Latest / Dr Justin Coulson's Happy Families / Leave Not Approved - The Wild School Rule

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Leave Not Approved - The Wild School Rule · Dr Justin Coulson's Happy Families

• 0:05
  Speaker 1: Gooday, this is The Happy Family's podcast. Imagine this. The
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: email comes through mid flight your son can't go on
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: holidays during school term. That is the email that Sarah Stevenson,
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: cookbook author and influencer with one point two million followers
• 0:21
  Speaker 1: on Instagram at Sarah's Underscore Day, received a couple of
• 0:25
  Speaker 1: months back, but it was a little bit too late.
• 0:27
  Speaker 1: Sarah was already on board that plane with her six
• 0:30
  Speaker 1: year old son Fox, ready to fly to Fiji and
• 0:33
  Speaker 1: have fun. The excitement, the pat bags. You can imagine Fox,
• 0:37
  Speaker 1: I know, probably holding onto his tablet for the flight.
• 0:40
  Speaker 1: The email from Fox's New South Wales primary school arrives.
• 0:44
  Speaker 1: Sarah's response, she takes to Instagram as anyone with one
• 0:48
  Speaker 1: point two million followers probably would, and vents to all
• 0:51
  Speaker 1: those people about having to show flight receipts to the
• 0:53
  Speaker 1: principle like she's filing an insurance claim. She said, and
• 0:57
  Speaker 1: I quote, he's only missing five days of school. Yes,
• 0:59
  Speaker 1: I want him to learn how to read and write
• 1:01
  Speaker 1: and be in a classroom, but I haven't pulled him
• 1:03
  Speaker 1: out of school for a month. So here's the kicker.
• 1:06
  Speaker 1: Her followers overwhelmingly supported her comments like restricting when kids
• 1:10
  Speaker 1: can and can't go on a holiday's ridiculous and real
• 1:13
  Speaker 1: life experiences are way better than missing a week of
• 1:16
  Speaker 1: ABC's story was on news dot Com Dot a You
• 1:18
  Speaker 1: a few weeks back, as well as on our socials,
• 1:20
  Speaker 1: and it got us thinking, do we or don't we
• 1:23
  Speaker 1: take our kids out of school for a family holiday?
• 1:26
  Speaker 1: Is the bureaucracy right? Does every day at school count
• 1:31
  Speaker 1: or a parents within their rights to take a holiday
• 1:34
  Speaker 1: when it works for them. Life is pretty crazy after all.
• 1:39
  Speaker 1: So that's our conversation on today's podcast Stay with Us. Hello,
• 1:45
  Speaker 1: welcome to the Happy Families podcast. So glad you're here.
• 1:47
  Speaker 1: Thanks for choosing to listen with us. We are Justin
• 1:50
  Speaker 1: and Kylie Coulson with real parenting solutions apparently every day
• 1:54
  Speaker 1: on Australia's most downloaded Arny podcast. Kylie, you're ready for
• 1:57
  Speaker 1: this debate. You're ready to step into the hot seat play.
• 2:00
  Speaker 2: I have some really big opinions about this, but I
• 2:02
  Speaker 2: think it's worth looking at what the rules around this
• 2:05
  Speaker 2: are because they actually differ from state to state. In
• 2:08
  Speaker 2: New South Wales, travel is not underlined not a justified absence.
• 2:15
  Speaker 2: Schools must record it as unjustified period. Okay, Queensland and
• 2:22
  Speaker 2: Catholic systems consider holiday travel to be reasonable.
• 2:27
  Speaker 1: Huh.
• 2:28
  Speaker 2: In Victoria you need principal approval and a student learning
• 2:34
  Speaker 2: absence plan.
• 2:36
  Speaker 1: Okay, because apparently this is a week I've read two
• 2:38
  Speaker 1: require strategic planning. Very good. Okay, so I.
• 2:41
  Speaker 2: Think this is really tricky. There's lots of paperwork. Parents
• 2:45
  Speaker 2: feel like they're back at school themselves, having to justify
• 2:50
  Speaker 2: their actions. Yeah, and get special permission. But my guess
• 2:55
  Speaker 2: is that school leaders and teachers alike don't really like
• 2:59
  Speaker 2: it either. They're in four seen policies sometimes that they
• 3:01
  Speaker 2: didn't create and may not even agree with.
• 3:04
  Speaker 1: Yes, some might, but yes, yep, yep, fair enough.
• 3:07
  Speaker 2: And this is a system and that varies by post code.
