Latest / Dr Justin Coulson's Happy Families / #285 Cross Country

Transcript

#285 Cross Country · Dr Justin Coulson's Happy Families

• 0:03
  Speaker 1: It's the Happy Families podcast.
• 0:05
  Speaker 2: It's the podcast for the time poor parent who just
• 0:09
  Speaker 2: wants answers.
• 0:10
  Speaker 3: Now, I would rather my kids do the cross country
• 0:12
  Speaker 3: and walk the track and come in dead last and
• 0:15
  Speaker 3: have fun with their friends than stay home.
• 0:18
  Speaker 2: And now here's the stars of our show.
• 0:21
  Speaker 3: My mum and dad. Today. This is doctor Justin Colson.
• 0:24
  Speaker 3: I'm the author of a whole bunch of books about
• 0:25
  Speaker 3: raising happy families, including Ten Things Every Parent Needs to Know.
• 0:29
  Speaker 3: It's the best selling book that Kylie has been talking
• 0:31
  Speaker 3: about in our Happy Families book club for our Happy
• 0:34
  Speaker 3: Families members last night. I hope that that went well.
• 0:37
  Speaker 2: I can officially say that I've now read half of
• 0:40
  Speaker 2: your book.
• 0:42
  Speaker 3: That's great. So we've had this running gag, haven't we.
• 0:45
  Speaker 3: That you do the parenting while I do the writing
• 0:47
  Speaker 3: about parenting.
• 0:48
  Speaker 2: And yeah, I learn a lot about my life when
• 0:50
  Speaker 2: I read your book.
• 0:51
  Speaker 3: Come on like that. I don't write that much about
• 0:54
  Speaker 3: us I did in the early days. But yes, you
• 0:57
  Speaker 3: try to keep our lives a little bit private. That's
• 0:59
  Speaker 3: why we've got the podcast, so we can keep everything nice.
• 1:01
  Speaker 2: That's right, really quiet. I was having a conversation with
• 1:03
  Speaker 2: one of our friends the other day and they admitted
• 1:05
  Speaker 2: that they don't need to ring us anymore because they
• 1:06
  Speaker 2: just listened to the podcast. They get every update they need.
• 1:10
  Speaker 3: I think that you overshare. You told everybody that I
• 1:12
  Speaker 3: fell off the roof. I didn't fall off the roof.
• 1:13
  Speaker 3: I slid off the roof.
• 1:14
  Speaker 2: Oh really, well, today, I've got a really good one
• 1:17
  Speaker 2: for you.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, Okay.
• 1:18
  Speaker 2: I was having a very funny conversation with miss Emily
• 1:21
  Speaker 2: the other day.
• 1:21
  Speaker 3: Okay, so for those of you who are not introduced
• 1:23
  Speaker 3: to Emily at she's our seven.
• 1:24
  Speaker 2: Year old and we were getting ready for swimming and
• 1:28
  Speaker 2: she was having a hard time. She'd had a bit
• 1:30
  Speaker 2: of a meltdown. She didn't want to go. It's getting cold,
• 1:32
  Speaker 2: and the pool's outdoors. Even though it's heated, she's still
• 1:35
  Speaker 2: got to get out of her clothes in the cold
• 1:37
  Speaker 2: and then get into a hot pool. And so she
• 1:40
  Speaker 2: was kind of slinking in the car because there was
• 1:42
  Speaker 2: somebody next door, and she was trying to get undressed
• 1:45
  Speaker 2: a bit, giving her self some space and privacy. And
• 1:49
  Speaker 2: I noticed that she was trying to put her swimmers
• 1:51
  Speaker 2: on before she'd actually taken her underwear off. And I said, Emily,
• 1:54
  Speaker 2: I said, you forgot to take your underwear off. I said,
• 1:56
  Speaker 2: you don't want to have wet undies underneath your swimmers.
• 1:59
  Speaker 2: That would feel gross and she said, oh yeah, it would.
• 2:02
  Speaker 2: She said, Mom, how come dad wears undies under his bodies?
• 2:06
  Speaker 2: And I said, well, I said, it's a little bit
• 2:07
  Speaker 2: different for Dad. I said, because his penis would dangle
• 2:10
  Speaker 2: around and make you know all kinds of.
• 2:13
  Speaker 3: Right. I can't believe you said that.
• 2:16
  Speaker 2: Well I had to let her know.
• 2:18
  Speaker 3: Okay, all right, so I'm worrying. I'm wearing underpants to
• 2:21
  Speaker 3: keep everything together.
