May 29, 2025 • 15 mins
In this lighthearted episode of the Happy Families Podcast, we revisit some of the funniest and most unexpected things kids say when learning about where babies come from. Inspired by our interview last week with parenting educator Michelle Mitchell and her book Where Do Babies Come From?, we share some laugh-out-loud stories that remind us how curious—and hilarious—kids can be. We also reflect on the importance of connection, structure, and giving kids something to look forward to.
QUOTE OF THE EPISODE
“Let’s create our own purpose together.”
— Justin Coulson, reflecting on how one dad helped his son rediscover joy and meaning through shared outdoor adventures.
RESOURCES MENTIONED
- Michelle Mitchell's books:
- Upcoming episode:
Interview with Scott Novis, former VP at Disney, about managing kids and gaming without conflict (drops on Saturday!).
ACTION STEPS FOR PARENTS
- Have the Talk—Early and Openly:
Use age-appropriate, fact-based resources like Michelle Mitchell’s books to guide conversations about sex and puberty. - Laugh Together:
Don’t be afraid to see the humour in awkward conversations—sharing a laugh builds trust and openness. - Create Connection Through Experience:
Take time to plan simple but meaningful activities with your kids (e.g., camping, biking, time outdoors) that foster relationship and reduce reliance on screens. - Build and Maintain Structure:
Life can throw curveballs, but having a flexible routine helps maintain emotional and mental stability for the whole family. - Don’t Give Up on Change:
Implementing new habits is hard, especially in chaos, but small intentional resets make a big difference.
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 (00:06):
I just love Fridays. Fridays are the best day of
the week. But none tomorrow, it's the weekend. Tomorrow, We've
got a great interview dropping with a former vice president
of what Disney Corporation who's going to be on the pod.
Speaker 2 (00:18):
You've clearly told Emily about this interview. Yes, she asked
me if I listened to it.
Speaker 1 (00:23):
Oh, oh, yes. She is a little bit nervous because
I asked him about roadblocks. I just said one word
answer yes or no.
Speaker 2 (00:29):
She's like, maybe you don't need to listen to that.
Speaker 1 (00:30):
One moment, She's still begging for it. I just thought
it no, not going to happen. But the main reason
that I love Fridays is because this is the Happy
Families Podcast episode where we talk about what went right
or what went wrong in the week just gone. We
deconstruct it and we talk about how we can make
our families happier by being more intentional learning the lessons
of the week that just was. So we're really glad
(00:53):
to have you along for The Happy Families Podcast is
where we give you real parenting solutions every day on
Australia's most downloaded parenting podcast. We are justin and Tyley
Coulson Kylie.
Speaker 2 (01:02):
Last week on the pod, we interviewed, well, actually you interviewed, yes,
Michelle Mitchell. Yes, in relation to her book Where Do
Babies Come From?
Speaker 1 (01:10):
So this is a book for eight twelve year olds
so that parents know how to have the talk. Yes, yes,
I did.
Speaker 2 (01:16):
And we did share the story where one of our children,
literally when they were learning for the very first time
about where babies came from, looked at you and I
and said, do you mean you've done this four times? Yeah?
Speaker 1 (01:28):
So we were talking about elder she had three younger sisters.
She's done the master really quickly and gone, oh my goodness.
So we jumped onto Facebook shared the story and it
was just just such a funny moment. We said, what
is the funniest and most unexpected thing that your child
has said when learning about intimacy and how babies are made?
And you did not disappoint. I just want to read, Kylie.
You don't know what these are. I just told you
(01:50):
that we had them. So I'm going to share what
happens when we ask our Facebook community to tell us
the funny things that happened. And they were having these
conversations with their kids Sarah said, when explaining breastfeeding, my
nine year old said, please tell me I was bottlefed.
Here's the next one from Tomorrow Thompson. My fifth child
(02:12):
was ten when we felt pregnant with her little sister.
