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Fake Trees, Real Stress, and a Wine Lover’s Guide to Parenting with Author Danielle Frank
30 Plays1 day ago
Finals week has officially hit, tensions are high, and the holidays are in full swing. This week, the sisters cover it all—from stressed-out kids and moody households to the eternal debate over real vs. fake Christmas trees (Lynne has very strong feelings and zero regrets).
Kathy shares the story behind her family’s legendary peanut brittle (yes, it’s better than See’s), Nancy admits her black-thumb struggles while marveling at Kathy’s green one, and we break down the hits and total misses of Elf on the Shelf.
We’re also joined by Danielle Frank, author of A Wine Lover’s Guide to Parenting, for a smart, funny conversation about managing wine, parenting chaos, and expectations during the busiest season of the year.
Plus: what’s for dinner (Nancy’s MacGyver Chicken Taco Burritos), a birthday jingle for Lynne’s final year in her 50s, and the kind of real-life holiday talk every parent needs right now.
Head to threelilfishes.com/shownotes and sign in for the recipes, and the links.
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Transcript
Humorous Parenting Advice with Wine Parallels
00:00:00
Speaker
Well, you know, how did you come up with these parenting guidelines? I was watching my niece and nephew when they were younger. And, you know, as most kids do, they were whining about something. And I said, ah ah aunt Edie drinks wine. She doesn't listen to wine. And that's when sort of the first aha moment came up to me. I was like, oh, you know what? Wine, wine. And then I started thinking more and more about the parallels, right? Like, you know, fermenting the process of fermenting, which I'll read a chapter.
00:00:30
Speaker
At some point, because that's one of my favorite chapters is you don't want your kids to ferment. Fermenting is when you turn from sugar to alcohol. So when you think of sugar, it's sweet to alcohol is sort of harsh that's about teaching your kids manners. You don't want them to be harsh and biting. um So then I just started to, you know, think more and more about these wine parallels and have fun with it and lean into it.
Introduction to 'Three Little Fishes' Podcast
00:00:51
Speaker
Welcome to Three Little Fishes. We're three sisters who grew up in the Midwest together, but have since spread across the country. i live in Los Angeles. I'm in Nashville. And I live in Philadelphia. We are all married with children, have all had careers, but now we stay at home with our families. Join us as we share secrets and stories about being women, wives, and mothers. We welcome you to laugh along, learn something new, reach out, and join our conversation.
00:01:22
Speaker
So let's jump in. What's up, fishes? What's up, fishes? You guys, I'm back. My voice is stronger today. you sound good. I'm feeling human. I'm glad you're back, Nance. Yeah, that's good.
Nance's Pneumonia Recovery Story
00:01:37
Speaker
I ended up in the doctor's office over the weekend um with pneumonia, but a little antibiotics and I'm good to go Kathy, I'm like you, I'm like puffing on an inhaler.
00:01:51
Speaker
you know, I'm sorry. Inhalers are the worst. um How's everybody doing? least you're doing good. um Yeah, we're good here. All of our kiddos are home from school, so our house is buzzing. We're getting ready for company, doing all the things, getting ready. The big holiday. Same. I've been cleaning like a fool.
00:02:13
Speaker
My middle's home, so he's good. Happy to have him. He actually made some peanut brittle last night and burnt it I was like, what is that smell in the kitchen? I love that Trevor loves peanut brittle so much that he like makes it on his own. I mean, I think peanut brittle is kind of hard. It's tricky because you have get temperature just right.
00:02:35
Speaker
Yes. Our stove is hot. I say, Trevor, you can't put this on high. Yeah. Yeah. It takes a little bit of practice. they were cute. Honestly, they were cute. my other My youngest was helping him and they had the Christmas music going and I was like, there's like a lot of cheer happening down here. It was awesome.
00:02:57
Speaker
So Kathy, I love that he loves that Trevor loves to make peanut brittle and I feel like I only eat our peanut brittle. So the Koontz is peanut brittle.
00:03:08
Speaker
I think it is special. Like I... like love it like Trevor. I have a problem with it. I could have it all year long and I'd be happy, but it is, you know, cumbersome to make. So I get why Trevor burnt it. Cause it is a little technique sensitive, but I actually think it's better than See's Candy, which is like a California based company. yeah Yeah. Yeah. Peter used to always bring that home. Like that was his family's
00:03:38
Speaker
like treat when his dad used to work in California, he'd bring it home to the family. And so now Cease has kind of expanded and you can get it anywhere in the States. But yeah I think ours is better than theirs.
