WEBVTT - The Baby Bubble Lie & The Case For Cancelling Book Week 0:00:04.600 --> 0:00:07.320 Welcome to Parenting Out Loud. This is the podcast for 0:00:07.400 --> 0:00:11.879 parents who don't always listen to parenting type podcasts. Instead, 0:00:11.960 --> 0:00:13.600 we like to take a look at the news and 0:00:13.720 --> 0:00:16.880 culture and trends and kind of put our little microscope 0:00:16.920 --> 0:00:18.840 on it and go, mmm, what does this all mean? 0:00:18.920 --> 0:00:20.520 And why does parenting feel so hard? 0:00:20.600 --> 0:00:21.040 Right now? 0:00:21.760 --> 0:00:24.319 It's not your fault, that's the top line. It's not 0:00:24.480 --> 0:00:27.800 your fault. I'm Monique Bolli, I'm Amelia Lesta, and I 0:00:27.840 --> 0:00:28.800 am not Stacy Hickause. 0:00:28.840 --> 0:00:32.400 I am grac Ery Bray back again. Gross yay, thanks 0:00:32.400 --> 0:00:33.040 for having me. 0:00:33.280 --> 0:00:36.720 I hope you guys are surviving ushy season, happy ushi 0:00:36.800 --> 0:00:42.640 season that we laugh. We've had the Comm Games recently, 0:00:42.720 --> 0:00:44.560 we've had the World Cup, we've had the Tour de France. 0:00:44.600 --> 0:00:47.440 But in my house, the great competition is for the ushi. 0:00:47.800 --> 0:00:49.200 Yes, it's wild. 0:00:49.720 --> 0:00:51.400 Now is the ushi an erasa? 0:00:51.640 --> 0:00:51.720 Like? 0:00:51.920 --> 0:00:54.560 Is that true? Because my children are telling me things 0:00:54.560 --> 0:00:55.880 about them and I don't even know. 0:00:56.360 --> 0:01:00.040 Yeah, I don't know either, but I was thinking reflecting. 0:00:59.560 --> 0:01:02.000 On this, I actually don't know what they are. 0:01:02.200 --> 0:01:02.720 I don't know what. 0:01:02.800 --> 0:01:06.760 I might have a one year old, but so obviously 0:01:06.760 --> 0:01:08.800 she's not interested in them. But they're in my house 0:01:08.840 --> 0:01:10.200 still because my husband is. 0:01:10.160 --> 0:01:10.920 Interested in them. 0:01:11.240 --> 0:01:12.880 Oh, it's like, oh, we can get one of those 0:01:12.959 --> 0:01:14.720 ushes and husband. 0:01:15.400 --> 0:01:21.080 Yeah, it's working. It's cross generational. Amelia, you are the 0:01:21.200 --> 0:01:23.959 flocked bulls eye of my life. I need you to 0:01:24.040 --> 0:01:24.280 know that. 0:01:24.560 --> 0:01:25.319 Do you know what that means? 0:01:25.319 --> 0:01:27.000 No, blocked bull's. 0:01:26.720 --> 0:01:28.200 Eye is the rarest or. She it's you. 0:01:29.480 --> 0:01:32.360 You're a rare stick on the top of a pencil. 0:01:32.440 --> 0:01:35.120 And have me rush something out. 0:01:35.720 --> 0:01:37.679 Okay, all right, what are we talking about today? 0:01:38.120 --> 0:01:41.240 Well, from enjoy this newborn bubble to you only have 0:01:41.319 --> 0:01:44.080 eighteen summers with your children? When does the pressure of 0:01:44.160 --> 0:01:45.559 nostalgia become too much? 0:01:46.480 --> 0:01:48.560 And should book week be canceled? I want to have 0:01:48.600 --> 0:01:49.080 a debate. 0:01:49.240 --> 0:01:51.560 I'm ready. I'm cracking my knuckles. 0:01:51.920 --> 0:01:54.000 I was on that debating team in high school. 0:01:54.040 --> 0:01:57.000 I'm just feeling shit. Yeah, I'm gonna lease all right? 