When she announced to her class that we were having
another baby, she quickly added, but don't worry they did
if they definitely did not do it. One of my
favorites came from Isabel, who said, when our eldest was four,
she asked the questions we gave her the answers using
anatomically correct names a matter of fact discussion. She then
(02:36):
asked if she could please watch next time we make
another baby. No way, I mean she was four, right,
so you can allow that. Another one that cracked me
up was from Andrea. Child one said two things. One
I wish I'd never asked, and two I hope you're
not going to do that again. Child too said don't worry,
(02:58):
which wins. Remember they only had to do it, and
that was it. I just love this stuff. We had
so many come through, like really really, really fun conversation.
I actually got a text from Michelle Mitchell. She said
that podcast episode really had an impact because our shop
went bonkers when it dropped, like and I'm so glad,
(03:19):
Like she deserves it. She has written a book that
I truly believe if you want to know how to
have this conversation with your kids and do it in
a really positive, fresh, helpful way, they're the books that
you've got to buy. She's I don't get any kickbacks.
This is not sponsored. Michelle doesn't even know that we're
talking about this again today. But the books that she's written,
they're available at her shop. Just type in Michelle Mitchell
(03:40):
into Google and you can go to the shop and
find them. The book's about puberty, The Girl's Guide and
the Guy's Guide to Puberty, and the book where do
Babies Come From? And other questions. Eight to twelve year
old ask, I just think that they must have. If
you're a parent, you got to buy it.
Speaker 2 (03:54):
You know you're on a good thing. When you're eleven
year old picks it up of her own free will
and just wants to have a read.
Speaker 1 (04:01):
Yeah yeah, yeah, like she loves them.
Speaker 2 (04:03):
And when she saw the new book sitting on my
bedside table, she was like, ah, she didn't have a book.
Speaker 1 (04:08):
Yep, you're so excited. So Michelle if you hear this
podcast episode, you're welcome. And Emily's your number one fan.
She really is. She just thinks you're great. Okay, let's
talk about older better tomorrow, Kylie. I'm going to jump
in and kick on with my one first, because mine's
a good news story and I think that it's nice
to come to the weekend knowing that there's room for improvement.
And I know from what you've told me, I think
(04:28):
you're going to be reflective and give us room to improve. So,
very very briefly, recently, when I was in Sydney, I
caught up with somebody who was having a really tough
time with their child. It's not an overexaggeration to say
that this child had been hospitalized and was dealing with
a persistent desire to no longer be in this family
(04:49):
and to be alive. This child was really truly struggling
in the deepest and most profound way. About fourteen years old,
little boy and I sat down with his dad. His
mum couldn't make the conversation, but I sat down with
his dad and we had a long chat. It's rare
that I get the opportunity to do this, but it
was a real. I just felt like a real gift
to be able to talk and listen and understand and
(05:09):
be there. At the end of the conversation, they were
already getting good help. They were signed up with some
outpatient care with a hospital. But I said, in spite
of everything that you're getting, there are a couple of
things that stand out to me. Number One, I feel
like one of the most important things you can have
is something to look forward to, something to live for.
And right now, after this conversation, I feel like he
(05:30):
wakes up every day and there's nothing to look forward to.
And I suggested, is there some way that you can
get a weekend off or a day off, even pull
him out of school for a day, or give him
a mental health day or whatever, and give him something
to look forward to, whether it's a mountain bike ride
or a surf or what is it that you do.
And they talked it through and they said, yeah, we
actually we really do like bike riding. I said, so
(05:50):
maybe go for a bike ride, go camping for a weekend.
Just do that. I said, there are two other things
that are really important. Number one relationship and number two
being outside. I said, if you can build physical activity
relationship and outside into his life and give him things
to look forward to. They don't have to be expensive,
they can be as cheap as anything. It's about getting
out there and doing it. And I got an email
(06:11):
the other day from this dad and he said, Hey,
it's been a while since we chatted. I wanted to
give you an update on my son. In short, in
the past few months, we have seen a wonderful turnaround.