00:03:51
Speaker
Yeah, I agree. I'm not sure exactly. It's not that complicated a recipe. um and I'm not sure what makes it so special, but it is actually incredibly
Special Peanut Brittle Recipe Invitation
00:04:01
Speaker
good. so Well, you guys, maybe this is a good segue to get people to um join our show, to join the pod and subscribe. So let's post this recipe, our famous peanut grill recipe. Our secret recipe. The secret.
00:04:19
Speaker
mean. How do you subscribe? 3littlefishes.com slash show notes. 3littlefishes.com slash show notes. All you have to do is give your email and we will post our family's peanut brittle recipe.
Interview with Author Danielle Frank
00:04:35
Speaker
Okay, you guys, on today's show, we're going to talk about the buzz, and then we have a special interview with Danielle Frank. She just wrote ah a new a new book, and it's called A Wine Lover's Guide and Parenting. No, that's not the name. like to parenting.
00:04:53
Speaker
It's to parenting. Okay. Her book title is A Wine Lover's Guide to Parenting, The Fine Art of Wine and Wine Management.
00:05:05
Speaker
Okay. Yeah. Good stuff. I like it. It will be a fun interview. And then, of course, what's for dinner? Okay. What's the buzz? the buzz? Well, Rob Reiner. Yeah, how sad. I know the world's really grieving. he was They were a lovely family. Their reputation was stellar. And he was a brilliant director, humanitarian.
00:05:29
Speaker
um we're Like, it's rattling, right? Like, it's terrible. Well, I mean, it's always horrible when you lose an artist of that caliber. But I think the more troubling, like, shocking thing is that he was they were murdered in their house, all allegedly by their son. yeah so it's just hit
Discussion on Tragic Loss and Mental Health
00:05:51
Speaker
after hit. So we werere our biggest condolences to ever their family and friends. and It wasn't like It's a real loss. Yeah.
00:06:00
Speaker
I think it had to do with a knife, which is very like, there has to be some very much anger involved in someone to stab somebody. Right. Well, I think that there's supposedly a lot of addiction and mental health issues. And, you know, you all addiction is, it's terrible and it rewires brain and it's, it's no good. So,
00:06:26
Speaker
Our hearts go out to them. and I feel so bad for their kids. Yeah, sad. All right. I also just want to say this is really, i mean, it means to what we just talked about, nothing. but um finals have hit our house here at our house.
00:06:43
Speaker
um We're in finals. Our son is totally, you can't look at him in the eyes. He's in such a bad mood. i say good morning. And he's like, what?
00:06:53
Speaker
Like, I mean, dare you how dare you how dare you make any eye contact or talk to me whatsoever. so I hope we survive this week of finals. And if you're in my same boat,
00:07:06
Speaker
um yeah i'm with you yeah yeah everybody's in finals so good luck everyone it's a hard week on everyone and then the other thing happening here is again ah is it's not in the grand scheme of things it's not that deep but we chose to get a live tree i like getting a you know a a a fresh cut tree, Christmas tree that we put in our house every year. I love Yeah, it's right behind you. It's beautiful. Yeah.
00:07:33
Speaker
I think about Mr. Willoughby's Christmas tree. i love it. I want to bring it in the house. But what I don't love are the needles. And my cat is obsessed with my tree. Loki is attacking the bottom of it. And the amount of mess I'm finding every morning is crazy to me. She is a nut. She can't leave it alone. So this is why I actually don't understand why you still get a live tree or a real tree. It's not live, a real tree because you're such a neat Nick.
00:08:07
Speaker
I can't believe you'd like live with all the needles. You either, Kathy. I just wanted to say one thing about Loki. Didn't you say she's also drinking the water? oh oh Yeah. And she's drinking the tree water. So not only it's also upsetting her tummy. So it's like, what are you doing? it's Like there's water everywhere in the house, but she only wants the icky tree water. Oh, boy. i kind of agree. I do not like the needles, but I do have a live tree because I love the smell of it, even though my allergies don't like it. It's like it's a little whammy.
00:08:40
Speaker
It's kind of like you have a dog too. You have allergies, but you refuse to go dogless. I have something that's raw with me. I mean, there's candles that smell like the forest. No, it's not the same. It is. It's almost exactly the same fragrance. All you have to do is light it or even just like set it out. It it works.
00:09:00
Speaker
And you don't have to clean anything up. Like we roll, our tree comes in, it's like in its own little bag and we roll it upstairs and we take it out of its bag and we plug it in and and it's instantly lit and perfect and every single year. It's beautiful. So I actually this year got Miracle Grove for the Christmas tree. I saw it at the store and I was like, does that work?
