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EP 56: Back To School
1.4k Plays2 months ago
On this week’s episode the moms discuss all things “back to school”. It is that time of year again and we are hyped. Mostly about shopping for school supplies and cute backpacks but hey, it counts. Candace talks about Alice officially starting school and how she is preparing for the big day. She also talks about the shocking amount of paperwork involved in enrollment, like WTF? Whitney and Candace also discuss their “stereotypes” and “superlatives” from their high school days.
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Transcript
00:00:07
Speaker
Like there's no right way to do it.
00:00:11
Speaker
Oh, we're going to get into it. What a back to school besties. My name is Candace and I'm here with my best friend Whitney and this is a mom group chat podcast. She got a little jingle. You know, that always reminds me of Billy Madison back to school. You know that you're going to hate me. I don't think I've ever seen that movie. What if I just stood up and walked out? Oh, my God. That's shocking. So Candace and I have dabbled with the idea of like, how much do we know about each other episode? And that would have taken me. I mean, I am taken aback by that news. um i Wow. i I don't know what to say. I don't know if it is my brand of humor.
00:01:03
Speaker
I like Adam Sandler a lot. I keep talking about him. I know you talked about him in your like my Q and&A the other day. Okay. I do love, I love Big Daddy. um Not my favorite one, but yeah. Oh, see that's, I mean, and then I like the one of him, which this one's more like romantic comedy, but the one of him with Jennifer Aniston. You're picking the worst ones. Like Billy Madison. See, but that's what I'm saying. i think Happy Gilmore. I've never seen that either. Oh my god. They're so funny. See, but I think that's what I'm saying. I think we have different brands of humor, which like is fine. What's your humor style? I don't know. I'm not super into like the like super silly, like I don't know. like
00:01:57
Speaker
slapstick humor like for example that podcast that you posted in your stories that like workaholics isn't it the workaholics guys yeah i think i tried to listen to it once and i was like this isn't for me like my god i'm obsessed with them like I just I'm I love them. I love workaholics. I think I have like a crude sense of humor. Yeah, I actually think you lean more like you have a sense of humor like a guy. No, that's what I was going to say. I think it's like from my brother. Like I yeah really loved what he loved growing up.
00:02:34
Speaker
And so I kind of like leaned towards whatever he was into, like all the music he liked. Like I liked Limp Bizkit growing up, which was fucking weird back in the day. Like if that is correct. No, I remember being in seventh grade at like an away camp for two weeks and I brought that CD and some girl said I was weird for listening to that because I had it on repeat. It was the only CD I brought with me to so to camp. But I mean, I learned every word. I don't even know. It's like the that um behind. Blue eyes song, whatever refer that. Nobody knows what it's like.
00:03:15
Speaker
Oh, oh, to be a cowboy? and No. Are we thinking of different things? I don't know what you're talking about. Hopefully someone can relate to me out there. But yeah, I think it's so funny. I was literally talking about this with Vinny yesterday after you did your like Q and&A. ah Yeah. I was like, you know, what's so interesting is like Whitney and I are best friends. Okay. Like we couldn't be tighter truly, but we're very different. Like we actually have different, I mean, we have some similar, obviously some similar like likes and dislikes, but we're very different. Like we have different style. We have different senses of humor. Although I think you're fucking hilarious. So clearly, i know I think you're funny, but I think that we're just different. But I think that that's.
00:04:07
Speaker
what makes our friendship like work. And also for this podcast, like I think about like the morning toast and how like people will say, like I'm a Jackie or I'm a Claudia. And it's like, are you a Whitney or are you a Candace? That's what I think. So yeah, it's just interesting to like, I don't know. i When you ask about like what is my brand of humor, I'm like, I think it's like, I don't know. I think it's like niche internet humor that like was on Tumblr. It's kind of like what the shit that I think is so funny. You're like ahead of time for me. Like I remember you liking all that in college and I was like, what is she looking at? Like I i wasn't there yet.
00:04:55
Speaker
Yeah. Or the other thing I was going to say is like, I feel like I have the same humor as like a gay man. Like that is like spot on yeah pop culture, like feminine humor. I don't like you also leaned into your brother. I did. That's what I'm saying. It's so funny that you said you followed your brother. like I have two brothers, but my older brother is so shy and quiet. like Him and I were not close. We were little, but like me and my little brother were like this. and My little brother is gay, for those of you that don't know. so but like Him and I were so tight. and so like I feel like i Like we, I tagged onto what he liked and we did together, you know? Yeah, for me, I think it was like, I was just trying to be cool. And if his friends were around, I was like, Oh yeah, like that's so funny too. And one of my best friends growing up, Emery had three older brothers. So it was like, I was just always around that shit. I remember they used to watch WrestleMania at their house and I was like,
00:05:55
Speaker
Oh, but then I had to pretend like it was cool because they were into it. I was like, yeah, this is so cool. Sick. But yeah, just really leaned into that. So yeah, that's so interesting. Like I saw the funniest video yesterday. And again, like this may not be funny, but it was.
00:06:14
Speaker
Oh, my God, it was making me laugh. It was a video of like a Roomba vacuum. Just in the middle of a busy highway like like back it was like vacuuming going back and forth and Someone had layered it with the song that was like and I'm getting out of California And it was like this rumor and then it was clearly like a snapchat video that had like one of those snapchat Captions on top of it and it was like whose Roomba got out And that shit made me laugh so hard
00:06:46
Speaker
and It was like tapping the cars and turning the other way. Literally, it was. And like there were cars whizzing by it. It was so funny. um but And I think that's why I like TikTok so much, because TikTok is a lot of like niche like internet humor. um But yeah, I don't know. What side of TikTok are you on right now? To be honest, I took a break. um not to get I took a little bit of a break from TikTok recently. I felt like I was... This happens to my TikTok algorithm sometimes. like It's like I watch a video of some tragic thing happening and I watch it maybe more than once and then all I get served is like tragic yeah shit.
