Latest / Dr Justin Coulson's Happy Families / #178 More Christmas Conundrums

Transcript

#178 More Christmas Conundrums · Dr Justin Coulson's Happy Families

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  Speaker 1: It's the Happy Families podcast. It's the podcast for the
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  Speaker 1: time poor parent who just wants answers.
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  Speaker 2: Now you did all the prep the day before, without
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  Speaker 2: all the children, without where we're the kids.
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  Speaker 3: We didn't have kids back there.
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  Speaker 1: And now here's the stars of our show, my mom
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  Speaker 1: and dad.
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  Speaker 3: Hello.
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  Speaker 2: This is doctor Justin Colson, the author of six books
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  Speaker 2: about raising happy families, and I'm here with my wife
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  Speaker 2: Kylie missus Happy Families.
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  Speaker 3: The mom to our six daughters. Feeling festive.
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  Speaker 2: Just before we dive into today's content, which is more
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  Speaker 2: Christmas Conundrums, because it was so much funny feedback about
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  Speaker 2: last week's I just wanted to pull out a Christmas
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  Speaker 2: gift that we've received from La La Di Da. La
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  Speaker 2: La La di Dar gave us a five star rating
• 0:45
  Speaker 2: and review fast La La La di Da gave us
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  Speaker 2: a five star rating and review on Apple Podcasts. To
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  Speaker 2: help other people to find out about the podcast and
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  Speaker 2: make their families happier, La La Ladi Dah said five stars.
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  Speaker 2: Doctor Justin Colson and his wife Kylie are the brains
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  Speaker 2: and brawn of practical compassionate parenting. I'm so grateful for
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  Speaker 2: their insights that are helping me.
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  Speaker 3: To be a better parent. Must listen. I'm curious, are
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  Speaker 3: you the brains?
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  Speaker 4: I was thinking the same thing, and no, I'm definitely
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  Speaker 4: not the brain.
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  Speaker 2: Because I'm definitely not the braun. Oh, dear me, I
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  Speaker 2: don't weigh enough to be the braun. I'm a cyclist.
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  Speaker 2: There's no brawn on me. We need to talk about
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  Speaker 2: Christmas conundrums because we talked about some really fun ones
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  Speaker 2: last week.
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  Speaker 4: I was pretty impressed with our rapid fire. We did
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  Speaker 4: pretty good.
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  Speaker 3: So we're not going to be quite so rapid today.
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  Speaker 2: We've only got three because the more Christmas conundrums we've
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  Speaker 2: come up with, the more we've realized, Oh that's another episode.
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  Speaker 2: Oh that's another episode. And we've decided that we're going
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  Speaker 2: to continue to podcast further towards Christmas instead of having
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  Speaker 2: a break because we found so many conundrums. So let's
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  Speaker 2: do a handful for this podcast.
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  Speaker 4: Well, I know that every parent is thinking what time
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  Speaker 4: is okay for the kids to start having junk food? Especially,
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  Speaker 4: I mean, most people's stockings are full of junk food,
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  Speaker 4: are they not.
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  Speaker 2: I don't think anyone's thinking that on Christmas Day. Parents
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  Speaker 2: are like, eat what you want. Just let me sleep,
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  Speaker 2: leave me alone. Did Sata bring you something good?
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  Speaker 3: Go eat it? Leave me alone?
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  Speaker 4: So the drinky part about that is that we do that,
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  Speaker 4: and then by midafternoon our kids are.
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  Speaker 3: Just ratty as sugar coma.
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  Speaker 4: Oh my goodness.
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  Speaker 2: But that's also because they've expended so much energy. They
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  Speaker 2: haven't slept the night before because they were listening out
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  Speaker 2: for reindeer and sleigh bells and Santa coming down the
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  Speaker 2: chimney that all Australians have. So I think that it's
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  Speaker 2: not just the junk food a thick excitement of the day,
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  Speaker 2: but they drink sugary drinks, some fizzy drink all day
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  Speaker 2: and they get stuck into I mean, it's a pretty
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  Speaker 2: rich day, isn't it. Well.
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  Speaker 4: I guess that's how ginger beer and mango became and
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  Speaker 4: essential in our Christmas stockings, because I had to give
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  Speaker 4: them some fruit. Oh, I just remembered. I had to
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  Speaker 4: tell you this the other day. Emily was talking about
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  Speaker 4: Christmas stockings with me. So of all of our children,
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  Speaker 4: we have one, just one who does not like mango.
