September 2, 2025 • 33 mins
This week, the Packers are recording in a quiet, calm household because the kids are finally at school! Madison and Anya debrief the bittersweet sendoff and share their hopes and dreams for their kids as they start to develop their own interests, friends, and personalities. Come for the cute stories and stay for Anya’s most controversial hot take yet where she proposes a way to…heat up…the women’s hockey season.
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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
and all the messiness in between. So buckle the puck
up because there is a lot to talk about. Hey, Mama, Hello,
how you doing? Pack good? How are you? You know what?
Speaker 2 (00:35):
I'm excited for our chat. It's just us today, but
I feel like there's a lot of fun stuff to
talk about.
Speaker 1 (00:41):
I'm tired. Ooh, I slept in the car before my
gym workout today.
Speaker 2 (00:46):
Wait, so also I called you. So I went to
the office today and I called you, and it was
I was sitting next to a big shop VP at
my company and when I called you, I said, oh, shoot,
did I just wake you up? He goes, must be nice.
Speaker 1 (01:01):
Thanks for that. So that was a little funny thing
to do. All right. Well, I have a good hockey
hot take that I really want to get into.
Speaker 2 (01:07):
I'm acutely obsessed with it, and I feel like we
might disagree. So I want to take us to my
hockey hot take.
Speaker 1 (01:15):
Are you ready for it, let's hear it hockey hot take.
Speaker 2 (01:21):
My hot take is that women's professional hockey should, like
the WNBA, be played opposite season to the NHL.
Speaker 1 (01:31):
It should be a summer season. I don't wholly disagree,
but I think it's difficult for two reasons. One because
the length of season, and also I think it makes
sense from it. I understand your business reason, but I
think that like it eliminates a lot of opportunity, like
outdoor games, cross collaboration with leagues, and it's always been
(01:54):
a winter sport. It's a cold sport. Okay, that's not
lost on me. Like think about how many rings take
their ice out in the summer. But that's tell only
because you played it in a cold area. Everyone in Florida,
like the Panthers play it in the summer months, summer
feeling months. Yeah, whatever, ignore those NHL champions, Like, let's
just ignore that whole team. Okay, the reason why, and
(02:14):
here's where I think you cannot convince me otherwise. When
the start of October comes to pass, and actually our
players don't report until mid November, so we have a
delayed season, which is in my opinion, even worse. But
peterhl's players come in November. I think they start games
in December. They play December, January, February, March, April, playoffs
(02:39):
may into June. Right right now, while that's happening, you
have NHL starting and concluding kind of at the same
points in time. You have college hockey, you have high
school hockey, You have youth hockey.
Speaker 2 (02:53):
You have the NBA. You have the NFL for the
whole beginning of part of the season, which just kills
all the TV time and ratings. You have every single
person back to school. You have less flexibility on vacation
for traveling the games. You have more people buying the
ice for literally any reason whatsoever. You have every junior's team,
AHL team, literally any team that could possibly use secondary
(03:16):
or even tertiary spaces in an arena unless we own
it exclusively for women's hockey, which we don't yet, using
all those spaces and probably driving more butts and seats, revenue,
concession dollars, merch anything that you could possibly think of
is over committed during the winter months and then that's
not even adding that the NBA is playing that unrivaled
(03:37):
is playing. We're fighting with AU content, We're fighting with
women's sports content. If all of women's sports mutually agreed
to go to the summer months, we would have a
women's sports summer, and instead women's hockey lives on the outskirts,
fighting all of those battles to just what exists in
what quote quote traditionally is hockey months.
Speaker 1 (03:58):
Why Also, the buildings I think are more like they
don't keep the ice in. Yeah, but I think about
all the buildings that those teams play in, all those
big buildings, take the ice out there predominantly used for
concerts in the summer.
Speaker 2 (04:11):
Maybe, but what if they use different rinks? Like That's
what I'm saying is I think the solution is clear
to me. If you're telling me that there's a couple
of rinks that maybe are used to be AHL teams
or used to be junior's teams that aren't anymore that
have these women's teams in them. But across the board
there's just dramatically less hockey being played over the summer.
(04:31):
You can't tell me there's not a solution there.
Speaker 1 (04:34):
Yeah, I just I think part of it is length
of season, Like you're gonna have overlap either way, and
then there has to be an off season, and who
wants to have their off season be in the middle
of winter.
Speaker 2 (04:43):
Except in that capacity, in the summer months, all the
NHL players are training at the gyms that we want
to be training at, driving the price up to one
hundred and twenty one hundred and fifty dollars per hour
for a really good trainer. If all their players are
playing in an NHL season, the gyms will be less expensive,
They'll be open more for one on ones, all the
spaces that they need for private shooting, coaches training, et cetera.
(05:05):
I mean, like flip it on its head, what is
the reason that we do this? I mean, if CCM
is gonna run and add okay.
Speaker 1 (05:12):
In the dead of hockey season, no matter what you
tell me, they're picking Connor McDavid, Well yeah, so, but
if they ran, well, what kind of statement is that?
Obviously right?
Speaker 2 (05:25):
But I'm saying, if we put women's sports in the
summertime and that is most current and topical, and they
go to run a campaign in.
Speaker 1 (05:31):
No, they'll still use Conor McDavis. Sure, but would the
propensity be hired to use the player that's currently on
the ice with current video and current stats and current happenings.
I don't know, not until the sport has wrecked. I mean,
they there are more women in the W now in
commercials and things, obviously, but basketball is just a much
more popular sport. I think part of it also has
to do with like men's hockey fans versus women's hockey fans,
(05:57):
and like what your kid is engaging with because your
marketing to the kids, right to buy the sticks and
et cetera. The pros are using half of them aren't
even using what looks like they're using. Well, well that's
a whole other conversation where someone has a stock stick
and it's just painted life. So they're going to always
pick the most popular player, which is gonna be a guy.
That's not lost on me.
Speaker 2 (06:14):
But I'm just saying we up our odds by being
current and when we put ourselves in a position to
compete with all the litany of things I said in advance,
we aren't looking at women's hockey as like, hey, let's
try to put this on the largest platform we can.
We're just saying here's how it fits in the current
landscape of hockey generally. Yeah, like, what have we really
(06:36):
done to evolve versus the jail break rule? Which go
into that for a second, because I know we've covered it,
but I just want to like refresh everybody on it.
Speaker 1 (06:44):
Jail break rule is so typically, if there's a penalty
and they score, the team with more players on the
ice scores, the player in the penalty box gets out.
But this is like a flip of that rule in
a similar way that if you're on the team that
has the penalty and your team scores shorthanded, your player
that's in the box gets released from the box. It's
(07:05):
meant to drive more offense and thus make the games
hopefully more entertaining, which I think it has. It's interesting.
Speaker 2 (07:12):
I think it's the greatest innovation in women's hockey in
the last twenty five years. I mean, I would say
that right there is saying this is women's hockey and
this is how we're different, and this is where we
show up. But in every other capacity, we're just men's
hockey washing ourselves and not looking at the fact of
(07:33):
we could be more economically fruitful if we go to
the months of summer. And to your point, even if
we stagger an April start, play through the NHL playoffs,
couples some shoulder content, and then play our playoffs in
October when NHL content is starting, right like, we're kind
of capturing fans on both sides as they leave the
NHL season and then get excited for the NHL season.
Speaker 1 (07:55):
We can be that buffer of content. Yeah, that's true.
I mean, I think the point that I agree with
you most on is the point about the broadcasting, the
media opportunity, the media rights the airtime, because that's the
biggest swing and miss games are on linear cable Locally.
I don't think that there were any games that were
nationally broadcast last year. Even if you can get a
(08:18):
spot like NHL Network is constantly running, right like, there
just has to be a way to try and get
it in front of more people. Or I mean, like
everyone knocks YouTube being able to access it that way.