I went from not even recognizing my boy when we
last spoke to having our amazing, happy kid back. The
hospital program was excellent at giving us support and tools
that we needed, but probably the tool that has had
(06:32):
the greatest effect was from you. Let's create our own
purpose together. We've done this through mountain biking together and
it's been transformational. The trips, the trails, camping, the pizza afterwards,
the car ride, watching YouTube videos and so on. The
intentionality of always creating something to look forward to has
been a game changer. Lots more to say, but I
(06:55):
can't thank you enough for your advice and being there
when I really needed it. I'm sure there'll be up
and in the future, but we are so much better
equipped to handle it now. I get a message like that,
and I just think, oh, my goodness. So first of all,
let me make it about me for a sec. It
is so gratifying to know that I can help people.
It's why I do what I do. But the thing
that really touches me, the thing that I'm most grateful for,
(07:16):
is there's this teenage boy who doesn't feel like life
is worth living, and with a couple of small and
generous tweaks from his parents, they start to find something
to look forward to. Together, they start to spend time
in relationship, they spend time doing physical activity, and all
(07:37):
of a sudden, life feels amazing. One more really interesting
thing on this I gave the data quick call and said,
your email has just made my day. Thank you for
sharing that. I said, tell me one other thing, how's
he going with his screens? Because I didn't really talk
about screens much in our conversation, but I knew that
screens was also a problem, and at the heart of
(07:57):
getting it outside going and doing these trips with Dad,
what I knew would happen is that he's going to
have reduced screen time. And Dad said, he's barely touched
Fortnite since we started doing this, Like he's just not
looking for that outlet anymore because he's got this new
outlet that we're engaged in. And I just thought, Yeah,
you get kids off screens, you get them active, you
get them outside, and it makes such.
Speaker 2 (08:18):
A difference when I hear that story. What stands out
to me the most is that for so many parents,
we watch our children's behavior, whether it's challenging in that
he's spiraling down or they're angry and they're pushing us away,
our kids are desperate for our connection. They're desperate for it,
(08:39):
and they don't know how to ask for it, and
it's not cool to ask for it and all the
eggs that goes around it. And yet I would say
that what ninety nine percent of the challenges that our
kids experience would change almost overnight if we took intentional
effort to create connection. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (09:00):
I mean, there's always going to be challenges and sometimes
it's not that easy. But this kid was in a
complex and challenging situation. He'd been hospitalized and his parents
really were wondering if he would wake up the next morning,
Like it was extremely intense. Getting back to those basics,
they're profound, they're so basic that we overlook them, and
(09:22):
we feel like we've got to go and have all
these specialist appointments and things, and sometimes we do, but
those basics are so profound, they're so impactful. And you
get a letter like that or an email like that,
and you go, Okay, let's go back to basics again.
Things are falling apart. How can we get out of
the house. How can we go for that walk to
the park, the beach, to the top of the hill.
How can we go camping for a weekend? What do
we need to do to slow it down and to
(09:45):
make things feel natural and connected again? Anyway, that's my
older bed tomorrow. It's not actually about what I've been
doing at home with our family, maybe because I've been
in perpole week, but it does highlight just how impactful
these changes can be when we truly connect, get active
and get outdoors with our kids. Okay, what's your bad news?
(10:12):
What's your older better tomorrow? After everything has gone wrong
this week, well after.
Speaker 2 (10:16):
Last week's I'll do better tomorrow, and having that beautiful
conversation with our eldest daughter melt your heart kind of stuff.
I just was floating on cloud nine. It's hard to
believe that I'm down in the valley right now, feeling like.
Speaker 1 (10:30):
You can't live on top of the mountain. You got
to come down to the valley.
Speaker 2 (10:33):
Oh, it's been a hard week.
Speaker 1 (10:35):
It's been a really hard week.
Speaker 2 (10:36):
We have four cars in our house. You and I
each have our own car because you travel so much,
and then each of our teenage daughters have a car
as well. And this week, for nearly three days, we
were down to one car in our house, which meant
I became everybody's taxi. I literally felt like I was
in the car and I was going in every direction.
