Speaker 1: Misspelling with Tori Spelling and iHeartRadio podcast. So every year
Speaker 1: I say to myself, Okay, I am not going to
Speaker 1: let Christmas sneak up on me. I'm not gonna let
Speaker 1: it happen this year. And I say I'm going to
Speaker 1: plan ahead. Yeah right, you guys knew me.
Speaker 2: I don't plan. That would make life too easy.
Speaker 1: So yeah, guess what, it's Christmas. Oh my gosh, it's
Speaker 1: almost Christmas. And you know what that means. Its amount
Speaker 1: of time. So it's interesting because my friend Macy said
Speaker 1: to me this year, I'm going to help you. She
Speaker 1: was helping me out while I was doing Dancing with
Speaker 1: the Stars the finale, and she said, I'm gonna help you.
Speaker 1: I'm gonna get kids to write their Christmas list, and
Speaker 1: no joke. I said to her, it's no, what are
Speaker 1: you talking about? And she goes, it's November. What are
Speaker 1: you talking about? And I was like, oh, this is me.
Speaker 1: Why do I do this to myself?
Speaker 2: You're right?
Speaker 1: So she got the kids to all right Christmas list
Speaker 1: and then she said, I'm going to help you here
Speaker 1: and plan a day and I'm going to go with you.
Speaker 1: And I said, okay, that's great, and she said, when
Speaker 1: can you go like next weekend. I was like no, no, no, no, no, no,
Speaker 1: no no, we have so much time. Long story short,
Speaker 1: it's a days before Christmas. I haven't even put a
Speaker 1: huge dent into the Christmas list and I never took
Speaker 1: mac up on that.
Speaker 2: May see if for listening, what are you doing Christmas Eve?
Speaker 1: So Christmas time is stressful with five kids. Christmas time
Speaker 1: is stressful with any amount of kids.
Speaker 2: You know what's doubly it's doubly award.
Speaker 1: You know what's double stressful this year is that we
Speaker 1: do celebrate Christmas and Hanukah. And it's again I always
Speaker 1: say this, it's not about a religious thing. It's a
Speaker 1: holiday celebration thing. And while I am Jewish, always have
Speaker 1: celebrated Christmas. You know, I grew up my mom went
Speaker 1: all out for Christmas, but we all also celebrated Hanukah
Speaker 1: and all Jewish holidays.
Speaker 2: So but this.
Speaker 1: Year, I'm not sure what happened, but Christmas and Hanukah
Speaker 1: fall in the same day.
Speaker 2: It literally never happens. Ritana. Is this true? Yes, that
Speaker 2: is true.
Speaker 3: They paul exactly the same time this year.
Speaker 2: Which.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's I mean, if you're a household that celebrates both.
Speaker 1: It's well, it sucks for the parents, That's all I'm
Speaker 1: gonna say, because it's you know, first of all, Christmas
Speaker 1: is about giving and giving and giving and giving until
Speaker 1: you just are completely suck dry. I'm not gonna sugarcoat it.
Speaker 1: I'm not gonna candy can it here.
Speaker 2: I'd love a Candican right now. The Cancan is espresso martini.
Speaker 2: Doesn't that sound good?
Speaker 3: That sounds amazing.
Speaker 2: Oh yes, with a sugar run.
Speaker 1: I said, okay, well, I'm getting distracted by my own
Speaker 1: self typical. So you know, kids make their Christmas list,
Speaker 1: they're devastated if they don't get the things on their list.
Speaker 1: And you're like, oh, sorry, I guess Santa couldn't get
Speaker 1: you everything. My kids said to me last year, do
Speaker 1: you think next year you could get me something? And
Speaker 1: I wanted to say, like, oh, I got you everything
Speaker 1: that you got, and he's like, because Santa got me
Speaker 1: all these presents, and Mom, you didn't get me anything.
Speaker 1: But I couldn't say anything.
Speaker 2: I was like, oh, that's true, that's true. So Christmas
Speaker 2: gifts and then eight days to Hanka. So if you
Speaker 2: do both, you do both. That's great.
Speaker 1: That's great, and then of course it's just a lot,
Speaker 1: and it's overwhelming. And when things get overwhelming and there's
Speaker 1: a list for me to do, I tend to focus
Speaker 1: on like number twenty on the list of top ten.
Speaker 2: So wait, I have a question, Yeah.
Speaker 3: Are you going to buy each child a present for
Speaker 3: each night of Hanukkah?
