Speaker 1: You know, I've moved to quite a hilly area, very hilly.
Speaker 1: It's like Everest, the Everest.
Speaker 2: Of Sydney they call it. They call that now I do.
Speaker 1: But I've noticed something about all the local dads. Good carves,
Speaker 1: fucking unbelievable cars.
Speaker 2: Really.
Speaker 1: Yesterday, April and I are driving along and I was like,
Speaker 1: look at.
Speaker 3: The cars on this guy.
Speaker 4: Welcome back to two doting dads. I'm Maddie Jay and
Speaker 4: I'm Ash and this is it one. Sorry, she's got
Speaker 4: a little cardboard box.
Speaker 2: Looks like it could be band aids. It's not. He's
Speaker 2: just putting something over his nose and I'm ash.
Speaker 4: You are a heavy mouth breathed that hang on? Oh,
Speaker 4: this is a podcast or what parenting? It's good and
Speaker 4: relatable and if you come for advice, not today your nose.
Speaker 2: What is that?
Speaker 1: It's a nasal strip. It's called breathe right, I'm addicted.
Speaker 4: Whoever came up with that name? Very intelligent? No, right,
Speaker 4: do you mind if I try one? Have you never
Speaker 4: had a natal strip? I've never had one. And I'm
Speaker 4: getting fed these ads and I'm so close to getting
Speaker 4: sucked in where you have the magnets, the magnets, and
Speaker 4: then you put the strip attaches to the magnets and it.
Speaker 2: Just like flours. This is one step before that.
Speaker 4: This is the gateway. He's getting a nose job. And
Speaker 4: what do I do?
Speaker 2: Just? Yeah, just make sure you grab some nostril? Bang?
Speaker 2: Oh yeah, I got good. What do you think?
Speaker 4: I don't notice the difference? Have you got a deviated symptom?
Speaker 2: She's deviated? Anyway, let's get back on track. Are we
Speaker 2: talking about Oh bit, we're talking about beer. May I
Speaker 2: crack it, big boy? What are you drinking there?
Speaker 4: Mate, I'm drinking It's a stone of wood, No surprise
Speaker 4: in there. We've gone through the hinterland. Hazy palou once
Speaker 4: more beautiful.
Speaker 1: That's my first beer of the week. Actually, excuse me,
Speaker 1: I'm a fitness freak.
Speaker 2: What is this?
Speaker 4: Because post balia, you're getting your life back on track.
Speaker 4: What's going on?
Speaker 1: Just balance? I'm just looking for some balance. You're out
Speaker 1: here looking for that.
Speaker 2: There is one thing you do not do well. It's balance. No,
Speaker 2: I'm trying.
Speaker 4: You were lying one side at the extreme and now
Speaker 4: you're the other.
Speaker 2: How does this taste?
Speaker 1: This is one of my favorite ones. I've got a
Speaker 1: fridge full of them at home. It used to be
Speaker 1: you used to not be able to get it everywhere
Speaker 1: because it was limited. Now it is a full, full range.
Speaker 1: And where can they get it?
Speaker 2: Matt?
Speaker 4: You tell us it is available from any good bottle
Speaker 4: shop now pouring on tapping, any good bar, a restaurant,
Speaker 4: and if you're struggling to find any good restaurant or bar.
Speaker 2: You can of course buy it online. It's starting with
Speaker 2: dot com dot are you all? One word? That's very good?
Speaker 1: And also it's getting hot, so bevery hot heat beer.
Speaker 2: Summer sandwiches. I'm calling it. Do you know what tasted
Speaker 2: delicious on the weekend? Ash? It was a beer?
Speaker 4: Do you know what I was doing pre beer? That
Speaker 4: made it taste even better? Actually, I haven't had a
Speaker 4: post beer sex in a long time. Beer. I'll take
Speaker 4: either way, thank you.
Speaker 2: I was chopping down trees we are you on the weekend?
Speaker 2: I did see something there?
Speaker 4: Yeah, just you know I've I've been making my transition
Speaker 4: into like full blown toxic masculine laborer laborer for a
Speaker 4: couple of weeks now since the runners have started, and
Speaker 4: I got invited down to Aladala or Milton to my
Speaker 4: brother in law's farm.
Speaker 2: So your sister's farm.
Speaker 4: Yes, my sister's farm. Yes, sorry, their farm, their farm.
Speaker 4: And I had a beer after we've been chopping down
Speaker 4: trees for I want to say, six hours, six hours
Speaker 4: of tree chopping y splinters, splinters. That's a little scratch
Speaker 4: of my thumb. Oh, your poor sing and that is
Speaker 4: see that challous No like that.
Speaker 2: There oh in the middle, So fucking gentle with my hand.
Speaker 2: It's been infected. Is it infected? It was different type
Speaker 2: of wood that was from it? Right, So what were
Speaker 2: you clearing trees for the third house we got.
Speaker 4: There is a little creek that runs from the back
Speaker 4: of the property at my sister and husband's farm. It
Speaker 4: runs for like I want to say, seven kilometers, eventually
Speaker 4: opens up and ends up at the beach. So it
Speaker 4: starts off as a little trickle and then opens up
Speaker 4: to a beautiful estra estuary street, estuary Australia.
Speaker 2: And into ocean.
Speaker 1: So is that where you would say freshwater meets salt
Speaker 1: water and becomes salt water.
Speaker 2: No, it is. It is alsot water, the evolution of water.
Speaker 4: It is also water because because ash, because it's the
Speaker 4: tiders goes in and out.
Speaker 2: The creek goes up and down. Oh, it's also water.
Speaker 4: I felt like I was going to get attacked by
Speaker 4: a sha.
Speaker 1: So when okay, I'm confused with what I just thought
Speaker 1: that would be fresh water for seven k's from the beach.
Speaker 2: No, because it's like an inlet. It's like a river.
Speaker 4: It's a river if you will. So it's fed by
Speaker 4: the ocean.
Speaker 2: So it's not a creek. Sorry, creek has thrown you
Speaker 2: and I. That's that's on me. Wow, I apologize.
Speaker 1: Anyway, Shooting for another episode, is it?
Speaker 2: Is it creak or is it a river? There's a
Speaker 2: new segment.
Speaker 4: So we had to we had to clear all the
Speaker 4: logs that had fallen down and.
Speaker 2: It was.