• 2:21
  Speaker 2: We keep everything together, that's right. And she said, Mom,
• 2:25
  Speaker 2: she said, do you have to say that? She said,
• 2:27
  Speaker 2: can't you call it meat balls? And I'm like meatballs?
• 2:31
  Speaker 2: I said, well no, because it's a penis. And I said,
• 2:34
  Speaker 2: and if I called it meatballs, then that would be
• 2:37
  Speaker 2: really weird because I like eating meatballs, but I don't
• 2:39
  Speaker 2: like eating a penis.
• 2:40
  Speaker 3: Can't You should have.
• 2:41
  Speaker 2: Seen her face. So we've had this conversation lots of
• 2:48
  Speaker 2: times about calling anatomy by its right name. Well, today
• 2:51
  Speaker 2: I learned that we also call it meatballs.
• 2:53
  Speaker 3: Right. I'm just wondering if we need to change the
• 2:56
  Speaker 3: rating on our podcast with a story like that. Oh
• 2:59
  Speaker 3: my goodness, I really hope that your parents and our
• 3:02
  Speaker 3: children don't listen to what you just said. Seriously. Oh gosh,
• 3:09
  Speaker 3: how are we supposed to recover from that? I'm really honest.
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  Speaker 2: Some talking about your meatballs?
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  Speaker 3: Seriously, Oh my goodness. There are so many things that
• 3:21
  Speaker 3: so many people are thinking right now about. I don't
• 3:24
  Speaker 3: I'm not even going to say it. I think we
• 3:26
  Speaker 3: should move on to the topic of today's conversation. Thank
• 3:28
  Speaker 3: you for sharing that. I think here's the email that
• 3:32
  Speaker 3: we got. No, normally we only share one. I can't
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  Speaker 3: even look at you right now. Gosh, stop laughing. We
• 3:40
  Speaker 3: normally talk. I've completely lost for word. Are you hearing that?
• 3:43
  Speaker 3: I'm just thinking about it?
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  Speaker 2: Would you like me to take over? You'd be the
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  Speaker 2: co host today?
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  Speaker 3: No, I've got this.
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  Speaker 2: I want to be the anchor.
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  Speaker 3: Oh gosh. We normally receive a lot of questions via
• 3:54
  Speaker 3: podcasts at Happy Families dot com dot I think we're
• 3:57
  Speaker 3: going to receive a lot more than questions after that story.
• 4:00
  Speaker 3: Holy dooly. If you've had kids who have had conversations
• 4:04
  Speaker 3: like that with you, we would love to hear about it.
• 4:06
  Speaker 3: Email us so that we can share those stories. Podcasts
• 4:08
  Speaker 3: at Happy Families dot com dot IU, just so that
• 4:11
  Speaker 3: I cannot go bright red about what's happening in my
• 4:13
  Speaker 3: life right now. We normally answer one question a week,
• 4:17
  Speaker 3: but this week we've decided to answer too because term
• 4:19
  Speaker 3: two is getting away for Australian parents and cross country
• 4:22
  Speaker 3: season has arrived, and this question from Jane it's such
• 4:26
  Speaker 3: a good question, and we decided that we were going
• 4:28
  Speaker 3: to slop that in this week so that we can
• 4:30
  Speaker 3: be as helpful as we can. Janey emailed us and said,
• 4:33
  Speaker 3: I'm hoping someone can ease my guilt. It's cross country
• 4:35
  Speaker 3: day at the kids' school today. My seven year old's
• 4:38
  Speaker 3: been crying since five point thirty saying she's sick. Miss
• 4:42
  Speaker 3: five has been dancing and singing and running around the
• 4:45
  Speaker 3: house that is, saying it's cross country day. Meanwhile my
• 4:49
  Speaker 3: seven year old's doing everything she can to convince me
• 4:51
  Speaker 3: she's sick. I managed to get my seven year old
• 4:53
  Speaker 3: on the bus, but now I have intense guilt about it.