0:01:57.280 --> 0:02:01.080 And are you a dishwasher? Dad? Theory that we cannot 0:02:01.080 --> 0:02:03.720 stop thinking about. But first, in case you missed it, 0:02:03.760 --> 0:02:06.000 we like to just take a scroll through the algorithm 0:02:06.000 --> 0:02:08.120 and see what's kind of popping up and around in 0:02:08.160 --> 0:02:09.720 the news. And I want to start out with a 0:02:09.720 --> 0:02:13.480 little Ossie Hollywood parenting story. So This is from the 0:02:13.480 --> 0:02:16.800 House of Kidman. Nicole Kidman, her daughter, Sunday Rose is 0:02:16.880 --> 0:02:19.600 evidently a really famous model. I don't know if you 0:02:19.639 --> 0:02:23.680 knew this, but she's like Catwalk Coture, she models for Deal. 0:02:23.919 --> 0:02:27.400 She's very high up right. But the story this week 0:02:27.480 --> 0:02:29.920 was that Nicole was talking to Entertainment tonight and she 0:02:30.080 --> 0:02:34.120 told this story about how before Sunday Rose started modeling, 0:02:34.400 --> 0:02:39.160 Nicole went to her mum and said, Mum, Sunday Rose 0:02:39.200 --> 0:02:41.079 wants to, you know, be a model. Do you think 0:02:41.080 --> 0:02:46.240 I should let her? And Nicole Kidman's mother said, yeah, 0:02:46.280 --> 0:02:50.440 you have to because I let you, And so Nicole 0:02:50.520 --> 0:02:54.360 Kidman's mum. At fourteen, Nicole really wanted to become an actress. 0:02:54.400 --> 0:02:56.359 Her mum said, look, if you want to follow your passion, 0:02:56.400 --> 0:02:57.640 then absolutely, let's make. 0:02:57.560 --> 0:02:59.200 It happen for you. You should do it. 0:03:00.200 --> 0:03:02.960 So that's why Nicole Kidmen started acting. Her mum kind 0:03:03.000 --> 0:03:05.840 of gave her the green light, and Nicole Kidman described 0:03:05.880 --> 0:03:09.320 it as her mother Janelle's parting gift. I also read 0:03:09.320 --> 0:03:13.160 that Sunday Roses big catwalk debut, her big sort of 0:03:13.160 --> 0:03:16.960 Courtua catwalk debut came just one week after Janelle died, 0:03:17.480 --> 0:03:19.040 so poetic. 0:03:19.520 --> 0:03:24.240 I love Nicole Kidman's the way she talks about her 0:03:24.280 --> 0:03:27.280 relationship with both of her parents. She was obviously very 0:03:27.280 --> 0:03:31.080 close to both of them, and she's also written beautifully 0:03:31.160 --> 0:03:35.600 about about grief and how difficult it's been in the 0:03:35.640 --> 0:03:40.200 wake of her parents passing in the Nine Newspapers fairly recently. 0:03:40.600 --> 0:03:43.440 That said, can I admit I feel a tiny bit 0:03:43.960 --> 0:03:50.320 conflicted about the idea of yes, pursue your passions no 0:03:50.360 --> 0:03:55.280 matter what at age fourteen, because you know, setting aside 0:03:55.320 --> 0:03:58.480 the fact that obviously Nicole Kidmen's mother did an amazing 0:03:58.560 --> 0:04:00.920 job raising her, and I'm sure is also doing an 0:04:00.920 --> 0:04:04.920 amazing job raising her children. Just speaking for myself here, 0:04:06.000 --> 0:04:08.560 I'd be worried about the idea that modeling is such 0:04:08.560 --> 0:04:14.839 an exploited of industry. It's predicated on values that might 0:04:14.920 --> 0:04:17.160 put a lot of pressure on young people at an 0:04:17.160 --> 0:04:20.600 impressionable age. I don't know. I just it got me thinking, 0:04:20.720 --> 0:04:22.560 is what I'll say. It got me thinking about whether 0:04:22.600 --> 0:04:24.839 I would I would follow that advice. 0:04:25.240 --> 0:04:26.320 Yeah, that might be true. 0:04:26.360 --> 0:04:29.080 But she's also an Aussie, right, and Aussie models do 0:04:29.120 --> 0:04:32.920 it differently. Amelia like el McPherson, blaze the trail like 0:04:33.000 --> 0:04:35.839 we're good. We're good, and she's got all those really 0:04:35.880 --> 0:04:38.400 good family structures around her. Yeah, that's true, but keep 0:04:38.400 --> 0:04:38.799 the faith. 0:04:39.040 --> 0:04:41.719 What do you think about if they want if your 0:04:41.800 --> 0:04:44.520 child wanted to get into like rugby and like the 0:04:44.839 --> 0:04:46.719 because that's one of the things that we think about 0:04:46.720 --> 0:04:49.600 of contact sports and CTE, like, if they go, well, 0:04:49.600 --> 0:04:52.279 that's my dream, but I would be hesitant about that. 0:04:52.600 --> 0:04:55.320 Do you feel similar, Like is it just the modeling 0:04:56.760 --> 0:05:00.520 toxicity that gives you anxiety around that, or would you 0:05:00.600 --> 0:05:03.279 feel similarly if it was a contact sport. 