• 3:10
  Speaker 2: It's inconsistent, right.
• 3:12
  Speaker 1: Yeah, So one state's one thing another and we've obviously
• 3:14
  Speaker 1: we've only done the Eastern states. Other states are part
• 3:17
  Speaker 1: of Australia. We recognize that. But we'll be here all day.
• 3:19
  Speaker 1: We go through all the rules everywhere. You know what
• 3:21
  Speaker 1: I think when I hear this, though, this is what
• 3:23
  Speaker 1: I don't think anyone talks about. You ask for permission,
• 3:26
  Speaker 1: you get to know from the school. My guess is
• 3:29
  Speaker 1: that most parents are probably going to go anyway, Like
• 3:30
  Speaker 1: you've paid for the airfares. Oh, you've got everything booked
• 3:34
  Speaker 1: and planned, you're still going to go on the holiday.
• 3:36
  Speaker 2: I don't think so. I think that it stops lots
• 3:38
  Speaker 2: of families from spending time together.
• 3:40
  Speaker 1: Okay, all right, we differ. Although I've never done a study,
• 3:44
  Speaker 1: and maybe you're right. Maybe a lot of people just say, no,
• 3:46
  Speaker 1: I don't want to have my child marketers having unauthorized absences. Okay.
• 3:52
  Speaker 1: I mean I'm the kind of person who'd say, I
• 3:55
  Speaker 1: know you don't want me to go, but I'm going anyway.
• 3:57
  Speaker 1: But we'll talk about that surely, because I think there's
• 3:59
  Speaker 1: a level of privilege and probably a level of arrogance
• 4:02
  Speaker 1: there as well, but we can cover that off shortly.
• 4:04
  Speaker 2: So I think it's important to make the case that
• 4:08
  Speaker 2: the Education Department would make why shouldn't kids miss school?
• 4:13
  Speaker 1: So, like I'm on the fence, there are some really
• 4:16
  Speaker 1: strong reasons that kids should be at school, and we
• 4:19
  Speaker 1: have to be.
• 4:20
  Speaker 2: But again, we're not talking about taking them out for
• 4:23
  Speaker 2: a month or.
• 4:24
  Speaker 1: Six months week.
• 4:25
  Speaker 2: We're talking about taking them out for a week so
• 4:27
  Speaker 2: they can spend time with families.
• 4:28
  Speaker 1: So I have a lot of sympathy. I have a
• 4:30
  Speaker 1: lot of sympathy for this position. I don't always agree
• 4:34
  Speaker 1: with it. Like I said, I'm getting splinters in my
• 4:36
  Speaker 1: bum from sitting on the fence, But I think that
• 4:38
  Speaker 1: I can have that desire to take the kids out
• 4:40
  Speaker 1: whenever I want because our kids have usually done pretty
• 4:42
  Speaker 1: well at school. I want to emphasize this isn't just
• 4:45
  Speaker 1: about Fox or whoever. It is missing some finger painting.
• 4:49
  Speaker 1: In terms of stats, we've gone from seventy five percent
• 4:52
  Speaker 1: of students attending ninety percent of school days in twenty
• 4:55
  Speaker 1: nineteen to just sixty percent attending ninety percent of school
• 4:59
  Speaker 1: days twenty twenty four. That is a massive drop.
• 5:02
  Speaker 2: And I'm going to suggest that that has nothing to
• 5:05
  Speaker 2: do with family holidays and a lot more to do
• 5:07
  Speaker 2: with anxiety and depression.
• 5:08
  Speaker 1: I reckon that's a COVID one hundred percent potentially. Nevertheless,
• 5:13
  Speaker 1: we've got more school in attendance than ever before, dropping
• 5:17
  Speaker 1: from seventy five percent to sixty percent across that five
• 5:20
  Speaker 1: year period. With that many kids attending nine percent of school,
• 5:23
  Speaker 1: it's a big drop. Research also backs it up. So
• 5:25
  Speaker 1: a couple of years ago there was a big study
• 5:27
  Speaker 1: that was done and I've seen this in various other
• 5:30
  Speaker 1: smaller studies as well. Missing even one day of school,
• 5:33
  Speaker 1: whether it's per week or per fortnite or per term,
• 5:36
  Speaker 1: the research evidence shows that it does measurably affect academic outcomes.
• 5:40
  Speaker 1: Now we're talking about on average. I just need to
• 5:42
  Speaker 1: emphasize that is on average. But the bodies that promote this,
• 5:47
  Speaker 1: they're not just making it up. The data is there.