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  Speaker 4: She does not like it. She got a mango last
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  Speaker 4: year and she was really disappointed.
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  Speaker 3: Santa hates me. He gave me a mango, and so she.
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  Speaker 4: Said to me, Mummy, can you please tell Santa not
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  Speaker 4: to bring me a mango this year? And I said, oh, well,
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  Speaker 4: what would you like instead? And she said, I don't know.
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  Speaker 4: I said what about a banana? She said no, And
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  Speaker 4: I said, I know, what about a pineapple? You should
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  Speaker 4: have seen her eyes, They just like bulge out of it.
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  Speaker 4: She said, oh, they are so big. You and Daddy
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  Speaker 4: are going to have to help me eat that one.
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  Speaker 3: How is she going? That's very generous? How is Santa
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  Speaker 3: going to fit a pineapple and a stocking?
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  Speaker 2: I am really looking forward to seeing how this is
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  Speaker 2: gonna work.
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  Speaker 4: It is a bit like Sanda going down the chimney.
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  Speaker 4: Maybe I don't know, but we'll see.
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  Speaker 2: So a little bit of context here, by the way,
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  Speaker 2: two things that are important. First of all, we have
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  Speaker 2: a rule in our house. You don't eat garbage food,
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  Speaker 2: you don't eat junk food, don't eat lollies, don't have
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  Speaker 2: fizzy drink before ten o'clock in the morning. Coco Pops
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  Speaker 2: on Christmas Day or you know, on special occasions maybe,
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  Speaker 2: but no junk food before ten. So this is actually
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  Speaker 2: a bit of a Christmas conundrum because the kids really
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  Speaker 2: do want to eat all the garbage that's gone into
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  Speaker 2: their sandustocking on Christmas morning, and we are pretty lax
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  Speaker 2: about it, aren't we.
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  Speaker 3: We let them drink ginger beer.
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  Speaker 2: For breakfast on Christmas Day and have whatever junk food
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  Speaker 2: they want because it's Christmas.
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  Speaker 4: Well, when they were younger to actually kind of fill
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  Speaker 4: the Christmas stocking up a little bit, knowing full well
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  Speaker 4: that they were going to eat what would whatever was
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  Speaker 4: in there, I used to actually put those yogurt squeeze
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  Speaker 4: tubes because we didn't used to get them, you know,
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  Speaker 4: all the time, So that was actually a bit of
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  Speaker 4: a treat. So they had, you know, some dairy, they
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  Speaker 4: had a piece of fruit, and they had some sugar.
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  Speaker 3: Sort of healthy.
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  Speaker 2: I had a really nice conversation with our eighteen year old,
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  Speaker 2: she's a grown up, the other day and she was.
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  Speaker 4: Talking she doesn't want a mango either.
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  Speaker 1: Know.
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  Speaker 2: She was talking about how the one thing that she
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  Speaker 2: could rely on, the one thing that she loves about
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  Speaker 2: our Christmas tradition is that she's guaranteed to wake up
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  Speaker 2: and have ginger beer and mango for.
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  Speaker 3: Breakfast on Christmas Day. She can't wait. She's excited. She's eighteen.
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  Speaker 2: We've been doing it for however many years, and it's
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  Speaker 2: her guarantee, and so long as that's what she gets
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  Speaker 2: for Christmas, she doesn't care about the rest.
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  Speaker 3: How cool is that?
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  Speaker 4: Well, she actually had a conversation with a friend, a friend,
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  Speaker 4: a friend, and he who acknowledged that in his household,
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  Speaker 4: it's not a mango in a ginger.
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  Speaker 3: Beer, it's a croissant ginger beer.
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  Speaker 4: She kind of stars studded. Yeah, she's like aligning her
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  Speaker 4: relationship could work long term.
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  Speaker 3: All right, what's our next Christmas to under them?
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  Speaker 4: Okay, next one?
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, this next one is.
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  Speaker 2: All about how to stay out of the kitchen on
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  Speaker 2: Christmas Day because it's supposed to be a special day.
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  Speaker 3: We're supposed to be.
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  Speaker 2: Together with everybody, and then you get stuck in the kitchen.