00:07:32
Speaker
And sometimes it sends me into an anxiety spiral if you're listening to this and you're pregnant. I'm just going to challenge you to every time you see something negative about pregnancy or something tragic about pregnancy to press the three dots and press like show less content because i I don't know, there was a moment where I was being served like constant, when I was pregnant, I was being served constant, like stillborn god stories, which is like the scariest thing, like when you're pregnant, and I don't know, sorry, not to like bring this to a whole different subject, but
00:08:15
Speaker
And don't get me wrong, those are important to tell, but like I'm looking for like funny videos and I'm looking for lightness. And sometimes TikTok can take a heavy turn. So um I would say what I'm getting the most of right now, i've again, I took a little bit of a break, but I am getting that Charli XCX apple dance. The, I think the apple's brought him right to the core and everyone doing that dance. And I know the whole thing and I've done it all day, every day. Um, I've never seen that. Why? So crazy. Because it's like literally every other video is people dancing to that song in my. album I have that one and it's like paging doctor be in it or whatever. Emergency. Paging and they're like changing outfits and dancing to it. Oh, I've never seen that. I don't know. I keep getting those.
00:09:11
Speaker
It's so weird. I actually love when we're together. We've done this before. Obviously we didn't get to when the kids are here. Cause like, when did we have time to lay on our phones together? But we've done this in the past where we'll scroll through Whitney's TikTok and then we'll like switch and scroll through mine and it's completely different, yeah different shit. But then by the end of the trip, if we scroll, it's like synced. Yeah. Like we'll start being, it's so weird. I don't know. It's like, do do but like amar it's like synced and they will start to show the same videos. And I'm like, wait a second. We were on different sides and now we're on the same page. Now that damn song stuck in my head. Emergency paging Dr. Beat. I bet after this, if I scroll on TikTok today, I'm going to be served that song. Yeah. Cause I said it out loud.
00:10:05
Speaker
correct Well, we are in headphones, so maybe we won't. but I'm talking, well, I'll probably get, yeah. but Anyway. Oh, I see what you're saying. You're probably right. You're probably right. this Everything's listening to us. Okay. We were talking a second ago about like our younger selves and us following like our siblings and stuff, which kind of relates to the question I wanted to ask you today, which is like, when you were, let's say high school, when you were in high school, did you fit into like a specific,
00:10:37
Speaker
stereotype or like box. Like if you were it if it was like the mean girls tables. OK. Like which table would you like? What are the choices here? Like nerd. I need to pull it up like like nerd popular jock. So according to mean girls, it is the ROTC. OK. okay Asian nerds. cool Asians, varsity jocks, unfriendly black hotties.
00:11:12
Speaker
like We're going very scary territory here. careful candy he and like This movie came out in like 2005, so times have changed. um Girls who eat their feelings, that's probably where I would be.
00:11:33
Speaker
ah Girls who don't need anything. Desperate wannabes, burnouts, sexually active band geeks, the greatest people you'll ever meet, which obviously is like, you know. And the worst, which is the plastics. Okay. That's like not exactly what I was going for. Those are the mean girls standards. I was just thinking like, were you athletic or like class clown or like a theater nerd? I feel like I was a lot. um See, that's how I feel too. And I have a theory about this because we both went to smaller schools. Yeah. So you have like more opportunity to like be a part of a lot of things when you go to a smaller school. like I had the opportunity to really like play any sport I wanted to. So I was able to do soccer in the fall. I also did cheerleading. So I like did two sports in the fall. And then in the spring, I did tennis.
00:12:31
Speaker
So I was like very into sports, so I would consider myself jock-ish. But I was also like popular, but I made good grades. I also was class clown for my superlative. Oh, shit. OK, that's a big one. You didn't know that. I didn't know that. Oh, I mean, it totally tracks like you are a class clown. So yeah, I got class clown, which I was very proud of. And um so it was a lot, I think. Oh, OK. That makes sense. um And I feel the same way about mine because I went to I mean, I went to an all girls school.
00:13:14
Speaker
But I feel like we only had 70, we had 76 girls that I graduated with. And I feel like in a smaller school and especially in an all-girls school, like, I don't know, it wasn't like classic high school vibes, like the big public high schools. Like I feel like that's where you get more of like the more categorized like clicks. yeah That just wasn't the case, I feel like, in my high school. I feel like I was friends with everyone, genuinely. um I did theater, so i mean I guess I could fall into like theater nerds. But I also was captain of the cheerleading team, my senior year. So like I did both. I ran track.
00:13:56
Speaker
i um Yeah, I mean, I don't know. I was really involved in this in TLC, which is Teen Leadership Council. So we actually mentored, like the high school girls would get assigned like middle school and elementary school girls that we would like mentor. thats so So I did that a lot. So I don't know. It's funny. Like I don't think I would have fallen into like the class clown. Like I don't think I was as funny. I got funnier in college.