Speaker 1 (10:59):
Yeah, and it ran times as well, yes, completely. So
our year ten daughter had a whole lot of practical
practical stuff. So one morning she had to meet everyone
at like six o'clock, nearly an hour away from here,
and another morning it was at nine point thirty, half an
hour away from here.
Speaker 2 (11:15):
But then needs pick ups at different times. It's not
like school times, and.
Speaker 1 (11:18):
That just annihilates your schedule, absolutely rubbishes the routine.
Speaker 2 (11:23):
Well, and it didn't coincide with anyone else's schedule. So
I would literally have to go pick her up and
come home and then go and get the other daughter.
Who was in a completely different direction half an hour later.
Like it was just insane what I was trying to do.
Speaker 1 (11:36):
And when the kids, I mean, like you normally set
your kids up to go to a school nearby because
it's convenient, you don't have to do long drives, but
all of a sudden, you're driving forty minutes there and
an hour there and.
Speaker 2 (11:45):
Then stuck in school traffic.
Speaker 1 (11:46):
I haven't had to do that, so your life is
so hard, first world problem.
Speaker 2 (11:51):
But then on top of that, because we'd had a
weekend away last weekend while you were speaking at the
Key Assets gala night, meant that I didn't do my
usual Saturday shop and I didn't do any food prep,
so we had no food in the kitchen. I didn't
have any meal prep done or meal list done.
Speaker 1 (12:11):
Because we're driving our country school live. No time to
go and do the shop because you're spending all day
in the car driving kids around, and then you.
Speaker 2 (12:18):
At school homeschool to it, and it has been an
absolute shamuzzle. And I was thinking about this idea of
when we keep ourselves accountable and we look at what
we're doing and we decide that we want to make
these changes. So one of the biggest changes that we've
chosen to make is to kind of live more on
a raw diet, to involve more fruits and vegetables into
(12:40):
our lives in a way that we've never done before.
And we did so well for the first two weeks.
Not only did the meal's taste amazing, but we felt amazing.
We felt an absolute change, everyone did, including Emily. And
then we've had a week like this, and it's so
easy to feel like you've absolutely failed, like all the
(13:04):
wheels are coming off the wagon and there is no
there's no point of return here. We've completely completely thrown
everything out that we wanted so desperately to implement, but
so much of our week has been out of our control.
A car in the shop that wasn't supposed to be
in the shop for a week and a half, a
(13:25):
car that needed servicing. All of the things and family
life is like that. But it just reiterated to me
how important structure and routine is. And sometimes we don't
have any control over whether we can have that structuring routine,
but we can recognize the importance for it. So it's
not really it's I mean, it's been a hard week,
but the reality is I know how to get back
(13:46):
on track structure. Yeah, and it just requires intention and refocus.
Speaker 1 (13:53):
Okay, and you need your car back. Well, the good
news is the car came back yesterday, so we are
okay again. But yeah, you you're absolutely right. Structure helps
you to feel competence. Right. When you feel competence, that
basic psychological need you are being in, motivation go up.
But when you do not have the structure, when you
don't have the framework, when you don't have the boundaries,
the guidelines, the formula, when the system breaks down, you're
(14:16):
feeling competent. And life is hard. And that's really what's
happened this last week.
Speaker 2 (14:19):
Yeah, and I think the other thing I really wanted
to just reiterate is just when you're making change, it's
hard to make it stick. Yeah, it's really hard, but
don't give up.
Speaker 1 (14:29):
Yeah, and it's not just hard because of old patterns.
It's also hard because life is variable and random and volatile,
and things happen that you're not expecting. It's great, I'll
do but it tomorrow. It's great reminder about the importance
of routine and structure. It really makes a difference to
help your family to function. Well, I'm glad you shared that,
and hopefully they take our message from my story about
the dad that I spoke to and his son. Hopefully
(14:50):
that resonates as well, and it helps people whose kids
are really struggling to just have a sense of where
to go and what to do. I guess the hardest
thing is convincing your kids to get on board with it.