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  Speaker 2: I get stuck in the kitchen. This is what happens
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  Speaker 2: to me every Christmas. I spend hours and hours slaving
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  Speaker 2: away in the kitchen.
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  Speaker 3: What are you laughing at?
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  Speaker 4: It's true.
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  Speaker 3: I do the dishes. At the very end, when everyone else.
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  Speaker 2: Is passed out on the couch, I go into the
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  Speaker 2: kitchen and I start cleaning up. But you do spend
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  Speaker 2: a lot of time, because I mean the way you cook. Oh,
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  Speaker 2: I'm not going to even try to cook. How do
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  Speaker 2: we get around this, this Christmas conundrum of balancing preparation
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  Speaker 2: and cooking and actually being with everyone.
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  Speaker 4: Well, I think you've just tapped into the exact answer.
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  Speaker 4: It's all about the preparation.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, so about a decade ago, maybe more, we had
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  Speaker 2: a time where you and your sisters and your mom
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  Speaker 2: all got together in the kitchen the day before Christmas
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  Speaker 2: Christmas Eve, and you must have spent four or five
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  Speaker 2: six hours in the kitchen on Christmas Eve, but you
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  Speaker 2: turned it into a really festive, fun experience together.
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  Speaker 3: And you did all the prep the day before.
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  Speaker 4: Without all the children.
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  Speaker 3: Without where were the kids or we didn't have kids
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  Speaker 3: back then. Where were the kids?
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  Speaker 2: We did something with them, maybe I took them somewhere
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  Speaker 2: or something. But the whole or everything for Christmas was
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  Speaker 2: actually prepped the day before and we stuck it in
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  Speaker 2: the fridge. And obviously we didn't have enough space in
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  Speaker 2: our fridge for fifty people or whatever it.
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  Speaker 3: Was to have that much food there.
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  Speaker 4: You didn't have that many people back then.
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  Speaker 3: Well, no, it was probably about fifteen people.
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  Speaker 2: But we just made the food and then it went
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  Speaker 2: out to everyone's homes and then they just brought it
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  Speaker 2: back the next day, and I didn't have to spend
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  Speaker 2: all of Christmas Day in the kitchen because we use disposables.
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  Speaker 2: We use disposables. We should just highlight that back then
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  Speaker 2: we went as in my environment with friendly as we
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  Speaker 2: are now, we would never do that today.
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  Speaker 4: So the answer to that question is one hundred percent preparation.
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  Speaker 4: Take some time to kind of plan out what your
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  Speaker 4: meal is and do everything you can possibly do the
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  Speaker 4: day before or even you know, there are some things
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  Speaker 4: that you can freeze and things like that that will
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  Speaker 4: make that whole process so much better. And so what
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  Speaker 4: I loved about that Christmas was on the day of
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  Speaker 4: Christmas literally just had to dress the plates. Everything was
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  Speaker 4: fresh because it was just done the day before, and
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  Speaker 4: I could just plate it up and everybody had a
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  Speaker 4: really relaxing day.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah. Yeah, So preparation is the answer to.
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  Speaker 2: Making Christmas Day a day where you don't have to
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  Speaker 2: spend the whole time in the kitchen.
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  Speaker 3: I love that. Okay, we've got one more.
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  Speaker 4: Crist I do have one other tip for that, leftovers
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  Speaker 4: for sure, for sure. I love I love the fact
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  Speaker 4: that we have Christmas Lunch and Christmas Dinner is a
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  Speaker 4: free for all. Just whatever's left over as well we're having.
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  Speaker 3: And the same with Boxing Day. Just keep it going.
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  Speaker 3: Let's do what more Christmas can under them in just
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  Speaker 3: a tick.
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  Speaker 1: It's the Happy Families Podcast.
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  Speaker 4: For a happier family, try a Happy Families membership, because a.
• 8:24
  Speaker 3: Happy family doesn't just happen.
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  Speaker 2: Details at happy families dot com dot au.
• 8:30
  Speaker 4: This is the Happy Families Podcast, the podcast for the
• 8:32
  Speaker 4: time poor parent who just wants answers now. And we
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  Speaker 4: have been diving into some more Christmas conundrums.
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  Speaker 3: Okay, let's do our last one.