00:14:28
Speaker
When I found Tumblr. No, I'm just kidding. When you found alcohol. Yeah, when I found... I don't know. I definitely wasn't... I don't think I was like super funny in high school. I mean, I would... I don't know. I've always been yeah so unserious. Like that just... It reminds me of... Have you seen the movie Inside Out? Yeah. Okay. It reminds me of like you have a goofball island. Yeah. You know, like that's one of your core... Like if you were to label the islands of your personality, like you have a goofball island. Yeah, so true, which I love. I love it. It's it's like top three reasons I love you, you know. Yeah, I feel like that's so funny. I we also had I was in show choir in high school, but it was like cool to be in show choir because every other year they traveled somewhere like we
00:15:22
Speaker
We went to New York one year and we got to perform in New York as like a group. Yeah. And then we got to perform in SeaWorld like one year. You were so close to me. RIP Tillicom like. What a guy, for real. I have such mixed feelings about, not to like totally change the subject here, I have such mixed feelings about SeaWorld. Everyone says that it is so great for kids. There's a whole Sesame Street land and like they say it's like one of the best theme parks to take little ones, like really little ones.
00:15:55
Speaker
But I know politically. I know. I know. That's how I feel. I'm like, I didn't know back then when I performed there the distress that the whales were in. So it's like, man, I am so sorry for supporting that. But like it was one of the best roller coasters I've ever been on. I'm not going to lie. um And i I need if you've been to SeaWorld recently, I need you to message me and just tell me if it's good or not. I've heard it's great. It's like that is a core memory. I like. really remember this is when the song Glamorous came out and my whole class was on the roller coaster. And as we were climbing, we were all like G L A M like singing up.
00:16:38
Speaker
the roller coaster. It's like a core memory. It was so fun. First of all, I love that song. I was obsessed. I actually saw a meme recently that made me laugh, and it was like, will anything be fergalicious ever again?
00:16:53
Speaker
And I'm like, really? That's how I feel. Poor Fergie took a nosedive after. I know. Yeah. And then her doing those weird ass one hand stand twirls on stage of like, Good Morning America. Like, what was that? Are you OK?
00:17:09
Speaker
No, she's not okay. That was crazy, man. Someone needs to check on Fergie, honestly. And she was married to Josh? Is she still married to Josh? No. Wow. Well, that's probably what happened. He was cute. Back in the day. I don't know if he still is. What's he doing? What? What's Josh doing? Josh Dunna? Oh, I have no idea. What's his name? Josh Dumel? Dumel, that's a... Yeah. I got water at Starbucks today. Like I stopped and got myself a little coffee treat and I got a venti cup of water to pour into my like ice water to pour into my Stanley. I was going to say funny back to like the school thing. I feel like something I've always admired about you is kind of like what you said with the leadership stuff. Like I'm always like fine like chilling on the sidelines like
00:18:04
Speaker
doing whatever bare minimum but you have always been such a leader and you inspired me in college to like join our council at at theta where we were in a sorority get together like i that just like never would have crossed my mind but like candace has always been such a go-getter her whole life that it was like i want to do that too like that seems like something that would like possibly further my career and call it or after college and all that so it's like you were always you were always thinking ahead. So I always thought that was really cool about you. Yeah. I've always been, um, I think it goes back to my childhood and being like the only girl in my, like the old, you know, that like, have you ever seen that like oldest daughter theory?
00:18:51
Speaker
Oh, yeah. Like, yeah, that's I feel like I fall into that, even though my like, like I said, I have an older brother, but he was kind of shy and super laid back. Like I was definitely like calling the shots at home. I feel like I tend to like when I make friends, I make friends that are like you. the ones that are like going to make decisions, be the one that invites me over because I'm always like the yes person. I'm like, yeah, I'm going to come over. Yeah, I'll do that. like So it's just easy for me to fall under. I'm just a follower. That's plain and simple. um But I just tend to gravitate towards like
00:19:31
Speaker
people I aspire to be like, I guess, in a way. Yeah. Yeah. Well, it's probably one of the reasons like our friendship works so well is because like you're cool letting me like take the lead a little bit, but there's also things you take the lead on too. So I don't know. It kind of, I feel like we are a good balance, yeah but growing up, I definitely, and in college especially, I feel like I I just liked to challenge myself and like step into roles of like responsibility, I guess. Yes, you were very responsible. You've you always have been. But it's so funny. Like I know the other side of you that lets loose and it's just like.
00:20:12
Speaker
who we get in the day. One of these things is not like the other. It's my favorite. Listen, I know how to have fun. I know how to be responsible, but I also know how to have fun. I was going to say that's why we liked each other so much. like we We're on like the same level of like partying. Yeah. like We know how to have a good time together. Yeah. yeah Um, though that those that, uh, the years of us serving on exec board together at in data are like some of my fondest years. I know we got to go to convention in Arizona, which was so cool. We got to see all the other exec members across the country like, yeah.
00:21:02
Speaker
That was so cool. I think about I think about that trip so often. I feel like it was one of my first times like flying like by myself across the country like in and really having to like have a presence in like this room with thousands of girls. Like I don't know. It was and we were the life of the party. Do you remember? Yeah. Didn't we get in trouble? Like our lead, yeah, our lead, our person that took us, who was like a chaperone per se, got in trouble for drinking so much. Oh, oh, oh, she got in trouble. We didn't get in trouble. No, yeah, we didn't get in trouble, but it was like our person, our chaperone did because she had just graduated college. So she was still like, what, 23?