0:05:03.480 --> 0:05:06.479 Now it's a really good question because my son has 0:05:06.560 --> 0:05:09.800 been playing rugby this season and I hate it so 0:05:10.000 --> 0:05:12.720 much and I won't go to the games now they 0:05:12.760 --> 0:05:15.039 happen to also be very early on a Saturday morning. 0:05:15.040 --> 0:05:18.120 That it has nothing to do with it, it does 0:05:18.200 --> 0:05:20.560 make me really uncomfortable. So I guess I've answered your 0:05:20.640 --> 0:05:24.640 question with Ultimately, it's really hard to say no to 0:05:24.680 --> 0:05:26.960 your children when they want to do something, And maybe 0:05:27.000 --> 0:05:30.080 that's what Nicole's mum was kind of getting at, like, 0:05:30.360 --> 0:05:32.520 if you stand in the way of your child's dream, 0:05:32.720 --> 0:05:35.600 they can find a way around you. You may as 0:05:35.600 --> 0:05:38.760 well offer them your blessing and your cooperation. In case 0:05:38.800 --> 0:05:43.440 you missed it, the AI bros are determined to find 0:05:43.520 --> 0:05:46.599 ways for your children to get more dependent on AI. 0:05:47.839 --> 0:05:50.680 Sam Altman, who was the head of Open AI, who 0:05:50.760 --> 0:05:54.000 became a father last year, he wrote something on social 0:05:54.120 --> 0:05:57.360 media a few days ago that the Internet got kind 0:05:57.400 --> 0:06:00.159 of angry at him for he wrote, cool use of 0:06:00.240 --> 0:06:05.120 chat GPT, I heard last night. Connect your family calendars 0:06:05.160 --> 0:06:08.520 and explain your kids interests every morning for the drive 0:06:08.560 --> 0:06:11.359 to school. Have it make a podcast that talks about 0:06:11.360 --> 0:06:15.279 one kid's soccer game that afternoon, one kid's upcoming birthday, 0:06:15.600 --> 0:06:19.440 some news, etc. The top tweet in response reads, what 0:06:19.520 --> 0:06:24.440 if you just talk to your children? Now? Obviously I 0:06:24.520 --> 0:06:28.200 agree with this, and I find AI creepy and scary, 0:06:28.920 --> 0:06:32.120 But to be completely real with you for a second, 0:06:32.200 --> 0:06:34.000 my kids would love this so much more than me 0:06:34.120 --> 0:06:35.520 talking to them. 0:06:35.600 --> 0:06:37.200 They just would. 0:06:37.279 --> 0:06:41.480 I find that disappointing because I don't believe that you're 0:06:41.480 --> 0:06:44.600 a very interesting person, Amelia, But I take issue with 0:06:44.640 --> 0:06:46.240 Sam Altonman as a human being. 0:06:46.640 --> 0:06:46.719 No. 0:06:46.839 --> 0:06:48.560 That's cool, though, Grace, because he's a bit of a 0:06:48.560 --> 0:06:50.520 friend of the pod. We talked on this podcast a 0:06:50.560 --> 0:06:52.560 while back about how he said that he didn't know 0:06:52.600 --> 0:06:55.200 how anyone raised children before Ai. 0:06:55.720 --> 0:06:59.200 Oh so how is Ai really raising children? 0:06:59.440 --> 0:07:00.440 He's making podcast? 0:07:00.680 --> 0:07:02.720 Oh yeah, okay, well, also that's what I do as 0:07:02.760 --> 0:07:04.320 a job. That's that's ironic. 0:07:04.839 --> 0:07:07.920 So he did say in his ex profile he says 0:07:08.200 --> 0:07:12.040 Ai is cool, I guess, and he's non capitalized the 0:07:12.120 --> 0:07:14.400 I in I guess which people have said that Sam 0:07:14.400 --> 0:07:16.440 Bltman just likes to be cool and it's cool to 0:07:16.520 --> 0:07:19.840 not capitalize things. So he's really trying to connect with 0:07:19.960 --> 0:07:22.240 the people, which makes me feel like cool, but it 0:07:22.240 --> 0:07:23.960 makes me feel like he's more of a robot than 0:07:24.000 --> 0:07:27.040 an actual human being. He might be this whole