Episode Transcript
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(00:00):
Hey.
Hey, nosy friends.
Welcome, and welcome back toNosy af.
It's your friend and host,Stephanie, here with a extra special
episode for you today.
And it's not just any episode.
This is an episode that is forthe entire family.
So get your kiddos becauseI've got a holiday treat for you.
(00:23):
Today is Christmas Eve, and ifyou're like me, you're all about
the holiday vibes, soaking itall up.
Maybe you have some hot cokeand you're getting ready for Santa's
big night.
Speaking of Santa, today weare rolling out the red carpet here
at Nosy AF because my friendsadmin, Mark at Modern Dadhood has
(00:47):
landed a one on one interviewwith the man in red himself, Santa
Claus.
Like that guy, Santa Claus hasgot to be super duper busy with getting
toys ready for every singlekid around the world, and yet he
still makes time for an interview.
Come on.
(01:07):
This is the perfect episode toshare with kids, so please gather
them around.
Adam asked Santa all the bigquestions kids have been wondering
about, and trust me, theanswers are pure magic.
So sit back, relax, and let'sget ready to dive into this festive,
(01:30):
family fun episode of ModernDadhood featuring Santa Claus.
And I'll see you on the other side.
So don't go anywhere.
Modern.
Modern Dadhood.
Dad.
Modern Dadhood Podcast.
(01:51):
Damn, Daniel.
Did you call me Daniel?
Back at it again with thewhite vans.
Remember that?
No, I have no idea what that is.
It was really bizarre.
Let's turn the podcast up the right.
Way and kick us off.
Well, you're listening toModern Dadhood and it is an ongoing
(02:12):
conversation about the joys,challenges, and general insanity
of being a dad in this moment.
My name's Adam Flaherty andI'm a dad.
My daughters are nine and sixyears old.
And you, my friend, the name that.
You go by, oh, that's Mark.
Check it.
And I too am a dad.
(02:34):
And I have twins.
Both boys, both dangerouslyclose to six years old.
It's the holidays.
It is the holidays.
This is our holiday episodeand our guest is.
I can't even bring myself toreveal it until we get into it, but
(02:57):
we've got a few formalities toget through, and that includes letting
our listeners know that everyepisode of Modern Dadhood can be
found at our website, moderndadhood.com.
you can find the podcast onany of the major platforms.
Apple, Spotify, Amazon Music,Overcast Pocket Casts, all of them.
(03:18):
Podfate, White vans cast.
Yep.
We would just love if you gaveus a rating and a review Wherever
you listen, it would go a long way.
And maybe at one of yourholiday gatherings coming up, tell
a friend or a family memberabout Modern Dad.
That's how we grow.
Have a couple of too manyeggnogs and corner somebody at the
(03:41):
next party.
And just start gushing aboutyour favorite episode.
Start ramming our show downtheir throat.
Say, my favorite podcast.
Just interviewed Pete Souza.
Oh, and you have to hear that.
You gotta hear that one.
This episode in particular.
Yes, most of our episodes arefor dads and moms.
Parents.
(04:01):
This episode is intended to befor parents and their kids because
of the special guest who we'llintroduce momentarily.
That's incredible.
And I think that they're goingto really enjoy it because our guest
is someone very special.
And I spoke with him the otherday and asked him some questions
that I thought kids mightparticularly be curious to ask him
(04:24):
and may not have theopportunity to or the courage to.
So that's all I'm going to say.
Well, I'll do my best not touse any potty words in this episode
then.
Now that we have all thatstuff out of the way, I feel like
we should just get into the.
The guest.
Let's get into it.
I know that I conducted thisconversation, but do you want to.
(04:46):
I mean, the reveal.
I know that the conditionsaround the interview were.
Were intense and I couldn't.
I couldn't join, but I'm awarethat you.
You interviewed one.
Chris, I believe he goes by.
Are you on kind of like afirst name basis with him now?
I don't know if that's too much.
To assume, but he does go by Chris.