00:21:49
Speaker
ah Yeah, she was still like party party like yeah, I'll fucking chaperone a theta trip. I think she was drinking at the pool or something. That I don't blame her. I do not blame her. I don't blame her. I look um kind of annoying. She got in trouble. Fuck off. Yeah. Yeah, for real. Yeah. That trip was so fun. That hotel was so nice. Do you remember? Yeah, it was so nice. cool Everything was paid for. Yeah. Damn. That was a dream. I saw my first scorpion. Oh, oh yeah. Oh yeah, in your room or something. Yeah, I was in my bathtub. Yes. And I had to call them to be like, I called down to the front desk like, what do I do? I'm from Florida. SLS. Yeah, I mean, that was just the beginning and then serving on exec like Candice, I mean, was working day and night for the new pledge class and I was over marketing. So planning all the parties. I do remember though, like we were
00:22:49
Speaker
responsible for any date parties. Like, remember, like they had to choose people to that couldn't drink and you had to stay like the latest at the party in case girls were like sick or whatever. And I remember being so mad about that. Yeah. remember that Yeah. They had like set a brand new rule. Right. When we had started, I'm pretty sure. And they were trying to be really strict about the exec board, like setting an example and like whatever. And also, and then on top of that, like they wanted all of us to stay pretty sober for everything. And then, which like, okay, guys, like this is the sound. I feel like we're sounding like we had a drinking problem or something. We just like, this was college. Okay. We were 22. Okay. Like we went, we went to an SEC college. Like, I don't know. You know what you want me to say, but I remember I was such a little dick, but I, we had juniors and seniors on the exec team.
00:23:47
Speaker
And I looked at the juniors and said, this is my senior year. I'm going to do what I want. These are my last date parties. And they were like, I was like, I will do the bare minimum. I will do one party sober. Like I'm going to enjoy the rest. Yeah. Okay. See, this is what is so unique about you because earlier you said you were a follower, but like that to me doesn't. accurately describe you because you're not afraid to like be firm on what you want or your like boundaries with things. You're not. that like i've yeah I feel like a lot of the time follower is equal to like people pleaser and that is not you.
00:24:28
Speaker
like If there's one thing about Whitney, like she's gonna do what she wants to do. And like if she wants to leave, no it's not, it's not. It's actually so healthy. But like if she wants to leave at a certain time, she's gonna leave. And like it if you're not going, she doesn't care, she's gonna go. And like you know what I mean? it's i So it's interesting, like you're a very interesting, I've actually, what's your sign, Scorpio? I would love, I'm such a, I mean, not that I'm like super into horoscopes, but I think they are interesting. And we really need to have someone on here to read our birth charts. Like I want to know how we fit together. It's funny because someone just sent me, my friend Parker sent me something yesterday and it was like, it, like according to your sign, what is this other sign you hate the most? And mine is Aries and Alice is an Aries.
00:25:22
Speaker
Like according to the signs, we are the ones that like butt heads the most. So I'm like, oh, okay, cool. But anyways, I don't know. i'd be I'd be interested to see all of your things because you're and you're like an interesting mix of like things. I feel like um it's a stubborn quality that I have. And I think I got that from my father. um I definitely, if it, I don't know how to describe it. It's almost like a selfish, stubborn thing. Like I wasn't going to a let, like ah have them affect my fun. Yeah. and But I remember being like, oh damn, she is setting it. And I was like, what's she said? I'm going to go with what she said.
00:26:11
Speaker
Um, but yeah, they like, I think they ended up bending and being like, you have to do it for one party. Like, yeah, one or two. And we were like, we're not doing that. Yeah. And we still drink probably like just not as much for that party. Yeah. And also like, it's our senior year. Like, yeah, we're never going to be able to be at these parties ever again. Like, Oh college. What a fun time. What a good time. Speaking of college. I know we dive into like what our topic is today. Yeah. So it is when this episode is coming out, it's probably like beginning of August. And I know school starts different times across the country, but here in Florida, like school starts August 5th, like for Alice or whatever, like that first week of August.
00:27:02
Speaker
So we thought we'd do a little like back to school episode, talk a little bit about like this back to school time and like prepping for school and how to like maybe some tools of like how to get organized. And also just talk a little bit about like the mental load of preparing for your kid to go to school or daycare. I know we say school, but really this goes for like daycare too. um Like I know you call daycare school and like so do I like this is It is. Yeah. I want to know how you're feeling about Alice like.
00:27:39
Speaker
actually going to a school. She's been at home with your mom or with you. like How are you feeling about it? Honestly, like I couldn't be more excited. like yeah And not even that I like want to get rid of her or something, but I know that she is so ready for it. And she's ready for like the challenge. She's ready for friends. And i I think I've talked, or a couple episodes we talked about her, she went to like a little summer camp program at the school that she is going to. and literally is obsessed with it. Like she still talks about it and she asked to go to school. So I'm so excited for her to start in August and to like have a more regular schedule also to like give my mom.
00:28:24
Speaker
you know a break there. Yeah and now she'll just have Evie. Give her some time to breathe. um I just think it's gonna be so good for everyone involved. Good for me, good for Alice, good for my mom, good for Evie to have some like focused one-on-one time to like work on developmental things. There are so many things I did with Alice that I just haven't had time to do with Evie so It'll be nice to like make room for some of that. You know, the good thing is, is like they still learn and they are learning from Alice, you know, like Margo is learning so quick just because of grading and I'm like, nah. So does this school like is this going to be like from now till she goes to like pre-K? So it's year to year. They do have a um they go until kindergarten, technically.
00:29:15
Speaker
touchy on like what our plan is. I feel like we're gonna fall in love with this school cause we only only did two weeks of a summer program and I'm already loving it. So I feel like we could stay here through kindergarten and then move her. um Some of the schools that like go all the way through elementary, like they do have a pre-K three program. So there is a chance that she could do like we could move schools and she would start the following year when she's three like at a different school.
