Latest / Dr Justin Coulson's Happy Families / No One Talks About the Real Cost of Family Fun

Transcript

No One Talks About the Real Cost of Family Fun · Dr Justin Coulson's Happy Families

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  Speaker 1: Today I'm the Happy Families Podcast. The thing that I
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  Speaker 1: did that makes me Father of the Year. I'm convinced
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  Speaker 1: of it. Kylie, I have done something that no other
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  Speaker 1: parent in their right mind would do. You're hilarious and
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  Speaker 1: I think that i'd do. Is I reckon I was
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  Speaker 1: that right? Well, I've told you what I'm talking about.
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  Speaker 1: I have no idea where you're going. Hello and welcome
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  Speaker 1: to The Happy Families Podcast. Real Parenting Solutions every Day.
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  Speaker 1: This is Australia's most downloaded parenting podcast. We are Justin
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  Speaker 1: and Kylie Colson. Every Friday on the pod, we unpack
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  Speaker 1: the stuff that worked with the stuff that didn't in
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  Speaker 1: the week that was, so that we can hopefully inspire
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  Speaker 1: you to be a better parent. You can learn from
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  Speaker 1: our mistakes, or you can, I don't know, take inspiration
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  Speaker 1: from our awesomeness when we finally do manage to get
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  Speaker 1: it right. I'm going first. I've been in Perth for
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  Speaker 1: the last several days running workshops and presentations, and so
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  Speaker 1: my old bed tomorrow is from a couple of weeks
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  Speaker 1: ago when the school holidays were happening. Because I haven't
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  Speaker 1: seen the kids since Sunday. That's just the life of
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  Speaker 1: me and what I have to do sometimes. So Kylie,
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  Speaker 1: here is my older better tomorrow. A couple of weeks ago,
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  Speaker 1: my mum came up to the Gold Coast. We live
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  Speaker 1: on the Sunny Coast, so it's a couple of hours south.
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  Speaker 1: Mom came up to the Gold Coast from the New
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  Speaker 1: South Wales Central Coast and she brought one of our kids, cousins, Emma,
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  Speaker 1: who's like eleven years old. So Emily our eleven year old.
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  Speaker 1: She doesn't get to see Emma very much. And Mom said,
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  Speaker 1: I'm coming up for three or four days. Let's get
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  Speaker 1: the kids together. Actually it was your suggestion that they
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  Speaker 1: that they do it, and they did. And Mum said
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  Speaker 1: to me, here's what's going to happen on Saturday. It
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  Speaker 1: was the Saturday where the Queensland school holidays ended, and
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  Speaker 1: it was halfway through the New South Wales school holidays,
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  Speaker 1: so everyone's on holidays. Mum said, I'll meet you at
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  Speaker 1: Warner Brothers Movie World. You can drop off Emily. I'll
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  Speaker 1: have Emma and I'll just take the two kids in
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  Speaker 1: the movie World and you can have a day off.
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  Speaker 1: And you know what I thought to myself, Yeah, babe,
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  Speaker 1: I'm doing it. I'm doing it. I need this, like
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  Speaker 1: I really really need some time off. I've been working
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  Speaker 1: extremely hard. I'm shattered. It's been school holidays. I've been
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  Speaker 1: working mega hours, haven't even seen the kids. And I
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  Speaker 1: can't think of anything that I'd rather avoid than a
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  Speaker 1: school holiday Warner Brothers Movie World. I just don't want
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  Speaker 1: to be there. I don't care about the lines, a
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  Speaker 1: lone of interest in the rides. No, And so my
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  Speaker 1: mum said, I'll take the two kids and you can
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  Speaker 1: have the day off. I said, okay, I'm in. What
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  Speaker 1: I forgot was that our fifteen year old daughter was
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  Speaker 1: also with my mum because she'd been staying down on
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  Speaker 1: the Central Coast for some time, and so it was
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  Speaker 1: actually mum and the two kids. But I dropped Emily
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  Speaker 1: at the theme park entrance. I said hi to my
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  Speaker 1: mum and my other daughter, our other daughter, and then
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  Speaker 1: I got in the car and started to drive towards
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  Speaker 1: the beach, where I was going to have a nice
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  Speaker 1: relaxing day reading a book and eating in a cafe
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  Speaker 1: and just chilling like a villain. When my conscience got
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  Speaker 1: the better of me, I was ten minutes down the
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  Speaker 1: road and I rang Mum and said, I can't let
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  Speaker 1: you take the kids to the theme park and just
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  Speaker 1: abrogate my parental responsibility. I think I need to be there.