You have to have that up in Canada, it's everywhere,
it's on TSM. We don't have that here in the States,
and so the potential in the opportunity exists, it's just
(08:38):
you're constantly competing for airtime with all these other mostly
men's sports, right, so I think that it opens a
new window of opportunity for YouTube able to I mean, like,
no disrespect, but they share like ax throwing and ping pong. Wait,
I was just gonna say that like badminton, Like now,
those aren't entertaining and interesting, but like, I just have
to believe, with the rise of women's sport and like
(08:58):
the increased enrollment in hockey, et cetera, that we should
be able to get hockey on television with X throwing,
there is no shade to the US Power Slap League.
But how is that? The power Slap's crazy? By the way,
the powerslap is crazy.
Speaker 2 (09:13):
When the smoke comes off that power slap, I'm like,
that person's dead.
Speaker 1 (09:16):
I wonder if what the concussion rate in that sport is.
I can't believe slapping people in the face is a sport. Yeah,
that's discussion. Don't know what power slapping is? Look it up? Yeah,
google it.
Speaker 2 (09:24):
It's crazy, but not important to me because my point
is they have more airtime than women's hockey, and the reason,
truly in my opinion, is because we just continue down
the same patterns of its hockey time and we don't
create a different narrative, right, Like, women's hockey is so
good at just being like, do you want your little
(09:45):
girl to play hockey? Watch the PWHL, And instead we're like,
why not just be like this is sick as hell
and it's gonna be all summer long. So when you're
craving the big hits, the big goals, the dangles, the
you know, windmill, save the something insane and come to
the PHL and watch what we're doing.
Speaker 1 (10:02):
We're not marketing it that way. We are the kind
of like pseudo donation league. Please watch us. It feels good.
Stop that.
Speaker 2 (10:11):
Let's play in the summer. Let's go all out. Let's
market the hell out of it, and let's capture every
hockey player that's dying for hockey content and can't touch it. Okay, Okay,
moving on enough, women's talking should be in the summer,
has to have the final word. I'm glad we both agree.
Now it's time to get into what could be. You
(10:31):
said this the other day that you feel like we're
closer or like maybe better connected now because we check
in so regularly.
Speaker 1 (10:38):
That makes me happy. I actually do agree.
Speaker 2 (10:40):
I feel like if people haven't started taking and stealing
and sharing our check in idea.
Speaker 1 (10:45):
Do it? It's it's fun.
Speaker 2 (10:46):
Sometimes you recognize that your person is lower than you thought,
or higher than you thought. Anyway, from one to one hundred, Mattie,
tell me where you're at.
Speaker 1 (10:57):
I'm like a sixty two liar, like a D, not
quite a F. I woke up and the sun was
shining and I got to go to the gym. So
hard to be mad. Can't be an a F. But
I'm like a sixty two. What's going on? The kids
at their first day of school today? And I'm sad. Oh,
they weren't even sad when they got there. Harley was
(11:18):
sad to go. No, she was sad in the car ride,
and then you gave her that friendship bracelet. She was
telling everyone about her friendship bracelet. And then we got
to school and like she was like giving me like
a really really tight hug. And then we get in
the classroom and she was like deuces.
Speaker 2 (11:31):
Oh, but I'm so proud of her. I want her
to be like that. I wanted to love us when
we're there and forget us when we're gone.
Speaker 1 (11:37):
That's so healthy. I think we'll pack that later.
Speaker 2 (11:42):
I have no justification as to why, but I think
it's so fun when she just goes and does her
own little thing.
Speaker 1 (11:48):
I love that about her. She is very good at
that too. She loves to do her own thing. Where
are you at? The friendship bracelet thing just brought me
up a little bit.
Speaker 2 (11:55):
I was in the office today, so I don't love
that for me, but I actually was like laughing at
the office.
Speaker 1 (12:01):
So I had a great day. I mean, I feel great.
Speaker 2 (12:03):
I'm like a solid BB plus maybe even in eighty nine.
Speaker 1 (12:07):
I'm so happy. I'm happy that you said that. Okay,
these are my friendship bracelets.
Speaker 2 (12:10):
I bought these forever ago and it was a necklace
and then I had it made into a bracelet and
an anklet because I was like, I'm never gonna wear
a heart shaped necklace, and so I've always had it
in my Just to.
Speaker 1 (12:20):
Clarify, have you ever worn a heart shaped anklet? No?
Speaker 2 (12:24):
I don't know why I did that, but I did
put two clock clasps on it. And then today Harlan
was really sad to go to school, so I said,
I'll give you one and Mommy will wear the other one.
And when you're feeling sad. You can touch it and
I'll know that, like I'll know.
Speaker 1 (12:36):
And she was so into that, and she's like, that's
so cute, my little twin. She was very upset in
the living room before we left though. Yeah, she was
not pumped. No photo.
Speaker 2 (12:46):
No, she did not want the first day of school photo,
which I think is important. So we're gonna go to
a little break and then we're going to get back
into how mommy and mama.
Speaker 1 (12:56):
Really prepped for back to school.
Speaker 2 (12:58):
We'll go to a short break and we'll get into
the chaos next.
Speaker 1 (13:16):
So where should we start? Should we start the night prior? Yeah,
go ahead to all of this madness. So the kids
had their first day of school today and they got
new backpacks, which we've already talked about on the pod.
We got new backpacks, new lunch boxes, new silverware. I
went through and labeled everything, and then a new label maker.
(13:36):
By the way, the label maker was also new. Yeah,
Amazon got me with that one. We got like misled.
I won't name the brand because I don't want to
get in trouble, but we purchased their backpacks from a
company and they were advertised as like backpacks with patches
and the kids initials are monogrammed whatever they come. And
we're like, wait, these patches are stickers. They were stickers.
(13:57):
They were not iron on patches. They were not iron
ones on canvas. They were literally a sticker that sticks
on and peels right off. I mean, they're nice patches,
but like they're it's like the three M adhesive. It's
not like we both clearly thought that they were iron
on or like I don't know, like like velcro or something.
Speaker 2 (14:14):
I thought when they were put on they would stay on. Yeah,
is that a crazy thing to ask?
Speaker 1 (14:20):
So at like eleven thirty last night, after I'd cleaned
the house for the third time and we took the
kids into Habachi because we love Habachi. We're obsessed you
and Whalen is the Wii and that I'm like so
annoyed that these patches aren't staying on the bag. And
I'm like, oh, like they're for sure they're gonna go
to their first day and they're gonna lose their patches
and they're gonna be all bummed out because it's ten
dollars a patch to replace them. Mind you, so fifty
(14:41):
dollars worth of patches between the kids, but it's not actually,
because those patches on Amazon would be like, okay, well
when the ones that match the backpack. Long story short,
we were like sewing these little patches on. Yeah, how
many needles did you break? I broke at least six
because when I would push the needle through the patch
and the backpack candy like I need a thimble. I
(15:02):
needed a thimble. If you've never sewed, you don't really
know what I'm talking about.
Speaker 2 (15:05):
But I needed something on my thumb that was hard,
and so I was pushing with the like charger for
my Ora ring and it was snapping these things because
they were squeezing through the adhesive.
Speaker 1 (15:14):
And then the needles were We sewed for like two
and a half hours. That was terrible. It was like
five patches. It wasn't It was not that. It should
not have been that long.
Speaker 2 (15:26):
And then Madison has also set us up for failure.
So we did that, and so the patches are now
sewn on. They look gorgeous. And then I go downstairs
and just take a peek at the children's lunches and
they are meticulously organized in these bento box things. Each
piece of fruit is cut like a tiny dinosaur or
a tiny flower.
Speaker 1 (15:48):
The vegetables are perfectly aligned. We went ham on the
cutouts yesterday with the watermeltain.
Speaker 2 (15:52):
There's a chocolate sweet treat in every single wand there's
like a perfectly folded origami napkin.
Speaker 1 (15:59):
This is not sustainable. I want everyone to know. The
kids will be eating school lunch in a day and
a half. We'll be done with this for sure.
Speaker 2 (16:07):
But I got Madison the little cutouts because, like you know,
Madison's a gift lover. Your love language is gifts, and
so I'm trying to be a better wife, so I
buy her the gift of the cutouts.