companion 0:07:27.080 --> 0:07:31.600 podcast for parents and kids. These actually already exist without 0:07:31.680 --> 0:07:33.760 chat GPT having to make them. We have them here 0:07:33.800 --> 0:07:37.040 at Muma Mea. It's called That's Incredible Stories to Share 0:07:37.040 --> 0:07:39.240 with Kids, and about four people made it. 0:07:39.320 --> 0:07:41.680 So I just wanted to plug that. I don't like this. 0:07:43.240 --> 0:07:46.040 Technology can create something for you to share, or you 0:07:46.040 --> 0:07:49.880 can outsource it technology to yeah to create a connection. 0:07:49.960 --> 0:07:52.720 I just but I'm one of these people, to quote 0:07:52.840 --> 0:07:56.160 Kleare Stevens from Muma Mer out Loud podcast, because I 0:07:56.160 --> 0:07:58.800 don't trust people who have a heart on for Ai 0:07:59.000 --> 0:08:00.000 and I am one of those people. 0:08:00.240 --> 0:08:03.720 I think this is inspirational. I think I might get 0:08:03.760 --> 0:08:06.680 AI to make me a podcast. Here's an idea. It's 0:08:06.720 --> 0:08:09.920 Father Christmas every day on the drivers school being like, 0:08:10.920 --> 0:08:16.000 I'm watching you, I saw what you did yesterday out. 0:08:17.280 --> 0:08:19.000 So you're using it as an emotional weapon. 0:08:19.320 --> 0:08:23.000 Yeah, that's what the big tech guys are doing. Maybe 0:08:23.040 --> 0:08:23.520 on Ard. 0:08:25.280 --> 0:08:28.120 Sam wasn't the only tech billionaire who offered some parenting 0:08:28.160 --> 0:08:31.440 tips this week, so a San Francisco based tech ceo 0:08:31.880 --> 0:08:36.080 they all called Nicholas Charaier offered his own idea. He 0:08:36.160 --> 0:08:39.640 writes this was also an ex of course, Toddler spent 0:08:39.720 --> 0:08:42.200 her first night ever sleeping with someone else in the 0:08:42.240 --> 0:08:45.240 same room, her Toddler cousin. They of course spoke for 0:08:45.320 --> 0:08:48.520 over an hour in a very nonsensical Toddler dialect, going 0:08:48.559 --> 0:08:52.320 over important questions about themselves, life in the universe, recorded 0:08:52.360 --> 0:08:55.040 everything in high quality by sneaking a mic in there. 0:08:55.480 --> 0:08:57.800 Gave the very long recording to Claude, which is an 0:08:57.840 --> 0:09:00.240 AI agent. No built a private web page for the 0:09:00.280 --> 0:09:02.920 whole family with the audio split into clips, all named 0:09:02.920 --> 0:09:06.400 and trimmed Your joy from everyone. AI is pretty great. 0:09:06.679 --> 0:09:10.360 Isn't this illegal to record? Illegal without their knowledge. I mean, 0:09:10.400 --> 0:09:12.440 you can't get Todd let Ustart a consent form, but 0:09:12.440 --> 0:09:15.640 still there is some type of Big brother creepiness happening there. 0:09:15.960 --> 0:09:18.920 I've got an idea for everyone in San Francisco who's 0:09:18.960 --> 0:09:22.199 running a multi billion dollar AI company, Play your kids 0:09:22.280 --> 0:09:26.520 parenting out Loud, a wholesome mix of reportage and commentary 0:09:26.600 --> 0:09:28.200 on issues that are important to them. 0:09:28.840 --> 0:09:29.960 That's a good sales pitch. 0:09:30.200 --> 0:09:32.320 So we make a big deal on this show about 0:09:32.320 --> 0:09:36.640 how we are not like other parenting podcasts. So it's 0:09:36.679 --> 0:09:39.559 for that reason. I'm not gonna belabor the fact that 0:09:39.800 --> 0:09:42.240 book Week is coming up. I'm not gonna win sure 0:09:42.280 --> 0:09:44.559 about it. I'm not gonna bitch. I'm not gonna moan 0:09:44.640 --> 0:09:46.720 about how my kids refuse to come up with a 0:09:46.720 --> 0:09:49.000 costume that is not in fact from a book, but 0:09:49.160 --> 0:09:52.360 is rather a movie character or a soccer player. No, 0:09:52.520 --> 0:09:56.240 I'm not gonna do any of those things. Instead, what 