"Life is a Highway" - Tom Cochrane

4/17/23

The Mediocre Moms Club

Episode #3: "Life Is A Highway" - Tom Cochrane

Meet my friend , Sarah! In this episode,  we (super hypocritically) discuss all the craziness of travel as a mama. From the preparation and the act of physically traveling, to the idea of paying money to NOT sleep in a different location; we share our thoughts on it all. Whether you are travelling with or without your kid, for work or for pleasure, travel is no easy task for any mama.

***Apologies in advance for the terrible audio - what an editing nightmare! Note to self: never record on the floor in a hotel room again. *** 

Links to Mentioned Media 

• Tom Cochrane - "Life is a Highway"
• Nugget (from episode 1)
• Rick Coffey (BigKidRick): The "Evolve Unapologetically" man

Links to Our Social Media 

• Find us on Instagram 
• Join our Facebook Group 
• Support the Show on Patreon

Transcript

 Welcome back to the Mediocre Mom's Club. Today's guest is Sarah. Sarah is an educator as well, and we met at work and she's a mom of an adorable six year old girl, um, just like my daughter. So we bonded over all that stuff and we're friends pretty fast. Yeah, right. Immediate. It was ever since I gave you my Starbucks, I was gonna order, I was gonna say, you can tell the story.

Okay. So I hate to say this, but teachers are super judgey. So judgey. Oh, we are the worst. Yeah. But we're judgey, but we're accepting. Yes. We'll judge you, but we'll love you. But just know that you've already been judged and so Right. And like especially with the age group that we work with. Yeah. I feel like we're extra judgy And Amy came in in like February or March, literally.

It was like this time last year. Yeah. So she comes in and she's totally trying to buy our grade level team. She's trying to buy art love. I have never been too good to buy Love. That sounds super weird. I've never been too good to buy, honey. I am never too people. Good. Hey, you're new. Like, I'm gonna buy you a fucking coffee.

Yeah. And I'm gonna fucking take that coffee and she drink it. So she had all of these Starbucks gift cards and she was like, I'm never going to use 'em. I don't really go to Starbucks that often. I was such a liar. I'm like, does she know who she's talking to? No, I didn't. Clearly, so a couple of my coworkers and I were like, oh my God, she is giving us Starbucks, but also, Like she doesn't go to Starbucks, like, who is this bitch?

So immediately we judged. Oh yeah. Because who would give away like a $50 Starbucks gift card? Yeah. I wouldn't this bitch, and I think I'm generous, but like this bitch. But you were buying our love, so for sure we were judging hard because Oh yeah, I know. I'm like, you're not gonna use it. Okay. Yeah, we'll take your Starbucks, but also you're weird.

So you gave, I think I was go, you gave me the gift card and I was gonna stop on the way. Yeah. I left it on your desk. I remember. Yes. Yeah, with you left it on my desk with your order. Yes, that's right. Listeners. This fake ass bitch. This was, The most Starbucks bougie order I've ever seen in my whole life.

I do have a very bougie order. Let me just say it ended with like an upside down. Anytime there's an upside down in the instructions for a beverage, you know, it's golden. I was just like, what? I read it and was like, what the fuck? She has this all. Fooled. She loves Starbucks. Why is she not like, why is she hiding this from us?

So I made sure to tell everybody what your order was. All knew that we could accept you. Yes. I was accept. It was like an initiation, like what's your Starbucks order? Yeah. It was like a legitimation. Oh, that's a fun game. I know. Mine is so boring. No, yours is. Well, yours is health. It is. In an ideal world, it would not be.

That's a great game. Like that's a great icebreaker. Yeah, yeah, yeah. We're gonna take a minute because I fucking love icebreakers. I love like forced funds sometimes. I love, I love icebreakers. Mm-hmm. Because I have a really good one with living in England for when I was little. Oh. So I feel like I have a go-to and I can.