Speaker 1 (16:19):
Whalan is like, I want only birds.
Speaker 2 (16:22):
I was like, okay, so we have a non sustainable
lunch problem as well. So Madison is the lunch lady,
as we've defined before, but we've now confirmed the lunches
were perfect.
Speaker 1 (16:34):
I can't lie. We had fun with them making the
fruit cutouts until you wanted carabiners for the water bottles. Yeah,
that wasn't great. Tell us about your karro Beener issue,
Well you just like, what why did you order the
ones that you ordered? Also, that's not like a crazy thing,
like I'd like their backpacks are heavy, and like, I
just figured it was easier. Like, Harlan's not going to
(16:55):
be able to put her water bottle in that water
bottle pocket every time. I think I like that.
Speaker 2 (16:59):
You think if the backpack is heavy and Harlan is three,
what she's going to love to do is carabiner clip
everything onto it, like like a turtle pack, and then
she's gonna be able to carry that. It's just gonna
be me carrying it with seventeen little things clipped on.
Speaker 1 (17:16):
No, it's just one carabiner for the water bottle. Madison
is trying to force carabiner life on children. It's a deal,
and that I think is a crime. You wanted to
caribiner the lunch box to the outside of the bed.
I want to stop saying the word carabiner. That's number one.
That's for sure. Harln got a sleeping bag for school.
She was pretty pumped about. Oh, Whalen was not pumped
(17:36):
about the sleeping bag because he's like, wait, why do
I need a sleeping bag? Are we sleeping at school?
The sleeping bag thing is ridiculous.
Speaker 2 (17:42):
So the school has a cat and that's what the
kids take naps on, and they've suggested that we bring
them sleep mats, which is a combination of a pillow
blanket and like an underlayment matt Like A like, I
don't know, something cush you need to lay on.
Speaker 1 (17:58):
I'm like, what is this the sha ingrilla of naps? Like,
just give them, give them a paper towel. The boy's
not gonna sleep anyway. He doesn't like to naw. What
what are we doing? I'm literally looking at I'm staring
at this thing. It's a pillow, a double sided, fuzzy blanket.
And then uh, they're just gonna put chips in it
(18:20):
and color on it with marker and like, well, if
they have to lay there for naptime, they might as
well be cozy. That is crazy. I'm surprised that Harlan
didn't flip out when she noticed that hers was dinosaurs
like Whalen's and not unicorns. I got her specifically dinosaurs
because I felt like if I got her too many
things that were unicorn asque.
Speaker 2 (18:39):
First of all, dinosaurs have no gender. They're just generally cool.
But hers is purple and pink and blue and super cute.
Speaker 1 (18:47):
Whalem was I think Whalem was mad that his wasn't
purple and pink and like white. His is like blue
and orange and red and not nearly as cute. He
was not pumped, he wasn't mad.
Speaker 2 (18:57):
Okay, So I think this is important and because I
really really like it and I like that you think
about these things. What is the new Packer family pre
first day of school tradition?
Speaker 1 (19:06):
We go out to dinner. Thank you for the illuminating description.
What dinner? And we go to dinner and we do
snores and watch a movie. Yeah, we had a fun night.
We had like a little plan.
Speaker 2 (19:18):
We eased them into the idea that they were going
to go to school, and we talked about school a lot.
We did coloring, We didn't do phones, we did no devices.
We just like hung out as a crew and got
them ready to go to school. In this process, I
let Waylan pick my outfit and I said, oh, do
you want me to wear these pants or these pants?
He goes, no, Mommy, a dress, a dress, and he
(19:41):
points to like a fancy dress that I have, like
a beaded, bedazzled Alex and Olivia, very very fancy dress.
I was like, okay, and I cannot wear that. Here
are my two son dresses, and Madison comes upstairs and goes,
a dress.
Speaker 1 (19:58):
Should Mama wear a dress? He goes, no, what did
he say? No? No, but you should wear something fancy
he goes. He goes, ugh, no, but you should wear
something handsome.
Speaker 3 (20:11):
No.
Speaker 2 (20:11):
I think he said fancy, because I think he said
his outfit was fancy. Then he picks out a black
dress for me and he like displays me to Madison
and goes.
Speaker 1 (20:19):
Isn't she gorgeous? And I swear he makes me feel
so good about myself. I'm like, I am gorgeous. Thank you. Yeah.
Let in the car. He was like, Mummy, you look
so pretty.
Speaker 3 (20:30):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (20:50):
I can't be remiss to think that the back to
school chaos is so much to deal with after just
dealing with your kids all all summer long, and they
need to go back to school. Like I think that's
like that weird period of time where the kids were
like needing the structure, really wanting teachers, really wanting new friends,
really wanting like wanting school, and then all the litany
(21:14):
of things that you have to do to be prepared
to send your kids to school.
Speaker 1 (21:18):
It's like stressful. But also our kids have been out
of school for nine months, like they've been home when
we pulled them out of daycare when I retired, that
was nine months ago, almost ten months. That's a long time,
you know what I mean. And I think that like
right around mid July, we were like, Okay, this is
like maybe too long, this has gone on. This has
gone on long enough, this is too long. But then
(21:39):
it was like we had some stuff coming up, right,
some travel, so like it was nice to do with
the travel at the end of the summer, but we
kind of went to the same wave in April and
then we went down to Florida. I mean, imagine if
we didn't have childcare there, wouldn't we go down in
February right or March if we hadn't done that, and
then we put them in school in March, like that
would have been bad. That was a good way to
(22:00):
break it up, because it just is too long without structure,
and when I think we were starting to feel that
at the end.
Speaker 2 (22:06):
Listen, there are some kids that don't go to school
until they go to kindergarten, and I think that is
definitely a completely normal path. But for us and what
we do and like this the way this house works,
it just didn't work for us, and I think in
our hearts and minds it was going to be fine.
We were going to be able to divide the labor,
we were going to be able to do the things.
(22:28):
What I've learned in the last nine months is that
stay at home moms don't get paid enough. They do
not get paid enough, they do not have enough respect,
they do not get enough like social presence to support
them in any way, shape or form, because it is
incredibly hard.
Speaker 1 (22:47):
We talk about it in our christ for Help.
Speaker 2 (22:48):
It is incredibly hard to do this stuff in and
out every single day.
Speaker 1 (22:55):
I don't love it any less. I don't love them
any less.
Speaker 2 (22:58):
But today, knowing that they were cared for, fed, learning something,
meeting friends and not at this house, I mean, it
was amazing.
Speaker 1 (23:07):
That's the biggest piece, I think is the leaving the
house right, Like, you can only go to the park
so many times, there's only so many activities and blah
blah blah, like it got so repetitive and they would
get bored and they didn't want to leave the house
because we did up the playroom and blah blah blah,
like that was the hard part. And this morning it
was so excited because Waylan was so excited. He was
so excited to go to school. Also, his shorts were
(23:29):
way too tight this morning. I go, Wayln, let me
go upstairs and get you a pair of shorts that
are a little bit looser. He goes, no, Mommy, these
fit perfectly. I was like, they were so tight. Those
look like they hurt. They were so tight. Yeah, those
are those are gonna disappear from his drawer. He's gonna
be bumped. But you're right. The repetitiveness is really hard,
and I think staying in a rhythm and staying in
(23:51):
a structure is what kids need. But I think for
adults it becomes very mundane and very monotonous, and it's
hard not to be resentful in that situation. Excuse me,
it's hard for me. I'm not placing my feelings on everybody,
but for me.
Speaker 2 (24:07):
I love our children. I love being super mom on
Saturday and Sunday. I love being one hundred percent present.
But I can't do it Monday through Sunday. I can't
do it. I don't know what I would do.
Speaker 1 (24:20):
Yeah, we got a big weekend ahead of us. We've
got a our first family reunion together. Is that crazy.
It's only my second family reunion ever.