0:09:56.280 --> 0:09:58.240 we like to do on this show is go thinky 0:09:58.559 --> 0:10:01.280 and deep. And I read an eye about Bookweek that 0:10:01.360 --> 0:10:05.600 went thinky and deep. It was called Book Week's Quiet 0:10:05.640 --> 0:10:09.240 Equity Problem, and it was in The Educator Australia. But 0:10:09.320 --> 0:10:12.680 before we get to that, thinky deep peace, Grace. I 0:10:12.760 --> 0:10:15.920 see you looking a little bit confused. Yeah. 0:10:16.040 --> 0:10:17.679 Look, I do have a one year old, so I'm 0:10:17.679 --> 0:10:20.559 not quite at the stage of book Week, and I 0:10:21.600 --> 0:10:24.680 guess the way I approach this is with whimsy, because 0:10:24.720 --> 0:10:28.560 everything is new, everything is a first, everything is delightful, 0:10:28.880 --> 0:10:31.320 like she's, you know, pointing at things and making me 0:10:31.400 --> 0:10:32.160 go over to them. 0:10:32.400 --> 0:10:34.000 And at the moment, that's delightful. 0:10:34.040 --> 0:10:36.920 And I'm sure within even a month that's going to 0:10:37.000 --> 0:10:38.760 start to wait and be a little bit annoying. So 0:10:38.840 --> 0:10:42.000 when I think about book Week, I think of that 0:10:42.120 --> 0:10:44.840 sounds wonderful. That sounds wonderful, And I guess I don't 0:10:44.840 --> 0:10:46.640 know the politics of it, and I do want to 0:10:46.679 --> 0:10:50.160 take this opportunity to get some forecasting from you both. 0:10:50.240 --> 0:10:50.440 Yeah. 0:10:51.559 --> 0:10:54.160 Well, one of my first questions is is it actually 0:10:54.200 --> 0:10:56.200 a whole week? Are we talking five costumes or are 0:10:56.200 --> 0:10:56.920 we talking one? 0:10:58.000 --> 0:11:01.360 Good question? Just one right. I don't know how you 0:11:01.400 --> 0:11:03.720 do things in South Australia. You might have like five 0:11:03.760 --> 0:11:04.880 costumes there. 0:11:04.800 --> 0:11:07.520 Oh god, no, no, I think it runs for an 0:11:07.679 --> 0:11:10.679 entire week. I guess your school or your early education 0:11:10.800 --> 0:11:14.760 center or your KINDI would choose a day, select a day, 0:11:15.040 --> 0:11:17.920 and then there is a parade and a celebration. And 0:11:17.960 --> 0:11:20.560 also I think the school runs other kind of things 0:11:20.800 --> 0:11:24.120 that aren't front facing, like within the week they might 0:11:24.200 --> 0:11:27.120 run Little Vincent, the library or things like that. The 0:11:27.160 --> 0:11:30.120 super Bowl, the super Bowl moment, the AFL Grand Final 0:11:30.640 --> 0:11:31.480 is the parade. 0:11:31.640 --> 0:11:36.880 Yeah, and it's generally term three ish, okay, term three ish, 0:11:36.920 --> 0:11:39.240 So it's coming up for it certainly in New South 0:11:39.240 --> 0:11:41.079 Wales and I don't know about other states, but it's 0:11:41.120 --> 0:11:43.560 coming up in New South Wales. So it is on 0:11:43.600 --> 0:11:46.280 the radar of parents, and they are starting to freak out. 0:11:46.760 --> 0:11:49.880 Right, Okay, because when you say freak out, is there 0:11:49.880 --> 0:11:53.360 a personality divide in a who purchases a costume versus 0:11:53.360 --> 0:11:53.840 who makes me? 0:11:53.920 --> 0:11:56.280 Yes, you're looking at the personality divide. 0:11:56.920 --> 0:11:58.679 This is literally the divide. 0:11:59.160 --> 0:12:04.480 I'm inter se of the Venn diagram meets correct. 0:12:04.640 --> 0:12:07.640 I mean, Mon's how long have you had your Bookweek 0:12:07.679 --> 0:12:10.120 costumes planned for at this point? Is there a Facebook 0:12:10.120 --> 0:12:13.640 group called Bookweek Costumes Galore that you're a member of. 0:12:13.960 --> 0:12:17.480 There's not, but I've been thinking about since January. 0:12:18.240 --> 0:12:19.680 She's going to start for Facebook. 