So what is that? Like? What's your icebreaker? That's what it is. Like I like, or if you're playing like two truths and a lie, uhhuh, I can be like, I sing at weddings, which I did. Yeah. I did like one, but I had an S on, there's fine, it's fine. You'll sing at my wedding. I'll sing it. Oh, you, I'm gonna sing at your wedding and you're not gonna ask me.

No, I want you to. I'm gonna sing. A love song to you. Will you? Will you serenade me? Un I'm gonna call him the flower. Yeah. I like that. You know, that sounds like a very like making fun of any delicacy. It is not. It's just a play out mortgage. Yes. So it's based on an I promise I'm not being like my daughter.

No, it's based on a nickname my daughter calls the flower. Let's play two truths and a lie. Are you ready? Oh, well, you're gonna know mine. I'll just tell you mine and then I'll have to guess yours. Okay. Okay. So for two truths and a lie, I say, I lived in England, or something like that. Yeah, like something along those lines.

Or I say like, Depending on the audience. I say I spent my, my childhood years like traveling Europe cuz I did, yeah. Um, and then I say I sing at weddings. Mm-hmm. So those are my two truths. And my lie is, I don't know, like something that you would believe, like I have like two older brothers or something too.

Okay. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Very stupid lie. Yeah. And most people are like, you didn't. Live in England or you didn't sing it when, right? Nope, that's wrong. All right. What are yours ago? I'm allergic to shellfish. Oh my God. I didn't know that. Um, oh wait. We're playing two truths and lights. It's breakers though. Why do I like them?

I'm so bad at them. I've been skydiving. I believe that. And because you love flying weirdo. I used to be a firefighter. Okay. You definitely weren't a fucking firefighter. You were a firefighter. I was a volunteer to clear volunteer firefighter fighter. You're. I am layers, man. Ugh. There's so many layers. I just really like helping peoples.

You do. We are gonna be talking about travel, which is kind of funny that we're talking about travel because I never go anywhere. And you were saying earlier, you also don't go anywhere. So welcome to the most hypocritical episode on the planet. But we're talking about travel, and the reason we are talking about travel is because we are currently on a work trip.

Yeah. So we're on a conference. Sharing a room. We, we each got our own queen size bed though. Yeah. I'm here for that. I'm glad they're not like double beds or whatever. Oh yeah. I mean, I'd snuggle you, but Ugh. Yeah. If it was like a king, it was originally a king bed. Yeah. And I was like, oh my God. A whole king bed that's like big by yourself.

Oh. So we're talking about travel, but I don't like flying and I honestly like, I'm not even gonna go into, I just, I don't like flying to the point where I like, don't fly. So we don't go on a lot of vacations. And we also live, you know, we have family who lives on the lake. We have a pontoon boat. Like there's no need for us to go on vacation other than like wanting to, that's like a vacation spot, like five minutes from home.

You know what I mean? Right. And our kids aren't good sleepers. And that'll definitely be a topic we, I talk about at some point. They aren't good sleepers. So it's like, why are you gonna pay so much money for me to be anxious beyond words then to get somewhere where I'd be even more anxious regardless, because like I'm in a new place with my children and they're wild.

Like, and then to sleep, not sleep there. Yeah. You know what I mean? Like pay money to sleep, not sleep somewhere else. Right. So I'm always like, whatever. So we've done a couple, like vacations in our state, like, like up north. That's really it. And we did like a great Wolf Lodge last summer and that was really fun.

Really? That was super fun. I've never done that. We did that for Jay's birthday and we went with another family who we love. It was honestly a blast. It was really good time. It was expensive, but it was a really good time. Yeah, I love Great Wolf Lodge. Like I would go there again, so we don't, we don't go anywhere like, but you're in beautiful, and I can say this because did you know fun fact listeners?