Speaker 4: It was the manliest weekend I think I've ever had
Speaker 4: in my high life.
Speaker 2: You just surprise me every weekend. Yeah.
Speaker 1: Yeah, wait for the full transition to so it's go
Speaker 1: one what full laborer?
Speaker 2: That's what am I right now? Full time laborer.
Speaker 4: I woke up.
Speaker 2: Creak, creak, a queak and river.
Speaker 4: First, you wouldn't last more than two seconds out there
Speaker 4: talking like that.
Speaker 1: I don't know.
Speaker 2: I'd be like, oh my god, a splinter. No, you'd
Speaker 2: you'd fit right in. I turn it on, but it
Speaker 2: was I haven't.
Speaker 4: Experienced that level of pain. And hopefully none of the
Speaker 4: boys are listening to this podcast. They were on that
Speaker 4: weekend trip because they're all like builders or laborers or concreteors.
Speaker 4: I was one of the few who write emails.
Speaker 2: And film content. Salt of the earth, aren't they.
Speaker 4: Yeah, none of them were that intrigued about my job.
Speaker 4: One of them was like, what's a podcast? And I
Speaker 4: was like, well, and he's like, too much information. Wrestle
Speaker 4: it's like radio.
Speaker 2: I was just my wrists was sore, like my body was.
Speaker 1: I was all right, fellas, all right, fellas first time.
Speaker 4: It's a miracle that I made out a lot. There
Speaker 4: was a lot of wrestling, a lot of wrestlings, of beers,
Speaker 4: lots of wrestling.
Speaker 2: Sounds like broke Back Farm if you ask me, buddy.
Speaker 4: It was.
Speaker 2: It's just it's night.
Speaker 4: It's very primal, very primal, seeing two grown men decide
Speaker 4: to wrestle.
Speaker 2: Wow, you had a masculine weekend.
Speaker 4: Very masculine weekend, very masculine weekend up there on the house.
Speaker 4: That's okay, whilst we're here, go on. Very controversial. I
Speaker 4: don't know how you feel about this. Ash we've decided
Speaker 4: to not put a bath in the house.
Speaker 2: Well at all. Nothing to showers, showers only. I think
Speaker 2: that's I think that's fine. I don't see a problem
Speaker 2: with it. I thought you were a big bath kind
Speaker 2: of guy.
Speaker 1: No, April's a big bath kind of girl. She would be,
Speaker 1: but not for I wouldn't catch me stewing in a bath.
Speaker 2: Not at all.
Speaker 4: What about the option of not having any bath with
Speaker 4: the kids shower easier, That's what I think. Love to
Speaker 4: I hose them down. Don't put a bathroom in there
Speaker 4: at all.
Speaker 2: I've got a hose and still good. Speaking of April,
Speaker 2: it is April's birthday. Today's Happy birthday to April. Would
Speaker 2: that be weird if I called her? No?
Speaker 4: Would she want that?
Speaker 2: Probably not? Okay, Well, I won't do it. I don't know.
Speaker 2: Give a call. I give it a call. Oh, here
Speaker 2: we go.
Speaker 4: We're on.
Speaker 2: We're on, April. It's me, Matt.
Speaker 4: We are recording right now, So don't say anything incriminating.
Speaker 2: I just wanted to say.
Speaker 4: I don't know have your number saved in my phone,
Speaker 4: but I just wanted to say, happy birthday.
Speaker 2: Oh, thank you, appreciate it. What are you now? Twenty six,
Speaker 2: twenty seven. Yeah, just ripe old age of twenty four.
Speaker 4: Actually, you're looking great. Thank you. Whatever you're doing, it's
Speaker 4: the boxing.
Speaker 2: What do you got?
Speaker 4: What do you got planned for tonight? Told you no? Yeah?
Speaker 2: Will will you tell me? No? It's nothing huge. We're
Speaker 2: just doing a little family.
Speaker 1: Dinner Chinese restaurant, a succulent Chinese meal.
Speaker 4: Well, I have to say, I don't know how you
Speaker 4: put up with Ashton, but you are. You do an
Speaker 4: incredible job as both wife and mum. Is that your.
Speaker 2: Birthday present to me? Just the words? Is that not
Speaker 2: good enough? Yes? Sure? My physical gifts? What would you
Speaker 2: What would you like?
Speaker 1: Something big, babe, something expensive?
Speaker 2: Maybe maybe one of your homes. Your holiday out must
Speaker 2: be nice. That's what we got time for April. Have
Speaker 2: a great birthday. Bye. You don't ask, you don't get
Speaker 2: exactly right. You wear you're wearing the shirt.
Speaker 1: I'm wearing a shirt that says my wife on it
Speaker 1: for those listening at home. And it's got a punch
Speaker 1: a bunch of pictures of April on it, like she
Speaker 1: gave it to me for Christmas.
Speaker 2: That's a nice shirt. It is a nice shirt.
Speaker 4: I feel like you guys are just on fire right now.
Speaker 4: The two of you.
Speaker 2: Thank you, thank you very much.
Speaker 4: Yeah yeah, little cheeky present you picked up as well.
Speaker 2: I did. She'll get that later. You've got a few
Speaker 2: things as well, I did. Thank you.
Speaker 1: Tony May gave me a couple of rings. Thank you,
Speaker 1: Laura and Matthew. Thank you to the Johnson's and the Burns.
Speaker 1: Lovely my weekend. You had the masculine weekend. I had
Speaker 1: a fairly standard weekend except for one event that happened,
Speaker 1: which was a meltdown. I'm calling it the ultra tantrum
Speaker 1: from Oscar and myself. It was a bit wet on
Speaker 1: the weekend. And he's in the backyard playing with the
Speaker 1: little nerf gun, no worry, playing solo. Macy was on
Speaker 1: route come down to see what was going on in
Speaker 1: the paddock. In the paddock with the farm, the eleanor
Speaker 1: of farm, and there's a slight decline.
Speaker 2: Well said to get down there.
Speaker 1: And poor Macy she was she can't walk that well,
Speaker 1: let's be honest, like she's not there were balanced.
Speaker 4: She's a bit, she's a bit like topsy turvy.
Speaker 1: Yeah yeah, And she had gum boots on recipe for
Speaker 1: disas because they're not used to the extra weight. Yeah, exactly,
Speaker 1: so she's fallen down the hill appears when you say
Speaker 1: a bit. She just took a tumble, wasn't It was grass,
Speaker 1: so she wasn't like it would have scared her more
Speaker 1: than anything.