0:12:19.679 --> 0:12:23.040 I've been thinking about since January because my vision, here's 0:12:23.080 --> 0:12:23.520 my vision. 0:12:24.600 --> 0:12:25.000 This year. 0:12:25.040 --> 0:12:30.280 So in previous years I did The Enormous Crocodile, which 0:12:30.400 --> 0:12:33.600 is a classic book in this house, Rolldaal the original version, 0:12:33.679 --> 0:12:38.040 and I handmade a giant crocodile costume, including a helmet 0:12:38.080 --> 0:12:45.160 that had like a large Quentin Blake esque cardboard crocodile 0:12:45.240 --> 0:12:49.440 head on it. And it was it was a beautiful thing. 0:12:49.520 --> 0:12:51.280 It was a beautiful piece of art. I had a 0:12:51.280 --> 0:12:54.480 sewing gin, I had the hot glue gun. I spread 0:12:54.480 --> 0:12:57.320 myself out in a lounge room. I was loving myself sick. 0:12:57.360 --> 0:12:59.680 And this is my dilemma, is because I'm that mother 0:12:59.720 --> 0:13:03.040 that runs like off, for God's sake, did you have to? 0:13:03.280 --> 0:13:03.559 Yeah? 0:13:03.559 --> 0:13:05.760 But I love it. I love it, Grace, I enjoy it. 0:13:05.760 --> 0:13:08.640 It's a craft outlet for me. Oh God, I know 0:13:08.679 --> 0:13:09.480 how this sounds. 0:13:09.559 --> 0:13:13.320 I think this nicely segs into the problem with bookwek Like, 0:13:13.400 --> 0:13:17.000 I think that's wonderful Mond's but I think that it 0:13:17.080 --> 0:13:20.839 brings up the issue of how different the book week 0:13:20.920 --> 0:13:25.000 experience can be for different parents. And so this article 0:13:25.160 --> 0:13:28.079 in The Educator, the author is coming from an unusual 0:13:28.120 --> 0:13:30.920 angle because she says she runs a business that helps 0:13:30.960 --> 0:13:35.200 families come up with costumes. Oh and she writes, I 0:13:35.240 --> 0:13:38.440 don't think bookwek Costume Day is really a costume problem. 0:13:38.559 --> 0:13:42.320 It is a communication and equity problem. She says. A 0:13:42.360 --> 0:13:45.080 family with time, money and a craft cupboard can turn 0:13:45.120 --> 0:13:48.120 short notice into a fun project, but a parent working 0:13:48.200 --> 0:13:51.080 late shifts, a family watching every dollar, A child new 0:13:51.200 --> 0:13:54.480 to Australia who does not yet know the classic characters 0:13:55.559 --> 0:13:57.080 will experience it very differently. 0:13:57.400 --> 0:13:59.760 And do you feel like the kids like when you're 0:13:59.800 --> 0:14:02.719 kids have participated, do they talk about other people's costumes? 0:14:02.840 --> 0:14:05.280 Or is the dialogue between parents going like. 0:14:05.280 --> 0:14:08.760 You notice question what other kids are doing and you 0:14:08.840 --> 0:14:09.840 kind of make a judgment of. 0:14:09.840 --> 0:14:12.280 The pression ones. I don't know what do you think? 0:14:12.320 --> 0:14:13.920 Do you think the kids feel competitive? 0:14:14.280 --> 0:14:16.400 Not at all? And I don't even know that the 0:14:16.480 --> 0:14:19.760 parents do either. My experience of it has just been 0:14:19.800 --> 0:14:23.600 one joyful, whimsical laugh fest. But you're not aware of 0:14:23.600 --> 0:14:25.400 the gym's out there, but you're aware that. 0:14:25.640 --> 0:14:28.720 I'm sure that you have friends for whom bookweek is 0:14:28.760 --> 0:14:31.520 not a joyfest, right, who find it to be a 0:14:31.560 --> 0:14:34.160 source of pressure and stress. 0:14:34.400 --> 0:14:36.600 Yeah, I think so. I think that's very true. And 0:14:36.640 --> 0:14:38.840 I think that this is what I loved about this 0:14:39.000 --> 0:14:43.120 article is that it's very real that families who are 0:14:43.160 --> 0:14:46.040 watching every dollar. The line that really got me was, 0:14:46.240 --> 0:14:49.400 as you said, Amelia, a child new to Australia who 0:14:49.400 --> 0:14:53.000 doesn't know the classic characters, who doesn't know the language, ye, 0:14:53.440 --> 0:14:59.400 who doesn't have easy access to online shopping or shops 0:14:59.440 --> 0:15:02.360 you know, is going to They're going to experience it 0:15:02.400 --> 0:15:03.320 really really differently. 