Speaker 2 (24:29):
You've been to a family reunion. I feel like that's
an old person thing to do. Well is that a
modern thing? This feels very old to me. Family members
are all ages at all times. I understand, but I'm
saying you can't.
Speaker 1 (24:40):
Have a family reunion with only old people. It feels
to me like a very big reunion. It feels to
me like not something I'm either connected to, like I'm
I'm our unions, so we our reunions are every single
time that there's a meal being served. Like in the
Armenian culture, your family's just kind of always around, almost
when you don't want them to be. It's like, oh,
I'm my cousin, Like yes.
Speaker 2 (24:58):
Great aunt blah blah blah, coming and for blah blah blah.
Like oh, you have a hockey practice, that's great, your
seventeen cousins are gonna come watch. I'm like, it's a
hockey practice. I don't really want that to happen. But
that's just Armenian culture. So then this is my dad's family.
Speaker 1 (25:14):
Teen cousins. It's nuts, by the way, busy people. Yeah, amen,
this is a reunion with Irish people. So there's gonna
be like lots of sunblock, lots of white men and
lots of goatee's. What are we gonna eat like boiled something?
I don't know. I'm stressed out. Isn't it a barbecue
the one day? Yeah?
Speaker 2 (25:34):
Yeah, no one's ever had pit smoked Irish food and thought, wow,
but I've never been to a family reunion. I'm really excited.
It's such a good time to be outside. Yes, objectively,
it's the best time to have the windows open.
Speaker 1 (25:48):
I love the fall. It's the goat season. It's good
where we're at too, southern Connecticut, Like it doesn't get
super cold, but it's cold enough that it's like not
crazy hot when you go to the oorchar We've got
some good orchards around. Yeah, that's what I'm most excited for.
The fall is like because now we're gonna have so
much more energy on the weekends. I'm so pumped. That
(26:09):
is really nice. We've started going to the gym together.
We have some freedom back.
Speaker 2 (26:12):
Yeah, I think the other just to go completely one
eighty back to what we were talking about. But I
think the piece about school and back to school season
is one these kids are about to be so sick,
like we're about to go right into flu season that's coming.
But I think the other element is, like it's a
really nice reset period. It's gonna be nice to like
reset what we did in the summer audit and edit
(26:34):
our days where we're doing things that were wasteful of
our time, where we being the best parents or partners
or wives.
Speaker 1 (26:41):
I don't know. And I'm excited for this, like season ERA.
Speaker 2 (26:45):
We talked last week about how excited we are for
like parents of school age children ERA, And today is
the first day that I'm like getting my head above water.
I got like six things on my personal to do
list done, which is crazy. That's not happened to me
in a really long time.
Speaker 1 (27:00):
Okay, overachiever, Okay, I went to the gym and took
a nap.
Speaker 2 (27:04):
That's still amazing. The fact that you could do that
is amazing.
Speaker 1 (27:09):
Well, it only got like a seven minute nap because
then you called me, and then I told everyone in
my office that you were napping it. Yes, this is
this is true. All right. So you want to play
a fun little game to end this episode because I do. Yeah, Well,
come me in. Okay, take a second to think, try
(27:31):
to accurately guess like three things that happens today. Oh,
just on random, like in the world. No, not in
the world with the kids at school.
Speaker 2 (27:41):
Oh fun, Okay, yeah, I do know one thing that
did happen. What Waylan kicked a ball in a tree
and then climbed that tree and then subsequently fell out
of that tree. And the teacher sent me a bunch
of pictures of him, of his body with like little
scratches on it, and she was like, Waylan tried to
climb a tree or if he's capable of doing that
at home, but he's not capable of doing that here.
Speaker 1 (28:05):
Sorry. I was like, that's fine. Why didn't you tell
me that until just now I've totally blacked out, Like
he got in trouble, he's not allowed to do that here,
or he's not like not capable not but he's not allowed.
He's just got hurt, dude on his first day. Yeah obviously,
well that doesn't count. Yeah I knew that, Okay.
Speaker 2 (28:24):
I think he he's going to come home with some
thing that he learned. I think he's gonna come home
and tell us like a really solid story, like of
something really random, like atmospheric pressure like some something that's
like super obscure, but like a lesson that he's learned.
Speaker 1 (28:36):
I think he's gonna be really jazzed about that atmospheric pressure, okay,
or like one of pre k Yeah yeah, or like
hatching butterflies, or like like the way that rain is made.
Speaker 2 (28:45):
Like he's gonna come home with some crazy I'm obviously
a stem brain. That's what I've just learned in those
three examples. Wow, primary colors. I don't know literally anything.
He's going to come home with some amount of information
that he didn't have before. He's gonna be super jazzed
to tell us.
Speaker 1 (28:58):
I'm hoping that one of them tells us that they
have a best friend. That's gonna be so cute. I'm
gonna cry because I thought I was their best friend.
But that's rude.
Speaker 2 (29:07):
And then I think, lastly, I bet you one hundred bucks.
Harlan got in a little tussle. I think that girl's tussling.
Speaker 1 (29:15):
Harlan pushed someone from behind in line. Yeah, Harlan, she's tussling,
and then stole their fruit cup. HBT, Harlan b Tusslin.
That's what's gonna happen. Yeah, what do you think I
think that Harlan definitely cooped your pants. Oh I hope
not for sure happened we sent that kid into the wild.
Wait too soon, we know, We're like, she's like thirty
(29:40):
percent underwear trade. She had undies on today. Yea, yeah,
Moms of the Year. We're gonna get there and the
teacher's gonna be like, so's so we need two new
outfits and just why don't you just bring a package
of Mondies next time? I'm dead? We really, we really
thought that's their problem though, yep. And then I think
(30:02):
that Whyalen is going to tell us that he has
a best friend. Yeah, I think that that's coming for sure.
I think the best friend's definitely coming. Yeah. I think
Whale's going to be like or we're going to hear
about a new friend from Whalen for sure. And oh,
Harlan definitely did not finish her lunch. Oh yeah, there's
no shot. But she ate all the snaketies. She is
the coolness snacks. Yeah, that sandwich is untouched one hundred
(30:27):
that's a good call. That's one hundred percent accurate County Snacks.
Speaker 2 (30:31):
Well, and none is last story because I think it's
the funniest thing that's happened all week, We might need
to add a segment and like, wtf happened this week?
Because I think the funniest thing that happened this week was,
for a period of time, we lost Harlan. We were
yelling her name, we were looking around for her. We
looked upstairs, we looked downstairs, we looked under the beds,
(30:53):
we looked in the playroom, behind the couches, anywhere that
she typically hides.
Speaker 1 (30:59):
Was she there?
Speaker 2 (31:01):
No, Instead, my phone gets an assaulting photo.
Speaker 1 (31:08):
Where did you find her? And what was she doing?
Harlan had stripped completely naked and climbed up on the
butcher block countertop of the pantry and opened the cereal
bins and was eating crunchy snacks. Her new obsession is
crunchy snacks, which we don't typically let them have snacks
outside of the kitchen. Lately, they've been taking crunchy snacks
(31:31):
up into our bed and under Wayland's bed. It's been
a nightmare. So we've been on a crunchy snack boycott.
So Harlan climbed the closet and.
Speaker 2 (31:41):
Closed the door and hid and was fully in a
dark pantry nude closet eating, laying on the crunchy snacks
closet eating covered in crumbs. So sometimes you're in eighty
nine and sometimes you're laying in the pantry on the
shelf in the dark, eating crunchy snacks.
Speaker 1 (32:02):
And that's all we have this week. I'd rather be
on the shelf. Yeah, right now, I'd happily be on
the shelf. I'm starving.
Speaker 2 (32:07):
So this was our fun back to school edition of
These Packs Puck. When you hear from us next week,
I'm sure we'll have some other wtf happened this week
and a recap of if Harlan was truly tussling and
how many best friends Whalen has over under three? I
think the over But that's just me.
Speaker 1 (32:31):
That's it for this week. Thanks for listening, and.
Speaker 2 (32:34):
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 (32:41):
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 I'm Onya
Packer and this was These Packs 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 Aia Pack.