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  Speaker 1: I also knew that Mum wouldn't go on any of
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  Speaker 1: the rides, and I just, I don't know. It didn't
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  Speaker 1: feel right. Plus it was odd numbers. If Mum doesn't
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  Speaker 1: go on the rides and there's three of them, I
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  Speaker 1: just my conscience got the better of me. So Kylie,
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  Speaker 1: I turned around and I went back to Warner Brothers
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  Speaker 1: Movie World. And this is a hashtag not sponsored post
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  Speaker 1: because I hate the place and I'm not going to
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  Speaker 1: say anything good about it because you know what happened.
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  Speaker 1: I got there. By the time I got in, it
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  Speaker 1: was about eleven o'clock. This is a Saturday. We lined
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  Speaker 1: up for an hour to go on the Flash. Then
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  Speaker 1: we lined up for two hours to go on the
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  Speaker 1: Superman ride. Two hours for a forty five second ride.
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  Speaker 1: Mum actually went and bought lunch for us and brought
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  Speaker 1: it to us in line, two hours in line. Once
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  Speaker 1: we finished that line, then we lined up for about
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  Speaker 1: forty five minutes to go on the Joker. So I'd
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  Speaker 1: been at the theme park for four hours for three rides.
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  Speaker 1: And at that point I said, I'm gonna go and
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  Speaker 1: sit in the car and the car park, I'm going
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  Speaker 1: to read my book. I'm done. I'm over it. So
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  Speaker 1: I don't know if that's a winner or lost. I
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  Speaker 1: don't know. I don't actually know You're going really good
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  Speaker 1: until the end. The takeo message, just don't go to
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  Speaker 1: those theme parks. What a charge you a squillion dollars
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  Speaker 1: for three rides in four hours. I'm actually fuming. My
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  Speaker 1: older better tomorrow is stay away from the place. What joke.
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  Speaker 1: But I've got to get Brandie points for actually being
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  Speaker 1: the dad that hung out with the kids in line
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  Speaker 1: and kept them entertained for hour after hour after hour
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  Speaker 1: while we did nothing except stand there. What's your reaction
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  Speaker 1: do you want? Do you want my old do better tomorrow?
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  Speaker 1: Let's do that after break? All right, Kylie, what's your
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  Speaker 1: older better tomorrow? Because you reckon, you can beat my
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  Speaker 1: horror story? Can you just give me a pat on
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  Speaker 1: the back? Can you just it's like that's what dads
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  Speaker 1: are supposed to do, or you're awesome or something like that.
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  Speaker 1: I mean, it was brutal.
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  Speaker 2: I actually am going to give you a pat on
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  Speaker 2: the back because you were on the phone to me
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  Speaker 2: when you had that realization, not because of anything I said.
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  Speaker 1: You.
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  Speaker 2: You literally came to your own realization that you you
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  Speaker 2: wanted to be with the kids.
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  Speaker 1: I was chatting with you and saying, I'm going to
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  Speaker 1: go and read a book, We're going to go and
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  Speaker 1: hang out the beach, and you said, enjoy the day,
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  Speaker 1: like you were so supportive of me doing it, you
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  Speaker 1: know how worn out I am. Yep, And instead I
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  Speaker 1: was the one that reversed the story and you I
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  Speaker 1: don't even remember what you said. I think you just said, okay,
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  Speaker 1: if that's what you think you should do, Like, are
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  Speaker 1: you not nuck?