00:09:27
Speaker
Because we have had years where our live Christmas tree has barely made it to Christmas. Yeah. We're all like needles have fallen and I'm like, it looks yeah like a Charlie Brown Christmas
Real Christmas Tree Maintenance Tips
00:09:40
Speaker
tree. know. And they think you like this too they say it's a wife's tale that none of that stuff works. Yeah.
00:09:45
Speaker
and So I want to tell you today, i specifically I've been so we've had our tree for two weeks and I've been feeding it every day with a cat full of this miracle g grow.
00:09:57
Speaker
I mean, I've been spilling a little bit too on Easter. It's not easy to water the tree, but anyway. No, it's not. It's not. I have faithfully been watering it, and I looked today because I was like, I knew we were doing this podcast, and I'm like, I need to have a report.
00:10:15
Speaker
I'm going to tell you, there are i don't have hardly any needles. Oh. Like, it's a miracle. Like, literally. Oh. It's the name, Miracle-Gro. So your tree is is a real tree.
00:10:30
Speaker
yes And you put this in your water, it's it like a powder or something. You put in the water and it helps. it's a liquid. It's like It's a liquid. Okay. And you put it in the water and then the tree supposedly sucks it up and it keeps it more healthy. So your tree is cut. It's not a live tree with like...
00:10:49
Speaker
The bulb. It's a cut. It's a cut life. a cut real tree. Okay. Yes. You know, there is that, um, thing where you can rent a ah live tree that gets dug up and it's bound and it's like live and they bring it to your house and you take care of it and then when the season's over you they take it away and i assume they re-plant it for another time oh i mean people get a so artificial tree that's pre-lit it makes life so much easier
00:11:24
Speaker
So Linda, I've actually thought about this live tree stuff, but the problem is you guys, I have the opposite of a green thumb. I probably, I kill even potted plants. Like Tim even has made a joke. He's like, you have the thing that's the opposite of a green thumb. I literally kill everything. think it's called a black thumb. Yeah. Is that a real thing?
00:11:45
Speaker
that You might need live tree, Nancy, that just gets taken away. and I wonder if you have to pay a penalty. Like you've rented the live tree and you kill it. Like, is there a penalty for that? Probably. Like costs $200 to rent it and then you killed it. So then you owe him another $200 or something. don I don't know how it works. That would be my luck. You know who would probably have good luck with this, Kathy, because you do have a green thumb. So maybe you should try it next year. i do have a green thumb. Yeah.
00:12:18
Speaker
Don't jinx me, though. Don't jinx me.
Elf on a Shelf Holiday Experiences
00:12:20
Speaker
Before we move on to the show, I just want to remind, if anybody has littles that are listening in the car, we're going to be talking about um some sensitive Christmas information as we move forward. So we might want to this next part.
00:12:37
Speaker
Yeah. So let's talk about Elf on a Shelf. Are we for it or are we against it? So we did it. We did it. We did it. And it was fun. But I will say would wake up in the middle of the morning, like at five in the morning, in a cold sweat, forgetting to have moved the elf. Yeah, I know. Yeah. I would be like, oh, my gosh. And then had to come up with all these lies about, like, why the elf didn't move and all that stuff. So we do have a boy elf and a girl elf, and they are sitting on a shelf, and they're kind of looking at everybody. But, I mean, that time has been long past. Yeah.
00:13:14
Speaker
long past I didn't even know you could get a or boy elf. Tim and I must be super lame because from the jump, we were like, we are not doing elf on a shelf. That is one pressure I do not need. I do not need to have one more thing for me to have to do. To like frantically make Christmas magic. Like I just we just refuse to do it. And he actually looked at me dead in the face when we talked about it. And he was like, if you insist on doing this, you're doing this all by yourself. I refuse to have to do one more thing.
00:13:47
Speaker
to have to like, it's too much pressure. And like, we have friends that have these elaborate every single day. They're taking pictures of like these elaborate, like the Elfson cereal, the Elfson a toilet, the Elf's doing, I mean, I think the Elf in the toilet is nasty. I think there's, it's like incredible because people have put together like little books, like yeah little idea books yeah and stuff like that. we have, we have the Elf and we also have a reindeer. That's his friend.
00:14:17
Speaker
So and we've had it for years and I feel the same. Like it's a lot of pressure because I've and we have forgotten the elf magic in the middle of the night. And I've been like, oh, my gosh.
00:14:31
Speaker
Have you gotten up in the middle of the night? Have you gotten up in the middle of the night? have before. I have, yes. Oh, yeah, of course. This year, our elf hadn't made an appearance until today, so I'm not sure where it's been.
