Latest / Dr Justin Coulson's Happy Families / #1067 - A Brief History of Dad Jokes

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#1067 - A Brief History of Dad Jokes · Dr Justin Coulson's Happy Families

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  Speaker 1: It's The Happy Family's Podcast.
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  Speaker 2: It's the podcast for the time poor parent who just
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  Speaker 2: wants answers.
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  Speaker 1: Now, it's Father's Day, this coming Sunday in Australia, and well,
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  Speaker 1: I'm excited about it. I love Father's Day. I love
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  Speaker 1: it when the kids come and climb it a bed
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  Speaker 1: and give me hugs and wrestle me and push me
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  Speaker 1: out of the bed. Father's Day is a day where, hopefully,
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  Speaker 1: if your family is doing well, you can really celebrate
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  Speaker 1: the days in your life. And you know what Dad
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  Speaker 1: always says when you say what do you want for
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  Speaker 1: Father's Day? He always says nothing. I don't want anything.
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  Speaker 1: I just want to have some nice quality time with
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  Speaker 1: the kids, nice feet or two and that'll be about it.
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  Speaker 1: Let's keep it low key, let's keep it relaxed. That's
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  Speaker 1: a hint, by the way, a big hint from me
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  Speaker 1: today in The Happy Family's Podcast, it's a two parter.
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  Speaker 1: Part one, we're going to look at the history of
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  Speaker 1: dad jokes and Kylie and I have a little bet going.
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  Speaker 1: The bet is that I'll be a to make Kylie
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  Speaker 1: laugh more than she'll be able to make me laugh
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  Speaker 1: with three of the very best dad jokes that we've
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  Speaker 1: been able to either recall from our growing up or
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  Speaker 1: that we've been able to find as we've scoured the internet. Incidentally, Kylie,
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  Speaker 1: did your dad have a classic dad joke that you
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  Speaker 1: used to hear over and over again?
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  Speaker 2: No, I don't think my dad was ever into dad jokes.
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  Speaker 1: Well, I have a few. I got them from my
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  Speaker 1: dad and I've passed them down to our children and
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  Speaker 1: I'm hoping that they will pass them to their children.
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  Speaker 1: My favorite one driving along the road honk the horn.
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  Speaker 1: The kids say, why'd you honk?
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  Speaker 2: Dad?
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  Speaker 1: And I say, saw a cow? Say kiddo, to which
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  Speaker 1: they reply, what's a cow say? And I laughingly respond,
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  Speaker 1: move been doing it for well, I've been doing it
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  Speaker 1: for twenty five years with our kids, but my dad
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  Speaker 1: from the time I was a kiddo. That was the joke.
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  Speaker 1: And the other one, the other classic dad one, is Hey, Dad,
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  Speaker 1: I'm hungry, to which Dad replies.
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  Speaker 2: You don't look hungry.
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  Speaker 1: I believe you said that. That's not what Dad saying. See,
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  Speaker 1: this is why you're a mum, not a dad. Every
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  Speaker 1: dad who has a child who says Dad, I'm hungry
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  Speaker 1: or Dad, I'm bored, Dad looks at the kid and says, Hi, hungry,
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  Speaker 1: I'm Dad. I can't believe that you've missed that one.
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  Speaker 1: This is going to be a long podcast, so okay,
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  Speaker 1: So Part one we're going to talk We're going to
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  Speaker 1: talk about the history of dad jokes. Part two we're
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  Speaker 1: going to talk about creating connection with your kids if
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  Speaker 1: you're a dad or you know what, just creating connection
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  Speaker 1: with your kids, but especially in light of Father's Day.
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  Speaker 1: So would you like to know, Kylie, the history of
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  Speaker 1: dad jokes?
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  Speaker 2: Whether I do or not, I'm going to find out.
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  Speaker 1: So dad joke has been around. I mean, a dad
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  Speaker 1: joke is just to play on words. It's a pun,
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  Speaker 1: it's cheesy, it's intentionally meant to transgress or violate some
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  Speaker 1: sort of language convention. But it's also really safe and
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  Speaker 1: it just shows that dad's got some humor or whoever's
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  Speaker 1: doing the dad joke has got that little bit of humor.