Most people know him as Santa Claus.
(05:09):
Santa Claus is our guest.
St.
Nicholas.
He goes by Chris.
Father Christmas.
He goes by Nick.
He goes by Kris Kringle.
All of the above.
And I asked him about that.
You'll hear shortly.
I can't wait.
I'm gonna get to hear this interview.
I guess I should tell thelisteners right along with them.
Correct.
I'm excited.
I'm just as excited as all theother children.
(05:30):
Let's just get into it then.
Let's get into ourconversation with Santa Claus.
Oh, man.
Well, I'm here with SantaClaus, the actual real deal live
(05:51):
Santa Claus.
Hello.
Mark and I have interviewed alot of very well known, famous people.
I don't think anybody has evencome close to your level of notoriety,
Santa.
So I apologize in advance if Isound a little bit nervous, but this
is a pretty big deal for me.
(06:12):
Oh, thank you, Adam.
Now, you don't have Anythingto be nervous about, do you?
I don't think so.
I feel like I've been prettywell behaved this year.
Just a moment.
Wait a minute.
Oh, you gotta be kidding me.
You're actually looking at thelist, Adam.
I am.
I'm always looking at the list.
(06:34):
Oh, not bad, Adam.
Very.
Well, I'm glad to hear that.
I know that you're very, verybusy, especially this time of year
in December, and I'm not surehow you have decided to make time
for modern dadhood when youhave so many other things that you
(06:55):
need to tend to.
But I want to say thank youfor making time to be with us.
This is really special.
Oh, thank you.
I appreciate it.
And it's a nice break to getout from the workshop on an afternoon
such as this.
I appreciate your taking thetime to talk to me.
Now, what can I tell you about.
(07:15):
What I want to do do with ourlimited time here?
Santa is just sort of get tothe bottom of some issues.
Because I know that for mywhole life, since I was a little
boy, I've had some questionsfor you that I've really never had
the courage to put in a letteror to ask, you know, any.
Anytime that I've met you orany of your helpers.
(07:38):
And so I'm hoping that I canask you some questions that maybe
other people have on theirminds, too, and get some real answers
from you.
Fair enough, Adam.
Fire wing first.
Before we get into the heavystuff, what I want to know is, how
has the season been going?
What's a typical day look likein December in your workshop?
(07:58):
Oh, well, as you can imagine,sawdust flying everywhere, elves
running all around the place,up and down.
There's plenty to do.
Of course.
Supply chain issues seem tohave worked themselves out, but,
you know, a little bit of helpfrom our friends, we've been able
to get things back on track.
(08:18):
The reindeer are excited.
They're out in the yard nowpracticing playing games and whatnot.
So Mrs.
Claus is busy.
She's been baking and, well,she's really like the ultimate project
manager, so she keepseverybody in line.
Been a very busy time.
We're getting excited.
See if the weather holds.
(08:39):
That's the big question.
Will the weather hold?
Now, if the weather doesn'thold, let's say it's a particularly
foggy year or you travelthrough a lot of rain or thunderstorms,
how does that affect yoursleigh ride in the reindeer?
Well, I believe you've heardabout a solution for that.
Someone by the name of RandyWait, Rick.
(09:05):
Ricky.
Reindeer.
No, Rudolph.
He leads the team still anddoes a fabulous job in any season,
any weather, really.
So we'll be ready to go nomatter what.
I'll tell you, if it's foggy,if it's snowing, we love it.
We'll go all around the world,quick as lightning.
(09:27):
I'm glad to hear it.
That's very reassuring.
And.
And Santa, honestly, I'm verydelighted that you have such a sense
of humor about you.
I don't know that I would haveguessed that.
Oh, well, at my age and mysize, a sense of humor is critical.
Well, speaking of critical,and I don't mean to ask this question
(09:50):
to put you on the spot, butit's something that I've wondered
about for a lot of yearsmyself, and I've had to try to explain
to my own children in the waythat I know best.
Yes, the question is, thereare lots of Santas around this time
of year.