Oh boy, someone's gonna fact check this and say that I'm wrong. Mm-hmm. Every. Has a Springfield, is that true? I believe so. And we are currently in Springfield. Is that real life? Do you know that? Because it's something with the Simpsons. No, I think that is thing how I know the Simpsons. Yeah, because that's why they named their town.

Springfield. Springfield, yeah. So we are currently in a Springfield, but we're not gonna tell you which one. No, I do wanna know that though. Yeah, if you're from a Springfield, let us know. Let us know. I do need to get better about where I want people to do things. Like comment on the Instagram. Yeah. Or leave a review.

I think that would be a big deal. Yeah. I don't think I've gotten a review yet. I don't know. Well review would be great. And then, you know, then we could take this show on tour on the road. Yeah. Ready to rock and roll. Yeah. I want an RVs. So bad. All the Springfield. I just feel like I wanna tell where I record every podcast I record because the first one with Kiki was in a nugget for it.

Yes. Made out of, and some, I got some feedback that people didn't know what a nugget is. So I'm definitely, I didn't definitely gonna post. I should have posted a thing. I'll post. Something about the Nugget because it's super awesome. Your daughter would love the Nugget. Oh yeah. And so would Flower, she would destroy it.

Um, but it's perfect because it's like made for that and you can make a bunch of different forts, whatever. So the first episode we recorded was in a Nugget fort. Mm-hmm. The second episode I recorded that, I'm gonna have to probably rerecord cuz the audio's real shredding was in my closet. And right now, episode three, we are recording in a hotel room.

We are currently sitting on the floor in between the two beds and Sarah's has a beverage and I have a beverage. And life is good. It's really good. Life is good right now. So on the back of my mind, what? It's my kid I know. Probably it's the goodbye. It's saying it's the packing, it's the saying goodbye. I didn't tell her.

Actually, my fiance Flower told her last night. Oh, he did. Yeah, I went with my bestie to go pick up food and bring it back to the house. Her kids were over the flowers, stayed at the house, and when I came back he said, I told, I told O Oh my gosh, that you're not gonna be here and she's cool with it. And I was like, oh, great.

Rip the bandaid off. That was, that was a good way to do it, right? Like you didn't have to do it. And I love it because Amy said to me, Last week at school, she was like, this is what I'm gonna say to my kids. Oh, this is a good, okay, I love this. I'm never going to give my show myself a shout out here. No, this is a, a good one promo moment, but this is something that I have said to my kids, if anybody goes away, if my, if my parents or, or my husband or, or me or whatever goes away, you have to say like, so for example, it is Sunday right now, and.

We go back on Tuesday. Yeah. And so I said, I've seen you today for all the morning, and then I'm gonna see you on Tuesday. So the only day I'm not seeing you is Monday. Right. So if you, you can even say like tomorrow, you can say, I'm seeing mommy tomorrow. Yeah. You know what I mean? That I loved that and that like even helped my anxiety.

Mm-hmm. I was like, oh, she's going, it's only two. And then when I was telling flower about it, he was like, yeah. And it's only two sleeps. Only two sleeps. Yeah. I'm like, you're so right. Mm-hmm. Like I think we put more anxiety. And like thinking our kids are gonna be anxious and then they pick up on that.

But I think like Exactly. I just left like, oh, hey, all right honey, I'm gonna see you later. I'm heading out. And she was like, okay. I'm like, okay. Don't make a big deal about it. Make a big deal. Yeah. Get out the door. Yeah. Leave. Yeah. And. And, and same s for you was like, bye mom. Like, no, Jay came out. Oh my God.

It was, that was really sweet. Cute. My kids were both like, fine about me leaving. Um, my husband recent, like just came back last weekend from a trip, but he was a plane right away and was gone for like, we pretty much didn't see him for like four full days. Like he left super early in the morning on a Thursday and came back like at night on a Sunday.