Speaker 2: It's not hurt, but she was.
Speaker 1: Whaling, and I thought, fuck, I go down with a towel,
Speaker 1: dryer off because she still she was still want to
Speaker 1: play one.
Speaker 2: She's calmed down.
Speaker 1: And Oscar was down there, and what I expect from
Speaker 1: Oscar is to at least be like, are you okay?
Speaker 2: It's just the.
Speaker 1: Bare minimum bit of empathy. I got down there. He
Speaker 1: was showing no empathy. He walked straight past her A
Speaker 1: couple I observed as I was walking down he was
Speaker 1: too busy concentrating on what he was playing with the
Speaker 1: nerf gun. I stopped checked if Macy was okay. She
Speaker 1: was okay, Gabor toweer, she was just like sitting with
Speaker 1: a tower. I said, okay, yeah, blah blah blah. And
Speaker 1: I said to Oscar, I was like, hey, bro, you're
Speaker 1: the older brother, check if your sister's okay. And he
Speaker 1: started to melt down about that because he knew that
Speaker 1: he had sucked up, and then he'd gone to tell
Speaker 1: me that he was gonna do it, and I was like,
Speaker 1: you weren't gonna do it. So I'm getting a little
Speaker 1: bit fired up here. I'm like, you weren't going to
Speaker 1: do it. Now you're just fucking lying to me. Anyway,
Speaker 1: he puts the gun up and shoots me point blank
Speaker 1: in the face. Right, it was a little prick, give
Speaker 1: me that fucking gun, and I fucking snatched it.
Speaker 2: Tell me you shot him back?
Speaker 1: No, no, there was only one bullet in it, one bullet,
Speaker 1: and I snatched it, and he had the other bullet
Speaker 1: in his hand.
Speaker 2: He threw the bullet at me, so I threw the.
Speaker 1: Gun, not at him, at the brick wall next to it,
Speaker 1: trying to smash it. So at this point I'm acting
Speaker 1: like a child.
Speaker 2: Too, your words, not mine.
Speaker 1: But yeah, yeah, yeah, we're both one up in each
Speaker 1: other here. I've smashed it. Right, He's screamed at me,
Speaker 1: picked up the bullet, thrown it at me again. So
Speaker 1: I've picked the gun up, and as you know, with
Speaker 1: his block of land, it's quite steep, quite high, quite long,
Speaker 1: turned around with this nerve gun and launched it as
Speaker 1: far as I could into the.
Speaker 2: Back and you've got a very good arm. The back paddock.
Speaker 2: It's gone this thing. Even Macy was like, holy shit. Anyway,
Speaker 2: he screamed.
Speaker 1: At me, and I have never yelled at someone so
Speaker 1: loud in my life. I was like, go to your room,
Speaker 1: like so loud, and it's a bit of a valley.
Speaker 1: It echoed through the valley.
Speaker 2: I actually heard it here it was.
Speaker 1: And he screamed back again and ran upstairs to his
Speaker 1: room and I could hear this ruckers. He was trashing
Speaker 1: his room.
Speaker 2: Where's April.
Speaker 1: April was on the back and he's just watching everything
Speaker 1: on fire, kind of like, don't get involved, don't get involved,
Speaker 1: because it was just like back and forth. So Oscar's
Speaker 1: carrying on. And I walked it, smashed the door open
Speaker 1: to see what he was doing. The poor kid was
Speaker 1: so worked up. He's just throwing all his toys and
Speaker 1: up nothing crazy, like just throwing his legos and everything
Speaker 1: on the ground.
Speaker 2: But he was trying to flip his mattress and he's
Speaker 2: like this, how many attempts did he have a couple?
Speaker 2: He was like, you're like, I'll get your hand. I
Speaker 2: was like, let me help you out and flipped it.
Speaker 1: And then I just I was like, now shut up,
Speaker 1: slammed the door and went out, and I just like,
Speaker 1: so fucking worked out. Anyway, I came back in and
Speaker 1: he was like still trying to flip the mattress. The
Speaker 1: room was trashed, and like, I just st and Macy's like,
Speaker 1: help may He's still halfway down the hill.
Speaker 2: Anybody.
Speaker 1: Eventually, I was like, I just I closed the door
Speaker 1: and left him in there and let him calm down,
Speaker 1: because I was like, and I also went and calmed down,
Speaker 1: and like I said, I acted like a child as well.
Speaker 1: I was not a parent.
Speaker 2: Sometimes it happened.
Speaker 1: And anyway, I went back and I opened the door,
Speaker 1: and I was like, you should have just helped your sister,
Speaker 1: and he said to me again I was gonna.
Speaker 2: I was like, just don't lie to me. Also, clean
Speaker 2: all this shit up, and he's letting you guys kick
Speaker 2: off a game for a round two? No, no, I
Speaker 2: was gonna. Did you give him a cuddle? Yeah?
Speaker 1: I let him calm down, he cleaned up some of
Speaker 1: his room, I had to put the mattress back, and
Speaker 1: then I gave him a cuddle and I was like, buddy,
Speaker 1: you look out for your sister is one and two
Speaker 1: don't lie to me, don't bullshit a bullshitter, and I said, look,
Speaker 1: I'm sorry for not acting like a parent.
Speaker 2: And three, you're too small to for be mattress.
Speaker 1: Yeah, leave it alone also, and then I tried to
Speaker 1: turn into a teaching moment. I was like, if you
Speaker 1: eat your dinner, you would have been able to flip
Speaker 1: that mate straight back.
Speaker 2: And I was like, you eat your dinner, you'll.
Speaker 1: Be able to flip that mattress next. So anyway, that
Speaker 1: was my weekend. And it ended with him being completely
Speaker 1: banned from using his phone. Like he's it's just YouTube
Speaker 1: on his phone that's completely banned.
Speaker 2: I was like, you're crowded.
Speaker 4: Where's he going to go exactly?
Speaker 1: He's like, I go everywhere with you. Yeah, well, what
Speaker 1: are you going to leave me here? I was like,
Speaker 1: he's got me on a technicality. He's good, he's good,
Speaker 1: he's good. We've meant it, and I've actually taken a
Speaker 1: leaf out of your book and I would like to
Speaker 1: thank you. So we're not going with screen time anymore. Look,
Speaker 1: the holiday didn't really help because when you're on holidays,
Speaker 1: you're kind of like, I want to enjoy myself, can
Speaker 1: you fuck off with this screen and just leave me alone?