• 4:55
  Speaker 3: What do other parents do if their child doesn't want
• 4:57
  Speaker 3: to do cross country? I should also add seven year
• 5:00
  Speaker 3: old does have anxiety, and we went through a year
• 5:02
  Speaker 3: and a half of school refusal. Any advice appreciated, even
• 5:05
  Speaker 3: if it's to tell me that I should feel guilty
• 5:07
  Speaker 3: for sending her off for school. Oh, Janey, this is
• 5:12
  Speaker 3: this is a really big deal. Though. I get so
• 5:14
  Speaker 3: many parents say, am I supposed to force the kids
• 5:17
  Speaker 3: to do athletics? They hate athletics, they can't throw a javelin,
• 5:19
  Speaker 3: they're not interested in discuss or shot put? Or is
• 5:23
  Speaker 3: the swimming carnival? We haven't Some parents will say, we
• 5:25
  Speaker 3: haven't given our kids swimming lessons. They can't swim. Why
• 5:27
  Speaker 3: would we make them compete and look completely incompetent and
• 5:30
  Speaker 3: foolish in front of all their friends? What's the deal?
• 5:32
  Speaker 2: Are our kids right brain or left brain dominant?
• 5:36
  Speaker 3: There's a lot of myths out there about neuro psychology
• 5:39
  Speaker 3: and whether somebody is left or right brain dominant, And
• 5:43
  Speaker 3: there's a whole lot of stuff out there about how
• 5:45
  Speaker 3: we use one side of our brain more than the other.
• 5:47
  Speaker 3: It's not really how it works. Why do you.
• 5:48
  Speaker 2: Ask, Well, just the acknowledgment that you know each of
• 5:51
  Speaker 2: us have different skills and different talents, and I think
• 5:55
  Speaker 2: that you know, we're really big believers in getting involved,
• 5:58
  Speaker 2: being participated and being a part of things, But there's
• 6:02
  Speaker 2: also an acknowledgment that some of us just we're not
• 6:06
  Speaker 2: great at those things. And when you look at athletics carnival,
• 6:11
  Speaker 2: which is all competition based, then the last thing anybody
• 6:15
  Speaker 2: wants to do is be placed in a position where
• 6:17
  Speaker 2: they're going to come last.
• 6:18
  Speaker 3: Yeah, so important. Let's talk about what Janie might do
• 6:21
  Speaker 3: next year with her anxious eight year old even though
• 6:24
  Speaker 3: she's seven this year and cross country has been and gone.
• 6:27
  Speaker 3: But for anyone who's got these carnivals or these meetings
• 6:31
  Speaker 3: at school coming up, whether kids are going to have
• 6:32
  Speaker 3: to compete, whether it's swimming or athletics or cross country
• 6:35
  Speaker 3: or whatever it might be, how do we work out
• 6:37
  Speaker 3: the balance between getting them to participate and give it
• 6:40
  Speaker 3: a really red hot go, but also acknowledging that some
• 6:43
  Speaker 3: kids are good at stuff and some kids aren't, and
• 6:46
  Speaker 3: is it actually right to do that. We'll talk more
• 6:49
  Speaker 3: about this in just a second. It's their Happy Families.
• 6:52
  Speaker 1: Podcat us Screens Creating Tension at Home, tweens, teens and
• 6:56
  Speaker 1: Screens is a webinar to guide families to healthy It's
• 7:00
  Speaker 1: say Superscreen Solutions Bye today at Happyfamilies dot com dot
• 7:04
  Speaker 1: au slash Shop.
• 7:06
  Speaker 2: It's the Happy Families podcast, the podcast for the time
• 7:09
  Speaker 2: poor parent who just wants answers now.
• 7:11
  Speaker 3: And this question from Jane, it's such a good question.
• 7:15
  Speaker 3: Do we or do we not send the kids to
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  Speaker 3: the cross country races at school when they don't want
• 7:21
  Speaker 3: to go and they don't like running, and it's no
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  Speaker 3: good can I know that you've got a few ideas
• 7:25
  Speaker 3: on this, but I really am dying to just jump
• 7:28
  Speaker 3: in and make one important point. I would rather my
• 7:32
  Speaker 3: kids do the cross country and walk the track and
• 7:35
  Speaker 3: come in dead last and have fun with their friends
• 7:38
  Speaker 3: than stay home.
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  Speaker 2: Okay, but I'm going to ask you how much fun
• 7:42
  Speaker 2: are they having if they're coming last and their friends
• 7:44
  Speaker 2: are at the finish line.
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  Speaker 3: Well, I remember the cool kids when I went to school,
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  Speaker 3: Like I was always the one that ran really fast.
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  Speaker 3: I tried as hard as I could in cross country,
• 7:52
  Speaker 3: and I was a good swimmer, and so I loved
• 7:56
  Speaker 3: cross country for that reason. But I remember watching some
• 7:58
  Speaker 3: of the kids that weren't interested in compete, and they
• 8:00
  Speaker 3: would literally just walk the course with a couple of friends.