0:15:03.520 --> 0:15:07.880 The comparison for me is Halloween, because that's another opportunity 0:15:07.920 --> 0:15:11.960 for kids to dress up in costumes. And we've litigated 0:15:12.000 --> 0:15:15.280 Halloween on the show before. Mons and I famously almost 0:15:15.280 --> 0:15:17.360 came to blows on the subject, but then she came 0:15:17.440 --> 0:15:19.480 round to my point of view because I was on 0:15:19.520 --> 0:15:22.520 the debating team and now likes Halloween. The thing that 0:15:22.880 --> 0:15:25.040 is the difference between Halloween and Book Week is that 0:15:25.120 --> 0:15:29.800 Halloween is optional. It's celebrated outside of school, and it's 0:15:30.240 --> 0:15:35.080 an opt in activity that isn't highlighting difference in a 0:15:35.080 --> 0:15:37.320 place where everyone's meant to be on a level playing field. 0:15:38.280 --> 0:15:40.800 I'm going to protect Book Week at all costs because 0:15:41.320 --> 0:15:43.960 I think there are ways to make the playing field 0:15:44.120 --> 0:15:46.360 more equal, and we will get to that. But I 0:15:46.400 --> 0:15:51.000 do think reading has bad pr around it. It needs 0:15:51.600 --> 0:15:55.800 Book Week more than ever it is competing against screens, 0:15:56.200 --> 0:15:59.640 it's competing against dwindling attention spans. We've talked about the 0:15:59.640 --> 0:16:02.680 decline of reading on this show before, and the thing 0:16:02.720 --> 0:16:05.760 I love about Bookweek, I think is that it is 0:16:05.800 --> 0:16:09.400 one of the last kind of commercial free spaces that 0:16:09.520 --> 0:16:12.280 children have in a world where it does feel like 0:16:12.360 --> 0:16:15.920 brands are pushed on kids all the time. They're increasingly 0:16:15.960 --> 0:16:21.240 being sold products where their attention is just being relentlessly 0:16:21.280 --> 0:16:24.920 pursued by screens and technology. It's this kind of one space, 0:16:25.000 --> 0:16:28.080 this one beautiful little space that just asks nothing of 0:16:28.120 --> 0:16:31.160 them except like, what book do you love? And that 0:16:31.280 --> 0:16:34.280 is so wholesome, it's so pure, it must be protected. 0:16:34.040 --> 0:16:36.000 When you put it that way, it is really beautiful. 0:16:36.040 --> 0:16:39.640 But at least in my experience, very few kids are 0:16:39.640 --> 0:16:41.280 actually dressing up as books. 0:16:41.640 --> 0:16:42.760 What do they dress up as? 0:16:42.800 --> 0:16:42.880 Like? 0:16:42.920 --> 0:16:45.280 Can you does it just become a fancy dress thing 0:16:45.320 --> 0:16:45.720 of Like. 0:16:45.720 --> 0:16:48.400 Yeah, And like I said, it's like a soccer star 0:16:48.800 --> 0:16:52.480 or a TV character or a movie character. A lot 0:16:52.480 --> 0:16:55.960 of star wars, a lot of a lot of I 0:16:56.000 --> 0:16:58.720 think we'll see a lot of sports this year, particularly 0:16:58.720 --> 0:17:01.960 with the World Cup. I totally get that on as 0:17:02.080 --> 0:17:05.120 just do you really think that this point it's about books, 0:17:05.200 --> 0:17:06.479 even yes it is. 0:17:06.520 --> 0:17:10.200 And to that point, there's this great article on the 0:17:10.240 --> 0:17:12.879 conversation I read a couple of weeks ago from an 0:17:13.000 --> 0:17:16.800 early childhood literacy expert who says, actually, that's great. We 0:17:17.119 --> 0:17:20.400 want children to read and dress up. If their book, 0:17:20.440 --> 0:17:21.800 if the book they're carrying on the day is a 0:17:21.840 --> 