Speaker 1: But like after that, we're like, look, he's just so
Speaker 1: aggressive in the mornings now because he's like waking.
Speaker 2: Up like, oh you a screen? I need a screen?
Speaker 1: And it's like, okay, so it's been like two or
Speaker 1: three days. How's it going TV? Yes, but it's Disney,
Speaker 1: like a Disney classic Disney movie. YouTube, No fucking way.
Speaker 1: That is just like crack.
Speaker 2: It is mentally. Macy's meltdown over.
Speaker 1: No YouTube is borderline worse than her not being able
Speaker 1: to look at us like a person, like a one
Speaker 1: on one screen.
Speaker 2: She's like YouTube, I was like, no, yousube, like fuck don't.
Speaker 4: We got really stuck into screen time in that weird
Speaker 4: period where the kids were old enough to enjoy screen
Speaker 4: time but not old enough to enjoy coloring and doing
Speaker 4: those types of tity.
Speaker 1: That's what happens when you have too much screen time.
Speaker 1: You can't can't talk, You can't talk.
Speaker 4: And I guess girls and boys are different in that
Speaker 4: little boys often don't want to sit down and color
Speaker 4: in for an hour, whereas Marley and Lola that is
Speaker 4: their absolute jam.
Speaker 2: They love it. It's just got to run bro.
Speaker 4: Yeah, there's boys. They gotta like they're gott to exert
Speaker 4: the energy.
Speaker 2: Oh, it's unbelievable.
Speaker 1: Like he'll come back from like a day at KINDI
Speaker 1: where it's like they've been on an excursion and he's
Speaker 1: been fucking running around like he's Then he goes to Popper's.
Speaker 1: It goes for a swim for an hour with Popper
Speaker 1: and like not just like he's like a leisurely swim.
Speaker 2: I'm talking fucking.
Speaker 1: In thought, playing out in out up, back up, back up.
Speaker 2: But he's like a fucking kelpie. What the fuck? Like
Speaker 2: it's NonStop.
Speaker 1: And then he gets home and he's like I want
Speaker 1: to go and jump on his rampoline.
Speaker 2: I'm like, the fucking wrong with you?
Speaker 1: One day, I'm just half expecting him to be like
Speaker 1: I'm gonna get jump on the trampoline to look out
Speaker 1: and it's gonna be like.
Speaker 2: But no, he's not, and he wouldn't.
Speaker 1: And then I'm like go to bed and he's like no,
Speaker 1: like you're tired. He's like, no, to have that amount
Speaker 1: of energy, I must divided that amount of you kind
Speaker 1: of do No, I'm tired.
Speaker 4: No, you only when you like sid still when you're
Speaker 4: when you're inadactivity, you're you're like, you're fucking.
Speaker 2: Like a kelpie, You're like a healthy Yeah.
Speaker 4: You were like your son, damn it, I know. So
Speaker 4: what's your plan on screen time? Are going to completely
Speaker 4: remove it? You're gonna go weekends, weekends only?
Speaker 1: No, I think only only on a no, like individual
Speaker 1: screen because that's like they're locked in, and Macy gets
Speaker 1: so locked in.
Speaker 2: You're like, but they're like TV.
Speaker 1: I put the TV on and then Oscar's got his
Speaker 1: legos well, and he's you know, he ended up just
Speaker 1: be concentrating on the lego, which is what you want.
Speaker 1: And he's so good at it, like he's like, fucking
Speaker 1: I got got in this lego yesterday and then what
Speaker 1: did I do yesterday afternoon? I literally went and pick
Speaker 1: up dinner, came back.
Speaker 2: He said, look and it's Star Wars Death start and
Speaker 2: he's done it. Yeah, Lego master loves it. He just
Speaker 2: locks in. Should be tested tested, you should?
Speaker 4: I mean again, your word's not mine. Man's a good
Speaker 4: idea where we got we were screen timing, Like I
Speaker 4: remember the kids used to get into the routine where
Speaker 4: they would wake up and they would they would start
Speaker 4: waking up earlier because they you know, they'd rustled a
Speaker 4: bet at like five o'clock screen and then they'd just
Speaker 4: be like screen time, And because we were so tired,
Speaker 4: we were just like, here's my phone. And then I'd
Speaker 4: fall back asleep and I'd wake up an hour later
Speaker 4: and noticed next to me like just balls Deep and
Speaker 4: new YouTube. Yeah, and then that was like and then
Speaker 4: every dinner time, they wouldn't eat their dinner unless the
Speaker 4: TV was on. It was just screen time, like every
Speaker 4: second of every day when they went to daycare. It
Speaker 4: was fucking bad.
Speaker 2: Oh yeah, that's exactly where we were at.
Speaker 4: And not to be I'm not I'm not judging it
Speaker 4: never works for you, but we were like Laura was
Speaker 4: the one who was like, this is getting ridiculous.
Speaker 1: M yeah, like they will wait, they wake up early
Speaker 1: because they know what's thoughts there, and then I would
Speaker 1: I would use it as well.
Speaker 2: To go back to sleep. Oh yeah.
Speaker 1: I think like, if you have something really important to
Speaker 1: do and you need them to be distracted, fine, I'm
Speaker 1: okay with that, but like for an extra half hour sleep,
Speaker 1: it's not really worth it.
Speaker 4: This week, when we were on the cruise recently, we
Speaker 4: stopped doing screen time at dinner, and I will say
Speaker 4: that is the fucking worst.
Speaker 2: Oh that sucks.
Speaker 4: Like you get like a little sense of we did
Speaker 4: it no screen time, but dinner is just chaos entirely.
Speaker 2: Enjoy fucking sauce everywhere.
Speaker 4: They're like drawing on the tablecloth, like going over to
Speaker 4: other table.
Speaker 1: I will say, though, the p Andos staff, the waiters,
Speaker 1: because they're all from different countries, very good, very good.
Speaker 2: They were like they.
Speaker 1: Would remember the name and then like I think, like
Speaker 1: for breakfast, we had this guy Michael. I remember his
Speaker 1: name was shout its Michael, probably not listening, definitely not sure.