Right.
I go into a mall and I see aSanta, or into a department store,
(10:10):
I see a Santa or a parade, andSanta's at the end of the parade.
And I always wonder, is thatreally you or is that one of your
helpers?
How does that work?
You can't be in all places at once.
Oh, well, can't I?
Adam, everyone has the abilityto be Santa Claus.
(10:32):
Of course, it's just part ofour nature.
But Santa has a lot of helpersout in the world, and they're always
around.
How do you think I get all theinformation I get?
But what you see out in theworld, as far as Santa's are concerned,
they would be the very best,top cream of the crop of my helpers.
(10:53):
The reason you just can't seeSanta all the time is because it
would make it less special.
What I need is for people to believe.
Hmm.
That is a wonderful answer.
And now I feel like I have thelanguage to really explain that to
my daughters.
So thank you for that.
Yes, believing in Santa Clausis everything.
(11:15):
Now, if you choose not tobelieve in me, that's all right.
Doesn't automatically put youon the naughty list.
Doesn't get you any closer tothe nice list either.
But it's a lot more helpful,especially these days when people
have the Christmas spirit andcan carry it on throughout the season
(11:36):
and into the year later,that's what's more important.
You continue to be kind, youcontinue to be mindful, and you continue
to have that little spark ofmagic, that belief in something,
and that's what makes it all work.
Now, a minute ago, youmentioned getting information back
to you.
And I know that one of theways that we get information to you
(12:00):
is one is by writing letters.
And so I wonder, does everykid who writes a letter to Santa
and sends it to the NorthPole, do those letters make it to
you?
And do you get to read all of those?
I do.
Now, there's.
This is a little somethingextra I need in mother's cocoa to
get me through it all, but ofcourse, I read them all.
(12:20):
It's a pleasure.
Now, the other thing is, iswhere do I get all of this information
if they're not coming inletter form?
Right.
The Patriot act didn't inventitself, Adam.
Well, what I was going to askyou about was elf on the Shelf, which
has become this reallybeautiful tradition for so many families.
(12:40):
And not everybody has an elf,but for those of us that do, the
belief is that our elf goesback to the North Pole every night
of December and shares withyou what our family's been up to.
And just make sure that the.
My daughters are on good behavior.
So are all those elves comingback to you every night, too, and
(13:01):
updating you every night.
It's like a herd of kittensall scampering about and coming back
and updating.
Now, we've got to have some processes.
I will tell you that.
Oh, gosh, 40, 50, 60 yearsago, the process was, well, there
was no process.
(13:21):
It was just cacophony.
But now things are a lot smoother.
They all do come back.
They all show up with a fullhead of information.
Now, even if you don't have anelf, we've got eyes and ears everywhere.
There's always a way for us toknow that you are doing right, doing
(13:43):
well in school or listening toyour parents, or in some cases, like
our friend Mark, perhaps notlistening to his parents on occasion.
He seems to have come a longway, though.
Poor guy's not even here todefend himself.
That inspires a question thatactually came from my younger daughter,
who's almost seven years old.
(14:05):
She was wondering, in some ofthe stories about Santa Claus, there
is this notion that you have acrystal ball and so you can see people,
just like in the song, right?
He sees you when you're sleeping.
He knows when you're awake.
And my younger daughter iswondering, is Santa watching us all
the time?
And she was thinking aboutkind of privacy, you know, are you
(14:27):
watching all of us all the time?
It's a great question, and Ican't give away all of my secrets.
Of course, it Wouldn't besecret anymore, would they?
What's really important, whatreally matters, is the way a child
feels about themselves.
And those are the kind ofthings that we keep our elf ears
(14:48):
up for.
So when a child feels happy orproud or kind or they're sharing
or doing well in school, thosekind of messages come straight through
the crystal ball.
In fact, they come rightthrough the aurora borealis, frankly.
Example, your daughter justgot glasses and she's proud of them.
(15:08):
She wears them like a champion.
And that can be difficult forsome kids to transition to.