00:14:43
Speaker
He got delayed somehow, but he arrived today, so I hope my kids like it. Maybe elf went to college and he got lost on his way home. Yeah, maybe. He was at the bar. The elf was at the bar. Too much eggnog. oh that's hilarious too much eggnog i think the elf is fun you know the only thing i do not like which my husband showed me last night and i was like and he was really obsessed about it he was like have you seen these elf instagrams but they're freaking out the kids because the elf is like doing bad things oh and making the kids cry kind of bad things I don't like that either. And I don't like it. I don't like those videos of the Grinch coming and like scaring everybody. Yeah. It's the same kind of thing. Well, one of them was the elf was in the toilet and I think they had like fruit loops or something. And the kid was like,
00:15:38
Speaker
he want me to get the elf out of the toilet. Like the kid was like, whoa. So no, I don't think the elf should be a nasty elf. Like it's supposed to be fun.
00:15:51
Speaker
That's not joyous. That is not celebration. That's not holidayish. No, I agree. Yeah. If you choose to do it, hopefully it brings you joy. That's what it's supposed to do, right? It's supposed to like tick up the joy.
00:16:05
Speaker
Let's be joyful. if You've heard it here. um And I just, we also just want to mention that Hanukkah started. So for our friends that celebrate Hanukkah. Yeah. Happy Hanukkah. Happy Hanukkah.
Danielle Frank on Parenting and Wine
00:16:19
Speaker
Bring the light. Okay, you guys, let's jump in Today we have a special guest, Danielle Frank.
00:16:24
Speaker
Do you guys remember that book, Go the F to Sleep? Yes, I do. So she thought it'd be fun to kind of, to pair wine terminology and parenting. Mm-hmm. So she's self-promoting this book and we thought it'd be fun to have her on. Yeah.
00:16:42
Speaker
Great. Let's take a listen. Today, our guest is a newly published author, Danielle Frank. She wrote this cute coffee table book called A Wine Lover's Guide to Parenting. And since the fishes love wine and we're all parents, we thought it'd be fun to have her on the show. Welcome, Danielle. Thank you. Thank you all so much for having me. Yeah, we're happy to have you. guys have such a fun podcast. I'm so excited to be here. Oh, that's sweet. So before we get into it, where are you zooming in? Like where are listeners hearing you from? i am in Santa Monica, California.
00:17:18
Speaker
you're a West Coaster like me. I'm a West Coaster. Yeah, I migrated from New York 23 years ago. so ah that's why I was sick last week because I went back to New York and I can't handle the cold anymore. yeah I am over it.
00:17:35
Speaker
Yeah, I think that there is something to it. Our our blood has gotten thinner. yeah I feel the same way when I go back to the Midwest. A hundred percent. I'm so but yeah, I went to college in Wisconsin. i grew up in New York. I know cold, but I'm such a wimp now. I mean, here it's it's so funny. Our winter, it's. you know, like 50 in the morning when I'm walking the dog. But like, if you see me out, I'm in Uggs and like a puffer.
00:17:57
Speaker
Not to be dramatic. You know, it's cold for us now. I know. I live the same way. I live in Philadelphia and we got snow, our first snow, like five inches and it's freezing. yeah. You guys got hit hard. My sister's still- I'm like bundled up.
00:18:13
Speaker
She's in New Jersey and I've been seeing all the um all the pictures of everybody being snowed in. it's pretty It's pretty, but I don't like it either. So Danielle, talk to us a little bit about your book. It's sort of like a fun tongue in cheek book about parenting and wine, and it kind of uses the same wine lingo for parenting.
Wine Terminology as Parenting Guidelines
00:18:39
Speaker
Tell us a little bit about how you came up with that idea.
00:18:42
Speaker
Sure. um Yeah, I've worked in the wine and spirits industry for over 20 years, even though I'm only 21. I know. do the math. It's crazy. um Yeah. And, you know, I i also I mean, i I've always had this creative outlet of writing that I enjoy um and working in the wine and spirits industry. i you know i love wine. i love the idea of making wine knowledge accessible, approachable. fun. um And about 13 years ago, I was engaged to be married and my fiance, ultimately I realized didn't want more kids. He had he has kids from his first marriage and and I really wanted kids.