• 5:49
  Speaker 2: And if academic performance is our number one gauge for
• 5:54
  Speaker 2: success in life, then.
• 5:55
  Speaker 1: Great, But is it okay difficult?
• 5:58
  Speaker 2: Is that literally all we're striving for?
• 6:02
  Speaker 1: The other thing that I was going to say, and
• 6:03
  Speaker 1: this is something where I'm going to really take the
• 6:06
  Speaker 1: side of the teachers for just a moment. I've spoken
• 6:10
  Speaker 1: to principles about this and teachers about it as well,
• 6:13
  Speaker 1: and what they'll often say is, it's not just that
• 6:15
  Speaker 1: the kid's going to have a holiday, or they're going
• 6:17
  Speaker 1: to have a sick day, or that they're going to
• 6:18
  Speaker 1: have that family event, or they're going to have the
• 6:19
  Speaker 1: mental health day or the birthday treat or whatever it is.
• 6:21
  Speaker 1: So they have a day of school. It's kind of
• 6:23
  Speaker 1: death by a thousand cuts for a classroom community, for
• 6:27
  Speaker 1: the continuity that's happening in the classroom because if you're
• 6:31
  Speaker 1: a teacher, you try to teach material, but you've got
• 6:34
  Speaker 1: these You've got kids away every day, and so you're
• 6:35
  Speaker 1: constantly having to teach kids who miss something, and it's
• 6:38
  Speaker 1: a new child every week, and so there's all this
• 6:41
  Speaker 1: back and forth. It's really hard to get your system
• 6:44
  Speaker 1: running well in the classroom when you have to keep
• 6:47
  Speaker 1: on going back and going over material and that sort
• 6:49
  Speaker 1: of thing. And the last point that I would make
• 6:50
  Speaker 1: is that, well.
• 6:51
  Speaker 2: That just sounds a bit like family life.
• 6:53
  Speaker 1: If you ask me, you're sounding very unsympathetic.
• 6:56
  Speaker 2: I am not very sympathetic.
• 6:57
  Speaker 1: Schools have to draw the line somewhere as well. And
• 7:00
  Speaker 1: I just wonder when does school become optional? If everybody's
• 7:03
  Speaker 1: taking holiday whenever they want. It just makes things difficult
• 7:07
  Speaker 1: when you've got a systemized system, right, and that's what
• 7:11
  Speaker 1: we've got. We've got a standardized system that requires it. Now,
• 7:14
  Speaker 1: I'm not saying that I completely agree with it, but
• 7:16
  Speaker 1: these are the arguments that can be made from the
• 7:18
  Speaker 1: school's perspective, and I think that we should at least
• 7:21
  Speaker 1: have some compassionate sympathy for the teachers that are trying
• 7:24
  Speaker 1: to juggle it and recognize that this is a it's
• 7:26
  Speaker 1: a bit of a tricky quandary.
• 7:28
  Speaker 2: Okay, so you've got enough sympathy for both of us, right,
• 7:31
  Speaker 2: so we've given the Education department, we've played devil's advocate
• 7:37
  Speaker 2: for them. Be really great. If you could tell me
• 7:40
  Speaker 2: then why parents have an argument for taking their kids
• 7:42
  Speaker 2: away when it suits them. Yeah, okay, for me, it's
• 7:46
  Speaker 2: actually about costs and family priorities.
• 7:48
  Speaker 1: Right, So, well for us, because we've been through this.
• 7:50
  Speaker 2: Yes, so we've got six children. We've actually had to
• 7:53
  Speaker 2: create a family tradition where we take one child away
• 7:58
  Speaker 2: at a time.
• 7:59
  Speaker 1: Once they're sixteen, because we actually.
• 8:01
  Speaker 2: Could never have afforded to take all six of them away.
• 8:05
  Speaker 1: I know some people say, well that's your fault, but
• 8:08
  Speaker 1: like when you have six kids, you do want to
• 8:09
  Speaker 1: be able to have a family holiday from time to time,
• 8:10
  Speaker 1: and it's expensive.
• 8:12
  Speaker 2: And I know lots of families that never go on
• 8:13
  Speaker 2: a holiday because they can't afford to do it in
• 8:15
  Speaker 2: the school holidays because everything is like double the price.
• 8:18
  Speaker 1: Well, school holiday accommodation can triple depending on where you're
• 8:21
  Speaker 1: going and whether it's peak season or off peak season.