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  Speaker 3: So in every age group, there's going to be a
• 8:06
  Speaker 3: couple of kids that aren't going to have a go,
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  Speaker 3: but they would walk it. And I would still rather
• 8:09
  Speaker 3: the kids be out and about. They're outside, they're with friends,
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  Speaker 3: they're being social, and they're going for a three kilometer walk.
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  Speaker 3: I'd rather than do that than stay at home and
• 8:16
  Speaker 3: be miserable. And so if I've got a child who's
• 8:19
  Speaker 3: absolutely refusing because they're going to say I'm going to
• 8:21
  Speaker 3: lose it's no fun, I'd say, well, why don't you
• 8:23
  Speaker 3: go for a three k walk with a couple of
• 8:25
  Speaker 3: friends who also don't want to compete. I think that
• 8:27
  Speaker 3: would be better. I know that there's nothing there about
• 8:29
  Speaker 3: school spirit and having a real go, but at least
• 8:31
  Speaker 3: they're doing more than they would do if they stay
• 8:33
  Speaker 3: at home.
• 8:34
  Speaker 2: I think, you know, we can tap in beautifully to
• 8:37
  Speaker 2: the conversation we had on Tuesday about understanding and taking
• 8:40
  Speaker 2: the time to actually understand why children don't want to
• 8:43
  Speaker 2: be involved.
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  Speaker 3: You know, for me, are you just giving me my
• 8:46
  Speaker 3: words back to me because I've skipped that bit today.
• 8:48
  Speaker 3: That's really impressive. Make me feel a little bit in common.
• 8:52
  Speaker 2: Maybe this podcast thing is dropping off on me.
• 8:54
  Speaker 3: Yeah, okay, so you're saying explore their world.
• 8:56
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I think it's really important. You know, I look
• 8:59
  Speaker 2: back at my years in primary school in particular, and
• 9:02
  Speaker 2: we had moved from New Zealand to Australia. The climate
• 9:06
  Speaker 2: was very different here, oh into in parison.
• 9:08
  Speaker 3: Doing a cross country run in New Zealand would be
• 9:10
  Speaker 3: nice and cool, Doing it in Brisbane not so much.
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  Speaker 2: No, And so I can remember every you know, athletics,
• 9:17
  Speaker 2: carnival days, swimming, carnival, we're in the heat. The last
• 9:21
  Speaker 2: thing I wanted to do as an eleven year old,
• 9:24
  Speaker 2: twelve year old was sit in the Queensland heat all day.
• 9:28
  Speaker 2: When I knew that number one, I was really not
• 9:31
  Speaker 2: particularly skilled in any of these things. I was going
• 9:35
  Speaker 2: to come last every time. I was going to be
• 9:37
  Speaker 2: you know, the class clown. Everyone's going to laugh at
• 9:40
  Speaker 2: me because I tripped over on my shoes or whatever.
• 9:43
  Speaker 2: That was the last thing I wanted to be doing.
• 9:45
  Speaker 3: Okay, so climate is a bit of an issue, but
• 9:48
  Speaker 3: I'm thinking about people in Victoria.
• 9:49
  Speaker 2: Okay, so we have another child.
• 9:51
  Speaker 3: Not going to be a climate issue there, mind you.
• 9:53
  Speaker 3: At the moment there's a lockdown. So anyone that had
• 9:55
  Speaker 3: cross country this year, good luck with that. That's not
• 9:56
  Speaker 3: going to be happening. Do a cross country within five
• 9:58
  Speaker 3: kilometers of your home, runner the block for three kilometers.
• 10:01
  Speaker 3: I'm so sorry, Victoria, but.
• 10:03
  Speaker 2: Abound another child. The chaos of a carnival and the
• 10:07
  Speaker 2: noise of a carnival actually really sends her over the edge.
• 10:11
  Speaker 2: So she will get through the day and by the
• 10:13
  Speaker 2: time she gets home she is an absolute wretch. She's exhausted, emotionally, physically,
• 10:20
  Speaker 2: just and you know, she has trooped it so many times.
• 10:23
  Speaker 2: She's gone along and she's she's tried, but I have
• 10:27
  Speaker 2: just watched you know what it does to her physically,
• 10:30
  Speaker 2: mentally and emotionally, and it's not worth it, right.