Speaker 1: He would be like does that have a race, and
Speaker 1: he would just go and take them if it was
Speaker 1: quiet enough to like just people. I was sitting there
Speaker 1: eating breakfast. I'm like with the kids, and then you
Speaker 1: just see him pass with Michael. I did tip him.
Speaker 4: For the rs L.
Speaker 2: There's no Michael. There's no Michael. There's Michael. We need
Speaker 2: Michael more Michaels.
Speaker 4: Michael's rs L. We've got dinner tonight. The RSL just
Speaker 4: to go on. My sister icebergs no not RSL, RSLF,
Speaker 4: very nice rs L. And I'm like it's going to
Speaker 4: be Laura's not coming and I'm like, fuck, it's going
Speaker 4: to be hell me and the kids.
Speaker 2: And she doesn't do screen to and yeah, but you
Speaker 2: know she's like she needs a screen She's yeah, she
Speaker 2: needs she'd loves screen time.
Speaker 1: We'd give all day, every day for Ellie Geeva occupied anyway,
Speaker 1: So that was the meltdown.
Speaker 2: We've recovered somewhat. Macy hasn't.
Speaker 1: She's still down there, Matt. Last week you mentioned you
Speaker 1: had a info in it for big school. Not for you,
Speaker 1: You're way past big school. It's for her name is Marley, right,
Speaker 1: her name.
Speaker 4: Is Marley, and she is transitioning to kindy Okay, so
Speaker 4: at big school kindy.
Speaker 2: Big smook indy bigs.
Speaker 4: One thing that's weird about school in New South Wales
Speaker 4: is that primary school finishes in year six.
Speaker 2: Right, yep, that's fucking weird. Even numbers. What do you mean?
Speaker 2: Even number six is an even number? Yeah, made up
Speaker 2: of two odd numbers.
Speaker 4: Very good school, Queen's Land. We finished school in year
Speaker 4: seven primary school. High school starts in year eight.
Speaker 2: That's silly.
Speaker 4: Even number two fours make there you go?
Speaker 2: Well said truth? Truth?
Speaker 4: So yeah, so we enrolled. We enrolled, obviously we had
Speaker 4: the panic, the panic of the late enrollment got in. There,
Speaker 4: had the info nite felt good, great, great info nite
Speaker 4: by the way, and then we had our first orientation,
Speaker 4: which was this morning, Oh, I'm coming straight from the orientation.
Speaker 2: How'd you go, Marley go?
Speaker 4: Actually she did, okay, okay, good, she did Okay, your
Speaker 4: orientation you were with the kids.
Speaker 2: It was like one of that was like the initial one.
Speaker 4: Have you done an orientation where you just dropped?
Speaker 2: April has done the drop because I've been busy.
Speaker 4: Because I thought initially, I thought it was going to
Speaker 4: be I'm with Marley the whole time, and I thought
Speaker 4: we would go to school in the morning, all the
Speaker 4: parents would be holding hands with their kids from start
Speaker 4: to finish.
Speaker 2: We wouldn't do that when they actually go to school.
Speaker 2: So they got it. You got to prepare them. Would
Speaker 2: be weird if you went to school every day with
Speaker 2: there you're out the fan Madison.
Speaker 4: So I looked at this sheet and I was like, oh,
Speaker 4: it's just it's a drop and go orientation. So I
Speaker 4: actually it worked out great because Marley was really pumped,
Speaker 4: really excited for the days leading up to it because
Speaker 4: a lot of her daycare friends are also they got
Speaker 4: the orientation, so everyone's kind of like in this process
Speaker 4: of preparing for big school. Marley loves it, and I
Speaker 4: was like, you don't eat your dinner, you're not going
Speaker 4: to school. If you didn't go to bed right now,
Speaker 4: you are not going to school. So I've been using
Speaker 4: that as my main correct.
Speaker 2: We were like, thank god, I don't want to dinner
Speaker 2: and I don't want to go to school. Fuck imagine
Speaker 2: if that was the case.
Speaker 4: And then I was driving Maley in. We went in
Speaker 4: there through the front gates, and I at a moment
Speaker 4: where I was thinking, oh, my gosh, I remember taking
Speaker 4: Marley to her first day of daycare and you know how.
Speaker 1: Little she was back then, And I was now, yeah, yeah,
Speaker 1: back now.
Speaker 2: And now I'm you know, at this.
Speaker 4: For the last few years, it's been pretty consistent, the
Speaker 4: routine of your kids in daycare, and it's you're now
Speaker 4: entering a different phase. And it's a real obviously sounds
Speaker 4: really obvious, but a real moment of oh, she's not
Speaker 4: a little kid anymore. She's turning into a little girl. Yeah,
Speaker 4: and I hate it.
Speaker 2: It's a double edged sword.
Speaker 4: I love that she's turning into a little girl, and
Speaker 4: I love how she's becoming. But at the same time,
Speaker 4: I'm like, oh, she's not my she's not.
Speaker 2: Your baby anymoy anymore.
Speaker 1: Yeah, And like Oscar is the same, he's I remember
Speaker 1: walking him to kindy. We used to live in d
Speaker 1: wives of suburban Sydney and we would walk.
Speaker 2: To the end of the road where the KINDI was.
Speaker 2: I remember his little backpack.
Speaker 1: Yeah I had to carry because he was just but
Speaker 1: like yeah, And then now he's like, we've got a
Speaker 1: drop off orientation tomorrow, which is I haven't been to
Speaker 1: the last couple because I've been I've been an absent father.
Speaker 1: But this one I'm going to go, so it'll be interesting.
Speaker 1: I'll be able to let you know how that goes
Speaker 1: next week.
Speaker 4: Well, I thought it was going to be a little
Speaker 4: bit emotional, you know, when I drop off a daycare.
Speaker 4: Sometimes that moment of when I I'm walking out the
Speaker 4: door and I'm waving goodbye. Very often she's like, Daddy,
Speaker 4: don't go stay there. Maybe like once or twice a week.
Speaker 2: You wouldn't get it if you just pushed out a
Speaker 2: car when you drove past, You're right right right.
Speaker 4: The bat out of the window.
Speaker 2: And we went in. I met her teacher.
Speaker 4: They have a buddy, so one of the older kids
Speaker 4: they come down. You get to sign a buddy and
Speaker 4: that's who you're going to have for when you actually
Speaker 4: start school. And the buddy was lovely, great, great young lady.