Speaker 2: Fuck?
Speaker 3: No, okay, because I was going to say, you may
Speaker 3: want to just lump that all together.
Speaker 1: No more of a symbolic I used to listen, I'm
Speaker 1: a tired old mom. Like as my best friend Jess
Speaker 1: always says, lame Stella got the best years of my life,
Speaker 1: like bo being the fifth child, had him at forty four.
Speaker 2: Yeah, he's a poor guy. He just gets slumped.
Speaker 1: And the good and bad news is he doesn't know.
Speaker 1: He doesn't really really know, Euce if he watches that
Speaker 1: damn YouTube and YouTube ruins things like there's so many Yeah,
Speaker 1: so he knows, so he knows like he's supposed to
Speaker 1: get at eight days of presence. But I used to
Speaker 1: like lame Sella, Oh my gosh, the huge DIY like
Speaker 1: advent calendar I would make.
Speaker 2: I would make cookies, cookies, cookies from scratch.
Speaker 1: I didn't stop di wining and baking until the well
Speaker 1: was dry, and it was never dry like it was.
Speaker 2: I was younger then too, but I just don't have
Speaker 2: it in me anymore.
Speaker 1: So yeah, we'll put out our manora and we'll light
Speaker 1: the candles every night, and perhaps a chocolate coin every night.
Speaker 2: Boe got excited about those.
Speaker 1: So that's what he knows in a dradle, and maybe
Speaker 1: one small gift the first night.
Speaker 2: That sounds good, That sounds doable. Going back to gifts,
Speaker 2: Can I talk elf on the shelf? Please?
Speaker 1: Elf on the shelf? Is just there's so many things now,
Speaker 1: Like I mean, there's like, oh gosh, elf on a shelf.
Speaker 1: There's minch on a bench. There's a fairy on the prairie,
Speaker 1: I don't know, like Snoop dog on the roof, Snoop
Speaker 1: on the stoop, we got that one. There's so many
Speaker 1: and they see them and they want them. And you know,
Speaker 1: I always say, I'm guilty mom, guilty working mom, and
Speaker 1: so I'm like, oh, okay, because the honest thing is
Speaker 1: is I'm such a big kid at heart that my
Speaker 1: eyes are like the cartoon character, like like Tom and
Speaker 1: Tom Jerry, Like my eyes light up too, and I'm like,
Speaker 1: oh my god, what a great idea, what a great
Speaker 1: new tradition. Yes, yes, until I have to do the
Speaker 1: work and I'm like no, no, why did I do
Speaker 1: this to myself? But anyway, so elfa on the Shelf
Speaker 1: this year the teenagers, I was like, hey, guys, I'm
Speaker 1: going to hand some of the nights over to you.
Speaker 1: So we do this thing and we go through the
Speaker 1: house and take turns, so it'll be you know, I'll
Speaker 1: do one night and then after dinner I'll dis quietly
Speaker 1: run by Stella and be like, tag, you're it, and she's.
Speaker 2: Like no, I'm like, yeah, yeah, you're it, and she's like,
Speaker 2: oh no why.
Speaker 1: And then Liam will do it one night, Patty'll do
Speaker 1: it one night, Finn I'll do it one night. Which
Speaker 1: is a little sad to me that four out of
Speaker 1: my five kids don't believe in elf on the Shelf anymore.
Speaker 1: I won't even talk Santa with them because I don't
Speaker 1: even want to hear it. I don't even want to
Speaker 1: hear it. Like, as far as I'm concerned, he's as
Speaker 1: real as it comes, Like it's I don't want to
Speaker 1: hear it.
Speaker 2: We're just pushing through. We just celebrate as if he
Speaker 2: does exist. But let's face it.
Speaker 1: You know, at this point, Bo's the only one that's
Speaker 1: really like, oh my gosh. Anyway, So I like to
Speaker 1: do very like creative things with elf on the shelves.
Speaker 1: I always say, our elves are kind of naughty, and
Speaker 1: we have you met me. They have a little bit
Speaker 1: of a you know, naughty body, dirty, dark sense of humor.
Speaker 1: They're mischievous, rebellious, they're me in an elf Zah.
Speaker 2: Finn did this one.
Speaker 1: Finn joined in on the fun down one morning and
Speaker 1: the elves were all gathered around the stove and they
Speaker 1: had a skillet not on, and reindeer was in the
Speaker 1: skillet and he wrote a note.