Things like that are what wekeep an eye out for.
It's not necessarily watchingall the time.
Well, I wanted to ask you thisbecause I know not every home has
a chimney and everybody knowsSanta comes down the chimney.
(15:29):
So when you land on a roof andthere's no chimney, how do you come
into the house?
Magic.
Magic, magic.
No matter what.
I don't have the key and Idon't have the code.
And oftentimes I'll run acrossa dog or a cat or a parrot or a furry,
feathery, leathery friend.
On some occasions in somecountries down south, the south of
(15:51):
the equator.
But we always carry with usjust a little bit of that extra magic.
So that will allow us, whetheryou have a chimney or not, to slip
in, under and around to getinto where we need to get the cookies
and the milk and of course,leave a few presents around.
But there's always a way whenyou're Santa Claus.
(16:14):
Now, if everybody's leavingyou cookies and milk and treats,
you must get full pretty earlyon in your evening.
How do you manage eating allof those cookies and drinking all
that milk without your stomachstarting to feel sick?
Well, Mrs.
Claus tends to me quite well.
Make sure I have a full dietof fiber.
(16:35):
And I tried to pace myself.
Adam cannot eat every cookie,every carrot, every stop.
I'll usually have a nibble ortwo here and there because as this
trip goes around the world inyour time and my time, quite two
different things.
The trip takes a little bitshorter in my world than it does
in yours.
(16:55):
Sort of a quantum physics,that's what.
I was going to ask becauseit's always been confusing to me
how you can cover so muchterritory in such relatively little
time on that same topic of conversation.
For years, people have beenusing this technology.
I don't know if you even knowthat it exists.
Santa called the NORAD SantaTracker and other sort of tracking
(17:20):
websites that supposedly showwhere you are at any given time on
Christmas Eve.
Can you tell Me.
Can you give me anyindication, is that accurate as to
where you actually are?
How does that really work?
Well, relatively accurate.
I'll say the one thing that Ihad to have a bit of an issue with
norad.
And if you're listening,please take note.
(17:43):
The representation of me onNORAD's system, the tracking system,
is just ridiculous.
It's clip art.
It looks like someone made itin Canva.
But it's interesting becausesometimes I have to check my own
gps, make sure I don't double back.
But yes, NORAD does a prettygosh darn good job for myself.
(18:05):
Well, you mentionedrepresentations of you, which makes
me think of.
There's just hundreds andhundreds of Christmas movies.
Is there a Christmas moviethat you think most accurately represents
you, both in how you look, butalso just in your.
Your personality and theessence of you and your spirit?
(18:26):
I could tell you one.
There's an old classic, Santa vs.
The Martians.
And that was not a licensedrepresentation of me, I can assure
you.
But that was a long time agoand a lot of snow under the bridge,
Adam.
But the fact is, you cannothave an accurate representation of
(18:48):
Santa because you cannot see me.
Leaves a lot to the imagination.
Santa, if your elves aremaking all the toys at your workshop
in the North Pole, how come Icould buy some of them in a store
or buy some of them online.
How does that work?
(19:08):
If I told you a, I'd have tobury you in a snow mound.
That doesn't sound pleasant.
Santa, my last question foryou is this, and it might be an easy
one for you.
There are lots of names thatyou go by.
St Nicholas, Kris Kringle,Santa Claus, of course.
Which one do you prefer and why?
And why so many names?
(19:30):
It's a very good question.
The origins of Santa Claus arevery interesting.
Have you ever heard of themyth of Santa Claus and Coca Cola?
I've heard of this, sure.
Many people have.
In 1930s, Coca Colacommissioned an artist to create
a series of illustrationsfeaturing me with a Coke, of course.
(19:54):
Sorry, Pepsi.
You just were a little slow atthe go.
But, well, there was that, andthen there's other stories from around
the world.
What's interesting about Santais he fits into each and every cultural
narrative.
The origins can be traced backto various figures and traditions
all over the globe, from St.