00:19:28
Speaker
um But we broke it off because I realized he ultimately didn't want kids. And, you know, I sort of dove my you know heart into this book as sort of an homage to you know, um parents around me. i'm I'm very close with my niece and nephew and I'm Aunt Danielle to so many of my friends' kids. So it was sort of, um you know, an homage to everybody see around me and channeling my my nurturing, not being not ultimately having gone on that path mothered myself, channeling that that motherhood, that nurturing into
00:20:07
Speaker
a love letter to mothers and parents out there everywhere to, you know, to, to have a laugh about it, give yourself the, you know, permission to laugh and to permission to not take it so seriously. Obviously it's a very serious role. But yeah, this book is written like in a children's illustrated book. So as you can see, it's,
00:20:30
Speaker
um You know, it's it's illustrated. it yeah it yeah looks like it looks like a children's book. um It all rhymes, but it's yeah not made for kids. It's made for adults as it parallels how to raise your kid well to wine terminology. And every time I use a definition, use a wine terminology, I get the definition to educate the reader as well. Yeah, I actually love the illustrations. I thought they were well done. The guy that I found to do the illustrations just nailed it out of the park. like I sent him my book and I was like, let me see your vision. for i sent it to a few people and I said, show me your vision for chapter one. And this guy um he's in Indonesia and he just nailed out of the park. So i plan on I plan on using him again for my my second iteration of the book, A Whiskey Lover's Guide to Dog Breeds.
00:21:19
Speaker
Oh, that's fun. So you already have a follow up in the works. That's amazing. Yeah, I'm ah I mean, ah you know, self published. went through hybrid publishing with this book, which is sort of like self publishing. But, you know, you're paying for everything, but you have. a publisher guiding the process. So I certainly hope through all the promotion of this book, you know, maybe a publisher, a proper publishing house will well hear about the next book and want to do that one as a collaboration. So yeah, it's it's fun to always keep working on the next project.
00:21:52
Speaker
Yeah, I'd love that for you. Yeah, how did you find an illustrator in Indonesia? There's a site called Fiverr. I think it's called Fiverr, Fiverr. Yeah. five And so, yeah, somebody had told me about it. And so you can look at different, you you type in what you're looking for in this case, obviously an illustrator and you can see just samples of what they have up. So there's, you know, a lot of people that have like anime um illustrations, that's not the direction I was going in. So I was finding people that were similar to the look that I was looking for. And then I reached out to three of them, paid them each to do chapter one. And when I found this guy, Eris, I paid him for commissioned him for the whole book.
00:22:33
Speaker
He did such a good job. Yeah, it's really it's really sweet. He did a nice job. It has a good vibe to it. Did you find the journey of being a self-publisher, what was that like? Was it exciting? Was it hard? Do you...
00:22:49
Speaker
What was that like to to take that role on solo? Yeah. So it's so I, as I mentioned, I wrote this about 13 years ago. um But, you know, I'm just with all the life pivots I've taken, I've taken career pivots, obviously relationship pivots. um You know, that's what life's about. And what I've learned along the process is really embracing the pivots and leaning into it. Right. It can be very empowering. You know, if you're just going to um wallow in the fact that things didn't happen as you planned, then how is that going to propel you forward on the path that you're on? And so on this new journey, you know, I i i wrote this 13 years ago, but at the time it was a little bit more difficult to, you know, publishers don't want you unless you've been, unless you have an agent. Agents don't want you unless you've been published. And back then,
00:23:37
Speaker
It seemed like, you know, we don't we didn't use the internet as much as we do these days. So back then it seemed like everybody had a different process. You had to send in your physical book. you Everybody needed a different cover letter, this process, that process. So I shelved it for a while because it was very daunting. And then I've heard about this hybrid publishing model. And and this has always been the project. I'm very good about trying to check everything off my life's bucket list. Like I've always wanted to go on a game show. So I did that two years ago. I checked that off.
00:24:09
Speaker
Yeah, it was so much fun. What game show? $100,000 pyramid with Michael Stray. That's amazing. Did you win? I went to the winner's circle. I won a little bit of money that Uncle Sam took most of, but it was just so fun. I mean, it was such a fun experience. Yeah. I got stumbled on like one or two of the um one or two of the the clues. And, you know, now I lay in bed every night. I'm like, I should have said this, should said that, of course. ah But it was so much fun.
00:24:37
Speaker
But after that, too, it's, you know, i was like, what's what's next on my my bucket list? And this project was always something that I said, if I do nothing with this, it's going to plague me on my deathbed, because everybody that's read it just always enjoyed it and loved it.
00:24:51
Speaker
So I knew I had to, you know, get it out there in some capacity. And then once I started hearing more and more about hybrid publishing, because self-publishing sort of scared me a little bit.