• 8:23
  Speaker 1: Our flight price is definitely double working families should be
• 8:28
  Speaker 1: able to afford to have a family holiday. But the
• 8:30
  Speaker 1: reality is, I think that's a real challenge. And you
• 8:33
  Speaker 1: and I with our kids, we've spent years visiting family
• 8:36
  Speaker 1: in a stay both to see family but also to
• 8:38
  Speaker 1: say on.
• 8:39
  Speaker 2: A couch, sleeping on the floor. Yeah yeah, yeah, I'm
• 8:41
  Speaker 2: sueezing into one bedroom.
• 8:42
  Speaker 1: We still do. In fact, we've got a family holiday
• 8:44
  Speaker 1: coming up in a couple of weeks because we want
• 8:46
  Speaker 1: to get away. But it's like, oh my goodness, can
• 8:48
  Speaker 1: we really afford another family holiday where we can if
• 8:51
  Speaker 1: we sleep at at grandma's house. Grandma's house. Yeah, there
• 8:56
  Speaker 1: are family priorities, so aging grandparents sometimes it's not a luxury,
• 9:01
  Speaker 1: that's a necessity. Maybe there's deaths and marriages and those
• 9:05
  Speaker 1: kinds of things. I think it's also worth highlighting the
• 9:09
  Speaker 1: early year's reality. I don't think that a five year
• 9:12
  Speaker 1: old is missing anything that's particularly crucial. Kids are usually
• 9:17
  Speaker 1: going to learn more from travel than just sitting through
• 9:20
  Speaker 1: another a phonic session or another basic math session. And
• 9:24
  Speaker 1: when I look at what Sarah did, she pulled her
• 9:27
  Speaker 1: young child out so they could go and have a
• 9:28
  Speaker 1: family holiday in Fiji, for a bit. I think it's
• 9:31
  Speaker 1: okay whether it's family or relaxation, recreation. I also think
• 9:37
  Speaker 1: that there's a bit of hypocrisy from the education department
• 9:40
  Speaker 1: because they say that we can't waste a single day,
• 9:43
  Speaker 1: but last few days of term every term.
• 9:45
  Speaker 2: Not only the last few days, often it's the last
• 9:48
  Speaker 2: few weeks.
• 9:48
  Speaker 1: Well, as you move up to Christmas, it definitely is
• 9:51
  Speaker 1: the last couple of weeks at least pizza parties, movie marathons.
• 9:55
  Speaker 1: I'm not sure that every day matters, so it depends
• 9:58
  Speaker 1: on the day, and a lot of schools are scheduling
• 10:02
  Speaker 1: pupil free days, which they have the right to do,
• 10:04
  Speaker 1: but then they won't approve the student and family travel.
• 10:07
  Speaker 1: So yeah, I mean hardline attendants argument assumes that all
• 10:11
  Speaker 1: kids are struggling, that all families are a little bit flaky,
• 10:13
  Speaker 1: and school's always the highest value activity. You kind of
• 10:16
  Speaker 1: touched on that before. Some kids are thriving, some families
• 10:19
  Speaker 1: are intentional, and I again privileged position, but I put
• 10:23
  Speaker 1: us in that basket, and sometimes a week exploring a
• 10:25
  Speaker 1: new culture beats another week of a standardized curriculum. So
• 10:29
  Speaker 1: what do we do? We talked too long about this
• 10:30
  Speaker 1: already but we will talk it through after the break
• 10:33
  Speaker 1: in terms of making the decision that's right for your child,
• 10:35
  Speaker 1: the family, and taking into consideration all of those other factors.
• 10:40
  Speaker 1: That's coming up next. Okay, Kylie, Family holidays during school
• 10:52
  Speaker 1: term not a black and white issue, although the way
• 10:54
  Speaker 1: you're talking, maybe it's a bit more black and white
• 10:57
  Speaker 1: than I was suggesting.
• 10:59
  Speaker 2: I'm not suggesting it as black and white. I think
• 11:02
  Speaker 2: that most people have a level of intelligence isn't the
• 11:06
  Speaker 2: right word, but a level of awareness to recognize that
• 11:12
  Speaker 2: you're not going to pull your year twelve student out
• 11:14
  Speaker 2: right in the middle of exam prep or learning brand
• 11:18
  Speaker 2: new content that is going to impact their grades.
• 11:22
  Speaker 1: Yeah, this is about making intelligent judgment calls. And for
• 11:24
  Speaker 1: the most part, I mean, every parent wants their kids
• 11:26
  Speaker 1: to do well. They want their children that most parents
• 11:29
  Speaker 1: value education. Not all, but most parents value education and
• 11:32
  Speaker 1: are willing to encourage their children to do a great
• 11:34
  Speaker 1: job at school.