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  Speaker 1: The classic joke, which is not really a dad joke,
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  Speaker 1: but the classic joke, why did the Chicken cross the
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  Speaker 1: road to get to the other side? Guess what year
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  Speaker 1: that was first published?
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  Speaker 2: Well, it was Well and Sully around when I was
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  Speaker 2: a little girl. Well and truly Yeah, so I'm going
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  Speaker 2: to say the nineteen.
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  Speaker 1: Fifties, eighteen forty seven, what yeah, yeah, yeah. I mean,
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  Speaker 1: the history of jokes is fascinating. But over time, dad
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  Speaker 1: jokes have become increasingly popularized, especially into the nineteen hundreds.
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  Speaker 1: In the twentieth century, dad jokes went from they weren't
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  Speaker 1: just corny punchlines. They actually became cultural currency. And this
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  Speaker 1: idea of building puns in one line is into predictable jokes.
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  Speaker 1: But that's the point. The point of dad joke is connection,
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  Speaker 1: not complexity. The whole idea of humor is to draw
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  Speaker 1: people towards us. And then in the nineteen eighties, the
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  Speaker 1: dad joke became a thing. It became a badge of uncoolness.
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  Speaker 1: But here's the twist, the uncool became unstoppable. And now,
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  Speaker 1: if you're fast forward to today, dad jokes are literally
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  Speaker 1: a cultural phenomenon, their memes, their merchandise. They're the glue
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  Speaker 1: that binds generations. Why because in a world that's obsessed
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  Speaker 1: with being edgy, dad jokes are just this beautiful, welcome
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  Speaker 1: dose of wholesome, predictable humor. It's the comedy equivalent of
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  Speaker 1: comfort food, and we cannot get enough so that is
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  Speaker 1: my very brief history of dad jokes after doing I know.
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  Speaker 2: You say we can't get enough, but I definitely had
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  Speaker 2: my fast share.
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  Speaker 1: You're so funny. Where is your sense of human Okay?
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  Speaker 1: Three dad jokes each, three dad jokes each. You go first.
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  Speaker 1: The whole object is to get me to laugh. You go,
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  Speaker 1: then me, then you, then me. Okay, I'm ready. You're
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  Speaker 1: laughing and you haven't even killed any one yet. Let's
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  Speaker 1: hear it.
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  Speaker 2: What do you call cheese that isn't yours?
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  Speaker 1: I don't know, natcha cheese, nutcha cheese that was that
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  Speaker 1: was really bad, but your delivery got a really big
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  Speaker 1: smile out of me.
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  Speaker 2: You're harsh.
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  Speaker 1: You want to hear my one?
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  Speaker 2: No, not really.
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  Speaker 1: I'm reading a book about anti gravity. It's impossible to
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  Speaker 1: put down. You're trying to hold it in. I can
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  Speaker 1: tell by the look on your face. Okay, go again.
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  Speaker 2: Okay, what do you call a person who never farts
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  Speaker 2: in bubblo?
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  Speaker 1: I can't believe you're asking me a question. You call
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  Speaker 1: a person who I'm laughing already and I haven't even
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  Speaker 1: heard the answer.
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  Speaker 2: A private tutor, A private tutor.
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  Speaker 1: A private tutor. The question was funnier than the answer.
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  Speaker 1: I think you have to have an American accent for
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  Speaker 1: that one. Not working for me. I told my wife
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  Speaker 1: she was drawing her eyebrows too high. She looked surprised.
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  Speaker 2: You're so bad. So good?
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  Speaker 1: All right, come on, last one, last one? Yep? Do
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  Speaker 1: you sound like you want to keep this going? All
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  Speaker 1: of a sudden? Was the Sandwick because the sea weed?
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  Speaker 1: I remember that one from when I was about eight.