Speaker 2: How do you like your reindeer rare, medium or well done? Wow?
Speaker 2: I said, no, no, no, no.
Speaker 1: When it comes to elves and reindeers, we're vegan. It's
Speaker 1: funny when girls versus boys do it, because Stella and Hattie.
Speaker 2: Do do the elves.
Speaker 1: And it's like very creative and very artsy, and you know,
Speaker 1: they're doing bath bombs and they're like doing cute things
Speaker 1: and they're taking like you know, they're cooking and making
Speaker 1: things and stop up baking and like it's cute, like
Speaker 1: cutesy like stuff, and then the boys do it and
Speaker 1: they're like sex love, rock and roll, no minus love. Anyway,
Speaker 1: it's a better It's better than my elves that caught
Speaker 1: the last year, so because that was a little more
Speaker 1: heartbreaking when their skins started to catch on fire. It
Speaker 1: was like very triggering. It was like Benny Hannah for
Speaker 1: me all over again. But we had to get niw
Speaker 1: Wolves and they've made it through, so can't wait for
Speaker 1: them to be gone.
Speaker 2: Anyway.
Speaker 1: It's very confusing Christmas dinner because it's Tonica dinner as well,
Speaker 1: so if you celebrate both. Oh, I can't even say
Speaker 1: what I'm about to say. We we typically have a
Speaker 1: Christmas ham.
Speaker 2: Wow. It would.
Speaker 1: Only because it's you know me, I'm really big on tradition.
Speaker 1: Growing up, we always had turkey for Thanksgiving my mom
Speaker 1: would have and then for Christmas we would have turkey
Speaker 1: and ham.
Speaker 2: So I just grew up with that tradition.
Speaker 1: I know, I know, but it's Hanica. So it's like,
Speaker 1: can't have a ham? Like do you have a ham?
Speaker 1: Do you have a brisket? Like, I'm not sure what
Speaker 1: to do?
Speaker 3: You know, you could do some potato pancakes and call
Speaker 3: it today.
Speaker 2: Definitely some potato pancakes.
Speaker 1: But it's like, yeah, okay, so yeah, I told Stella
Speaker 1: and she was like she always helps me, you know,
Speaker 1: cook and do everything. And she was like, mom, no,
Speaker 1: we can't have a ham. And I was like, I know,
Speaker 1: but you guys love Hi bait tam for Christmas. She's like,
Speaker 1: I know, but it's it's Christmas.
Speaker 2: Christmas cu, Christmas cut, Christmacha, Christmas cut. What is that?
Speaker 3: I like, Christmacha.
Speaker 2: Christmacha, It's Christmacha. Yeah. So anyway, it'll be interesting to
Speaker 2: see what happens.
Speaker 3: Ham and Lacus a great Hanaka tradition.
Speaker 2: So you know what you know when that big like
Speaker 2: stuff a bird and a bird and a bird was
Speaker 2: back was in like back in the day. I remember
Speaker 2: I made a turn duncan turn duck in one year?
Speaker 3: What is that?
Speaker 2: Like?
Speaker 3: You put a duck in a turkey.
Speaker 2: You're going to be so mad right now? You put
Speaker 2: a duck in a you put a duck in a
Speaker 2: chicken in a turkey.
Speaker 3: Yeah, that's not working for me on any level.
Speaker 2: I know. So maybe this year I have a turkey.
Speaker 2: I have a turkey.
Speaker 1: I stuff it was get filter fish with the slab
Speaker 1: of ham perfect right across the top of it.
Speaker 2: Perfect. Get filter fish, like the nastiest Jewish food ever created.
Speaker 2: Fair that concur I.
Speaker 1: Don't know one Jewish human that likes it, or non
Speaker 1: Jewish human or human or you know what. You know,
Speaker 1: you know it's bad when you get it, because it's tradition.
Speaker 1: You're like, oh, we have the gift filter fish, and
Speaker 1: everyone's like, I don't want to filled of fish. And
Speaker 1: then you try to and then you're like oh and
Speaker 1: you feel bad. So you're like the dog want it,
Speaker 1: and the dogs like fuck no.
Speaker 2: And then you're like, okay, well it's fish.
Speaker 1: I'm sure the cattle eat it. And the cat just
Speaker 1: like turns and like put this tail up button your.
Speaker 2: Face and like walks off.