Nicholas to, oh, Santa Claus.
(20:17):
Or my favorite is, well,Father Christmas.
I've always been preferentialto that one.
That's a good one.
That's a good one.
Santa, is there anything elsethat you would like to Share with
our listeners.
We've invited parents and kidsto listen to this episode together.
So, speaking to the kids whoare listening, is there anything
that you'd like to say beforewe let you on with your afternoon?
(20:41):
Oh, yes, of course.
There's a couple of thingsthat I think all children should
remember because I dounderstand that in some families
they need to travel for theholiday season or they go somewhere
else for Christmas.
The truth is, Santa goes everywhere.
He knows if you've beennaughty, he knows if you've been
(21:01):
nice, and he knows if you'regoing to spend Christmas at a Helene's
in Pittsburgh, it'll all work out.
Santa's stealth mode, Santa'sfashion, and Santa's well, GPS free
navigation are all designed toget me in, out, and wherever I need
to be around the world at anygiven time.
And that's it.
Just be good, be kind, dogreat listening, and be proud of
(21:25):
yourself.
No matter what you hear orwhat you may think, you are worth
it.
And never stop believing.
Santa Claus.
Thank you so much for beingsuch a symbol of hope and inspiration
and bringing so much joy to somany people over the years.
(21:48):
It's such an honor to speakwith you.
Merry Christmas from my familyand from Modern Dadhood.
And thank you for doing whatyou do.
Of course, Adam.
Merry Christmas to you andyour family and Mark and his and
all of your wonderful ModernDadhood listeners out there.
You have yourself a warm, safeMerry Christmas.
(22:09):
Let's keep our fingers crossedfor snow, the light, fluffy kind.
Adam.
I'll be seeing all of you.
Well, the clock is ticking.
I'll be seeing all of youquite soon.
And to all a good night.
(22:40):
Look, there's a.
There's an elephant in the room.
And the elephant is that we.
We've not put out an episodefor some time.
Yeah, I blame myself.
You got some splaining to do.
Which would you.
It's totally up to you whetheryou would actually like to share
what's going on in your lifeor not.
And I will.
It will not hurt my feelingseither way.
(23:02):
Yes, I'm.
I've been very ill.
I've been ill.
And therefore, this episode isbrought to you by Albuterol, ibuprofen,
Montelukast, fluticasone,benzonotate and methylprednisolone.
Yeah, I got sick.
I've been sick.
(23:23):
Here's how it started.
I'm gonna do.
Long story short.
Okay.
I'm gonna do lss.
Okay.
Some time ago, beforeThanksgiving, the flu went through
this household.
Okay.
One kid Went down, and thenthe other kid got strep throat.
(23:44):
And then the first kid gotstrep throat.
And then Jamie got the flu.
And then I was feeling justawful, right?
And then went to the doctor.
The doctor tested foreverything, and they were like, well,
nothing's coming back.
Like, you're negative foreverything, but, like, you definitely
have the flu.
Like, that was what the doctor said.
Your tests are negative, butyou definitely have the flu.
(24:07):
So they said, treat yourselflike you have the flu.
So I did.
And then at that time, I got anasty cough.
Yada, yada, yada.
It's weeks and weeks later,and after lots of coughing and.
And like, literally, like,doubling over.
Hacking, coughing, hacking.
(24:28):
I damaged some of my insides,is the best way to put it.
Like, when you cough, yourlungs expand, and that hits the chest
wall.
And if done enough, withenough force over a long enough period
of time, you can developsomething called pleurisy.
And that's the latestdiagnosis anyway for me.
I'm not complaining, okay?
(24:49):
I'm really not.
Well, you have every right to complain.
That sounds miserable.
It's been absolutely miserable.
And as you well know, know,it's the holiday season, and there's
a lot to be done.
And I just have to say, I havenot lifted a finger around here.
And yet there is a tree with lights.
The lights are on the outsideof the house.
(25:11):
It's decorations everywhere.
It looks wonderful in this house.
And it's all thanks to.