Emily Meronoff is our senior producer and story editor. We
(33:03):
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.
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
and all the messiness in between. So buckle the puck
up because there is a lot to talk about. Hey, Mama, Hello,
how you doing? Pack good? How are you? You know what?
Speaker 2 (00:35):
I'm excited for our chat. It's just us today, but
I feel like there's a lot of fun stuff to
talk about.
Speaker 1 (00:41):
I'm tired. Ooh, I slept in the car before my
gym workout today.
Speaker 2 (00:46):
Wait, so also I called you. So I went to
the office today and I called you, and it was
I was sitting next to a big shop VP at
my company and when I called you, I said, oh, shoot,
did I just wake you up? He goes, must be nice.
Speaker 1 (01:01):
Thanks for that. So that was a little funny thing
to do. All right. Well, I have a good hockey
hot take that I really want to get into.
Speaker 2 (01:07):
I'm acutely obsessed with it, and I feel like we
might disagree. So I want to take us to my
hockey hot take.
Speaker 1 (01:15):
Are you ready for it, let's hear it hockey hot take.
Speaker 2 (01:21):
My hot take is that women's professional hockey should, like
the WNBA, be played opposite season to the NHL.
Speaker 1 (01:31):
It should be a summer season. I don't wholly disagree,
but I think it's difficult for two reasons. One because
the length of season, and also I think it makes
sense from it. I understand your business reason, but I
think that like it eliminates a lot of opportunity, like
outdoor games, cross collaboration with leagues, and it's always been
(01:54):
a winter sport. It's a cold sport. Okay, that's not
lost on me. Like think about how many rings take
their ice out in the summer. But that's tell only
because you played it in a cold area. Everyone in Florida,
like the Panthers play it in the summer months, summer
feeling months. Yeah, whatever, ignore those NHL champions, Like, let's
just ignore that whole team. Okay, the reason why, and
(02:14):
here's where I think you cannot convince me otherwise. When
the start of October comes to pass, and actually our
players don't report until mid November, so we have a
delayed season, which is in my opinion, even worse. But
peterhl's players come in November. I think they start games
in December. They play December, January, February, March, April, playoffs
(02:39):
may into June. Right right now, while that's happening, you
have NHL starting and concluding kind of at the same
points in time. You have college hockey, you have high
school hockey, You have youth hockey.
Speaker 2 (02:53):
You have the NBA. You have the NFL for the
whole beginning of part of the season, which just kills
all the TV time and ratings. You have every single
person back to school. You have less flexibility on vacation
for traveling the games. You have more people buying the
ice for literally any reason whatsoever. You have every junior's team,
AHL team, literally any team that could possibly use secondary
(03:16):
or even tertiary spaces in an arena unless we own
it exclusively for women's hockey, which we don't yet, using
all those spaces and probably driving more butts and seats, revenue,
concession dollars, merch anything that you could possibly think of
is over committed during the winter months and then that's
not even adding that the NBA is playing that unrivaled
(03:37):
is playing. We're fighting with AU content, We're fighting with
women's sports content. If all of women's sports mutually agreed
to go to the summer months, we would have a
women's sports summer, and instead women's hockey lives on the outskirts,
fighting all of those battles to just what exists in
what quote quote traditionally is hockey months.
Speaker 1 (03:58):
Why Also, the buildings I think are more like they
don't keep the ice in. Yeah, but I think about
all the buildings that those teams play in, all those
big buildings, take the ice out there predominantly used for
concerts in the summer.
Speaker 2 (04:11):
Maybe, but what if they use different rinks? Like That's
what I'm saying is I think the solution is clear
to me. If you're telling me that there's a couple
of rinks that maybe are used to be AHL teams
or used to be junior's teams that aren't anymore that
have these women's teams in them. But across the board
there's just dramatically less hockey being played over the summer.
(04:31):
You can't tell me there's not a solution there.
Speaker 1 (04:34):
Yeah, I just I think part of it is length
of season, Like you're gonna have overlap either way, and
then there has to be an off season, and who
wants to have their off season be in the middle
of winter.
Speaker 2 (04:43):
Except in that capacity, in the summer months, all the
NHL players are training at the gyms that we want
to be training at, driving the price up to one
hundred and twenty one hundred and fifty dollars per hour
for a really good trainer. If all their players are
playing in an NHL season, the gyms will be less expensive,
They'll be open more for one on ones, all the
spaces that they need for private shooting, coaches training, et cetera.
(05:05):
I mean, like flip it on its head, what is
the reason that we do this? I mean, if CCM
is gonna run and add okay.
Speaker 1 (05:12):
In the dead of hockey season, no matter what you
tell me, they're picking Connor McDavid, Well yeah, so, but
if they ran, well, what kind of statement is that?
Obviously right?
Speaker 2 (05:25):
But I'm saying, if we put women's sports in the
summertime and that is most current and topical, and they
go to run a campaign in.
Speaker 1 (05:31):
No, they'll still use Conor McDavis. Sure, but would the
propensity be hired to use the player that's currently on
the ice with current video and current stats and current happenings.
I don't know, not until the sport has wrecked. I mean,
they there are more women in the W now in
commercials and things, obviously, but basketball is just a much
more popular sport. I think part of it also has
to do with like men's hockey fans versus women's hockey fans,
(05:57):
and like what your kid is engaging with because your
marketing to the kids, right to buy the sticks and
et cetera. The pros are using half of them aren't
even using what looks like they're using. Well, well that's
a whole other conversation where someone has a stock stick
and it's just painted life. So they're going to always
pick the most popular player, which is gonna be a guy.
That's not lost on me.
Speaker 2 (06:14):
But I'm just saying we up our odds by being
current and when we put ourselves in a position to
compete with all the litany of things I said in advance,
we aren't looking at women's hockey as like, hey, let's
try to put this on the largest platform we can.
We're just saying here's how it fits in the current
landscape of hockey generally. Yeah, like, what have we really
(06:36):
done to evolve versus the jail break rule? Which go
into that for a second, because I know we've covered it,
but I just want to like refresh everybody on it.
Speaker 1 (06:44):
Jail break rule is so typically, if there's a penalty
and they score, the team with more players on the
ice scores, the player in the penalty box gets out.
But this is like a flip of that rule in
a similar way that if you're on the team that
has the penalty and your team scores shorthanded, your player
that's in the box gets released from the box. It's
(07:05):
meant to drive more offense and thus make the games
hopefully more entertaining, which I think it has. It's interesting.
Speaker 2 (07:12):
I think it's the greatest innovation in women's hockey in
the last twenty five years. I mean, I would say
that right there is saying this is women's hockey and
this is how we're different, and this is where we
show up. But in every other capacity, we're just men's
hockey washing ourselves and not looking at the fact of
(07:33):
we could be more economically fruitful if we go to
the months of summer. And to your point, even if
we stagger an April start, play through the NHL playoffs,
couples some shoulder content, and then play our playoffs in
October when NHL content is starting, right like, we're kind
of capturing fans on both sides as they leave the
NHL season and then get excited for the NHL season.
Speaker 1 (07:55):
We can be that buffer of content. Yeah, that's true.
I mean, I think the point that I agree with
you most on is the point about the broadcasting, the
media opportunity, the media rights the airtime, because that's the
biggest swing and miss games are on linear cable Locally.
I don't think that there were any games that were
nationally broadcast last year. Even if you can get a
(08:18):
spot like NHL Network is constantly running, right like, there
just has to be a way to try and get
it in front of more people. Or I mean, like
everyone knocks YouTube being able to access it that way.
You have to have that up in Canada, it's everywhere,
it's on TSM. We don't have that here in the States,
and so the potential in the opportunity exists, it's just
(08:38):
you're constantly competing for airtime with all these other mostly
men's sports, right, so I think that it opens a
new window of opportunity for YouTube able to I mean, like,
no disrespect, but they share like ax throwing and ping pong. Wait,
I was just gonna say that like badminton, Like now,
those aren't entertaining and interesting, but like, I just have
to believe, with the rise of women's sport and like
(08:58):
the increased enrollment in hockey, et cetera, that we should
be able to get hockey on television with X throwing,
there is no shade to the US Power Slap League.