Speaker 1: You're like, okay, they shouldn't make this anymore. I'm sorry.
Speaker 1: So as far as Christmas presents, I think I have
Speaker 1: missed my mark for Amazon Prime.
Speaker 2: Yeah, not think. I know.
Speaker 1: I checked last night, and that just means I'm gonna
Speaker 1: have to do what I do every year, and this
Speaker 1: is a tradition.
Speaker 2: I go on Christmas Eve and shop. Who does that?
Speaker 2: Apparently a lot of.
Speaker 1: People because the mall is packed, It's like packed, and
Speaker 1: then I have to wrap all night. Do you guys
Speaker 1: have a solution like I feel? No, I can't have
Speaker 1: a solution. So when the kids were younger, I did
Speaker 1: a Santa's bag. I would say I was a lot
Speaker 1: smarter than and it would be Santa's gifts in the big,
Speaker 1: you know.
Speaker 2: Red velvet bag embroidered with their names on it.
Speaker 1: First two children got Lucky Lucky have our gifts that
Speaker 1: we would wrap, but the majority would be from Santa.
Speaker 1: I'm sorry, I'm keeping my voice down. My kids are
Speaker 1: in the other room. It's just bo anyway. And then
Speaker 1: I went to no Santa bag because I lost it somewhere.
Speaker 2: In storage obviously, and then start wrapping all the gifts.
Speaker 1: And Deane used to help me wrap all the gifts,
Speaker 1: but obviously now I'm a single mom, separate households. So
Speaker 1: Stella wrapped all the gifts with me, and it's just
Speaker 1: poor thing she shops the gifts with me. So last year,
Speaker 1: I'm not kidding, Stella didn't get a Christmas present at all.
Speaker 2: Why because I waited the last minute and then I
Speaker 2: was doing it all alone. She had to help me.
Speaker 1: She felt bad because it was like, oh, this is
Speaker 1: you know, I have to help and I want the
Speaker 1: siblings all. Her big thing is she doesn't want our
Speaker 1: lives to impact especially.
Speaker 2: Well, so she is really.
Speaker 1: Driven on that, like this is tradition, this is what
Speaker 1: we've always done.
Speaker 2: We're gonna do it. I'll do it with you.
Speaker 1: I don't care about my gift. I don't want a gift.
Speaker 1: Let's go, Let's make sure bo has everything, Let's wrap it.
Speaker 1: It's gonna be great, and we're gonna do this in
Speaker 1: surprise the when Santa came home in the stocking and
Speaker 1: cooked dinner. And it's just she stresses a lot about it,
Speaker 1: which I love her for that, but because she knows
Speaker 1: I've always stressed about it and just wanted them to
Speaker 1: ultimately have an amazing Christmas and feel.
Speaker 2: Love and joy.
Speaker 1: But it's just so it's Christmas has gotten so out
Speaker 1: of hand. It's not about love and joy anymore. It's
Speaker 1: like kids, little kids now are just like, oh, I
Speaker 1: get a present, What do I get? What do I get?
Speaker 1: And it's just so different that it's taken the love
Speaker 1: and joy out of it for us adults who love
Speaker 1: the holidays, and it's taken it out of the joy
Speaker 1: for my six year old. So anyway, last year, we
Speaker 1: were shopping down to the wire. I remember I had
Speaker 1: my friend babysitting the kids at the house. Stella was
Speaker 1: out with me. We did a mad dash to that mall.
Speaker 1: Oh my gosh.
Speaker 2: We got most of the stuff and then I was
Speaker 2: just like, this.
Speaker 1: Is awkward, Stella, I color buggy, buggy, I don't know
Speaker 1: what to do, like, I know your I have your list,
Speaker 1: which was small, and I said, but I feel weird.
Speaker 1: Do I stop now and say go look the other
Speaker 1: way and let me run in here and get it
Speaker 1: for you. And she's like, no, Mom, we got to
Speaker 1: get this done. Just go I don't need We'll deal
Speaker 1: with me later. Well, we didn't deal with her later.
Speaker 1: She stayed a all night with me wrapping gifts. I
Speaker 1: think she and I finally went to bed at like
Speaker 1: four in the morning, and then of course like bows
Speaker 1: up at like seven, like let's open gifts. And it
Speaker 1: we was like.
Speaker 2: We pulled it off.
Speaker 1: I mean, if I hadn't had her, I would not
Speaker 1: have pulled it off successfully.
Speaker 2: And we did.