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  Speaker 2: I never heard that one. Okay, well, I have to
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  Speaker 2: have another one because you already near that one.
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  Speaker 1: No, no, no, no no.
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  Speaker 2: I think the scarecrow went an award.
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  Speaker 1: I was outstanding in its field, all right. Last one,
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  Speaker 1: last one. I'm afraid for the calendar. It's days a number.
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  Speaker 2: Boom boom.
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  Speaker 1: Oh gosh, gee, you literally cannot laugh at any of
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  Speaker 1: my jokes. I think that's so funny. What about our ceilings?
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  Speaker 1: You like our ceiling? I mean, I'm not saying it's
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  Speaker 1: the best in the world, but sure is up there.
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  Speaker 1: Did you hear about the cheese that went to the gym?
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  Speaker 2: It got shredded? I kept your day job, all right?
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  Speaker 1: After break, we're going to talk about how you can
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  Speaker 1: build connection with your kids. This Father's Day. All right, Kylie,
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  Speaker 1: the jokes were a dismal failure, at least on my part.
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  Speaker 1: I thought I thought I picked some really good ones.
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  Speaker 1: I really liked my dad jokes. You didn't like them
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  Speaker 1: at all. Did you hear about the kidnapping at school?
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  Speaker 2: What kind of dog come from the bathroom?
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  Speaker 1: Let's first to be talking about other stuff here, Boodle,
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  Speaker 1: Oh that's gross. Did you hear about the kidnapping at school?
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  Speaker 2: It was?
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  Speaker 1: Okay? He woke up. You're laughing at that one? You
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  Speaker 1: like that one?
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  Speaker 2: No, I'm not laughing, all right.
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  Speaker 1: So so stop reading. We're doing a podcast here. We
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  Speaker 1: need to talk about building connection. We need to talk
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  Speaker 1: about building connection with kids. I'm going to go over
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  Speaker 1: a couple of things real quick. You can add some
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  Speaker 1: color where you want. We're going to wrap this one
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  Speaker 1: up nice and quickly, because we talk about connection all
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  Speaker 1: the time. First of all, definition connection means feeling seen,
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  Speaker 1: hurt and valued. Okay, that's what we're looking for. How
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  Speaker 1: do you build a relationship that feels connective, That is,
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  Speaker 1: that feels like you and your children are both feeling seen,
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  Speaker 1: hurt and valued in that relationship. Kids love to im
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  Speaker 1: quality time together that is it, playing sports, going for hikes,
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  Speaker 1: playing board games around the table or card games around
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  Speaker 1: the table, cooking together, watching a movie and talking about
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  Speaker 1: it afterwards. Playing push Dad off the bed, which is
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  Speaker 1: what the kids have really started to enjoy with me lately,
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  Speaker 1: when we used to play it years ago, and then
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  Speaker 1: phones got in the way, and we've got rid of phones,
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  Speaker 1: and all of a sudden, things are so much better.
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  Speaker 1: Quality time, Quality time, t Im. That's how love is spelt.
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  Speaker 2: Just the other day, I was talking to her eldest, Chanelle,
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  Speaker 2: who just acknowledged that.
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  Speaker 1: And she's in her mid twenties now with her own
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  Speaker 1: child and husband like living her life.
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  Speaker 2: She actually just mentioned that she thinks that each of
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  Speaker 2: her siblings, including herself, just crave time with you because
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  Speaker 2: it's such it's almost a novelty. Mum is there all
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  Speaker 2: the time, she's in the kitchen, she's you know, kind
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  Speaker 2: of doing all of the running around a lot of
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  Speaker 2: the time.
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  Speaker 1: For it is worth I get in the kitchen and
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  Speaker 1: just some running around as well. But your point is
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  Speaker 1: that dads are often often less present than mums, not always,
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  Speaker 1: but often less present mums.
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  Speaker 2: And it just made me think about my experiences as
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  Speaker 2: I was growing up and the acknowledgment that spending time
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  Speaker 2: with dad was a novelty, but it was also the
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  Speaker 2: thing that I longed for the most.