But usually if you're promising going to take them camping
or mountain bike riding or whatever it is, they usually
feel pretty good about that. Hey, have a great weekend.
Please listen to our episode tomorrow. I can't wait for
you to hear the interview with Scott Novis, the former
(15:11):
Walt Disney vice president, who is going to talk about
kids and games and how to stop the problematic gaming
in ways that doesn't that don't require you to have
a big war to turn off the TV or the screen.
It's going to be great stuff. The Happy Families podcast
is produced by Justin Rowlin for Bridge Media. More information
and resources to make you family happier you can find
it at happy families dot com dot a u
I just love Fridays. Fridays are the best day of
the week. But none tomorrow, it's the weekend. Tomorrow, We've
got a great interview dropping with a former vice president
of what Disney Corporation who's going to be on the pod.
Speaker 2 (00:18):
You've clearly told Emily about this interview. Yes, she asked
me if I listened to it.
Speaker 1 (00:23):
Oh, oh, yes. She is a little bit nervous because
I asked him about roadblocks. I just said one word
answer yes or no.
Speaker 2 (00:29):
She's like, maybe you don't need to listen to that.
Speaker 1 (00:30):
One moment, She's still begging for it. I just thought
it no, not going to happen. But the main reason
that I love Fridays is because this is the Happy
Families Podcast episode where we talk about what went right
or what went wrong in the week just gone. We
deconstruct it and we talk about how we can make
our families happier by being more intentional learning the lessons
of the week that just was. So we're really glad
(00:53):
to have you along for The Happy Families Podcast is
where we give you real parenting solutions every day on
Australia's most downloaded parenting podcast. We are justin and Tyley
Coulson Kylie.
Speaker 2 (01:02):
Last week on the pod, we interviewed, well, actually you interviewed, yes,
Michelle Mitchell. Yes, in relation to her book Where Do
Babies Come From?
Speaker 1 (01:10):
So this is a book for eight twelve year olds
so that parents know how to have the talk. Yes, yes,
I did.
Speaker 2 (01:16):
And we did share the story where one of our children,
literally when they were learning for the very first time
about where babies came from, looked at you and I
and said, do you mean you've done this four times? Yeah?
Speaker 1 (01:28):
So we were talking about elder she had three younger sisters.
She's done the master really quickly and gone, oh my goodness.
So we jumped onto Facebook shared the story and it
was just just such a funny moment. We said, what
is the funniest and most unexpected thing that your child
has said when learning about intimacy and how babies are made?
And you did not disappoint. I just want to read, Kylie.
You don't know what these are. I just told you
(01:50):
that we had them. So I'm going to share what
happens when we ask our Facebook community to tell us
the funny things that happened. And they were having these
conversations with their kids Sarah said, when explaining breastfeeding, my
nine year old said, please tell me I was bottlefed.
Here's the next one from Tomorrow Thompson. My fifth child
(02:12):
was ten when we felt pregnant with her little sister.
When she announced to her class that we were having
another baby, she quickly added, but don't worry they did
if they definitely did not do it. One of my
favorites came from Isabel, who said, when our eldest was four,
she asked the questions we gave her the answers using
anatomically correct names a matter of fact discussion. She then
(02:36):
asked if she could please watch next time we make
another baby. No way, I mean she was four, right,
so you can allow that. Another one that cracked me
up was from Andrea. Child one said two things. One
I wish I'd never asked, and two I hope you're
not going to do that again. Child too said don't worry,
(02:58):
which wins. Remember they only had to do it, and
that was it. I just love this stuff. We had
so many come through, like really really, really fun conversation.
I actually got a text from Michelle Mitchell. She said
that podcast episode really had an impact because our shop
went bonkers when it dropped, like and I'm so glad,
(03:19):
Like she deserves it. She has written a book that
I truly believe if you want to know how to
have this conversation with your kids and do it in
a really positive, fresh, helpful way, they're the books that
you've got to buy. She's I don't get any kickbacks.