Speaker 4: And you know, I'm standing there with the buddy with
Speaker 4: Marley the teacher, and I was like, Okay, Marley, you
Speaker 4: have a really great day. And to a buddy, I
Speaker 4: was like, you have really fun fum looking after Marley.
Speaker 4: And then I hung around for like a split second longer,
Speaker 4: and I was just taking it in and I was
Speaker 4: expecting Maley to maybe be a bit upset, you know,
Speaker 4: hold my hand and say, daddy, can you stay?
Speaker 2: And she looked at me and she's like, do you
Speaker 2: want to get out of you now? You didn't get
Speaker 2: the moment. You were like thinking it was going to
Speaker 2: be you can leave. Oh can you fuck off? Did
Speaker 2: that break your heart? Oh my gosh? Look yeah, I
Speaker 2: was like, she doesn't want me anymore?
Speaker 1: No, well, yeah, I think she's the excitement of the
Speaker 1: first you remember, Okay, here we go. You remember the
Speaker 1: first time you did drop her off to kinder. It
Speaker 1: was like a whole New World. So they're all so
Speaker 1: excited too. But then the second time they knew what
Speaker 1: they're in for, and they're like, so next time you
Speaker 1: might get that moment where it's like, fucking over, I'm going.
Speaker 1: But if she's super excited, that's great.
Speaker 2: I was outside the fence, okay, turn tables. She was like,
Speaker 2: fuck after leave me alone. I can still see you
Speaker 2: in the bushes, the rustling in the bushes.
Speaker 4: But she was great. Picture up a few hours later.
Speaker 4: She had a great time.
Speaker 2: They do though.
Speaker 4: I met some of the dads. Yeah, lovely dads.
Speaker 2: Well, they like really nice, really nice. I made a
Speaker 2: really shit joke, tells me. He goes.
Speaker 4: The dad comes over and he goes, oh have you
Speaker 4: this is we all come about ten minutes Daly to
Speaker 4: pick up the kids. And he goes, ohre you here
Speaker 4: to pick up your kids? Starting kindy and I said no, no,
Speaker 4: the gig was opened, so I just walked in.
Speaker 2: I like it. That's not ship.
Speaker 1: That is great, a bit predatory, very I like it.
Speaker 4: But then I was like the guy was like, oh,
Speaker 4: I should make conversation mate, yeah, And I was like
Speaker 4: I mean.
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, And now he's with the other day's attitude
Speaker 2: on him. That's great.
Speaker 4: I do have a little message from Mali just to
Speaker 4: let you know how she went. What was your favorite part.
Speaker 2: Of schoolving many bike?
Speaker 4: Are you excited to go to school now?
Speaker 2: Oh? That's lovely?
Speaker 1: Anyway, should we go into hack or funck that?
Speaker 4: Mate?
Speaker 2: Please?
Speaker 1: Okay, I've got one for you. This is a parenting hack.
Speaker 1: I've come up this on the run. I think it's genius.
Speaker 1: Oscar picked his fingernail too short, and you know when
Speaker 1: you do that, everything stings. Salt, lemon, any citrus?
Speaker 4: How much citrus are you eating in your household?
Speaker 2: My house is just full of citrus. Everywhere you go,
Speaker 2: everybody you turn, you open the door, bam, citrus sleeps
Speaker 2: on a bit of lemons.
Speaker 1: It's better limes, so better than that orange. But anything,
Speaker 1: he'll just complain anyway. So April went into the city
Speaker 1: for a full day's work.
Speaker 2: She only goes in every now and then. A very good.
Speaker 1: I decided to go with showers instead of bath. What
Speaker 1: a shower for the kids instead of a bath?
Speaker 4: Great tie back to my original story of the bath household.
Speaker 2: Thank you?
Speaker 1: So I'm pro no bath, yes, just because showers quick.
Speaker 1: Also like it's just easier bath. They just anyway we
Speaker 1: can go on about are you in the bath in
Speaker 1: the shower with them?
Speaker 3: Nah?
Speaker 1: Sometimes you're shut the door. No, no, I mean I'm
Speaker 1: in the bathroom. We don't have a door in our shower.
Speaker 2: What's that like?
Speaker 1: Anyway, he was complaining about he didn't want to get
Speaker 1: his hand wet.
Speaker 2: He didn't want to sting fair enough.
Speaker 1: But I was like, okay, bro, I've got a solution
Speaker 1: for you, and I'm going to show you.
Speaker 2: Yeah what that is.
Speaker 1: That is a zip lock bag over the hand of
Speaker 1: Oscar and then I've used a handtye of Macy's to make.
Speaker 2: That water time You've maguarded it, I've guarded it.
Speaker 4: And he gives like a little night of this will do?
Speaker 2: Do you know what?
Speaker 1: The funny thing is? It didn't work. The water still
Speaker 1: got in there and he didn't notice. And I was like,
Speaker 1: there's water in there, Bro, did it sting? He's like,
Speaker 1: it mustn't hurt anymore.
Speaker 2: You know what you need to do?
Speaker 4: Git a glad wrap as well.
Speaker 1: I was like, maybe I'll tape it up and I thought, nah,
Speaker 1: just use a hair tie anyway, what do you reckon?
Speaker 2: Good hack? Very good? Thank you very good, well done.
Speaker 2: Thank you. The ingenuity on that is on the fly too.
Speaker 1: I was like, I sat down after with the kids
Speaker 1: in the bed and I was like, stonewood, I am good.
Speaker 2: Fuck.
Speaker 4: It's annoying though any little scratch. Lola is the worse
Speaker 4: for it, where she was like.
Speaker 2: I cannot get it wet, and so.
Speaker 4: She'll be in the bath with like a foot on
Speaker 4: knee hanging out because she want to get it wet,
Speaker 4: and then and then until she forgets, and then she's
Speaker 4: like next second, I'm like, see you're in the water,
Speaker 4: and she's.
Speaker 2: Like it out. My god. They're just over dramatized. That
Speaker 2: is apparenting hack. By the way, thank you. You're welcome. Yes,
Speaker 2: there he is first in a while.
Speaker 1: It feels good. Should we go into questions? Matthew finishes
Speaker 1: off strong with a couple of questions.
Speaker 4: Yeah, please Ash. We have had this question submitted by Caitlin.