That's a lot. So it was. So I didn't know how they were gonna be. I've been telling about it for a while, but I didn't know how they were gonna be and I was like, mommy's going on a trip for work, but I'm only going in Massachusetts. My kids like went through a phase where they were obsessed with like learning all the states, and so I was like, I'm only going in Massachusetts and I'm only going, it's only a car right away.

Yeah. I was like, it's like two hours, whatever. And they were pretty good with it, but so cute. I said bye to them. I was putting the stuff in the car and my son came out. He wasn't like upset, but he came out and he was, he was like, mommy. And then he wanted to gimme another hug, which was like, oh my God. It was really sweet because he is seven, almost eight, and like I can start to see he's growing out of the phase.

Yeah. Where you wanna be loving and like emotional with your mom in front of people. Yeah. Like he does it privately, but in front of people. It's starting to lessen. And I'm like, and he's playing that. Twice. Yeah. And he did that in front of me. Yeah. And I was like, oh my God, it's already happening. It's starting to lessen.

Like when I drop him off at school sometimes I'll be like, I'll always be like, I love you. And then he'll like look back at me and smile like, I'm not gonna say it. You know what I mean? Like he doesn't say that. But yeah. So that was like super cute. But yeah, I think that it's hard too, because this morning, Was a little difficult because I was anxious.

Yeah. Like, I was like, but part of the anxiety that I was feeling was honestly excitement. Yeah. Because this is fun. Like it, it's so rare as a mom to have time where you are able to leave your children with your significant other or your family or whoever, and you know they're safe and cared for. Mm-hmm.

And even if they are sad. Fine. Right. And you know you're gonna be back soon and you're not far like in an emergency you could be back. You know what I mean? Right. Yeah. I feel like I can kind of be like, oh, like my frequency is just chilled out because Right. You're not on call. I feel like being a mom is literally being on call.

Oh my God. But also while working in the. And not getting paid for it. I mean, I always say being a stay-at-home mom and I'll talk about my stay-at-home mom experience at some point. I don't think I have that much. But, um, being a stay-at-home mom was so unbelievably much harder on my mental, I kidnapper and probably physical state than, and I only did it for two years.

That's nothing. That's still a long time. That's nothing. But it was a lot and it was so. Much more draining on every part of me than working. Really? Oh yeah, because you never get a break. Your, you never. Get a break and I mean, I did it, my kids were very close together. 14 and a half months. I mean, that's very close.

Yeah. And I was really struggling with postpartum anxiety and depression and things like that, so I, I don't think I was able to enjoy it as much. Yeah. And I, I caused myself a lot of anxiety, like was really anxious about things that, like I could have gone out and done a lot more things like that, but I just mentally wasn't there for that, like able to do that.

So I feel like it was super, super hard. It's so much harder than working. And our jobs are hard, I think. I mean, but the other part is I think doing the job we do and then going home and being a mom Oh come is there's genuinely no downtime except for the it's car ride home. Right. And it's a quick car ride for me.

My me too. Mine's like 11 minutes. Yeah. I'm like 15. Yeah. It's super quick car ride. And so you genuinely, you don't have time enough to decompress. Right. You know what I mean? So like the other day we were going to my in-laws for dinner. And so my mother-in-law who picks my kids up, um, she had picked the kids up and was bringing them back to her house.

Uh, and then my husband and I were gonna meet them there a little bit later on for dinner cuz I wanted to stay and get some work done. So, I actually ended up leaving work earlier than I thought. So when I was driving home I realized I was probably gonna overlap with my mother-in-law stopping at our house to pick up like some of the kids' things like, you know, their tablet cuz they can have a couple What?

Who am I fucking kidding? They watch their tablets and shit when they get home from school. Yeah. Why am I gonna pretend they have a couple minutes of screen that was come outta my house, my mouth, A couple. They're allowed a, a couple minutes of screen time. Oh no. Fuck that. And again, screen time will be a conversation I have on this podcast.