00:25:01
Speaker
um so So this was, you know, this was a great learning experience. To your question, it's It's hard it's still hard. um You know, the the promotional tour I'm on, it's like I work every single day on top of my day job trying to get this book out there because I don't have a big publishing house behind me.
00:25:22
Speaker
So it's a lot of work, but it's also a lot of fun. I mean, it's fun to bring, you know, your creation to life. I'm having a blast doing like, you know, a whole podcast circuit and doing all that. Like, it's so much fun and it's so much fun to talk about this passion project of mine. But yeah, it's a lot of work. a lot I know. Well, we understand that like being like our podcast, trying to promote it and get yourself out there. It's challenging, right? If you don't have like big backers or celebrities that like backing you to get your name out there. So I, we can appreciate that. Yeah. It's, it's really amazing. I mean, yeah, of course, like I'm trying to get it in every celebrity's hands. I just, um I just signed up to do a celebrity gifting bag included in celebrity, celebrity gift bags for mother's day, which would be perfect for this. But you know, then again, it's like, you know, those things cost, everything adds up. um
00:26:14
Speaker
And then you don't know who's going to like, you know, you hope a wing and a prayer that somebody just loves it so much that they want to post it on their socials. So, love that. Well, you know, how did you come up with these parenting guidelines? I mean, you know, people have asked me, you know, you're not a parent, right? Um,
00:26:31
Speaker
But you don't need to be a parent to know good behavior in kids, in human beings, um you know, to to know that kids and people should have manners and to not talk back. And but as I said, I mean, I, you know, it's my my not.
00:26:49
Speaker
embarking on the path of motherhood, i found my village in other ways and and nurturing in other ways. And as I said, like I'm very, very engaged in my niece and nephew's lives. um And also many of my friends' kids call me Aunt Danielle or or Aunt Dee Dee. That's what my niece, she couldn't say Danielle when she was younger. So I've been Aunt Dee Dee ever since. So I'm Aunt Dee Dee to many a kids around these parts. But I was watching my niece and nephew when they were younger.
00:27:16
Speaker
And, you know, as most kids do, they were whining about something. And I said, auntie, he drinks wine. She doesn't listen to wine. And that's when sort of the first aha moment came up to me. I was like, oh, you know what? Wine, wine. And then I started thinking more and more about the parallels, right? Like, you know, fermenting the process of fermenting, which I'll read a chapter at some point, because that's one of my favorite chapters is You don't want your kids to ferment.
00:27:43
Speaker
Fermenting is when you turn from sugar to alcohol. So when you think of sugar, it's sweet to alcohol is sort of harsh. that's about teaching your kids manners. You don't want them to be harsh and biting. So then I just started to you know think more and more about these wine parallels and have fun with it and lean into it.
00:28:00
Speaker
Well, one thing I really thought was kind of funny about your book is that is so funny. Like it it's very witty, but as a parent, i you know you have to be able to laugh with your kids and laugh about what goes on because there is a lot of nonsense that goes on raising kids. And so I thought that was super, ah it was really clever the way you integrated the humor into some of the manners and good ideas for raising the kids. I thought that was really clever of you. Thank you. Yeah.
00:28:35
Speaker
I mean, I, you know, I really think that humor is ah a survival for everything. It's especially whether it's, I mean, humor is great during times of happiness, but also during periods of change or heartbreak or anything. And, you know, and parenting from everyone I've seen around me that, you know, it's, it's, it's a full-time job as well. And,
00:28:55
Speaker
And, um you know, like I said, it's an homage to everyone around me that tells everybody you're doing a great job, but have a little laugh along the way. Exactly. So are you are you the fun aunt? Oh, of course. I mean, you're right. I have the best job. I get to come in i like i just My friend Micah and Nancy, their kid, he's off for a holiday break. So I just booked us. We're going to do an escape room.
00:29:21
Speaker
Oh, that's fun one.
00:29:36
Speaker
i mean yes you're I mean, there is something to be said about that. Absolutely. No, I mean, you know, I um yeah i dreamed of being a mother when when I was younger. And as I said, you know, unfortunately, that that path didn't come for me. But um it's like i said, when you when you embrace the path that you are on, um you know, there's not a day that goes by that i'm I'm sad that it didn't happen for me because I've channeled that into so many other fulfilling ways. And my dog gets to have me mother him. yeah You had a lot of good tips in your book, especially I thought one that struck out to me was the no bullying chapter.