Speaker 1: And it's just and she was like I think Kattie
Speaker 1: and Finn still believe, but I don't know. So, and
Speaker 1: the house we were in at the time was an
Speaker 1: Airbnb and their rooms are right.
Speaker 2: Over where we were.
Speaker 1: Like we literally had gifts sitting outside and we were
Speaker 1: like trying to pull them in. And then we got
Speaker 1: like this little car for Bo. And I'm sorry, I
Speaker 1: hate being like male female, like it's a boy's job,
Speaker 1: but I don't know how.
Speaker 2: To put a car together, like it's.
Speaker 1: Like with a million pieces of plastic and screws. And
Speaker 1: Stella is really good at that though, so she and
Speaker 1: that's what Dean used to do. So like Stella was
Speaker 1: up all night putting this like motorized car for Bo
Speaker 1: to get in and drive, putting it together all night,
Speaker 1: and I was just like, I'm so sorry, baby. So anyway,
Speaker 1: this year I would love to tie you on this
Speaker 1: and finish this off grade and strong. But this year
Speaker 1: I said to her, okay, I need your Christmas list,
Speaker 1: and she said, well, it's just like a few things
Speaker 1: on it, like I just want like a couple of
Speaker 1: T shirts and like it was like nothing like literally
Speaker 1: three things of like each thing was like, you know,
Speaker 1: a ten dollars, like a piece of clothes, Like I
Speaker 1: want that a pair of socks, fuzzy socks, and I said, well,
Speaker 1: what do you want? She goes, you know what I
Speaker 1: want and I was like, well, you're not getting the
Speaker 1: vintage Bronco and she's like, I don't want anything for Christmas.
Speaker 1: I would like to start a fund and so, and
Speaker 1: I'm going to work really hard. And when she's sixteen,
Speaker 1: she has got her learners permit, but she has six
Speaker 1: months till she gets you know, takes the driving test
Speaker 1: and can drive a car. And we have one vehicle,
Speaker 1: so you know, between pickups in all five kids, I
Speaker 1: assume we will need a second mode of transportation. And
Speaker 1: she really wants to work hard and put money towards
Speaker 1: that and work for her own car. And she wants
Speaker 1: to kind of restore because she's really good at stuff
Speaker 1: like that, at building and redoing and repurposing. And she
Speaker 1: wants her dream car, which ironically is my dream car
Speaker 1: because I meant to antique cars as well, is a
Speaker 1: vintage Bronco, but not like the fancy ones, are not
Speaker 1: like the totally redone ones that cost so much. She
Speaker 1: wants to take like a real, like junkie one and
Speaker 1: literally work on it and restore it with her own money.
Speaker 1: So yeah, she just said all she wants me to
Speaker 1: do is start contributing to her Bronco fund. But how
Speaker 1: do I not give her something on Christmas?
Speaker 3: Like I don't make a nice contribution, open the account
Speaker 3: and put some money in there.
Speaker 1: Oh what, sorry you lost me an opening account and
Speaker 1: you lost me a get up money.
Speaker 2: Sorry. Oh and Finn, Finn wants gift cards. I was like,
Speaker 2: who does that?
Speaker 1: He's like V box or b blocks whatever roadblocks, b
Speaker 1: bucks the gaming cards you know, or he wants like
Speaker 1: a gift card, Amazon gift card. I'm like, that takes
Speaker 1: all the fun out of it. And there's so many
Speaker 1: practical parents out there. My ex would say, great, like
Speaker 1: this is. But I love the gift of giving and
Speaker 1: being creative. Well I used to do. I used to
Speaker 1: love it so much.
Speaker 2: Allegedly I love it.
Speaker 1: But when I have the time, I love to really
Speaker 1: like hone in on what people like and make them
Speaker 1: or give them something that's not just the ordinary, but
Speaker 1: something they'd.
Speaker 2: Be like, oh, wow, I told you I like a
Speaker 2: B and C like a.
Speaker 1: Year or two years ago, and you remember that and
Speaker 1: then you like brought it back around.
Speaker 2: I love that stuff.
Speaker 1: So for me to like put a gift card in
Speaker 1: a box and wrap it would.
Speaker 2: Be so easy, but feels not very joyous. He'll be joyous.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's practical. Yeah, So they're at that age anyway.