So like, but don't need it as much as we need it when we get home. Also, Again, my motto as a mom, unless you're harming your children, and I know people would argue that you're harming your children with springtime, but unless you're harming your children and you're doing your best, right, everyone else can fuck off.

Yeah. Or everyone else's opinion is none of your business. Right. I love that. Everyone else's opinion of you is none of your business. I love that because it's like, It's not. It's not. No. So my kids have screen time after school. They, we don't even call it screen time. Same. They watch their fucking tablets.

They chill out because they're just as spent as I am. Right. School's exhausting. It's super exhausting. It's so ex exhaust. S is so tired after school. Yeah. She is so tired after school. So is o And she'll say that she'll like, I'm so tired. Even when she slept fine, she's just, That's a lot. It was a long day.

I'm like, girl, I know. So you did not go home. Look at you. You're so good. Bringing me back in. I know. You know, um, someone's gotta, seriously, yeah. I a I ended up and I felt so guilty about this, I ended up driving around for a little bit and like taking back roads and listening to music. No, that's jamming out So that I wouldn't overlap so that I wouldn't.

Because I wasn't of self-care. I wasn't ready to put my mom hat on. Yeah. And I know that's like whatever, but I wasn't ready. I needed more time to decompress from the day. And I knew if I saw them, it would only be for like two minutes. It would've been a thing and it would've messed up the plans for the afternoon.

And I really just wanted to go home and not have to talk to anybody. Yeah. Just for a little bit. And it end, it was like a half an hour. Sometimes I, I. No, I think that's sometimes I will leave o at afterschool care. Yeah. Um. She gets it after. It's a different school that they bring the kids to, but she'll get there a little after three.

And sometimes I'll get home at like three or a little after three, and I'll go home. Mm-hmm. And like do all the things I need to do around the house. And it also helps me decompress. Mm-hmm. Like maybe get laundry started, do the dishes from the morning, get stuff ready for dinner, pack my lunch for tomorrow.

Right. For the next day. And then I'll go get her because then I feel like I'm a better mom. I can focus on her more. Right. But then she comes home and just watches TV anyways. I know, which again, is. Fine. It's fine because they're, they've just been bombarded with stuff too. Yeah, and that's something. Isn't talked about enough and like, but like, and that's my personal philosophy.

Like my educational philosophy. Yeah. So I'm not really gonna go into it that much. I don't know about you. I, as a child, would come home from school. My parents were working and I'd watch a couple hours of tv. Me too. So why are we worried about TV time? That's what I mean. Why? Why? And listen, if it means it's just extra pressure.

It's just a pressure that somebody decided is too much. And if it, you know, if you are never. If your kids are never doing anything else, if your kids have no balance on their own right, there's no balance between them. They only ever all the time wanna watch. Then I feel like yeah, that's, that's probably an issue.

And, and you know, you should probably address that, but Right. There's a balance like, oh, will take herself away from the tv. Oh, absolutely. And I'm sure your kids do too. They are just, it's like, exactly. I'm decompress and it's, she's ready. See the moment. Exactly. It's like the energy comes back, she's as we are.

Well actually the energy never comes back unless. With caffeine, but yeah, I'm true. Food helps. What were we talking about? Um, we're away from our kids. Like you're never off like leaving kids. So both Sarah and I, our kids are at home with our significant others and they're happy, healthy, and safe, and really we're allowed to be enjoying.

This time. Well, yeah. And it's not like it's, I kept trying to say, I kept trying to make it be like, well, it's a work trip. Yeah. It's a conference. I'm not gonna have a good time. And my husband was like, you are gonna have a good time, and that's okay. And you should, but you're, it's like you wanna stay like, no, this isn't for fun.

Right. I'm not doing it. I'm doing this because, you know, whatever. Right. Everybody needs a break. Mm-hmm. Going away and having a break from your kids I think makes you a better mom. It makes me a better. 100%. Then you're arrested. Be, especially if you don't have sleeping kids like, my kids don't sleep well.