Reading from 'A Wine Lover's Guide to Parenting'
00:30:16
Speaker
That one is my, ah people ask about like, what's my favorite chapter? I don't have a favorite because it's like picking a favorite kid, but that one I think is the most important chapter because I just find it so disheartening You know, when you read on Instagram, you know, granted this stuff has happened before, but, you know, maybe we didn't hear about it as much because we weren't on social, but I do think it's happening more and more today. I mean, since 2001, I think the CDC has said it's like over 52% of kids that are taking their own lives from like 10 years old to 18. I just can't even imagine that. Like when I was 10 years old, 13, 15, never even
00:30:55
Speaker
thinking about that. And it's just, correct it's so sad. So that chapter, is your kid a mulled wine? mulled wine is one that's served as perfect for the holidays. So I include a recipe for mulled wine in the book, which is very useful now, but a mulled wine is served heated. It's usually in a punch bowl. So this is about, is your kid heated? Does he pack a punch? Know who your kid is not only in the home, but most importantly, outside the home. Are they bullying? Because that needs to be nipped in the bud immediately. It's just it's so awful. And the implications of what it does to the person that's being bullied is ah just unimaginable.
00:31:33
Speaker
I don't believe my children have ever been a bully. They've actually been bullied a little bit in school, but I'm just wondering, year are there mom parents out there that are oblivious and you definitely have to know your kids?
00:31:48
Speaker
Yeah. I mean, I'm sure I've seen, you know, I've had parent friends, parents tell me that, you know, not my kid and you know, it's, it's, I'm sure it's hard. It's hard for parents to want to think that, you know, want, they don't want to believe that their kids are doing that, but it's so important that you understand if they are, you can, you can nip it in the bud. You could rectify it.
00:32:07
Speaker
As we're talking about, you have so many cute chapters in this book. We thought it'd be fun for you to share one of these chapters. do you have a favorite one that you'd want to read? Well, I love reading this one because, um, you know, it just shows the style of the book and it always ends with a good laugh as every chapter in this book does, but This is a fun one. i mentioned this before. It's that the and lesson you don't want your kids to ferment. As I mentioned, it's fermenting is turning sugar into alcohol. So you think of something sweet turning into something harsh and biting.
00:32:38
Speaker
Manners, manners, manners are the key to it all. These lessons need to start even when they're small. Teach them this from day one before they start to crawl. You don't want your kid to be the sour grape in the bunch and turn into a spoiled brat that kids want to punch. When they start talking, make sure they know thank you and please and to always say bless you when they hear someone sneeze. Please and thank you are an absolute must. Without that, your child's a total bust.
00:33:01
Speaker
There's nothing worse than a child who has behavior that is crude because it'll continue as they're older and become someone who's rude. Please, people don't take kindly to and aren't nice to those with attitude because it's very off-putting and puts others in a bad mood, oftentimes causing confrontation and leads to a nasty feud.
00:33:19
Speaker
Wanting to put a little bit of poison in your child's food. Is that really how you want your kids to be viewed? Wouldn't you prefer that there are someone who's wooed? Without manners, they'll ferment and turn into someone harsh and biting.
00:33:31
Speaker
They may turn into a kid who's rude, obnoxious, and always fighting. So teach your kids some manners and to have some heart and soul. Without that, your kid may well turn into an a-hole. um yeah and accurate. yeah So, you know, poignant, poignant lessons, but always ends with a laugh. Lighthearted. A little wine along the way.
00:33:56
Speaker
i like it. All right. So it's the holiday season. What's your favorite wine for opening a present? Oh, well, I always love bubbles. I mean, I always start the day with a little champagne. um It's sort of my little, it's my tradition. Just You know, instead of a mimosa, just go straight into bubbles. I like it. During the holidays or every day?
00:34:18
Speaker
Well, I wish I could do it every day, but particularly that's always my tradition. Christmas, Christmas Day, when I'm opening the presents, there's usually the leftover cookies that I left for Santa for my dog.
00:34:29
Speaker
So I'll have a few of those. Well, you know, I eat them at night. So he knows that Santa but I literally do this with my dog like he's a kid. I make the cookies, and I eat them, and then there's some leftovers. So I'll have them you know with some champagne. And then I just love ah red wine with Christmas dinner. Can't go wrong with a nice Cabernet. I just went to a...
00:34:51
Speaker
um a charity event and I bid on this French wine called Volnais. So yeah, anything rich and dark that feels warm for the holidays. I love a good red. You speak up my language, girl. i like it. The mulled wine recipe is perfect for the holidays as well because it is. yeah So can I tell you a little secret? I'm scared of mulled wine. don't know. Because I don't know if I've ever had a good one.