00:29:52
Speaker
So I don't know. We'll say, but like from here on out, our plan is to have her in some sort of program until she like starts full day school for sure. But this is like a whole year you have signed up already. Yep. ah Gotcha. Gotcha. it it It is like full school year calendar. So it starts in August. It will end in May and then they will, they will have a little summer program again. Oh, cool. But yeah. So this is kind of more like a school versus daycare, I'd say. Okay. yeah You can call it school. I call Graydon school just because like they teach them stuff. I don't know. Whenever I think of just daycare, it's like playing, but they're like learning. Graydon's in like a potty training class. He's potty trained. I'm just like, this is amazing. Like yeah the things that they are doing at this daycare slash school. but
00:30:38
Speaker
Yeah, I was so shocked though, like, okay, so we got the spot, they like let us know. And then they sent over like all of the paperwork we needed to fill out in order to like, secure our spot. And I was shocked. I don't know it's a lot i it's a lot like first of all they sent over like the parent handbook for the school which was like 60 pages long wow and it was so long it had ah all these rules it had like basically a whole explanation of like the curriculum and like their
00:31:13
Speaker
ideals around learning and which all of that's so interesting to be honest I have not dive that far into it I need to in the next couple of days but it was like all the medical records and then it was like all of these in-depth forms about Alice and it had questions that like I just don't have answers yet like it was like What is your, or what subjects do you foresee your child thriving in and what subjects do you foresee them needing more assistance in? And like, like all these questions that were kind of in depth. I'm like, I don't know. She's never been to school before. So like, I don't fucking know. I, I mean, as her mom, I think she's going to be great at everything, but like, I don't know. I just felt like some of the questions I'm like, I can't even answer this.
00:32:02
Speaker
No, it's overwhelming. I got the paperwork for Margo to start daycare and I didn't fill it out for a month because I was so overwhelmed by it. It was like yeah asking kind of the same questions. I'm like, she's seven months old and like asking for like your emergency contacts driver's license number. I'm like, good Lord, like I'm having to really work here to find all this information, so. For sure. And then like medical records, vaccination records, like all of that stuff, like I had to call the doctor and the whole time, of course, this is what I always think whenever there's like admin life stuff, I'm like, then he would never, like he would never, he would look, he would take one glance at this paperwork and say,
00:32:46
Speaker
Do you know what her birthday is? Like, okay. He would probably know her birthday, but you know what I mean? Like he would just never, he would never be able to fill that out. He would instantly hand it to me to do. And like, that's fine. I do like doing that stuff, I guess, in a way. Like that's a lot of, I mean, like I was an executive assistant for, I still am for a lot of people. I do admin shit all day long. But it was just a lot a lot of paperwork. I'm not going to lie. Yeah, I know. That's tough. But now that it's filled out, I cannot believe she like starts in like less than a month. I know. What are all the things that you're getting for her, like back to school shopping? That's the frickin best part.
00:33:32
Speaker
I know. So I definitely need to do, so um here in Florida, like the last, I think it's the last week of July is like, or the first week of August, whatever that is, I think it's the last week of July is tax free week. So anything that you buy for school is tax free. So I will probably do most of her like back to school shopping then. They did send over a full like school supply list that I need to get to like provide them on the first day so I honestly need to take a look at that to like see what's on it because I haven't really I did already purchase um like labels for all of her stuff and I got these from inchbug I think yeah they are
00:34:14
Speaker
so good like they have I've washed the clothes that I already do have them on like wash them multiple times they don't come off this is I need to buy that oh my god they're the best um they this has been through the dishwasher like hundreds of times and hasn't moved like And they're cute. You can like choose the different designs and the font. um I probably will do a whole nother order set of those, because I need some new ones. But I'm so ghetto. I wrote everything in Sharpie on Graydon's shirt. That's OK. To be honest, the only reason I bought them is because I saw I got a targeted ad that they were on sale. So I bought them when they were like 20 percent off.
00:34:57
Speaker
um And I think they have sales all the time. So I would maybe keep an eye on it. I definitely need them. I mean, my God, everything's just. All caps grade in and not on everything. Oh, but yeah. And they're very those are very cute. I like those. Yeah. And then I'm obsessed with this water. We as you. Graydon has the same on this water cup from Target. A modern one. I ordered it on on Amazon, but Graydon's is from Target. He has a space one and a dinosaur one.
00:35:33
Speaker
Yeah, I need to order a second one because this is the sprinkle one and it's already seen better days. It's the 14 ounce. Yeah, we have three. Yeah, I need that honestly. um And then I don't know like daycare clothes really like shit that I don't mind if it gets dirty or ruined. yeah Like I, I'm not really like I'm going to be most of her clothes are from Amazon target or old Navy to be honest like I'm not really like she for special occasions of course I'll like buy her something nicer but for the most part all of her clothes like I don't really care if they get ruined. Yeah.
00:36:12
Speaker
um But i I definitely need to do another, like, haul of shorts and t-shirts and, you know, easy yeah stuff. Yeah, that's exactly what we do, too. And Margot's just still going to school in her Target pajamas and stuff. And then like some days I'll put her in other things. But really, that's not hard. We did. I did buy Graydon and Margot backpacks because I have to take their sheets and sleep sack to school every Monday and bring it home every Friday to wash. So I got them both little backpacks, which was so fun. Have you Q, where did you get them?
00:36:52
Speaker
Um, one I ordered for Graydon has his initials on it. It was from like Bay Bala or something. And then okay mar goes I got from the store patch Nashville. Oh, cute. Who I talk about a lot, but it's like a little floral backpack. And then I ordered her a key chain that has her name on it. from etsy So I just like pin that on there. And then have you seen, okay, this is like the Lisa Frank of today. Have you seen state, the brand state backpacks? No, they are so fricking cute. Like all my friends that have like kindergartners, they're all buying um these backpacks and they are so, I want one. They're expensive as shit. They're like $95.