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  Speaker 1: One of our friends, Rob, he passed away. I don't know,
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  Speaker 1: like ten twelve years ago. Now he wasn't I think
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  Speaker 1: he'd just reached fifty or he wasn't quite fifty. But
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  Speaker 1: I remember distinctly. Rob used to make a point of
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  Speaker 1: sitting on the couch with nothing to do whenever he could, Like,
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  Speaker 1: he just sit down on the couch in the living room.
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  Speaker 1: And it wasn't because he was lazy. It was because
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  Speaker 1: he knew that the kids would walk through the living
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  Speaker 1: room and see him there, and they'd come and sit
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  Speaker 1: beside him and start talking. He didn't intrude on them,
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  Speaker 1: but he made himself available. And because we're going back
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  Speaker 1: that far, phones weren't really an issue, and so the
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  Speaker 1: kids would they'd walk through the living room and see
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  Speaker 1: him and say, oh hey, Dad, and he'd say watch
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  Speaker 1: up to and then come and sit down and he'd
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  Speaker 1: have that one on one time. He was just so present.
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  Speaker 1: And I wrote about it in one of my books
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  Speaker 1: because I was so impressed with that second thing emotional connection, listening,
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  Speaker 1: actively listening, showing interest, asked him about their their friends,
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  Speaker 1: their interests. I guess that's an extension of what I
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  Speaker 1: was talking about with Rob. And the third and final
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  Speaker 1: thing that I want to highlight. I mean, we could
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  Speaker 1: talk about so many things outdoor adventures and family traditions
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  Speaker 1: and just being involved in their lives and participating in
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  Speaker 1: school assemblies and things. But the last thing that I
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  Speaker 1: want to highlight kind of brings our podcast full circle,
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  Speaker 1: and that is finding opportunities to laugh and have fun.
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  Speaker 1: The more I've been thinking about this over the last
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  Speaker 1: couple of months, following on from a seminar that I
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  Speaker 1: ran where I was asked this question, how do I
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  Speaker 1: connect better with my kids? There's all these really sensible answers,
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  Speaker 1: but I feel like the best connections happen when we
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  Speaker 1: just are enjoying one other's company, when we're laughing, when
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  Speaker 1: we're telling bad jokes, when we're wrestling, when we're having fun,
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  Speaker 1: when they're smiles in our faces, and we're just fully
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  Speaker 1: in the moment, fully present.
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  Speaker 2: I read an article recently and I shared it with you.
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  Speaker 2: I can't remember where I read it or.
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  Speaker 1: Even overload of information a lot.
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  Speaker 2: Of all the details, but I do remember the acknowledgment
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  Speaker 2: that the bonding that takes place between a mother and
• 11:04
  Speaker 2: child is that of a nurturing and as mothers nurture children,
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  Speaker 2: you get this massive dose of oxytocin on both sides.
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  Speaker 1: All that bonding.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, But for dads and kids, it's not the nurturing
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  Speaker 2: where they receive that oxytocin boost. It's when they have
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  Speaker 2: fun together. It's that energy of coming together and laughing
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  Speaker 2: and wrestling, and it's the physicality of that relationship that
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  Speaker 2: increases the level of bond.
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  Speaker 1: So as we head towards Father's Day this weekend, for
• 11:38
  Speaker 1: our Australian audience, at least, we really hope that there's
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  Speaker 1: lots of laughter, there's lots of play, there's lots of bonding,
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  Speaker 1: and that you have a wonderful day. Thanks so much
• 11:47
  Speaker 1: for listening to the Happy Families podcast produced by Justin
• 11:49
  Speaker 1: Ruland from Bridge Media. If you'd like more information about
• 11:52
  Speaker 1: how to make your family happier, we've got this really
• 11:54
  Speaker 1: cool newsletter, free advice, evidence based, reassuring and pointing you
• 11:59
  Speaker 1: in the right direction to make families stronger. Sign up
• 12:02
  Speaker 1: for it at Happy families, dot com, dot au hm,