• 11:35
  Speaker 2: So when we've made some really big holiday decisions, we
• 11:38
  Speaker 2: have spoken with the school and we've said we're looking
• 11:41
  Speaker 2: at doing this and this is actually quite a big
• 11:43
  Speaker 2: deal for our family, and we're wondering if this is
• 11:48
  Speaker 2: going to have an impact on their learning, and teachers
• 11:51
  Speaker 2: have sometimes come back to us and said that that's
• 11:53
  Speaker 2: a really bad week. You can't do it then, But
• 11:56
  Speaker 2: they've also suggested that you've got a window. If you
• 11:59
  Speaker 2: kind of went from this date to this date, we
• 12:01
  Speaker 2: could probably we can work with it.
• 12:03
  Speaker 1: So that's something that I didn't have down in my
• 12:04
  Speaker 1: notes as I was thinking about this, and that is
• 12:06
  Speaker 1: just when you work with schools. Most of them, most educators,
• 12:09
  Speaker 1: most principles, are pretty reasonable about it, and most see
• 12:11
  Speaker 1: the value in, oh, this will be a culturally relevant
• 12:14
  Speaker 1: or valuable activity. There's worth in you doing this as
• 12:17
  Speaker 1: a family, and we get that sometimes it can be tricky.
• 12:20
  Speaker 1: We've never had a problem with this. That's why I
• 12:22
  Speaker 1: wanted to talk about it as well, because Sarah's experience
• 12:25
  Speaker 1: seems to be so strong.
• 12:27
  Speaker 2: Especially for a six year old.
• 12:29
  Speaker 1: Yeah, you've been rejected. Your request for leave has been
• 12:31
  Speaker 1: rejected for a six year old to do that. So
• 12:34
  Speaker 1: let's tap into a couple of things that I did
• 12:36
  Speaker 1: jot down Other than working with the school and being
• 12:38
  Speaker 1: productive and trying to make it work together. You've already
• 12:43
  Speaker 1: touched on this, but I want to be a little
• 12:44
  Speaker 1: bit clearer. I think timing matters. I don't think that
• 12:48
  Speaker 1: as a general rule it's useful to mess with the
• 12:50
  Speaker 1: first few weeks when kids are settling in.
• 12:51
  Speaker 2: Agreed.
• 12:52
  Speaker 1: I know several people who think that's the best time
• 12:54
  Speaker 1: to go because that's the cheapest. I would disagree. I
• 12:57
  Speaker 1: think the kids need stability, they need consistency, They need
• 12:59
  Speaker 1: to in the teacher needs to get to know them.
• 13:02
  Speaker 1: Missing those first couple of weeks of school, especially at
• 13:04
  Speaker 1: the start of the year.
• 13:05
  Speaker 2: Is a bit and cementing your place in the social circle.
• 13:08
  Speaker 2: It's a really big deal.
• 13:09
  Speaker 1: You've already touched on avoiding assessment periods and major projects.
• 13:12
  Speaker 1: I think that's important. Fair game though, is end of term. Yeah,
• 13:16
  Speaker 1: not a lot of learning going on there, Like fair enough.
• 13:20
  Speaker 2: Get out of there, I think so age.
• 13:23
  Speaker 1: I think age matters a lot here, So if you've
• 13:24
  Speaker 1: got young kids, you can probably get away with a
• 13:26
  Speaker 1: lot more play based learning to probably find it.
• 13:28
  Speaker 2: I know you're saying that, but I actually don't think
• 13:30
  Speaker 2: that's as black and white either. Really, I think for
• 13:33
  Speaker 2: our younger kids, when they're in you know, consistent schooling,
• 13:39
  Speaker 2: they actually need the consistency of schooling. It's really like
• 13:45
  Speaker 2: those formative years they actually need routine structure and consistency
• 13:51
  Speaker 2: around everything. So I think it really depends on the kids.
• 13:55
  Speaker 1: I reckon they're going to adapt pretty well. Yeah, fair call.
• 13:57
  Speaker 1: It depends on the child. So you've got to know
• 13:59
  Speaker 1: your child. If they're a high achiever, if they're going
• 14:01
  Speaker 1: to read books on the plane.