00:37:37
Speaker
Yeah, they're expensive. um You've got to see them. They are so cute. I was like, oh, my God, I love them. Alice, I did buy and a backpack for Alice when um Actually, technically I bought it for when we went to Europe because I was like, she needs her own bag, her own carry on with her own snacks and shit. So I actually do like it, but it is cheap. Like it's from Amazon. And don't get me wrong. It did the job. It survived. It survived Europe. It survived camp. But I know it wouldn't survive the rest of the school year. Like it's cheap. um It's cute. It's like multicolored, like cute. Yes, yes, yes.
00:38:19
Speaker
It's cheap. So I need to invest in a better backpack for her. Oh, i'm gonna so I actually just pulled it up. I'm going to send you what this looks like. But they are so cute. And now that I've been like talking to my friends that have kindergartners, they said that now you don't buy school supplies. You order them with the school and they're already there. like You don't go back to school shopping for school supplies. Oh, shit. Oh, yeah, that's a really cute. They have all kinds of designs, but I was like, oh, oh, man. Oh, it's metallic. That's really cute. Oh, they I mean. Everything's cute. I'm telling you, they're kind of big, though. Well, they have minis. Oh, OK, OK. I was going to say, I'm like, that one looks like that is too big for Alice to carry.
00:39:13
Speaker
Yeah, they have minis, but I'm really cute. But yeah, and that weird like, oh, yeah. Oh, wait, this Daisy one. I know. OK. Oh, I like the hearts. OK. You are me. You are me. A strawberry you are me ah few days ago when I discovered it and I was like. Oh, no, I need to find this. I think I need to find this Daisy one in a mini version because I see that or at least this website only has the big one, I think. Yeah, you need to go to the website. But I'm obsessed. I'll be doing that later.
00:39:54
Speaker
um Wow. Yeah. um What else? I mean. At least for for us, we're not ordering, or at least they haven't done that here. Like they sent us a list of shit we need to buy. We also have, they sent around. This part did make me super excited. They sent out the whole year's school calendar and it was so exciting. like They have like a Christmas program and like ah yeah like they have you know donuts with dad and Valentine's with mom and like all these really cute holiday things um and like ah meet the teacher orientation. like It really feels like school.
00:40:37
Speaker
And I'm really excited to think about like dressing her up like a lamb for something for a Christmas Whenever you and were like in elementary or middle school, did y'all do Christmas programs? Oh, yeah. I went to a Catholic school, so mother yeah. Mother Mary over here. yeah Yeah, I was never chosen for a Mother Mary.
00:41:04
Speaker
I wasn't holy enough. so That's funny. I love the frickin Christmas program. It was so cute. And I remember, okay, actually I had this thought recently and I was going to make a tick tock about it, but I just haven't like put my thoughts into a video form. I think all the time, and I wanna know if you felt the same way, my parents were always fucking scrambling to find different like costume things or even I think about like school projects where we had to like create a safari scene and they were always like like, I have vivid memories of them driving around to different Walmarts and craft stores and like whatever to find safari figurines or like we needed
00:41:49
Speaker
play Moss for this like whatever or we needed an all-white sweatsuit so I could be a lamb in the you know and I think about the world today and how much is accessible on Amazon and how I could have all of that shit in a day yeah like that is so crazy like that our parents existed without Amazon Dude, we're sitting pretty as parents with that shit. It's crazy. And all the ideas that we can get, they only had encyclopedias. They had to get creative there. It's so true. And also, I know for a fact,
00:42:29
Speaker
Cause I lived it. Like my, both my parents worked full time. Like and my mom was stressed about school projects or helping with homework or whatever. Cause like, and now that I'm an adult and a mom, myself, like I think about having to get off of the work. I mean, at least I work for um home and for myself, like to get off work from a stressful day and then come home and have your. seven-year-old tell you, I have to build a possum riding a motorcycle by tomorrow. And like, I'm sorry, what am I supposed to do with that? I...
00:43:06
Speaker
I was like, yeah, what the hell are you learning about in Florida? No, I remember. I'm just kidding. I mean, this isn't high school, so it's a little bit later. But did you guys have anything for like, there was something like mold day or something like mold. We did not have mold. Is that your state animal? No, I think it had something to do with chemistry. I don't know. What's your state animal? Do you know? I have no idea. Ours is an opossum. Oh, stay in Florida. Gorgeous. Hold on, I'm Googling. I'm going to guess. Oh, it's the Florida panther. That makes sense. Oh, wait, what did you say? What? I was going to guess a crocodile. Oh, that's what I if you before I saw that, if I if you would say guess, I would have said an alligator or a crocodile. We have the opossum and in Rhode Island, it was a rooster.
00:44:06
Speaker
oh weird, right? Wow, that's interesting. Yeah, I don't know. I feel like. Well, I just feel like Rhode Island would be like a whale or a clam or is a clam, an animal. I don't know. lam um I don't know why it's that I couldn't tell you. Well. Interesting the more you know But yeah, I don't know I just think ah about how stressed my mom must have been because like she Definitely and I love you mom so much. This is nothing against you, but she was not like clued in To what was going on at my school? Like she was not my mom is kind of shy and like she was not a class mom like she's just not that type and she
00:44:52
Speaker
I feel like was surprised constantly like all the shit that was going on. I'm sure two boys, they probably were like, oh, this is due tomorrow and she was probably like frickin a dude. Yeah. Yeah. So my mom was a stay at home mom. So I really don't remember like. rushing around like I the only like project I specifically remember was in like elementary school when you do like the shoe box and you build a scene and mine was an ocean scene and I put toothpaste all on the bottom and then put like
00:45:24
Speaker
clear saran wrap over it to make it look like the ocean and I just remember that randomly but I don't know. Okay see that's what I need to know like are they still doing that in schools these days? I don't know. I feel like I don't see that on and I know Ashley, my sister has older boys, they're eight. And I know that they've had to stand up and they've created like the three pronged foam boards where you're they're presenting on like a state. um And you learn about that specific state, but I don't know. I don't know beyond that. I don't and know. I think you do that as you get a little older.