Now.
You don't have to thank me, man.
You don't have.
You don't have to do this onthe pod.
I.
I'm gonna save Mark some.
His voice a little bit.
I came to Mark's house.
I'm gonna drink some tea and set.
Up Christmas for his wholefamily, because I knew they were
all in a tough positionserving him while he rested on the
(25:36):
futon.
You don't have to thank me.
I didn't do it for the thanks.
I did it because I love youand I care about you and your family.
That's a really nice story,but I have to say out loud, I've
said it to her, so I'm notonly saying it to a microphone, but
none of that would behappening if it wasn't for my wife
going into absolute overdriveand doing, first of all, everything
(25:59):
else to begin with, includingtaking care of the kids.
And she found time to decoratethe house inside and out.
It's kind of mind blowing, andI'm very thankful, but I think.
I think I'm on.
What do you call it the upswing.
I hope so, because you deserve it.
Thanks.
It's been a long haul for youand Jamie is an absolute superhero.
(26:24):
It can't be said.
Enough.
With all of that out of theway, I just want to express my gratitude
to the listeners, to you,Mark, for making this show what it
is.
Well, thanks, man.
You know what?
Right back at you.
You're the man with the plan.
You're the man with the visionmaking it happen.
(26:45):
Back at it again with thewhite vans.
I still don't know thereference, I guess.
Well, listen, man, why don't we.
We'll save your voice.
There is one thing that I wantto sort of take us into the closing
segment with, and that is aquick Update on my 10 year old who
a couple episodes back I wassharing about her recorder playing.
(27:10):
Yeah, we were talking abouthow squeaky that instrument is.
It is still very squeaky, butshe's been practicing like crazy
and teaching herself songs.
And I'm actually blown away byher commitment to learning this instrument.
And I want to share just alittle taste of a holiday song that
she just taught herself andhas been playing all the time.
(27:34):
That's awesome.
And then we'll close out the sode.
Man.
I want to hear it.
Let's hear it.
It.
(28:07):
Wasn'T that amazing.
Santa Claus on Christmas Eve.
I don't know about you, but Ifeel like a little kid.
Again, a huge thank you toAdam and Mark from Modern Dad Hood
for sharing this magicalinterview with us.
And of course, the biggestthanks to Santa Claus for taking
(28:28):
time out of his very busyschedule to spread some holiday cheer,
which this year has beendefinitely, definitely needed.
I also want to take a momentto highlight something really special
in this episode.
Mark thanking Adam for helpinghim to get his house ready for Christmas.
(28:49):
That moment I found sotouching and it really hit home for
me because it reminded me ofthe conversation we had in the previous
episode about reciprocity andmutual aid with Eric.
And it's moments like thatwhen we show up for each other that
truly embody the holiday spirit.
I felt that extra chat withMark and Adam was such a beautiful
(29:12):
example of what it means tosupport one another.
And it's one of the reasonswhy I wanted to include it in today's
episode.
So before we wrap, can we alsogive a huge shout out to Adam's 10
year old for absolutelybringing down the house with that
holiday recorded performance?
Like, come on.
Way to God.
(29:32):
To all of you listening, thankyou so much for making nosy af.
What it is.
Whether you're new here oryou've been with me from the start,
I'm so grateful for each andevery one of you, from my family
to yours and all of us here atNosy af.
I want to say Merry Christmas,happy holidays, and here to a Joyful
(29:53):
and Magical 2024.
Make sure you be safe, youspread love, and don't forget to
leave out those cookies andmilk for Santa tonight.
Take care, y'all, and see younext time.
Happy holidays.
This has been another episodeof Nosy af.
I'm your host, Stephanie Graham.
What did you think abouttoday's conversation?
(30:14):
I would love to hear your thoughts.
Head over to the Nosy AFwebsite for all the show notes related
to this episode.
You can also find me onInstagram at Stephanie Graham, what
would you know?
Or online@missgraham.com untilnext time, y'all stay curious and
take care.
Bye.