But how is that? The power Slap's crazy? By the way,
the powerslap is crazy.
Speaker 2 (09:13):
When the smoke comes off that power slap, I'm like,
that person's dead.
Speaker 1 (09:16):
I wonder if what the concussion rate in that sport is.
I can't believe slapping people in the face is a sport. Yeah,
that's discussion. Don't know what power slapping is? Look it up? Yeah,
google it.
Speaker 2 (09:24):
It's crazy, but not important to me because my point
is they have more airtime than women's hockey, and the reason,
truly in my opinion, is because we just continue down
the same patterns of its hockey time and we don't
create a different narrative, right, Like, women's hockey is so
good at just being like, do you want your little
(09:45):
girl to play hockey? Watch the PWHL, And instead we're like,
why not just be like this is sick as hell
and it's gonna be all summer long. So when you're
craving the big hits, the big goals, the dangles, the
you know, windmill, save the something insane and come to
the PHL and watch what we're doing.
Speaker 1 (10:02):
We're not marketing it that way. We are the kind
of like pseudo donation league. Please watch us. It feels good.
Stop that.
Speaker 2 (10:11):
Let's play in the summer. Let's go all out. Let's
market the hell out of it, and let's capture every
hockey player that's dying for hockey content and can't touch it. Okay, Okay,
moving on enough, women's talking should be in the summer,
has to have the final word. I'm glad we both agree.
Now it's time to get into what could be. You
(10:31):
said this the other day that you feel like we're
closer or like maybe better connected now because we check
in so regularly.
Speaker 1 (10:38):
That makes me happy. I actually do agree.
Speaker 2 (10:40):
I feel like if people haven't started taking and stealing
and sharing our check in idea.
Speaker 1 (10:45):
Do it? It's it's fun.
Speaker 2 (10:46):
Sometimes you recognize that your person is lower than you thought,
or higher than you thought. Anyway, from one to one hundred, Mattie,
tell me where you're at.
Speaker 1 (10:57):
I'm like a sixty two liar, like a D, not
quite a F. I woke up and the sun was
shining and I got to go to the gym. So
hard to be mad. Can't be an a F. But
I'm like a sixty two. What's going on? The kids
at their first day of school today? And I'm sad. Oh,
they weren't even sad when they got there. Harley was
(11:18):
sad to go. No, she was sad in the car ride,
and then you gave her that friendship bracelet. She was
telling everyone about her friendship bracelet. And then we got
to school and like she was like giving me like
a really really tight hug. And then we get in
the classroom and she was like deuces.
Speaker 2 (11:31):
Oh, but I'm so proud of her. I want her
to be like that. I wanted to love us when
we're there and forget us when we're gone.
Speaker 1 (11:37):
That's so healthy. I think we'll pack that later.
Speaker 2 (11:42):
I have no justification as to why, but I think
it's so fun when she just goes and does her
own little thing.
Speaker 1 (11:48):
I love that about her. She is very good at
that too. She loves to do her own thing. Where
are you at? The friendship bracelet thing just brought me
up a little bit.
Speaker 2 (11:55):
I was in the office today, so I don't love
that for me, but I actually was like laughing at
the office.
Speaker 1 (12:01):
So I had a great day. I mean, I feel great.
Speaker 2 (12:03):
I'm like a solid BB plus maybe even in eighty nine.
Speaker 1 (12:07):
I'm so happy. I'm happy that you said that. Okay,
these are my friendship bracelets.
Speaker 2 (12:10):
I bought these forever ago and it was a necklace
and then I had it made into a bracelet and
an anklet because I was like, I'm never gonna wear
a heart shaped necklace, and so I've always had it
in my Just to.
Speaker 1 (12:20):
Clarify, have you ever worn a heart shaped anklet? No?
Speaker 2 (12:24):
I don't know why I did that, but I did
put two clock clasps on it. And then today Harlan
was really sad to go to school, so I said,
I'll give you one and Mommy will wear the other one.
And when you're feeling sad. You can touch it and
I'll know that, like I'll know.
Speaker 1 (12:36):
And she was so into that, and she's like, that's
so cute, my little twin. She was very upset in
the living room before we left though. Yeah, she was
not pumped. No photo.
Speaker 2 (12:46):
No, she did not want the first day of school photo,
which I think is important. So we're gonna go to
a little break and then we're going to get back
into how mommy and mama.
Speaker 1 (12:56):
Really prepped for back to school.
Speaker 2 (12:58):
We'll go to a short break and we'll get into
the chaos next.
Speaker 1 (13:16):
So where should we start? Should we start the night prior? Yeah,
go ahead to all of this madness. So the kids
had their first day of school today and they got
new backpacks, which we've already talked about on the pod.
We got new backpacks, new lunch boxes, new silverware. I
went through and labeled everything, and then a new label maker.
(13:36):
By the way, the label maker was also new. Yeah,
Amazon got me with that one. We got like misled.
I won't name the brand because I don't want to
get in trouble, but we purchased their backpacks from a
company and they were advertised as like backpacks with patches
and the kids initials are monogrammed whatever they come. And
we're like, wait, these patches are stickers. They were stickers.
(13:57):
They were not iron on patches. They were not iron
ones on canvas. They were literally a sticker that sticks
on and peels right off. I mean, they're nice patches,
but like they're it's like the three M adhesive. It's
not like we both clearly thought that they were iron
on or like I don't know, like like velcro or something.
Speaker 2 (14:14):
I thought when they were put on they would stay on. Yeah,
is that a crazy thing to ask?
Speaker 1 (14:20):
So at like eleven thirty last night, after I'd cleaned
the house for the third time and we took the
kids into Habachi because we love Habachi. We're obsessed you
and Whalen is the Wii and that I'm like so
annoyed that these patches aren't staying on the bag. And
I'm like, oh, like they're for sure they're gonna go
to their first day and they're gonna lose their patches
and they're gonna be all bummed out because it's ten
dollars a patch to replace them. Mind you, so fifty
(14:41):
dollars worth of patches between the kids, but it's not actually,
because those patches on Amazon would be like, okay, well
when the ones that match the backpack. Long story short,
we were like sewing these little patches on. Yeah, how
many needles did you break? I broke at least six
because when I would push the needle through the patch
and the backpack candy like I need a thimble. I
(15:02):
needed a thimble. If you've never sewed, you don't really
know what I'm talking about.
Speaker 2 (15:05):
But I needed something on my thumb that was hard,
and so I was pushing with the like charger for
my Ora ring and it was snapping these things because
they were squeezing through the adhesive.
Speaker 1 (15:14):
And then the needles were We sewed for like two
and a half hours. That was terrible. It was like
five patches. It wasn't It was not that. It should
not have been that long.
Speaker 2 (15:26):
And then Madison has also set us up for failure.
So we did that, and so the patches are now
sewn on. They look gorgeous. And then I go downstairs
and just take a peek at the children's lunches and
they are meticulously organized in these bento box things. Each
piece of fruit is cut like a tiny dinosaur or
a tiny flower.
Speaker 1 (15:48):
The vegetables are perfectly aligned. We went ham on the
cutouts yesterday with the watermeltain.
Speaker 2 (15:52):
There's a chocolate sweet treat in every single wand there's
like a perfectly folded origami napkin.
Speaker 1 (15:59):
This is not sustainable. I want everyone to know. The
kids will be eating school lunch in a day and
a half. We'll be done with this for sure.
Speaker 2 (16:07):
But I got Madison the little cutouts because, like you know,
Madison's a gift lover. Your love language is gifts, and
so I'm trying to be a better wife, so I
buy her the gift of the cutouts.
Speaker 1 (16:19):
Whalan is like, I want only birds.
Speaker 2 (16:22):
I was like, okay, so we have a non sustainable
lunch problem as well. So Madison is the lunch lady,
as we've defined before, but we've now confirmed the lunches
were perfect.