So like when I'm away from them is when I sleep. Yeah. And I literally forget sometimes how I live my life on five hours of sleep a night maybe. Where do they just wake up all night? My s Yeah. My son wakes up. My daughter sleeps through the night more often than not, but Oh, sleeps. S sleeps through the night more often than not, but we'll call out in the middle of the night.

So one of us ends up going to her bed and then Jay will just wake up and run into our bed. And he is so big, it's like impossible to sleep. And I like to sleep in the cold, and I don't like to be hot when I sleep and I don't. Yeah, I'm a terrible sleeper. It takes a lot to help me sleep. I bet you he has that same Exactly.

100%. Yeah. And he's always super, he's like radiating so much heat. Like we're both, oh my God. My husband and I joke about this all the time. So when I sleep, my feet get very hot. Yeah. And my feet control my temperature of my body. So when my feet are really hot, I'm hot and I can't sleep. It's so freaking annoying.

But my husband and I joke about it and we call it hot foot syndrome. So we're always like hot foot syndrome raise awareness. Coming in hot, coming in hot. Right? Oh my God. I was listening to that. Texting me a slogan track coming in hot, coming in hot. What's, what is that? I used that as music to a reel I made that I was announcing, I was dropping the podcast actually.

So That's funny you brought that up. Oh my god. Mm-hmm. And I did not see that reel. Mm-hmm. I. Crazy traveling. As moms, I feel like we feel so guilty, and I'm very thankful that you are on this trip with me because I feel like you understand how I'm feeling. Yeah. Like I was like, oh, I'm gonna call the kids really quick.

And you're like, oh yeah. Or you're, or you were like, I'm running late. And I'm like, don't rush, because it's like you can't. You can't rush the goodbye. It has to be authentic, because if it's not yeah. And you rush the goodbye trauma. We've talked so much about how children pick up on parental energy, and I always hated that because I, my energy a lot of the time now is anxious because parenting has been the most challenging thing I've ever done.

And you know what's funny? Uh, this is, is like therapy. You know how I was telling you earlier? One of the reasons I hate airplanes is because I don't have an escape. One of my coping mechanisms when I was younger with anxiety was I would always create like an escape plan. Like I always felt like I could get out if I needed to, and the thought of not being able to get out gives me a lot of anxiety.

So what's funny is, and not that I would ever want to get out or escape from parenting, but you can't. It's something that's hard. And you can, there's never a way out. Right. Right. And it's like that is on a subconscious level, I think, triggering to my anxiety because I'm never not responsible for, even when we're not home.

We're not home right now. Like there was so much that, and I didn't do a lot. There was so much. That needed to be done or should have been done or did get done in preparation. There's so much you have to do as a mom and there's no escape, but there's no mental like letdown. I think le going away as a mom is super challenging.

Yeah. Even for me and for you as well when we don't even have to really worry about we have our significant others. Do dads worry when they're away? My husband just went away. Right. Did he care? They do I do he? Or is it more of like a guilt, like I think it's a mom guilt. He is able to enjoy himself at a level that I will never agree.

No, you now, well, and I said this to my fiance, like after you fiance, after you have a baby, your heart is outside your body. And it's like even when you can relax and you're at your most relaxed, it's like, you know you have to go. Empty the dishwasher or you know, you have to go folds laundry. You know that feeling you have, I gotta do this or.

It's like something's on the back of your mind. That's, and that's probably like a really bad comparison, but it's like when you have a child, you're not home, you know, you're, you're on a vacation or you're away for work and you're able to relax, you still feel like there's something in the back of your mind that you should be doing or you need to do, or you're just worried.

I think it's a mom thing. I definitely had anxiety younger. I can't imagine ever fully being able to relax without  here. But on vacation, if I bring  on vacation with me, like I can fully relax, I can see her, she's here. Or if, if I FaceTime with  while I'm away, I'm good for like an hour. I'm like, I'm totally relaxed cause I just talked to her.