• 10:33
  Speaker 3: And then you've also mentioned the competence issues a minute ago,
• 10:37
  Speaker 3: just falling over or not being fast enough or feeling
• 10:40
  Speaker 3: lousy about it. Let's talk science for a sec Research
• 10:43
  Speaker 3: tells us that kids thrive when they have three basic
• 10:47
  Speaker 3: psychological needs. Met relatedness. They like to be with people
• 10:51
  Speaker 3: that they love and that they belong to their tribe
• 10:54
  Speaker 3: or their family or both. Secondly, autonomy, they want to
• 10:58
  Speaker 3: have a sense of control, and Third, competence. So if
• 11:02
  Speaker 3: the school is putting on a carnival and your child
• 11:06
  Speaker 3: feels completely incompetent, they're not going to be motivated, and
• 11:10
  Speaker 3: it's not going to.
• 11:11
  Speaker 2: End up being a positive experience VELO.
• 11:13
  Speaker 3: And then we're going to force them, so they're not
• 11:14
  Speaker 3: going to have the need for control met because we're
• 11:17
  Speaker 3: controlling them. So now they feel incompetent and they feel controlled.
• 11:20
  Speaker 3: And because they feel incompetent and they feel controlled, they're
• 11:23
  Speaker 3: looking at us making them do it, and our relationship
• 11:25
  Speaker 3: suffers as well. So we actually undermine their basic psychological
• 11:29
  Speaker 3: needs by forcing them to compete in these athletics carnivals,
• 11:32
  Speaker 3: these cross country carnivals. I'm thinking of the kid who
• 11:35
  Speaker 3: can't swim very well and their parents say, well, you've
• 11:38
  Speaker 3: got to go to the swimming carnival and you've got
• 11:39
  Speaker 3: to give it your best, and there's that great drowning
• 11:43
  Speaker 3: while they're drowning. Yeah, and there's that great quote from
• 11:45
  Speaker 3: Albert Einstein. I'm sure everyone's seen it on social media.
• 11:49
  Speaker 3: Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish
• 11:51
  Speaker 3: by its ability to climb a tree, it will live
• 11:54
  Speaker 3: its whole life believing that it's stupid.
• 11:57
  Speaker 2: I love I've never heard that.
• 11:59
  Speaker 3: Yeah, how good is that?
• 12:00
  Speaker 2: I love it because it really taps into this idea
• 12:02
  Speaker 2: that we've each got our own strengths. I think it's
• 12:05
  Speaker 2: really important for us as parents to be able to
• 12:07
  Speaker 2: help our children recognize what their strengths are, celebrate those strengths,
• 12:11
  Speaker 2: and give them opportunities to develop and grow them.
• 12:14
  Speaker 3: Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. So let's go back to this important
• 12:17
  Speaker 3: question because it is cross country season for a lot
• 12:20
  Speaker 3: of families around the country at the moment, do you
• 12:22
  Speaker 3: or don't you send the kids to a do cross country?
• 12:24
  Speaker 3: If they're saying, but I don't want to do it.
• 12:26
  Speaker 3: I hate cross country. It's so dumb and I'm not
• 12:28
  Speaker 3: going to be any good at it. So before we
• 12:30
  Speaker 3: talk about our take home message and what the answer
• 12:32
  Speaker 3: to this might be for most families, I think it's
• 12:37
  Speaker 3: really important as well that we address the question why
• 12:39
  Speaker 3: is it so important to us as parents that our
• 12:42
  Speaker 3: children go in these competitions.
• 12:46
  Speaker 2: It's interesting, because of the way we've chosen to raise
• 12:48
  Speaker 2: our children, we do not have a single child who
• 12:50
  Speaker 2: actually enjoys competition.
• 12:52
  Speaker 3: Yeah. In fact, I've made a really clear point of
• 12:55
  Speaker 3: saying that competition often undermines our well being. There's research
• 12:59
  Speaker 3: that shows actually for children that when things get competitive,
• 13:03
  Speaker 3: they tend to feel less resilient, not more resilient.
• 13:06
  Speaker 2: Yeah, and we've watched it with all of our girls.
• 13:09
  Speaker 2: They've all gone through swimming lessons, squad training, and they
• 13:12
  Speaker 2: are strong swimmers. And every year the swimming carnival comes around,
• 13:15
  Speaker 2: and every year they tell us they don't want to participate,
• 13:18
  Speaker 2: and every year we say, come on, give it a go.
• 13:20
  Speaker 2: You know as well as I do that you're probably
• 13:22
  Speaker 2: the best swimmer in the school.