Speaker 1 (16:34):
I can't lie. We had fun with them making the
fruit cutouts until you wanted carabiners for the water bottles. Yeah,
that wasn't great. Tell us about your karro Beener issue,
Well you just like, what why did you order the
ones that you ordered? Also, that's not like a crazy thing,
like I'd like their backpacks are heavy, and like, I
just figured it was easier. Like, Harlan's not going to
(16:55):
be able to put her water bottle in that water
bottle pocket every time. I think I like that.
Speaker 2 (16:59):
You think if the backpack is heavy and Harlan is three,
what she's going to love to do is carabiner clip
everything onto it, like like a turtle pack, and then
she's gonna be able to carry that. It's just gonna
be me carrying it with seventeen little things clipped on.
Speaker 1 (17:16):
No, it's just one carabiner for the water bottle. Madison
is trying to force carabiner life on children. It's a deal,
and that I think is a crime. You wanted to
caribiner the lunch box to the outside of the bed.
I want to stop saying the word carabiner. That's number one.
That's for sure. Harln got a sleeping bag for school.
She was pretty pumped about. Oh, Whalen was not pumped
(17:36):
about the sleeping bag because he's like, wait, why do
I need a sleeping bag? Are we sleeping at school?
The sleeping bag thing is ridiculous.
Speaker 2 (17:42):
So the school has a cat and that's what the
kids take naps on, and they've suggested that we bring
them sleep mats, which is a combination of a pillow
blanket and like an underlayment matt Like A like, I
don't know, something cush you need to lay on.
Speaker 1 (17:58):
I'm like, what is this the sha ingrilla of naps? Like,
just give them, give them a paper towel. The boy's
not gonna sleep anyway. He doesn't like to naw. What
what are we doing? I'm literally looking at I'm staring
at this thing. It's a pillow, a double sided, fuzzy blanket.
And then uh, they're just gonna put chips in it
(18:20):
and color on it with marker and like, well, if
they have to lay there for naptime, they might as
well be cozy. That is crazy. I'm surprised that Harlan
didn't flip out when she noticed that hers was dinosaurs
like Whalen's and not unicorns. I got her specifically dinosaurs
because I felt like if I got her too many
things that were unicorn asque.
Speaker 2 (18:39):
First of all, dinosaurs have no gender. They're just generally cool.
But hers is purple and pink and blue and super cute.
Speaker 1 (18:47):
Whalem was I think Whalem was mad that his wasn't
purple and pink and like white. His is like blue
and orange and red and not nearly as cute. He
was not pumped, he wasn't mad.
Speaker 2 (18:57):
Okay, So I think this is important and because I
really really like it and I like that you think
about these things. What is the new Packer family pre
first day of school tradition?
Speaker 1 (19:06):
We go out to dinner. Thank you for the illuminating description.
What dinner? And we go to dinner and we do
snores and watch a movie. Yeah, we had a fun night.
We had like a little plan.
Speaker 2 (19:18):
We eased them into the idea that they were going
to go to school, and we talked about school a lot.
We did coloring, We didn't do phones, we did no devices.
We just like hung out as a crew and got
them ready to go to school. In this process, I
let Waylan pick my outfit and I said, oh, do
you want me to wear these pants or these pants?
He goes, no, Mommy, a dress, a dress, and he
(19:41):
points to like a fancy dress that I have, like
a beaded, bedazzled Alex and Olivia, very very fancy dress.
I was like, okay, and I cannot wear that. Here
are my two son dresses, and Madison comes upstairs and goes,
a dress.
Speaker 1 (19:58):
Should Mama wear a dress? He goes, no, what did
he say? No? No, but you should wear something fancy
he goes. He goes, ugh, no, but you should wear
something handsome.
Speaker 3 (20:11):
No.
Speaker 2 (20:11):
I think he said fancy, because I think he said
his outfit was fancy. Then he picks out a black
dress for me and he like displays me to Madison
and goes.
Speaker 1 (20:19):
Isn't she gorgeous? And I swear he makes me feel
so good about myself. I'm like, I am gorgeous. Thank you. Yeah.
Let in the car. He was like, Mummy, you look
so pretty.
Speaker 3 (20:30):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (20:50):
I can't be remiss to think that the back to
school chaos is so much to deal with after just
dealing with your kids all all summer long, and they
need to go back to school. Like I think that's
like that weird period of time where the kids were
like needing the structure, really wanting teachers, really wanting new friends,
really wanting like wanting school, and then all the litany
(21:14):
of things that you have to do to be prepared
to send your kids to school.
Speaker 1 (21:18):
It's like stressful. But also our kids have been out
of school for nine months, like they've been home when
we pulled them out of daycare when I retired, that
was nine months ago, almost ten months. That's a long time,
you know what I mean. And I think that like
right around mid July, we were like, Okay, this is
like maybe too long, this has gone on. This has
gone on long enough, this is too long. But then
(21:39):
it was like we had some stuff coming up, right,
some travel, so like it was nice to do with
the travel at the end of the summer, but we
kind of went to the same wave in April and
then we went down to Florida. I mean, imagine if
we didn't have childcare there, wouldn't we go down in
February right or March if we hadn't done that, and
then we put them in school in March, like that
would have been bad. That was a good way to
(22:00):
break it up, because it just is too long without structure,
and when I think we were starting to feel that
at the end.
Speaker 2 (22:06):
Listen, there are some kids that don't go to school
until they go to kindergarten, and I think that is
definitely a completely normal path. But for us and what
we do and like this the way this house works,
it just didn't work for us, and I think in
our hearts and minds it was going to be fine.
We were going to be able to divide the labor,
we were going to be able to do the things.
(22:28):
What I've learned in the last nine months is that
stay at home moms don't get paid enough. They do
not get paid enough, they do not have enough respect,
they do not get enough like social presence to support
them in any way, shape or form, because it is
incredibly hard.
Speaker 1 (22:47):
We talk about it in our christ for Help.
Speaker 2 (22:48):
It is incredibly hard to do this stuff in and
out every single day.
Speaker 1 (22:55):
I don't love it any less. I don't love them
any less.
Speaker 2 (22:58):
But today, knowing that they were cared for, fed, learning something,
meeting friends and not at this house, I mean, it
was amazing.
Speaker 1 (23:07):
That's the biggest piece, I think is the leaving the
house right, Like, you can only go to the park
so many times, there's only so many activities and blah
blah blah, like it got so repetitive and they would
get bored and they didn't want to leave the house
because we did up the playroom and blah blah blah,
like that was the hard part. And this morning it
was so excited because Waylan was so excited. He was
so excited to go to school. Also, his shorts were
(23:29):
way too tight this morning. I go, Wayln, let me
go upstairs and get you a pair of shorts that
are a little bit looser. He goes, no, Mommy, these
fit perfectly. I was like, they were so tight. Those
look like they hurt. They were so tight. Yeah, those
are those are gonna disappear from his drawer. He's gonna
be bumped. But you're right. The repetitiveness is really hard,
and I think staying in a rhythm and staying in
(23:51):
a structure is what kids need. But I think for
adults it becomes very mundane and very monotonous, and it's
hard not to be resentful in that situation. Excuse me,
it's hard for me. I'm not placing my feelings on everybody,
but for me.
Speaker 2 (24:07):
I love our children. I love being super mom on
Saturday and Sunday. I love being one hundred percent present.
But I can't do it Monday through Sunday. I can't
do it. I don't know what I would do.
Speaker 1 (24:20):
Yeah, we got a big weekend ahead of us. We've
got a our first family reunion together. Is that crazy.
It's only my second family reunion ever.
Speaker 2 (24:29):
You've been to a family reunion. I feel like that's
an old person thing to do. Well is that a
modern thing? This feels very old to me. Family members
are all ages at all times. I understand, but I'm
saying you can't.