I know she's okay. But then like after that hour, you go back to, all right. Well, I will say this. I do know how hard my husband's night is gonna be. Yeah. Because I had some But you just did it. You just did it though. For four nights. It was fast. Not that it's a tip for tat, but I think you have to remind yourself.

But like when you travel with your kids, when you're on vacation with your kids, it is so much work to pack and plan and prepare, and then you're on vacation and. It's exhausting. I don't think it would be worth it for me because the level of anx anxiety, I know I need to do it at some point, but the level of anxiety that it would cause.

To travel on an airplane with my children at this point in my life where I'm added my fear, my, I think if you do it though late at night where they'll sleep, they don't sleep in general, my son first came on vacation now we just drove up north in our state. I won't say like, I don't even know if I've said which state, but I won't.

We drove up north, which is like a common vacation slot, and the first time we did that, we stayed one night. We just did one. We went up, we did one little tourist attraction, and then we stayed over, and then the next day we did another tourist attraction and then drove out. My son was so excited by the concept, the hotel and the hotel room that he was awake the entire.

Night. Oh, God meant I was awake the entire night because my husband went downstairs. There was like, we had like a room with like a loft bed or something. My husband went downstairs and slept in the bedroom with my daughter because my daughter needs to sleep. Like she loves sleep. She needs sleep. She's like me girl.

Same girl. Yeah. And so he was down there with her, so it's not like he. Not helping, like not doing something. He was with one. I was with the other, but it was, and I kept saying to my son, we are gonna get kicked out of this hotel. You were gonna, there Are people sleeping on, was he just jumping around? He was.

He was just jumping around. He was just so, so he never slapped? No. Good. God excited. I mean, I made him lay down for a while. He had melatonin gum. He was just, So the next time we went away, we got a, we had an Airbnb house that, a house, a rented house. And that worked out a lot better because it, you didn't have people around you by yourselves, so we weren't worried about disrupting people or like, even though, I don't even know if you can get in trouble in a hotel, I, my anxious human is like, we're gonna get in trouble.

Like, you know what I mean? So go The thought of going away somewhere. Where we have to pay more money. I have to experience the level of anxiety that I experience with anything to do with airplanes. And then you're paying a shit ton of money and it's stressful, and then your kids don't sleep. I'm like, What is the point?

You know what I mean? Yeah. But that's just how, but I need to also just get over that. I've been traveling with O since she was three or four months old, like on an airplane. She's been on an airplane so many times. We, you know, I have the travel bug. Flower loves to travel, but I think like the more you travel with them, better they get, and you want them to be good travelers when they're adults and need them to experience things and see the world, even if you're not leaving the country, or even if you're not leaving your region, just going to different parts of the state.

So I feel like we went on a lot of tangents, but I feel like they were girls. Same girl. Yeah. Yeah. It's just the. Our brains work, which hopefully listeners are you, you enjoy that. I hope you guys could follow along. I will say, I wanna know your thoughts as listeners. I want to, and I'm, as I'm learning this because this is a hobby at this moment.

Like, yeah, I'm learning and I'm loving and I think in the summer I'll have more time and I think it's, you know, but I'm not able, this isn't a full-time thing for me. I'm not able to do that. No. So, There's totally things coming down the road, like more interaction on social media, Instagram. Mm-hmm. Things like that.

And I would love to do something like listener stories. Oh. And they send in their craziest or most mediocre mom moments. I love that. And we would share them. I, huh. That would be a blast. I would love that. So there's, I have so many things down the road, I just am. I'm kind of going slow. If I'm gonna do it, I'm doing it right.

Right. And I am really thankful that I have people who are actually listening to this. The fact that people are listening to this and giving positive feedback and all, it's amazing. Like is the coolest thing ever. It honestly has the things that this podcast has done for me already. Just internal growth.