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  Speaker 2: Are you nuts?
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  Speaker 1: Yeah? That's exactly what I was thinking, all right, So
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  Speaker 1: what's your old about it? Tomorrow?
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  Speaker 2: Well, if one day at the theme parks wasn't enough,
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  Speaker 2: I may have ended up there two days later.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah you did, that's right. So I had to bring
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  Speaker 1: one of the kids back on Monday, and you went
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  Speaker 1: to the theme park on that I stay down for it.
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  Speaker 1: So you're still in my older better tomorrow boy? No, no, no,
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  Speaker 1: not at.
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  Speaker 2: Okay, But but I will say I actually hate rides.
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  Speaker 1: You're not used to go on them.
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  Speaker 2: Not I don't mind being there. I actually physically get
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  Speaker 2: sick going on rights.
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  Speaker 1: And is that it's in my head kind of thing?
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  Speaker 2: No, because I used to really love rides when I
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  Speaker 2: was younger, but having had children, it has it has
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  Speaker 2: changed my makeup.
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  Speaker 1: Can I say something really bizarre right now? I reckon
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  Speaker 1: the two hours in line for the Superman ride was
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  Speaker 1: almost worth it. That ride is so much fun.
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  Speaker 2: Well, it was no better two days later because the
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  Speaker 2: kids didn't even bother lining up. It was that long.
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  Speaker 1: Wow. Yeah, wow.
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  Speaker 2: So we had extra cousins this time, and again an
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  Speaker 2: odd number. Five Your mom came and.
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  Speaker 1: So there's five cousins plus you and mum.
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  Speaker 2: Well there was actually six cousins, but one of them
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  Speaker 2: was teeny tiny, so she couldn't come on the big rides.
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  Speaker 2: So it's five big kids. And I had just kind
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  Speaker 2: of prefaced with them the acknowledgment that there was an
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  Speaker 2: odd number and so they were gonna have to take
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  Speaker 2: turns in being the odd person out and not having
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  Speaker 2: a partner.
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  Speaker 1: And it's so weird sitting next to a stranger on
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  Speaker 1: a ride, like when I did the Joker, I was
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  Speaker 1: sitting are some random kid, and I so badly wanted
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  Speaker 1: to fist pump him a gun. How was was that?
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  Speaker 1: But he was just looking the other side and wouldn't
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  Speaker 1: make eye contact. I was like, Yeah, I'm some random weirdo.
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  Speaker 1: You're a weirdo.
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  Speaker 2: Anyway, So we got there, and just the whole excitement
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  Speaker 2: of being there, the kids wanted to go straight to
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  Speaker 2: the Wizard of Odds rides, and before I knew it,
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  Speaker 2: I was being dragged along with the inertia of their
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  Speaker 2: excitement that I found myself in line getting ready to
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  Speaker 2: go on this ride. I went on it.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, which one was it? Uh?
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  Speaker 2: The Twister, the Kansas Twister.
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  Speaker 1: Oh, that's one of the kids rides.
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  Speaker 2: You're so funny.
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  Speaker 1: One of the kids' rides that's like for eights and
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  Speaker 1: under that sort of thing.
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  Speaker 2: That was a big deal. They go backwards. It took
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  Speaker 2: me half a day just to recover.
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  Speaker 1: Oh, you're such an awesome mum, You're so funny.
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  Speaker 2: So at the end of the day they went off.
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  Speaker 2: They had an absolute ball. I was the bag carrier
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  Speaker 2: and kept in touch with them and had to go
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  Speaker 2: between kids because some wanted to go on the scary
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  Speaker 2: ride and the other ones didn't. And all of that,
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  Speaker 2: and your mum looked after a little snowy. But at
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  Speaker 2: the end of the day there was one more ride.
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  Speaker 2: They decided they wanted to go back on the Kansas Twister,
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  Speaker 2: and so they dragged me along again. Come on, Nie,
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  Speaker 2: you can come. And I ended up sitting next to
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  Speaker 2: our nephew Rue, and he.