Speaker 1 (24:40):
Have a family reunion with only old people. It feels
to me like a very big reunion. It feels to
me like not something I'm either connected to, like I'm
I'm our unions, so we our reunions are every single
time that there's a meal being served. Like in the
Armenian culture, your family's just kind of always around, almost
when you don't want them to be. It's like, oh,
I'm my cousin, Like yes.
Speaker 2 (24:58):
Great aunt blah blah blah, coming and for blah blah blah.
Like oh, you have a hockey practice, that's great, your
seventeen cousins are gonna come watch. I'm like, it's a
hockey practice. I don't really want that to happen. But
that's just Armenian culture. So then this is my dad's family.
Speaker 1 (25:14):
Teen cousins. It's nuts, by the way, busy people. Yeah, amen,
this is a reunion with Irish people. So there's gonna
be like lots of sunblock, lots of white men and
lots of goatee's. What are we gonna eat like boiled something?
I don't know. I'm stressed out. Isn't it a barbecue
the one day? Yeah?
Speaker 2 (25:34):
Yeah, no one's ever had pit smoked Irish food and thought, wow,
but I've never been to a family reunion. I'm really excited.
It's such a good time to be outside. Yes, objectively,
it's the best time to have the windows open.
Speaker 1 (25:48):
I love the fall. It's the goat season. It's good
where we're at too, southern Connecticut, Like it doesn't get
super cold, but it's cold enough that it's like not
crazy hot when you go to the oorchar We've got
some good orchards around. Yeah, that's what I'm most excited for.
The fall is like because now we're gonna have so
much more energy on the weekends. I'm so pumped. That
(26:09):
is really nice. We've started going to the gym together.
We have some freedom back.
Speaker 2 (26:12):
Yeah, I think the other just to go completely one
eighty back to what we were talking about. But I
think the piece about school and back to school season
is one these kids are about to be so sick,
like we're about to go right into flu season that's coming.
But I think the other element is, like it's a
really nice reset period. It's gonna be nice to like
reset what we did in the summer audit and edit
(26:34):
our days where we're doing things that were wasteful of
our time, where we being the best parents or partners
or wives.
Speaker 1 (26:41):
I don't know. And I'm excited for this, like season ERA.
Speaker 2 (26:45):
We talked last week about how excited we are for
like parents of school age children ERA, And today is
the first day that I'm like getting my head above water.
I got like six things on my personal to do
list done, which is crazy. That's not happened to me
in a really long time.
Speaker 1 (27:00):
Okay, overachiever, Okay, I went to the gym and took
a nap.
Speaker 2 (27:04):
That's still amazing. The fact that you could do that
is amazing.
Speaker 1 (27:09):
Well, it only got like a seven minute nap because
then you called me, and then I told everyone in
my office that you were napping it. Yes, this is
this is true. All right. So you want to play
a fun little game to end this episode because I do. Yeah, Well,
come me in. Okay, take a second to think, try
(27:31):
to accurately guess like three things that happens today. Oh,
just on random, like in the world. No, not in
the world with the kids at school.
Speaker 2 (27:41):
Oh fun, Okay, yeah, I do know one thing that
did happen. What Waylan kicked a ball in a tree
and then climbed that tree and then subsequently fell out
of that tree. And the teacher sent me a bunch
of pictures of him, of his body with like little
scratches on it, and she was like, Waylan tried to
climb a tree or if he's capable of doing that
at home, but he's not capable of doing that here.
Speaker 1 (28:05):
Sorry. I was like, that's fine. Why didn't you tell
me that until just now I've totally blacked out, Like
he got in trouble, he's not allowed to do that here,
or he's not like not capable not but he's not allowed.
He's just got hurt, dude on his first day. Yeah obviously,
well that doesn't count. Yeah I knew that, Okay.
Speaker 2 (28:24):
I think he he's going to come home with some
thing that he learned. I think he's gonna come home
and tell us like a really solid story, like of
something really random, like atmospheric pressure like some something that's
like super obscure, but like a lesson that he's learned.
Speaker 1 (28:36):
I think he's gonna be really jazzed about that atmospheric pressure, okay,
or like one of pre k Yeah yeah, or like
hatching butterflies, or like like the way that rain is made.
Speaker 2 (28:45):
Like he's gonna come home with some crazy I'm obviously
a stem brain. That's what I've just learned in those
three examples. Wow, primary colors. I don't know literally anything.
He's going to come home with some amount of information
that he didn't have before. He's gonna be super jazzed
to tell us.
Speaker 1 (28:58):
I'm hoping that one of them tells us that they
have a best friend. That's gonna be so cute. I'm
gonna cry because I thought I was their best friend.
But that's rude.
Speaker 2 (29:07):
And then I think, lastly, I bet you one hundred bucks.
Harlan got in a little tussle. I think that girl's tussling.
Speaker 1 (29:15):
Harlan pushed someone from behind in line. Yeah, Harlan, she's tussling,
and then stole their fruit cup. HBT, Harlan b Tusslin.
That's what's gonna happen. Yeah, what do you think I
think that Harlan definitely cooped your pants. Oh I hope
not for sure happened we sent that kid into the wild.
Wait too soon, we know, We're like, she's like thirty
(29:40):
percent underwear trade. She had undies on today. Yea, yeah,
Moms of the Year. We're gonna get there and the
teacher's gonna be like, so's so we need two new
outfits and just why don't you just bring a package
of Mondies next time? I'm dead? We really, we really
thought that's their problem though, yep. And then I think
(30:02):
that Whyalen is going to tell us that he has
a best friend. Yeah, I think that that's coming for sure.
I think the best friend's definitely coming. Yeah. I think
Whale's going to be like or we're going to hear
about a new friend from Whalen for sure. And oh,
Harlan definitely did not finish her lunch. Oh yeah, there's
no shot. But she ate all the snaketies. She is
the coolness snacks. Yeah, that sandwich is untouched one hundred
(30:27):
that's a good call. That's one hundred percent accurate County Snacks.
Speaker 2 (30:31):
Well, and none is last story because I think it's
the funniest thing that's happened all week, We might need
to add a segment and like, wtf happened this week?
Because I think the funniest thing that happened this week was,
for a period of time, we lost Harlan. We were
yelling her name, we were looking around for her. We
looked upstairs, we looked downstairs, we looked under the beds,
(30:53):
we looked in the playroom, behind the couches, anywhere that
she typically hides.
Speaker 1 (30:59):
Was she there?
Speaker 2 (31:01):
No, Instead, my phone gets an assaulting photo.
Speaker 1 (31:08):
Where did you find her? And what was she doing?
Harlan had stripped completely naked and climbed up on the
butcher block countertop of the pantry and opened the cereal
bins and was eating crunchy snacks. Her new obsession is
crunchy snacks, which we don't typically let them have snacks
outside of the kitchen. Lately, they've been taking crunchy snacks
(31:31):
up into our bed and under Wayland's bed. It's been
a nightmare. So we've been on a crunchy snack boycott.
So Harlan climbed the closet and.
Speaker 2 (31:41):
Closed the door and hid and was fully in a
dark pantry nude closet eating, laying on the crunchy snacks
closet eating covered in crumbs. So sometimes you're in eighty
nine and sometimes you're laying in the pantry on the
shelf in the dark, eating crunchy snacks.
Speaker 1 (32:02):
And that's all we have this week. I'd rather be
on the shelf. Yeah, right now, I'd happily be on
the shelf. I'm starving.
Speaker 2 (32:07):
So this was our fun back to school edition of
These Packs Puck. When you hear from us next week,
I'm sure we'll have some other wtf happened this week
and a recap of if Harlan was truly tussling and
how many best friends Whalen has over under three? I
think the over But that's just me.
Speaker 1 (32:31):
That's it for this week. Thanks for listening, and.
Speaker 2 (32:34):
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 (32:41):
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 I'm Onya
Packer and this was These Packs 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 Aia Pack.
Emily Meronoff is our senior producer and story editor. We
(33:03):
were mixed and mastered by Mary dew. Our executive producers
are Jennifer Bassett, Jesse Katz, and Ally Perry.
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