This is not sponsored. Michelle doesn't even know that we're
talking about this again today. But the books that she's written,
they're available at her shop. Just type in Michelle Mitchell
(03:40):
into Google and you can go to the shop and
find them. The book's about puberty, The Girl's Guide and
the Guy's Guide to Puberty, and the book where do
Babies Come From? And other questions. Eight to twelve year
old ask, I just think that they must have. If
you're a parent, you got to buy it.
Speaker 2 (03:54):
You know you're on a good thing. When you're eleven
year old picks it up of her own free will
and just wants to have a read.
Speaker 1 (04:01):
Yeah yeah, yeah, like she loves them.
Speaker 2 (04:03):
And when she saw the new book sitting on my
bedside table, she was like, ah, she didn't have a book.
Speaker 1 (04:08):
Yep, you're so excited. So Michelle if you hear this
podcast episode, you're welcome. And Emily's your number one fan.
She really is. She just thinks you're great. Okay, let's
talk about older better tomorrow, Kylie. I'm going to jump
in and kick on with my one first, because mine's
a good news story and I think that it's nice
to come to the weekend knowing that there's room for improvement.
And I know from what you've told me, I think
(04:28):
you're going to be reflective and give us room to improve. So,
very very briefly, recently, when I was in Sydney, I
caught up with somebody who was having a really tough
time with their child. It's not an overexaggeration to say
that this child had been hospitalized and was dealing with
a persistent desire to no longer be in this family
(04:49):
and to be alive. This child was really truly struggling
in the deepest and most profound way. About fourteen years old,
little boy and I sat down with his dad. His
mum couldn't make the conversation, but I sat down with
his dad and we had a long chat. It's rare
that I get the opportunity to do this, but it
was a real. I just felt like a real gift
to be able to talk and listen and understand and
(05:09):
be there. At the end of the conversation, they were
already getting good help. They were signed up with some
outpatient care with a hospital. But I said, in spite
of everything that you're getting, there are a couple of
things that stand out to me. Number One, I feel
like one of the most important things you can have
is something to look forward to, something to live for.
And right now, after this conversation, I feel like he
(05:30):
wakes up every day and there's nothing to look forward to.
And I suggested, is there some way that you can
get a weekend off or a day off, even pull
him out of school for a day, or give him
a mental health day or whatever, and give him something
to look forward to, whether it's a mountain bike ride
or a surf or what is it that you do.
And they talked it through and they said, yeah, we
actually we really do like bike riding. I said, so
(05:50):
maybe go for a bike ride, go camping for a weekend.
Just do that. I said, there are two other things
that are really important. Number one relationship and number two
being outside. I said, if you can build physical activity
relationship and outside into his life and give him things
to look forward to. They don't have to be expensive,
they can be as cheap as anything. It's about getting
out there and doing it. And I got an email
(06:11):
the other day from this dad and he said, Hey,
it's been a while since we chatted. I wanted to
give you an update on my son. In short, in
the past few months, we have seen a wonderful turnaround.
I went from not even recognizing my boy when we
last spoke to having our amazing, happy kid back. The
hospital program was excellent at giving us support and tools
that we needed, but probably the tool that has had
(06:32):
the greatest effect was from you. Let's create our own
purpose together. We've done this through mountain biking together and
it's been transformational. The trips, the trails, camping, the pizza afterwards,
the car ride, watching YouTube videos and so on. The
intentionality of always creating something to look forward to has
been a game changer. Lots more to say, but I
(06:55):
can't thank you enough for your advice and being there
when I really needed it. I'm sure there'll be up
and in the future, but we are so much better
equipped to handle it now. I get a message like that,
and I just think, oh, my goodness. So first of all,
let me make it about me for a sec. It
is so gratifying to know that I can help people.