• 13:23
  Speaker 3: And they usually end up being age champion or something
• 13:25
  Speaker 3: like that.
• 13:26
  Speaker 2: They do every time, but they just hate the fact
• 13:29
  Speaker 2: that they're competing against their friends. They don't want to
• 13:32
  Speaker 2: win in place of a friend.
• 13:35
  Speaker 3: And the other thing about winning when you're going up
• 13:37
  Speaker 3: against people who aren't really good at what you're doing,
• 13:39
  Speaker 3: is it feels like a pretty hollow victory. They're like, oh, yeah, what,
• 13:42
  Speaker 3: I'm the best swimmer, but I'm the only one at
• 13:44
  Speaker 3: the school that actually gave it a go. Squad training
• 13:46
  Speaker 3: are actually tried in the pool, and it's the same
• 13:48
  Speaker 3: with the cross country. So we don't think that competition
• 13:51
  Speaker 3: and there's enough research to say that competition is not
• 13:54
  Speaker 3: great for kids, but parents still value their kids giving
• 13:57
  Speaker 3: it a go. Parents still really want to push their
• 13:59
  Speaker 3: children into it, and for me. I want to take
• 14:02
  Speaker 3: that step back again and go to that Einstein quote
• 14:04
  Speaker 3: and basically highlight if you've got a child who doesn't
• 14:07
  Speaker 3: want to try in the cross country, at least get
• 14:11
  Speaker 3: them out for a good walk and spend time with
• 14:12
  Speaker 3: their friends if you can. But there's a broader conversation here,
• 14:17
  Speaker 3: and that is when you explore what's going on in
• 14:20
  Speaker 3: their world. What are they good at? What do they
• 14:22
  Speaker 3: want to have a go at, And let's make sure
• 14:25
  Speaker 3: that they're having a go at something. They don't have
• 14:27
  Speaker 3: to be good at everything. They don't even have to
• 14:28
  Speaker 3: try it everything. I think it's ridiculous that we should
• 14:31
  Speaker 3: all have to try it everything. But let's figure out
• 14:33
  Speaker 3: what we're interested in trying in and make sure that
• 14:35
  Speaker 3: the kids get opportunities there. What's to take our message?
• 14:39
  Speaker 2: I think we need to explore. We need to understand
• 14:41
  Speaker 2: right why our children are feeling the way they are
• 14:44
  Speaker 2: about it and then come up with solutions together. Is
• 14:47
  Speaker 2: it that will go to a morning tea. Is it
• 14:49
  Speaker 2: that we'll be involved in one race.
• 14:51
  Speaker 3: Is it that will show up and do the walk
• 14:54
  Speaker 3: rather than the run?
• 14:55
  Speaker 2: Yeah, or the acknowledgment that every athlete needs to have
• 14:58
  Speaker 2: a cheer squad. Are you going to be chair squad today?
• 15:00
  Speaker 2: I like that we live in a community and every
• 15:05
  Speaker 2: one of us plays a part in that community, and
• 15:07
  Speaker 2: we can't all be the superstars, but we can be
• 15:10
  Speaker 2: a part of it. And if we can show our
• 15:13
  Speaker 2: children that they matter and that them being a part
• 15:16
  Speaker 2: of things matters, that actually makes a difference. What's it
• 15:19
  Speaker 2: like when you go to a carnival and you've got
• 15:20
  Speaker 2: a great, big cheer squad over on the side. It
• 15:22
  Speaker 2: feels good, doesn't it. The energy grows and you're excited
• 15:26
  Speaker 2: to be there. I think we need to help our
• 15:28
  Speaker 2: children see that it's not there's not just one way
• 15:30
  Speaker 2: to participate.
• 15:31
  Speaker 3: Jane. We really hope that our response to your email
• 15:34
  Speaker 3: is helpful and for everyone who's got athletics and cross
• 15:38
  Speaker 3: country carnivals coming up, we hope this gives you some
• 15:41
  Speaker 3: food for thought and that this has been a useful
• 15:44
  Speaker 3: podcast conversation. As always, our podcast is produced by Justin
• 15:48
  Speaker 3: Ruland from Bridge Media and Craig Bruce is the executive
• 15:50
  Speaker 3: producer of the Happy Families podcast. If you like more
• 15:53
  Speaker 3: info about how you can make your family happier, you
• 15:54
  Speaker 3: can find everything that you need at happy families dot com,
• 15:57
  Speaker 3: dot au s,