Speaker 1: So that's Christmas, that's Hanukah, that's elf on a shelf,
Speaker 1: and that's the holidays. And the thing is like they
Speaker 1: rip through the stuff so fast. Oh, rapping if anyone
Speaker 1: has an idea on wrapping this year, because honestly, for
Speaker 1: Stell and I to stay up like all night to
Speaker 1: four am rapping little tiny like you know, Bo wants.
Speaker 2: A little like Ruk's cube.
Speaker 1: He wants a you know, he's really into those, so
Speaker 1: he likes different ones and and to match box cars,
Speaker 1: like to wrap mutual thing. It's just like mundane and
Speaker 1: just like, oh so what do I do with it?
Speaker 3: That's why there's gift bags. They make gift bags in
Speaker 3: every size and you can buy them in bulk at
Speaker 3: like TJMX, but that's no fun. It's better to torture yourself.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 3: Part of the joy of giving.
Speaker 2: And here's the thing that happens every year. It does
Speaker 2: that We're like, okay, we're.
Speaker 1: Gonna put the tree up, and then we're like, we're
Speaker 1: gonna decorate the tree and we're gonna lug all of
Speaker 1: our it used to be you know, Christmas decorations out
Speaker 1: of storage and get them to our house. We no
Speaker 1: longer have storage, so find it in the garage, get
Speaker 1: it inside, and.
Speaker 2: It's sat there.
Speaker 1: So now it's like days before Christmas. They can choose
Speaker 1: your battles. Do I put up the decorations. I'm not
Speaker 1: gonna lie. There's a Christmas tree sitting down there and
Speaker 1: the lights are twinkling and it's like nobody's home. There's
Speaker 1: no ornaments, so it's like, oh god, real life here. Yeah,
Speaker 1: but do we put the ornaments up?
Speaker 2: At this point with two days left?
Speaker 3: I say yes?
Speaker 1: You say yes, you're a Christmas ere though, right, it's
Speaker 1: never too late.
Speaker 3: That's a fun activity for Christmas Eve. While you're making
Speaker 3: your ham in your turkey and your chicken in your
Speaker 3: gefilta fish meal, the kids can be decorating the tree.
Speaker 2: Have you met my kids? Yeah?
Speaker 1: Are they going to decorate the tree. That's like saying, hey, guys,
Speaker 1: trash is sitting there. Are you gonna take it out?
Speaker 1: They don't, So then I eventually take it out so
Speaker 1: I could just add this to my piling list of
Speaker 1: do I sound like the Grinch? Oh my god, Oh
Speaker 1: my god, I'm not. I love Christmas so much. Last
Speaker 1: year was a big one. It was right after Diana
Speaker 1: and I split and we had had black mold and
Speaker 1: we were kind of.
Speaker 2: Everything had blown.
Speaker 1: Up, right, and we were just kind of surviving, surviving
Speaker 1: Christmas and while we were together, which is really all
Speaker 1: that matters, and there's so much love and the kids
Speaker 1: are frigging resilient.
Speaker 2: My kids are resilient. They take after me.
Speaker 1: I did say to them, you guys, this is a moment.
Speaker 1: This is a moment, and we're going through it. But
Speaker 1: we're together through it, and next year it's going to
Speaker 1: be calm next year. Anyway, here cut to a year later,
Speaker 1: and we're still just trying to survive Christmas, surviving the holidays,
Speaker 1: like getting through it.
Speaker 2: And it's like wow, and Bo said.
Speaker 1: Mom, you haven't taken me to any of the places
Speaker 1: because another this is another like a thing where the
Speaker 1: lights are, where the Christmas lights are. We haven't gone
Speaker 1: to a Christmas activity like one of those. And I
Speaker 1: was like, I was like, but we made it to
Speaker 1: the Christmas tree lot we did made it. I used
Speaker 1: to cut down my own damn tree.
Speaker 2: That's a lie to make my kids cut down the tree,
Speaker 2: and I videotaped it, but no, I did. I did.
Speaker 1: And now I'm like, oh my gosh, it used to
Speaker 1: be a fake tree, girl, Like I wasn't faking it.
Speaker 3: There's no shame in a fake tree. No, they're great,
Speaker 3: they're awesome. And gift bags and anything that simplifies the
Speaker 3: holiday process, there is no shame in that.