Speaker 4: She's written in and she wants to know this is
Speaker 4: a very interesting question. I would love to know your
Speaker 4: take on this. What is your approach to alcohol with
Speaker 4: your own kids.
Speaker 2: They're a bit young at the moment, are they You're
Speaker 2: never so young?
Speaker 4: At what point do you think you will introduce your
Speaker 4: kids to alcohol, or will you introduce them at all?
Speaker 1: They already know that beer's daddy's. They'll see your case
Speaker 1: in beer and they'll be like, daddy, look I was.
Speaker 1: I think they're going to get to an age of teenagehood.
Speaker 2: Of course, as we all do did whatever.
Speaker 1: Some people didn't, but where you like, because they're dead,
Speaker 1: they're dead, they're dead by then.
Speaker 2: Shout out to those who didn't make it, well.
Speaker 1: That's horrible, but I like it going it to an
Speaker 1: age like where you're like, I remember getting to an
Speaker 1: age around I'm.
Speaker 2: Like, I have some beers.
Speaker 1: And you hit it and you were like fifteen fourteen,
Speaker 1: fourteen fifteen. Sure, I was like yeah, and I think
Speaker 1: like I hit it. I had some friends that their
Speaker 1: parents wouldn't enable it, but they were like, you can.
Speaker 1: If you're going to do it, do it here because
Speaker 1: you're in a controlled environment somewhat.
Speaker 4: And if you're going to get a bit too tipsy,
Speaker 4: it's better that it happens in someone's house, yea, rather
Speaker 4: than down the park.
Speaker 2: And vulnerable and anything could happen.
Speaker 4: So did your parents ever allow you to have alcohol
Speaker 4: at home before you eighteen?
Speaker 2: Allow is a strong word.
Speaker 1: I think they knew I was like giving in to
Speaker 1: take a mile sort of guy.
Speaker 2: I can imagine you can have one. You're going to
Speaker 2: have one, maybe maybe one.
Speaker 4: But rolling in with the keg, Yeah, it was said one.
Speaker 1: I would say it was a semi strict environment where
Speaker 1: I still hid majority of my drinking as a teenager
Speaker 1: with my friend, I would do it in those windows
Speaker 1: of opportunity, but I get shit faced.
Speaker 2: I don't know. I don't know what it's going to be, like,
Speaker 2: what they're going to be like.
Speaker 4: See I reckon, I'll do it the same way that
Speaker 4: it was done for me when I was a kid,
Speaker 4: and it's that definitely didn't encourage us to get shit fash.
Speaker 2: She's like, what do you want? Long oland iced tea
Speaker 2: short coming right up? Yes, five of them? Who wants
Speaker 2: a wet pussy?
Speaker 4: But for me, it was a case of the taboo
Speaker 4: was removed from alcohol, so it wasn't like it wasn't
Speaker 4: a case of me wanting to indulge because I thought
Speaker 4: it was like the naughty thing to do.
Speaker 2: And I think a lot of kids.
Speaker 4: Really binge drink when they're underage because it's just a
Speaker 4: naughty thing to do and they want to do something
Speaker 4: that's against the rules, And so for me it wasn't
Speaker 4: It wasn't a big deal to have my hands on
Speaker 4: a bottle of alcohol in the way that I was
Speaker 4: brought up at home. So I never felt like I've
Speaker 4: got this small little window where I can break the
Speaker 4: rules and I want to overindulge, whereas other kids who
Speaker 4: were my age, when they were in households where the
Speaker 4: parents had absolutely no idea that their son or daughter
Speaker 4: were drinking, they were quite often the ones who were
Speaker 4: then on the weekend get shif faced, binge drink.
Speaker 2: To the extra to be drinking now either now like
Speaker 2: which I think.
Speaker 4: I think it was a case of like the best
Speaker 4: example I can give, And if this makes sense, I
Speaker 4: once worked in a lolly store and the rule was,
Speaker 4: if you want to eat a lolly, you can eat
Speaker 4: the lolly. And because you're allowed to do it, you
Speaker 4: didn't really.
Speaker 2: Want to eat.
Speaker 4: Yeah, but you always think, like the rule if it
Speaker 4: was like you cannot eat a single thing, you'd probably
Speaker 4: want to like sneak a few lollies in.
Speaker 1: Yeah, And that might, I mean, that might work for you.
Speaker 1: Some people at different Some people cannot help themselves. But
Speaker 1: everyone's going to be different, right.
Speaker 4: But I think if you introduce them in a controlled setting,
Speaker 4: for me anyway, you probably.
Speaker 2: Reduced the risk factor of anything happening. If Oscar's sitting
Speaker 2: there having a.
Speaker 1: Drink with me while watching the football at home and
Speaker 1: his mates are out there getting shit faced and potentially
Speaker 1: doing something risky, I know where I prefer him to be.
Speaker 4: But then also you can be more aware of what
Speaker 4: he's like when he's drinking. Yeah, so if you think
Speaker 4: that he is going down a path where he's hitting
Speaker 4: a bottle too hard, you can speak to them about
Speaker 4: it and there's open conversation as opposed to it being
Speaker 4: this thing that no one ever talks about. But I
Speaker 4: definitely think that Laura and I will introduce our kids
Speaker 4: as teenagers, and I'm talking like fifteen sixteen, I'll introduce
Speaker 4: them to alcohol rather than do that with their friends
Speaker 4: in a park with absolutely zero adult supervision.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I think I would prefer to have OS's first
Speaker 1: beer with Oscar. I'm going to have to work it
Speaker 1: out when I get there, because I don't know what
Speaker 1: sort of kid's going to be in ten years time,
Speaker 1: what brain chemistry is made up of I don't know really,
Speaker 1: if I was to have a drink with him now,
Speaker 1: it would just be a fucking scrap, you know what
Speaker 1: I mean? Much discussion, much to think about. Here's one
Speaker 1: for you from Christo. We both have two kids. How
Speaker 1: did you introduce your first kid to your second kid?
Speaker 2: We approach it the same way, going Marley. This is
Speaker 2: lower loss, Marley.
Speaker 4: We did it more along the lines of how you
Speaker 4: would introduce a child to a pet. Where we had
Speaker 4: a rag a blanket if you will rag, and we
Speaker 4: would it had it had long less scent on it,
Speaker 4: and we then introduced that to Marlo.
Speaker 2: We would blanket from their at the airport.