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  Speaker 1: Was like, and how he's thirteen.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, yeah, And he was a little bit scared.
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  Speaker 2: He was like, oh, I don't know about this. I'm
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  Speaker 2: a little bit scared. And I said, oh. And they
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  Speaker 2: had decided that no one was allowed to scream. Everyone
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  Speaker 2: had to have the hands in the air and no
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  Speaker 2: one was allowed to scream. And I just looked at
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  Speaker 2: them and said, well, oh, scream for all of you.
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  Speaker 2: So we got in and I screamed, and Rue spent
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  Speaker 2: the entire time laughing at me. He couldn't believe, number one,
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  Speaker 2: that I did it, because he I was really nervous,
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  Speaker 2: but he just loved the fact that I was so expressive.
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  Speaker 2: And I punched him and I squeezed his leg every
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  Speaker 2: time it got a bit too scary, and he just
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  Speaker 2: thought it was awesome. And what I love, what I love.
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  Speaker 2: I actually loved the day. What I don't like being lines.
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  Speaker 2: I don't like lots of people.
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  Speaker 1: Don't like the expense.
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  Speaker 2: But I loved watching these kids just lap it up.
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  Speaker 2: They didn't care about the way. Yeah, they didn't care
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  Speaker 2: about the way, and the conversations they got to have
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  Speaker 2: together while they stood in line for an hour and
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  Speaker 2: a half. Who does that an hour and a half?
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, Like I said, hashtag not sponsored. But I feel
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  Speaker 1: like I have a new mission in life, and that's
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  Speaker 1: to get you on the joker.
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  Speaker 2: I told them I would to do it, but the
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  Speaker 2: line was so long.
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  Speaker 1: I reckon, I reckon, I can bribe you. Yeah, I reckon,
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  Speaker 1: I can get you on there, diamond glittering. All right,
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  Speaker 1: take home message.
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  Speaker 2: Do the hard things it really honestly, I don't like rides.
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  Speaker 2: They actually scare me a lot and I feel physically
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  Speaker 2: ill at the end. And by the time I got
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  Speaker 2: in the car after that last ride, it was hard
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  Speaker 2: driving home. But the joy that it brought to the
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  Speaker 2: kids seeing me squeal and be scared and do it anyway,
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  Speaker 2: I just you can't, you can't pay, like, there's not
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  Speaker 2: a price for that.
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  Speaker 1: All right, Well, because of my mum's generosity, we've got
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  Speaker 1: an in your past, so a little bit back. Yeah,
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  Speaker 1: it's still not sponsored and I still don't like the place,
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  Speaker 1: but got to get some value out of that in
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  Speaker 1: your past. We are really grateful that you choose to
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  Speaker 1: listen to the Happy Families podcast. We hope that there's
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  Speaker 1: some inspo there for you about doing the hard things
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  Speaker 1: and spending the time with the kids, even when there's
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  Speaker 1: other stuff that you'd rather be doing, because that's what
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  Speaker 1: parenting's about, right, That's how you do it, and that's
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  Speaker 1: how you make your family thrive and flourish. It's all
• 10:45
  Speaker 1: about time to a child lover spelt tea I am,
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  Speaker 1: have a great weekend spending that tea I AM with
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  Speaker 1: your kids. If you would like more inspo, more ideas
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  Speaker 1: to make your family happy, it checks out at Happy
• 10:55
  Speaker 1: families dot com, dot you or visit our social pages
• 10:58
  Speaker 1: and a huge thanks to Justin rule On from Bridge Media,
• 11:00
  Speaker 1: who produces the podcast, and Mim Hammonds who provides research,
• 11:04
  Speaker 1: admin and other support. We will be back on Monday
• 11:09
  Speaker 1: to talk about what to do when kids talk back
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  Speaker 1: those sassy kids coming up Monday morning on the Happy
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  Speaker 1: Families Podcasts