For a long time in my life, I was embarrassed to be my own self. You know? Same, same. And then when I wasn't. I finally got to a place where I was more comfortable then I became a mom. Yeah. I genuinely can say that. I feel like I'm just coming into my own. Yeah. I think meeting the people that I have met, I feel, I think I genuinely feel safe enough to be myself and to be.

I am gonna, I say this, I'm gonna say this so much, and I need to find the video I got it from, and I need to give credit to this man who did this, who said this, but I love this phrase that I heard. Evolve unapologetically. Ooh, I like that. My whole life, I feel like I've either been apologizing. Feel like same, to apologize.

That's like so anxiety, if I should apologize that Yeah, same. I know this podcast, it makes some people. And that's okay. It's not popular opinion amongst tradition, you know? Yeah. But the joy it has brought me a along. Yeah, I've talked to my therapist about this and the biggest, the best piece of advice, I think I've told you this and I think you do it too, that I got from her.

And just like in like parenting advice, like one of the biggest things that I've. Gotten that I love is not to say I miss you or I missed you. So like when I get o from school every day, or if when we're eating dinner together, whatever, I just say, ugh. I am so happy to see you. I'm so happy to you because when you say I missed you or I missed you, you are putting that responsibility onto them where they feel like they are responsible for your happiness.

That without them around like you were in pain, you were set, and now that they're back, now you're okay. And that's a lot to put on. A little pers a, a kid. So, and she has been responding so, Like she's been great with it and. Flower has started saying it. Wow. And without us even talking, he has started saying it.

And she says it too now. Oh my God. Every day I see her. Yeah. Or you know, I'll just say like, when I say goodbye to her every day for school, I'm like, bye, I love you. I can't wait to see you later. Can't wait to hear about your day. And then when I see her, I'm like, oh, I'm so happy to see you and, and, and also at dinner.

You know how you think, oh, I'm so happy with my family right now, or, I'm so happy we're at dinner. This is so fun. And you're thinking it. Say those emotions, say those feelings to them because they're learning language, they're learning emotional, their emotional intelligence is being built up by you and.

And yeah, you need to model. So I'm like, I'm so happy in, in showing them gratitude, you know, and learning how to express their feelings. So that's a big thing I've been working on with her. So, coming back from the trip, I'm gonna say, I'm, I'm not gonna say I missed you. I'm gonna say I'm so happy to see you, or It's so great to be with you, or, I'm having so much fun with you.

Or I'm stop. I'm picking you up from school. Right? Isn't that powerful? She said, I missed you. I was like, yeah, I know. Sometimes we miss people, but you know what? I am so happy to be with you right now. It's okay to miss people, but I'm, but now we're together and I'm so happy to be with you. You nev. You never wanna invalidate their feelings.

You always wanna validate them, but don't, but put the emphasis back on. But we're together now. I got a couple of couple of things on my sleeve. That's why I want this fucking podcast, is a podcast for a mediocre mom. And if you can remember to say, I'm so happy to be with you instead of, I missed you. Most of the time you're the shit, your kid is gonna be okay.

And know what, even if you've said I missed you, that's okay to say too. And that's okay. That's what this is about. It's literally just like learn from each other. You are, we accept, I, I think a village of moms. Yeah. The first moms is the coolest fucking thing ever. And I eventually want to do gatherings.

Yeah. Like, You know, a bunch of listeners we like rented out a place and we just did what Hung had karaoke cuz I fucking, oh my God. Give me karaoke. Any day listeners, we're going somewhere. Thanks for being a part of the mediocre Mom's club. You and your secret late night snack rappers in your nightstand drawer are always welcome.

And don't forget, follow us on Instagram at mediocre Moms Club dot podcast. Leave us a review, subscribe and keep listening on Apple Podcasts or your favorite podcast app. But most importantly, mamas always remember that sometimes. It's okay to just be mediocre.