Speaker 1: Fuck airport hospital. Same thing, the blanket from the hospital.
Speaker 1: Did you steal yours too?
Speaker 2: Of course? I love how everyone.
Speaker 1: We need to do something with that. There's something there.
Speaker 1: This is a side note, there's something there stealing everyone
Speaker 1: steals that blanket.
Speaker 4: I don't know where it is. But no, I didn't
Speaker 4: actually do that, so I was joke.
Speaker 2: I didn't.
Speaker 4: I didn't introduce the center of my child.
Speaker 2: Oh, from a rag.
Speaker 1: So it took Marley's shoe toy?
Speaker 2: Yeah, how did you do it? Come on? Give us
Speaker 2: a I think they were just there.
Speaker 4: I think that was just there was no like, there
Speaker 4: was no propit.
Speaker 1: What was that helicopter we're invading, it's happening, your mum's
Speaker 1: in the front room election.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I think it just like there was no there
Speaker 4: was no real moment it was.
Speaker 2: Can I interject really quickly?
Speaker 1: I think a lot of the lead up work is
Speaker 1: done during the pregnancy, where they you're sort of like,
Speaker 1: this is what to expect. You're going to have a
Speaker 1: little brother or a little sister, or they're in mummy's
Speaker 1: tummy and they've already bonded with it kind of already.
Speaker 1: You think, it's not like it's like surprise. You know,
Speaker 1: Laura was like bringing home a dog.
Speaker 4: Because she was hiding the bump from Maley for the
Speaker 4: whole pregnancy. There's a book called I Think You're a
Speaker 4: Big Sister as well, which explains like, yeah, you're about
Speaker 4: to have another person in the family and you're going
Speaker 4: to be a big sister, which means that you're going
Speaker 4: to have to do X, Y and Z and they're
Speaker 4: going to be a bit loud and blah blah blahlah blah.
Speaker 2: So that book great book.
Speaker 1: Yeah, by the time you come home from the hospital.
Speaker 1: There might be the initial like from but Oscar being like, oh,
Speaker 1: your little baby, and then.
Speaker 4: Was it at home or in the hospital. At home,
Speaker 4: I don't even think we brought I can't remember.
Speaker 2: We didn't take Oscar at the hospital. I think we
Speaker 2: did either.
Speaker 1: Imagine another kid, imagine taking back to it all began
Speaker 1: to be like yep, no anyway, So, I mean it
Speaker 1: was awful in terms of I think Marley was like,
Speaker 1: let me hold her, and we're like, okay, here she is,
Speaker 1: and then the split second later Marley was trying to
Speaker 1: rip an eye out with and we're like that's enough
Speaker 1: for you guys, or like little girls like they undressed dolls, that.
Speaker 2: L was naked.
Speaker 1: Actually what Yeah, I think Yeah, from what I remember,
Speaker 1: it was pretty smooth. But I know and I have
Speaker 1: we were in the hospital with Macey and they had
Speaker 1: like a class, like an introductory to your older sibling
Speaker 1: class where it wasn't like they would just talk about that,
Speaker 1: you know, like what the eldest couldn't get up to
Speaker 1: because they might feel they're not getting the attention. They
Speaker 1: might feel so I think it's not really the introduction
Speaker 1: of the the younger sibling it's the dynamic, the new
Speaker 1: dynamic that that you've got to share your love.
Speaker 2: That would probably throw them off them.
Speaker 4: But I think early doors, early doors that when that
Speaker 4: bump is like showing the tiniest bin, but baby's coming.
Speaker 1: Yeah, just very vocal about it all the time. And
Speaker 1: then also like make sure that you don't just neglect
Speaker 1: the one easier to stake, to make easy, Yeah, they
Speaker 1: say in that class, I do recall.
Speaker 4: They make sure you still feed your other child.
Speaker 1: Yeah, they were like, make sure that you just fill
Speaker 1: the cup with your other child as well, Like you,
Speaker 1: I know you're going to be taken up so much
Speaker 1: to include them in what you're doing, because they would
Speaker 1: feel included and it might fill the cup up as well.
Speaker 2: Am I a genius?
Speaker 4: Beautifully sad, lovely good way to wrap up the episode.
Speaker 2: Love What if you enjoyed.
Speaker 4: And if you have enjoyed this episode, please subscribe review,
Speaker 4: few stars, a few comments, Join us on social media
Speaker 4: Facebook or Instagram or TikTok.
Speaker 1: Two dads, you've wrapped us up so nicely, Matthew, You've
Speaker 1: forgotten one thing.
Speaker 2: What's that we did?
Speaker 1: Run a competition of course, of course, or a trip away.
Speaker 4: The biggest competition we've ever run on this Podcastally we just.
Speaker 1: Give away beer, but this time we give it away
Speaker 1: a holiday. I think there'sre on the holiday.
Speaker 2: I think there is.
Speaker 1: They do sell be there, So Matthew a big shout
Speaker 1: out to who Hannah Daily.
Speaker 4: A huge thanks to everyone who submitted a video for
Speaker 4: the competition. But Hannah, your blue paint video was amazing
Speaker 4: and we think you were very deserving of a trip away.
Speaker 4: So make sure you message us after your trip and
Speaker 4: let us know how it went.
Speaker 2: Enjoy well deserved, you deserve a break. I know you're
Speaker 2: going to take your kids.
Speaker 4: A few people are like, can we not take the kids?
Speaker 4: Say here's leaving behind?
Speaker 2: Leaving behind? Don't if you've guys as long as they
Speaker 2: have supervision, yes, don't leave them here.
Speaker 4: Enjoy the sundays. Great hotel, how much an island, What
Speaker 4: a place to be at this time of year.
Speaker 2: I do love it. The buffet beautiful. I just have
Speaker 2: dreams of the buffet.
Speaker 4: We'll have to give away another holiday to ourselves. We're
Speaker 4: due a holiday a couple of weeks chomping.
Speaker 2: Should we let them go? Now, let's get let's goad.
Speaker 1: But I'm going to rip this nasal strip off right
Speaker 1: nough two.
Speaker 4: Doting Dads podcast acknowledges the traditional custodians of country throughout
Speaker 4: Australia and the connections to land, sea and community.
Speaker 1: We pay our respects to their elders past and present
Speaker 1: and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torrestraight Islander
Speaker 1: people's today.
Speaker 2: This episode was recorded on Gadagle Land