• 14:02
  Speaker 2: And I don't even think it's about that either though. Well,
• 14:06
  Speaker 2: I think it's more about, you know, are they a
• 14:08
  Speaker 2: kid that's really excited to be at school or are
• 14:10
  Speaker 2: they the kid that's constantly, you know, struggling to kind
• 14:13
  Speaker 2: of say goodbye each day. You're going to go back
• 14:16
  Speaker 2: to square one when you come back.
• 14:19
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I guess if you've got a really anxious kid
• 14:20
  Speaker 1: who's going to use any excuse to avoid school, it
• 14:23
  Speaker 1: might be a bit trickier. Although then again, I'm kind
• 14:26
  Speaker 1: of inclined to say, if've got a child who's struggling
• 14:27
  Speaker 1: that much, maybe having the break is going to give
• 14:29
  Speaker 1: them the rejuvenation and the refreshment that they need. I mean,
• 14:32
  Speaker 1: we're all over the place on this, seriously, I am. Anyway,
• 14:35
  Speaker 1: let's move to a big picture take home message. Submit
• 14:38
  Speaker 1: the paperwork. Depending on the school, it's probably going to
• 14:40
  Speaker 1: be denied communicate your reasoning respectfully. I think that's really important.
• 14:44
  Speaker 1: Work with the school in a collaborative way wherever you can.
• 14:48
  Speaker 2: What's the worst thing that's going to happen.
• 14:49
  Speaker 1: It's going to get marked unauthorized, and you're going going
• 14:51
  Speaker 1: to go on holidays anyway, and then you're going to
• 14:54
  Speaker 1: come back with a whole lot of photos and stories,
• 14:55
  Speaker 1: and the kids are going to be able to talk
• 14:56
  Speaker 1: about it, and you're going to be able to say, Yeah,
• 14:59
  Speaker 1: we got that time together. Will remember that for the
• 15:01
  Speaker 1: rest of our lives.
• 15:02
  Speaker 2: Did you have any employer look at your attendance record?
• 15:06
  Speaker 1: No?
• 15:07
  Speaker 2: No, Sometimes I think we get our niggas tied up
• 15:11
  Speaker 2: in twists for no reason at all.
• 15:13
  Speaker 1: Yeah, And I think the bigger picture is this, We're
• 15:14
  Speaker 1: not talking about chronic absenteism. We're not talking about families
• 15:17
  Speaker 1: who don't value education. We're saying, let's get families who
• 15:21
  Speaker 1: are making thoughtful, occasional decisions to prioritize a different kind
• 15:24
  Speaker 1: of learning, a different kind of connection. Like, the real
• 15:27
  Speaker 1: question isn't whether or not term time holidays should be allowed.
• 15:31
  Speaker 1: I think the real question is whether or not we
• 15:32
  Speaker 1: trust parents to make nuanced decisions about their own children's education,
• 15:38
  Speaker 1: or whether we've decided that schools no better than families
• 15:41
  Speaker 1: what the family needs. I think I've just made up
• 15:43
  Speaker 1: my mind, Like that's that's my take. That's my take.
• 15:49
  Speaker 1: What's your take? Are we raising a generation that thinks
• 15:51
  Speaker 1: rules of suggestions? Or are we finally recognizing that education
• 15:54
  Speaker 1: happens everywhere? Let us know at Facebook and Instagram. We've
• 15:58
  Speaker 1: got some social posts going up today to prompt the
• 16:01
  Speaker 1: question and get some feedback. Or you can email us
• 16:04
  Speaker 1: or send us a voice note to podcasts at happy
• 16:06
  Speaker 1: families dot com dot au. Just remembered, Kylie, I have
• 16:10
  Speaker 1: a confession. And November, last couple of weeks of the
• 16:13
  Speaker 1: school year, we're taking the kids away from my fiftieth
• 16:19
  Speaker 1: Should I write that letter?
• 16:20
  Speaker 2: Do you know how many hoops we had to jump
• 16:23
  Speaker 2: through to just get everybody on that plane?
• 16:26
  Speaker 1: Or we're going. We're going. I don't care what they say,
• 16:28
  Speaker 1: We're going. The Happy Families podcast is produced by Justin
• 16:32
  Speaker 1: Rowland from Bridge Media. Mimhammonds provides additional support in terms
• 16:36
  Speaker 1: of research, admin and more. If you would like more
• 16:39
  Speaker 1: information about making your family happier, or just to join
• 16:42
  Speaker 1: in the conversation, check us out on our socials at
• 16:44
  Speaker 1: Facebook and Instagram, or visit happyfamilies dot com dot au