize until he was
sitting down that the cushion was wet. But he was
so embarrassed because he thought that everyone at the party
was going to think that he peed his pants. There
was one other cushion that was wet, and I flipped
it up, but I didn't realize that that one was
wet because he had already sat down. The poor guy.
Everyone at the party did think that he peed his
pants for a little while, and it took almost a
(36:17):
full calendar year later for his wife to be like,
oh no, he said, just sat in a white chair
and owned it and was too embarrassed.
Speaker 3 (36:23):
He had me dying laughing too, because then another point
during the party, something happened with his daughter and he
had to get up and help her, and he was like,
fully owned the full wet butt. And then I go
doing a towel for your car ride home, and he
was like, nah, just let it ride, Just let it ride.
Like these are we're broken. All of us as parents
are just broken. When you sit at a child's birthday
(36:46):
party and you look like you fully ped your pants,
and instead of receiving the help of a towel, you say,
just let it ride. That's where we're all out collectively,
we're just letting it ride. So you've gotten the Packer
family update. You're hearing the chaos. Harlan the highs and lows.
She's pooped in the poddies. She may kill one of us.
Whylan he's got his trophy, He's losing his marbles with
(37:10):
this lack of structure. Who knows what's coming next week.
If you have the answers to the test, call us please,
and if not, laugh at our pain because we are
all just letting it ride.
Speaker 2 (37:25):
That's it for this week. Thanks for listening, and if
you like what you.
Speaker 3 (37:29):
Heard, spread the word seriously right now, take your phone out,
Text a friend and tell them to subscribe.
Speaker 2 (37:34):
And be sure to rate and review us on Apple
Podcasts and Spotify if you haven't already. It really really
helps until next week. I'm Madison Packer and.
Speaker 3 (37:43):
I'm Onya Packer and this was These Packs Puck.
Speaker 2 (37:46):
These Packs Puck is a production of iHeart Women's Sports
and Deep Blue Sports and Entertainment. It's hosted by us
Madison and Onya Packer. Emily Meronoff is our senior producer
and story editor. We were mixed and mastered by Mary dew.
Our executive producers are Jennifer Bassett, Jesse Katz, and Ally Perry.
Popular Podcasts
Law & Order: Criminal Justice System - Season 1 & Season 2
Season Two Out Now! Law & Order: Criminal Justice System tells the real stories behind the landmark cases that have shaped how the most dangerous and influential criminals in America are prosecuted. In its second season, the series tackles the threat of terrorism in the United States. From the rise of extremist political groups in the 60s to domestic lone wolves in the modern day, we explore how organizations like the FBI and Joint Terrorism Take Force have evolved to fight back against a multitude of terrorist threats.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
NFL Daily with Gregg Rosenthal
Gregg Rosenthal and a rotating crew of elite NFL Media co-hosts, including Patrick Claybon, Colleen Wolfe, Steve Wyche, Nick Shook and Jourdan Rodrigue of The Athletic get you caught up daily on all the NFL news and analysis you need to be smarter and funnier than your friends.