00:35:18
Speaker
We'll try the recipe. Am I just doing it wrong? Yeah. Try the recipe from my book and all right hopefully you enjoy it. But you know, it's like anything, right? I mean, It's like a cocktail. Like i love bourbon cocktails. Some people don't. Some people like Cabernet's. Some people don't like it. It's all subjective, you know, you know what you like, but maybe you'll like Yeah.
00:35:42
Speaker
All right. Maybe I'll try this recipe. I'm always up for trying something new. What's your
Where to Buy Danielle's Book
00:35:47
Speaker
dog's name? His name. Did you, if you've ever seen the show Parks and Recreation, his name is Burt Macklin.
00:35:54
Speaker
Oh, funny. Andy Dwyer had his alter ego, Burt Macklin, FBI. he only gets the Burt Macklin when he's in trouble. So it's just Burt or Birdie. Yeah. ah But when he's in trouble, it's Burt Macklin.
00:36:05
Speaker
Yeah. She really broke up. I love that show. That's such a good character. What a cute name. So, Danielle, where do people find your book? My book is online at Amazon.com and BarnesandNoble.com. It's great for okay parents, aunts, uncles, parents.
00:36:23
Speaker
Mm-hmm. It's a great little Christmas gift, maybe even a housewarming for like your mom's group. And anybody that likes a good humor book or just wants to learn about wine, it really is for everybody. And, you know, especially baby showers, holiday gifts, it's it's great to pair it with that.
00:36:38
Speaker
Pair it with a bottle of wine or if you're going to baby shower, pair it with a little onesie. It's great. and Something for the baby and something for the mom. So, again, the name of the book is a Wine Lover's Guide to Parenting from by Danielle Frank. You can find it Amazon or barnesandnoble.com.
00:36:55
Speaker
And then we will put those links and your social on our website. show notes so people can find you too. Thank you for coming on.
00:37:06
Speaker
We've really loved chatting with you and we wish you all the success with this book. It's so cute. Absolutely. And you ladies keep rocking what you guys are doing. It's great. Hope you have happy holidays and thank you for having me. This was a lot of fun.
00:37:18
Speaker
You guys go out and buy it. You can find it on Amazon. So girls, let me ask you, are you going to try the mulled wine recipe that was mentioned in the interview? Probably not. I don't like mulled wine that much.
00:37:31
Speaker
and Unless Peter forces me, I'm not really a wine drinker, so no. But I think it's cool. And if the fishes aren't the fishes aren't that brave, but we would love to hear if anybody else tries it.
00:37:43
Speaker
Okay, what's for dinner? So I have been sick as everybody knows. So we've done a lot of takeout. So last night I refused to do takeout and I just did, I just threw something in a crock pot and I'm going share it because it turned out. So I threw some chicken breast in a crock pot.
00:38:03
Speaker
And I added some tomato sauce and some chili powder, some cumin, some onion, garlic. And I just set it on high for two hours. And then I cut it up and I threw it in tacos. Everybody thought that I had made this like delicious dinner. And it was literally, just made it up and it was delicious. So you're in pinch. You MacGyvered your love it. If you're in a pinch, give it a try.
00:38:29
Speaker
We'll put it in the show notes. Okay, so one little thing that Kathy and I also want to mention, that we have um Linda's birthdays today. It's her last birthday in her 50s. So we feel like in fish's fashion that we had to give a little a little jingle to um the original fish,
00:38:56
Speaker
So if you guys can bear with us, here's a little jingle for Linda and her birthday. It's a birthday bash. Let's raise a cheer for someone with a heart that's crystal clear, witty and charming, always on part, a spark in the room. They light up the joint, helpful hands. They lend with grace with a sixth sense.
00:39:19
Speaker
For your needs, right time, right place. With a dash of sass and a pinch of zest, they cook, they serve. Oh, they're the best. Full of gusts, they entertain with flair. Everyone's gathering brighter when they're near.
00:39:33
Speaker
Loves to eat and whip up a treat. A chef in the kitchen, how sweet. The best older sister, loving and strong, guiding with wisdom all the day long. So here's to her birthday, bold and bright.
00:39:46
Speaker
with a good heart, good food, and pure delight. Happy birthday, Happy birthday. That was sweet. Thanks, girls. You guys make my birthday special every year. I appreciate it. Thank you. Another decade.
00:40:06
Speaker
um and Charming as always. Thank you.
00:40:14
Speaker
We love you. You know that.
00:40:18
Speaker
We want to thank you for listening to our podcast and letting us sisters jump into your day. Please make sure to subscribe and hit the subscribe button. You can access all of our show notes and all of our podcasts.
00:40:31
Speaker
And please share our podcast with other little fishes so we can grow. Have a wonderful weekend. Sisters out.