00:46:03
Speaker
Yeah. I mean, they're in second grade, so they're not going too hard. Are you nervous about helping with homework? I don't want to. Yeah. I feel like, I feel like Chris is going to want to know Chris is so academic. He has already made it, made it known that he is like a little nervous because he was very strict about school. That's just his personality. Like he loved, loved school and I don't. And he's like, I'm so scared. Our kids are going to be like you. And I was like, you're going to have to relax. Like, yeah.
00:46:37
Speaker
yeah um If they are, like, you can't go down their throat about it. Like, he's just, I don't know, ah very nervous about school. Yeah. Vinny was probably, I don't know, Vinny's smart, but he's definitely got some ADD or something. So i I don't know. He wasn't, like, Vinny rode the wave of swimming. Literally and figuratively. So I, I don't know, but he's also, Vinny is a math guy and I am a writing girl. Like I like English and writing and he likes math. So hopefully, but I just am not looking forward to helping with homework. I don't think I have, I'm going to be good at it. I don't, it's going to be hard. I don't like homework. I never have. I don't like it. I don't like bringing home shit.
00:47:29
Speaker
Yeah. So I'm like, um, I don't want to do it either. I'm going to put it off.
00:47:37
Speaker
it's Yeah. If it's an art project, I'm in. Yeah. I'm kind of hoping that my kids are like, my mom has always said like, I was the kid that she didn't have to worry about. I kind of figured it out. I always like did pretty well. like i never she was like I don't really remember my mom really helping me with homework. I don't either. on it I think my mom was tapped out by the time I came around. She's like, I can't do this anymore. but She's like, it's been 10 years. I think Ashley and Hunter had to go to tutoring. I remember like picking them up from tutoring. like They had to go to like an off-site tutoring center. And I never had tutoring. like I always like could carry myself like you you like you said. yeah I didn't need extra help. Yeah.
00:48:27
Speaker
i'm I'm kind of hoping that my girls are like that to where like they're going to figure it out. They're smart. And we'll see. I mean, I'm hoping with like Chris in their DNA, they'll be fine. But like I also know my family and I'm like, I don't know.
00:48:44
Speaker
It's like literally 50 50. It could go either way. So that's so funny. I do get excited about the school years. Like I think that I don't know it's interesting because we kind of talked about this on our episode with the dads like you were saying I never or like maybe it was Chris saying like I never thought about the baby years I only thought about like the older kid years and I feel like I'm the opposite I only have thought about the baby times but whenever I do think about the school years I'm like oh that is gonna be such a different
00:49:18
Speaker
Like time, like I feel like. Far away, like, yeah, um I'm never going to get there almost like I'm so in baby mode toddler mode. It's like I don't know anything else. It's just always chaos, always chaotic around here. And I'm like, oh, my God, both of them in school sounds crazy to me. Yeah, that is going to be I mean, don't you feel like there will be some relief there? Like, I don't know. i I mean, when I think about that time, I, to be honest, I think about it being more peaceful than this current time. well Yeah. Yeah. That's it's like what you said when you were at the pool and the parents that are sitting there enjoying their cocktails and able to like have conversation while the kids are playing. It's like, that's that age. Yeah. They're in school and you're like,
00:50:07
Speaker
Everyone's relaxed. No one's needing you as much. And then I'm like, am I going to be sad? Like you've been needed for so long. Like, and then all of a sudden you're not. And it's like. what am I doing? All my life has been like focused on these two little kids and now like what, what am I gonna do? So. Yeah. It's, uh, yeah, I don't know. Now that I think about it more, there's also really scary parts about like that age, like dealing with friends and like friendships and like fitting in. And I don't know that that part is so scary to me. Like I feel like your friends can really like,
00:50:47
Speaker
determine so much of who you are. And, like, I don't know. It's scary. It's scarier for Margo, I'd say. Like, I'm not worried about Graydon. Like, he he's fine. He'll figure it out. He's a boy. But, like, I have, like, a different sense of worry. Like, I'm a little more protective over Margo for some reason. See, that's so interesting. i Well, I don't know. I don't know. I worry about I would worry about both. But my older brother had a lot of issues in school. Like he was really bullied. Like I remember my mom at this. I don't know if I should cut this out. cause This is like kind of personal. But I remember my mom having to go and pick him up from like
00:51:34
Speaker
like a kid's birthday party because these boys were like making fun of him and taunting him and they had stolen some of his like Pokemon cards or something. Oh, it was like fuck no. It was like bad. And this kid. Oh, my God, what was his name? Rascal. No, it was it was like a shitty boy name. It was like a cult. Just kidding. That's your last name. It was like, oh, what was it? fuck, it'll come to me. But anyways, like this, this kid was like taunting my brother and like over and over. So I feel like my thoughts are like, but I never dealt with anything like that in school, but I was super outgoing. So it's like, if I have a child that's like more shy or whatever, like, I feel like that's when I'll be nervous.