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  Speaker 4: Last one. Okay, so this is a big one. Should
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  Speaker 4: Santa bring the big or the little gifts?
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  Speaker 2: I love this question, so I reckon Santa should only
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  Speaker 2: bring the little stuff. In fact, we've created a situation
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  Speaker 2: in our family where Santa pretty much fills the stocking with.
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  Speaker 3: With the essentials.
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  Speaker 2: This goes back to our podcast the other week we
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  Speaker 2: put the essentials. I've just realized there's always a whole
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  Speaker 2: lot of essentials in the Santa stocking and here I
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  Speaker 2: am when you so Santa gets to give the crappy
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  Speaker 2: essentials kind of gifts because as parents, we want all
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  Speaker 2: the credit.
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  Speaker 3: Right.
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  Speaker 4: Well, I think what happened was a long time ago
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  Speaker 4: we realized Santa was bringing them bikes and you know,
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  Speaker 4: all these crazy things, the big stuff.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, and we got no credit for that, No we didn't.
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  Speaker 2: So we get credit for good gifts and Santa gives
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  Speaker 2: them all the just stocking fillers.
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  Speaker 3: That's not coal, that's exactly not a lump of coal.
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  Speaker 4: But I actually recently I have seen this a few
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  Speaker 4: times now going around on social media, a post by
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  Speaker 4: a social worker who just said, please, please, please don't
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  Speaker 4: tell your kids that their iPod shuffles and their good
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  Speaker 4: shuffles was This is an old I've seen it about
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  Speaker 4: about eight years old.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, that's an old post I polished up on shuffle.
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  Speaker 2: Kids today go like, what's that?
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  Speaker 4: But all the big things, you know, don't tell them
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  Speaker 4: their mobile phones come from Santa, because there are so
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  Speaker 4: many kids who are just not privileged to be in
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  Speaker 4: homes where those things are a reality. And it really
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  Speaker 4: struck a chord with me as a mum, because I
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  Speaker 4: know plenty of families and especially this year, financial hardship
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  Speaker 4: has been has been a real challenge, has.
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  Speaker 3: Been pretty rotten to some families this year. Yeah.
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  Speaker 4: Yeah, and so even though that wasn't our initial drive
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  Speaker 4: for it, I definitely, you know, my mother heart says,
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  Speaker 4: this is something that we need to be considerate of
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  Speaker 4: when we tell children what Santa's giving them.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah.
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  Speaker 2: So, I mean I'm being goofy. I'm goofing off quite
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  Speaker 2: a lot when I say that we want the credit
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  Speaker 2: for it. It's not really about that. But we just
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  Speaker 2: decided many, many years ago. We decided that Santa would
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  Speaker 2: give those essential kind of gifts and.
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  Speaker 4: The stocking, and every now and again there is something
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  Speaker 4: you know, kind of upworth in the stocking, but the
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  Speaker 4: reality is the Santa stocking. That's the tradition.
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  Speaker 2: So we're going to do a podcast in a few
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  Speaker 2: days about Santa, and I think that'll be an interesting one.
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  Speaker 2: We might even just go into a little bit more
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  Speaker 2: of the thinking around that and why. But I think
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  Speaker 2: my answer to the Christmas conundrum is to minimize Santa's
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  Speaker 2: role in Christmas and focus on what we can give
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  Speaker 2: to the kids, but also focus on what they can
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  Speaker 2: give to others.
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  Speaker 4: I love it.
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  Speaker 2: Okay, Well, we hope you enjoyed the podcast. We love
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  Speaker 2: making them for you. We would love for you to
• 11:33
  Speaker 2: leave a Christmas gift for us at Apple Podcasts. That's
• 11:35
  Speaker 2: a five star rating and review. Can I be that
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  Speaker 2: bold and asked for you to do that? I do
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  Speaker 2: it every day anyway. We would love that just because
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  Speaker 2: people get to find out about the podcast and make
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  Speaker 2: their families happier. As always, we appreciate the work of
• 11:47
  Speaker 2: Justin raule On, our producer from Bridge Media, and our
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  Speaker 2: executive producer, Craig Bruce. If you'd like more information about
• 11:52
  Speaker 2: how we can make your family happier and help your
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  Speaker 2: family flourish, especially around our Happy Families memberships, please visit
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  Speaker 2: Happy Families dot com dot a um HM