It's why I do what I do. But the thing
that really touches me, the thing that I'm most grateful for,
(07:16):
is there's this teenage boy who doesn't feel like life
is worth living, and with a couple of small and
generous tweaks from his parents, they start to find something
to look forward to. Together, they start to spend time
in relationship, they spend time doing physical activity, and all
(07:37):
of a sudden, life feels amazing. One more really interesting
thing on this I gave the data quick call and said,
your email has just made my day. Thank you for
sharing that. I said, tell me one other thing, how's
he going with his screens? Because I didn't really talk
about screens much in our conversation, but I knew that
screens was also a problem, and at the heart of
(07:57):
getting it outside going and doing these trips with Dad,
what I knew would happen is that he's going to
have reduced screen time. And Dad said, he's barely touched
Fortnite since we started doing this, Like he's just not
looking for that outlet anymore because he's got this new
outlet that we're engaged in. And I just thought, Yeah,
you get kids off screens, you get them active, you
get them outside, and it makes such.
Speaker 2 (08:18):
A difference when I hear that story. What stands out
to me the most is that for so many parents,
we watch our children's behavior, whether it's challenging in that
he's spiraling down or they're angry and they're pushing us away,
our kids are desperate for our connection. They're desperate for it,
(08:39):
and they don't know how to ask for it, and
it's not cool to ask for it and all the
eggs that goes around it. And yet I would say
that what ninety nine percent of the challenges that our
kids experience would change almost overnight if we took intentional
effort to create connection. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (09:00):
I mean, there's always going to be challenges and sometimes
it's not that easy. But this kid was in a
complex and challenging situation. He'd been hospitalized and his parents
really were wondering if he would wake up the next morning,
Like it was extremely intense. Getting back to those basics,
they're profound, they're so basic that we overlook them, and
(09:22):
we feel like we've got to go and have all
these specialist appointments and things, and sometimes we do, but
those basics are so profound, they're so impactful. And you
get a letter like that or an email like that,
and you go, Okay, let's go back to basics again.
Things are falling apart. How can we get out of
the house. How can we go for that walk to
the park, the beach, to the top of the hill.
How can we go camping for a weekend? What do
we need to do to slow it down and to
(09:45):
make things feel natural and connected again? Anyway, that's my
older bed tomorrow. It's not actually about what I've been
doing at home with our family, maybe because I've been
in perpole week, but it does highlight just how impactful
these changes can be when we truly connect, get active
and get outdoors with our kids. Okay, what's your bad news?
(10:12):
What's your older better tomorrow? After everything has gone wrong
this week, well after.
Speaker 2 (10:16):
Last week's I'll do better tomorrow, and having that beautiful
conversation with our eldest daughter melt your heart kind of stuff.
I just was floating on cloud nine. It's hard to
believe that I'm down in the valley right now, feeling like.
Speaker 1 (10:30):
You can't live on top of the mountain. You got
to come down to the valley.
Speaker 2 (10:33):
Oh, it's been a hard week.
Speaker 1 (10:35):
It's been a really hard week.
Speaker 2 (10:36):
We have four cars in our house. You and I
each have our own car because you travel so much,
and then each of our teenage daughters have a car
as well. And this week, for nearly three days, we
were down to one car in our house, which meant
I became everybody's taxi. I literally felt like I was
in the car and I was going in every direction.
Speaker 1 (10:59):
Yeah, and it ran times as well, yes, completely. So
our year ten daughter had a whole lot of practical
practical stuff. So one morning she had to meet everyone
at like six o'clock, nearly an hour away from here,
and another morning it was at nine point thirty, half an
hour away from here.
Speaker 2 (11:15):
But then needs pick ups at different times. It's not
like school times, and.
Speaker 1 (11:18):
That just annihilates your schedule, absolutely rubbishes the routine.
Speaker 2 (11:23):
Well, and it didn't coincide with anyone else's schedule. So
I would literally have to go pick her up and
come home and then go and get the other daughter.