00:52:25
Speaker
See, maybe that's why I'm not nervous about Green. He's not shy. Same, I'm not nervous about Alice. like She's not shy about anything. I just hope he's not the bully. like Yeah, no, that is not. We can't tolerate that. No, because I mean, Chris and I are both not. like I feel like we are a very happy household. So it's like, where the frick would you learn that? I don't know. Yeah. Just who you're surrounding yourself around. So I'm really hoping that that just like doesn't happen. um yeah I wouldn't know what to do with it. I'd be like, we don't act like that. What the hell? No, Vinny and I have always like been so aligned on like if we want our kids to be one thing, it is kind. We want to raise super kind individuals that are like empathetic and understanding and friendly.
00:53:12
Speaker
like Well, you can already tell that's like instilled in Alice. She's so yeah sweet. She's a s sweetie. I actually get upset when we like we were at the pool the other day and there was two little girls and Alice just walked right up to him and said hi. And the little girls didn't say anything. They didn't respond. They didn't say hi. And I, which is like, it's fine. I guess like they were, maybe they are shy, but I just don't ever want out that like outgoingness or light to be like dimmed in Alice because kids didn't like say hi back, you know? Like I want her to always say hi to people and like not be like, oh.
00:53:53
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, I think this is like really getting into the hard part of navigating as a parent. Like I can always tell if Graydon's going to mesh with someone or not because he's just like, I don't know, he'll he'll go up like his way to say hi is growling or like roaring at a kid. And I'm always like, how's this kid going to respond? And a lot of kids turn away like they're scared of him. But then some of them like you say matched his freak like Alice was totally fine with him growling and roaring but likes a lot of kids like I've been to a birthday party where a little boy like ran away and the dad looked at me like Don't let your kid come near my kid again. And I was just like yeah, it was so embarrassing and I was just like hurry great and like this way like not everyone likes that, you know and I It's just really been that's been kind of hard to navigate my god I'm so sorry that that dad made you feel that way. Yeah, he gave me a look like fuck off like god
00:54:57
Speaker
his like ah Like I'm not pointing fingers fingers, but he seemed like a little sensitive, Sally. Yeah. Like honestly, so yeah, but it's hard. I think navigating that is hard as a parent because like you don't want to change your kid to fit into every like. like It's fine if your kid is not gonna mesh with everyone. like i think um But as parents, like I wish that that dad didn't make you feel judged for it. like yeah like There have definitely been moments where kids have done things to Alice that maybe I'm like, oh she didn't love that or like whatever. But I feel like I always try to look at the parent and be like, like you're cool, like everyone's different, like it's fine.
00:55:43
Speaker
And I think we've talked about doing an an episode kind of just on like feeling judged as a pair. I think we should because there's so much there that we could talk about. But I hate that that he made you feel that way. And like the fact that you you feel like you have to say sorry all the time. Yeah. like I don't know. Anyway. Did we really talk about back to school stuff much? I don't know. I mean, yeah, we did. I think even like the early conversation was like back to school coded. Yeah. Is there anything you need to do or I mean, your kids are kind of like already in. They're just in a continuous loop. I would just say like the things that I prepare every day like.
00:56:23
Speaker
right now I'm having to take a lunchbox to school for Margo because she's still in the infant class so I have to take bottles. So we have like a little lunchbox for her as well with some snacks and stuff in there and then her backpack but ah other than that it's just um same old same old for them. I'm going to get those inch bug things though because they're so cute and Yeah, love those. I will say just some quick things. Even just the couple weeks that she was in summer camp over the summer, here's what I learned. That prepping for the week on Sunday is life changing. And I picked out every outfit for her on Sunday. And I literally set them in stacks in a separate drawer of like, here's what she's wearing for the week. That way in the mornings, like I didn't have to think about it.
00:57:12
Speaker
I really grabbed like quick breakfast items like muffins or yep like pre-sliced fruit, that sort of thing so that we could have like a more chill morning. Like I would just have breakfast waiting for her when she woke up. um And just like prepping things the night before, like pack their lunch the night before, fill the water bottles, put them in the fridge the night before. Like that stuff is going to make your morning so much more peaceful and You're so right. It is so helpful to do all that. Yeah. Um, and then also this is like, was a new a new year's resolution of mine and I have not been great about it, but is to go to bed with a clean kitchen. It's to wake up and prep for school with a clean kitchen is so game changing. I'm really bad about that. If I cook, sometimes I just, I'm like, Oh, I'll do the dishes in the morning.
00:58:04
Speaker
we And I always regret it. We were really good about cleaning our kitchen when we had a nanny because I felt like I didn't want her to walk into her office, quote unquote, in a mess. So ever since daycare, we've kind of just been really lax about cleaning and I hate it. Cause I'm home all the time. So I know good reminder. We should be better at that. We were doing really great, but fell off. So it's hard. No, I mean, same. Like I said, that was a New Year's resolution and it's been in and out, honestly, in and out.
00:58:39
Speaker
Well, I enjoyed this talk, actually. Me too. It was fun. Yeah, I felt I felt like we were unprepared, but it actually has been. We've had a lot to talk about. Sometimes I feel like when we're unprepared, or we do our best, our best work. Yeah, exactly. just All right, well, um I hope everyone has an amazing back-to-school time. If you have any recommendations of things that have made your back-to-school time easier or things you've loved, send us a DM, let us know. Or share in the, maybe we'll do a back-to-school thread in our Facebook group and be like, yeah share some back-to-school things that you've loved. And show me your backpacks, because I love that part. Yeah, exactly. And I'm going to go order that Daisy State backpack.
00:59:26
Speaker
All right. Well, I love you. All right. Love you. Bye. Thank you so much for being a part of our mom group chat. New episodes drop every Tuesday. And don't forget, the group chat is blowing up on our Instagram page. So make sure you're following along over there. All right. Got to go. My toddler just put something in her mouth.