0:17:24.480 book about line or messy or a book about star Wars, 0:17:24.560 --> 0:17:26.920 then that's great too, because you just have to provide 0:17:27.160 --> 0:17:30.560 reading for kids whatever facet they're interested in. I want 0:17:30.600 --> 0:17:34.240 to talk about how sport always gets to day, Amelia, 0:17:34.280 --> 0:17:36.200 because if you take the argument against what we should 0:17:36.240 --> 0:17:39.760 cancel book week because it's this, it's not equal, it's 0:17:39.760 --> 0:17:43.639 not entirely equal. No one ever says let's cancel sports 0:17:43.760 --> 0:17:46.960 day because some parents can't you know, some kids have 0:17:47.000 --> 0:17:49.560 better shoes. I can't cope with finding a red scrunchy 0:17:49.640 --> 0:17:51.080 or red hairsprays for the red. 0:17:51.000 --> 0:17:52.520 Rum faster than other kids. 0:17:52.600 --> 0:17:55.240 Yeah, So instead, what we do with the sports day 0:17:55.280 --> 0:17:57.200 because we know that there are kids who can't run 0:17:57.200 --> 0:18:00.800 like Kathy Freeman, and who can't throw a ball, and 0:18:01.000 --> 0:18:02.960 so what they do is they make it more inclusive. 0:18:03.040 --> 0:18:06.840 You have novelty events you have events where you just 0:18:06.880 --> 0:18:08.679 have to throw a beanbag into a bucket, or you 0:18:08.720 --> 0:18:12.560 get points for cheering really loudly or showing good sportsmanship. 0:18:12.720 --> 0:18:16.239 So I think that's the argument for kind of like 0:18:16.359 --> 0:18:19.760 changing the rules around bookwek that and this article that 0:18:19.800 --> 0:18:22.439 you brought today does talk about several different ways in 0:18:22.440 --> 0:18:24.680 which you can make the playing field of Bookweek a 0:18:24.720 --> 0:18:28.080 little more equal. And one of them is like giving 0:18:28.119 --> 0:18:32.040 parents plenty of notice. The other one is to stop 0:18:32.080 --> 0:18:35.120 giving the grand prize to the best costume, make it 0:18:35.240 --> 0:18:39.879 sort of the best homemade costumes, does homemade props? 0:18:39.960 --> 0:18:43.240 Does your school do prizes for bookweek ones? Because mine doesn't. 0:18:43.280 --> 0:18:45.080 I was surprised that that was even the thing. 0:18:45.160 --> 0:18:48.400 See, I quite like there no prizes, it's just about 0:18:48.480 --> 0:18:49.800 participation in general. 0:18:50.600 --> 0:18:52.960 Yeah, and the other thing that I really liked in 0:18:53.000 --> 0:18:54.960 this article is that the school should just keep a 0:18:54.960 --> 0:18:58.160 little spare box of kind of costume pieces for any 0:18:58.200 --> 0:19:02.080 kids that forget or kids that have access to a costume, 0:19:02.160 --> 0:19:04.120 so that they feel included on the day as well. 0:19:04.240 --> 0:19:07.600 I love that. Did you dodge my question on what's 0:19:07.640 --> 0:19:09.439 happening this year? Or do you not want to unveil 0:19:09.440 --> 0:19:09.800 it yet? 0:19:09.920 --> 0:19:12.720 Yeah, here's My dulama is that my vision was grug, 0:19:13.080 --> 0:19:15.720 a giant grug, and the way I was going to 0:19:15.800 --> 0:19:19.960 do it was like varying sizes of hoops so that 0:19:20.040 --> 0:19:23.080 the grugs When you put the grug on, it expands 0:19:23.119 --> 0:19:28.240 into a giant grug with paper like sort of a 0:19:28.280 --> 0:19:31.440 giant with streamers flowing off it. My children don't want 0:19:31.440 --> 0:19:33.600 to be grug. They don't want to be Grug. 0:19:34.000 --> 0:19:37.720 Okay, I think this is the most beautiful idea ones 0:19:37.760 --> 0:19:40.879 because again over one year old, she's obsessed with the 0:19:41.280 --> 0:19:44.400 book Grug, like I don't know what it is like 0:19:44.680 --> 0:19:46.760 like it might be the shape of it or the 0:19:47.280 --> 0:19:49.800