Speaker 1: So it's just the tradition is a real hard thing
Speaker 1: for me to let go of, especially we tried to
Speaker 1: create something for your kids and then things are different
Speaker 1: and you don't want them to feel like, oh my gosh,
Speaker 1: look what happened. Our lives fell apart, our parents divorced,
Speaker 1: and then even our Christmas wasn't the same, like on
Speaker 1: some level. So I'm still kind of making up. So
Speaker 1: we got to follow a tradition. Gotta follow tradition. I
Speaker 1: know I need to let it go, but or find
Speaker 1: a happy medium. Twenty twenty five Christmas, it's going to
Speaker 1: be the one. I'm not going to be surviving twenty
Speaker 1: twenty five Christmas. I'm gonna be diving into twenty twenty
Speaker 1: five Christmas starting in September.
Speaker 2: There, I said that or I could make this real easy.
Speaker 1: Guys, hey, the hoard at heart here, I could just
Speaker 1: not take anything down, and by next Christmas I will
Speaker 1: be winning because I'll be.
Speaker 2: So far ahead.
Speaker 1: You know the people like when you go like fourth
Speaker 1: of July and suddenly you go to like a store
Speaker 1: and it's like, already they have Halloween, and then like
Speaker 1: the day after Halloween, already they have Christmas. So the
Speaker 1: day after Halloween, I'll be like, okay, focus here, we'll
Speaker 1: pick one room and we'll decorate for Halloween, and then everything.
Speaker 2: Else in the house. I'll just leave Christmas.
Speaker 1: So by the time we get to November first, I'm like,
Speaker 1: Christmas is on perfect.
Speaker 2: It's a thought.
Speaker 1: So you guys, whatever you do, try not distress.
Speaker 2: Don't stress. It's just Christmas.
Speaker 1: You know what I am gonna miss though, you know
Speaker 1: what's given me a lot of solace during this last
Speaker 1: month of stress. Or Christmas movies like Bow and Bo
Speaker 1: is funny. Bo loves Christmas movies, but not just Christmas movies,
Speaker 1: like of course, you know, we went through all the
Speaker 1: new ones that came out this year and he watched
Speaker 1: it like Red One and like and he loves Spirited
Speaker 1: with you know Ryan Reynolds and Will Ferrell. But we
Speaker 1: go through all of them and then we go to
Speaker 1: the like you know, Old School one. So he watches
Speaker 1: Home Alone and Elf and like, you know, Christmas Story,
Speaker 1: like all the ones I grew up with and everything.
Speaker 1: And then once that's all done, I'm not kidding this,
Speaker 1: like creative seven year old, genius, little man, old soul.
Speaker 1: He will go through and watch all the Hallmark movies
Speaker 1: and I'm like, what seven year old is interested in
Speaker 1: a Hallmark movie? And he's like, oh mom, and he oh.
Speaker 1: This kid talks through everything and I'm like, oh my god, stop.
Speaker 1: But I can't make him stop because he's so smart.
Speaker 1: He will be like, oh, you understand what's happening here.
Speaker 1: She's sad on Christmas, but he has come into her
Speaker 1: life and by the end of the movie they're going
Speaker 1: to be together and she's no longer going to be sad.
Speaker 1: I'm like, how does he know this? And I'm like,
Speaker 1: I mean, it's a Hallmark movie. You know you can
Speaker 1: figure it out, but not at seven. But there's no
Speaker 1: like fun like Christmas elves. And it's not like Grinch,
Speaker 1: and it's not like fun. It's just like you know,
Speaker 1: the Hallmark romance, Like middle aged women like me watch
Speaker 1: it and cry like a seven year old. He's like,
Speaker 1: but you know, in all fairness, he ran out of others.
Speaker 2: But he'll watch it.
Speaker 1: Anything Christmas, he will watch That's all I'm saying. So
Speaker 1: I'll be sad when those are done. But anyway, whatever
Speaker 1: you do for the holidays, don't stress or stress too much.
Speaker 1: Try to enjoy yourselves because we're always told to live
Speaker 1: in the present.
Speaker 2: Get at the presence. Oh how am I gonna wrap
Speaker 2: those damn presents?
Speaker 1: But you know what the good news is, guys, next
Speaker 1: time we talk, ugh talk, I'll talk.
Speaker 2: You'll listen. It's like therapy for me.
Speaker 1: It'll be twenty twenty five and twenty twenty five.
Speaker 2: It's gonna be the one. It's gonna be the one.
Speaker 2: You guys, don't you say that every year? Oh yeah,
Speaker 2: I'm pulling for twenty twenty five. Happy Holidays,