Who was in a completely different direction half an hour later.
Like it was just insane what I was trying to do.
Speaker 1 (11:36):
And when the kids, I mean, like you normally set
your kids up to go to a school nearby because
it's convenient, you don't have to do long drives, but
all of a sudden, you're driving forty minutes there and
an hour there and.
Speaker 2 (11:45):
Then stuck in school traffic.
Speaker 1 (11:46):
I haven't had to do that, so your life is
so hard, first world problem.
Speaker 2 (11:51):
But then on top of that, because we'd had a
weekend away last weekend while you were speaking at the
Key Assets gala night, meant that I didn't do my
usual Saturday shop and I didn't do any food prep,
so we had no food in the kitchen. I didn't
have any meal prep done or meal list done.
Speaker 1 (12:11):
Because we're driving our country school live. No time to
go and do the shop because you're spending all day
in the car driving kids around, and then you.
Speaker 2 (12:18):
At school homeschool to it, and it has been an
absolute shamuzzle. And I was thinking about this idea of
when we keep ourselves accountable and we look at what
we're doing and we decide that we want to make
these changes. So one of the biggest changes that we've
chosen to make is to kind of live more on
a raw diet, to involve more fruits and vegetables into
(12:40):
our lives in a way that we've never done before.
And we did so well for the first two weeks.
Not only did the meal's taste amazing, but we felt amazing.
We felt an absolute change, everyone did, including Emily. And
then we've had a week like this, and it's so
easy to feel like you've absolutely failed, like all the
(13:04):
wheels are coming off the wagon and there is no
there's no point of return here. We've completely completely thrown
everything out that we wanted so desperately to implement, but
so much of our week has been out of our control.
A car in the shop that wasn't supposed to be
in the shop for a week and a half, a
(13:25):
car that needed servicing. All of the things and family
life is like that. But it just reiterated to me
how important structure and routine is. And sometimes we don't
have any control over whether we can have that structuring routine,
but we can recognize the importance for it. So it's
not really it's I mean, it's been a hard week,
but the reality is I know how to get back
(13:46):
on track structure. Yeah, and it just requires intention and refocus.
Speaker 1 (13:53):
Okay, and you need your car back. Well, the good
news is the car came back yesterday, so we are
okay again. But yeah, you you're absolutely right. Structure helps
you to feel competence. Right. When you feel competence, that
basic psychological need you are being in, motivation go up.
But when you do not have the structure, when you
don't have the framework, when you don't have the boundaries,
the guidelines, the formula, when the system breaks down, you're
(14:16):
feeling competent. And life is hard. And that's really what's
happened this last week.
Speaker 2 (14:19):
Yeah, and I think the other thing I really wanted
to just reiterate is just when you're making change, it's
hard to make it stick. Yeah, it's really hard, but
don't give up.
Speaker 1 (14:29):
Yeah, and it's not just hard because of old patterns.
It's also hard because life is variable and random and volatile,
and things happen that you're not expecting. It's great, I'll
do but it tomorrow. It's great reminder about the importance
of routine and structure. It really makes a difference to
help your family to function. Well, I'm glad you shared that,
and hopefully they take our message from my story about
the dad that I spoke to and his son. Hopefully
(14:50):
that resonates as well, and it helps people whose kids
are really struggling to just have a sense of where
to go and what to do. I guess the hardest
thing is convincing your kids to get on board with it.
But usually if you're promising going to take them camping
or mountain bike riding or whatever it is, they usually
feel pretty good about that. Hey, have a great weekend.
Please listen to our episode tomorrow. I can't wait for
you to hear the interview with Scott Novis, the former
(15:11):
Walt Disney vice president, who is going to talk about
kids and games and how to stop the problematic gaming
in ways that doesn't that don't require you to have
a big war to turn off the TV or the screen.
It's going to be great stuff. The Happy Families podcast
is produced by Justin Rowlin for Bridge Media. More information
and resources to make you family happier you can find
it at happy families dot com dot a u
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