Latest / Regretful Parents / " I Just Wish I Could Put The Toothpaste Back In The Tube"
Transcript
- 0:00Speaker 1: Welcome back to our Regretful Parents series. I'm Erica, and
- 0:03Speaker 1: I am here today with a very special guest. I
- 0:06Speaker 1: am here with Bailey Swilley. Bailey is a New York-based
- 0:10Speaker 1: comedian and writer, and she's also a child-free baddie. So
- 0:13Speaker 1: thank you so much, Bailey, for joining us.
- 0:16Speaker 2: Thanks so much for having me. Great to see you.
- 0:18Speaker 1: For listeners of the show... This is like the 20th
- 0:21Speaker 1: time that we've tried to record this intro. Look at us, though.
- 0:29Speaker 2: Consummate pros.
- 0:30Speaker 1: Pretending like it's the first time. Bailey, tell me, have
- 0:40Speaker 1: you always known that you didn't want kids, or is
- 0:42Speaker 1: it something that you came with time to deciding?
- 0:46Speaker 3: I have always known that I don't want to have kids, like,
- 0:49Speaker 3: since I was, like, Four or five.
- 0:52Speaker 1: Oh, wow.
- 0:53Speaker 3: And I always was told I would change my mind.
- 0:56Speaker 3: And then it just never happened. And there's part of
- 0:59Speaker 3: me that wishes I would have changed my mind, but
- 1:03Speaker 3: I just never did.
- 1:04Speaker 1: Wait, what do you mean by that? Expand.
- 1:08Speaker 3: Sometimes I think, like, I can understand the beauty and
- 1:14Speaker 3: joy of parenthood. And so sometimes I wish that I
- 1:18Speaker 3: wanted that for myself, but I just.
- 1:23Speaker 1: So, like, in an effort to, like, fit into society, maybe?
- 1:30Speaker 2: Probably.
- 1:30Speaker 3: But, you know, if it is as great as everyone
- 1:33Speaker 3: keeps telling me, then, like, maybe there's part of me
- 1:37Speaker 3: that's like, okay, well, I'd love to try that, but, like,
- 1:40Speaker 3: for a day. Yeah.
- 1:41Speaker 2: To see if you guys are telling the truth. Yeah,
- 1:43Speaker 2: like a visit to Disneyland. Exactly.
- 1:47Speaker 3: Yeah. Yeah.
- 1:49Speaker 2: I think.
- 1:51Speaker 2: I like kids, and I.
- 1:54Speaker 3: Do keep hearing a lot of people say, you know, oh,
- 1:56Speaker 3: when you have kids, like, you re-experience your childhood all
- 2:01Speaker 3: over again. But when I see parents with their kids,
- 2:06Speaker 3: I'm not getting that vibe.
- 2:08Speaker 2: That's what's happening.
- 2:10Speaker 1: You don't feel like they're experiencing being like three again
- 2:13Speaker 1: and like the joy of that?
- 2:15Speaker 2: I think they're experiencing so much more stress and.
- 2:22Speaker 3: Stress and anger and unhappiness than when they were three.
- 2:27Speaker 1: Oh my God, I love that. And you also... I believe,
- 2:31Speaker 1: correct me if I'm wrong, is it a one-woman show?
- 2:34Speaker 2: Yeah, so it's a one-woman show called A Baby for Me. No,
- 2:38Speaker 2: thank you. Please.
- 2:40Speaker 3: Which is about people having these conversations with me. Basically,
- 2:46Speaker 3: as soon as I got married, everybody in my life
- 2:50Speaker 3: was like, okay, so when.
- 2:51Speaker 2: Are you having a baby?
- 2:52Speaker 3: Okay. And I was always like, well, I told you
- 2:55Speaker 3: since I was five, I'm not having one. So just
- 2:57Speaker 3: because I'm married doesn't mean I'm going to change my
- 3:00Speaker 3: mind now, you know? But like, that's sort of when
- 3:03Speaker 3: I learned that people really do think that that's the
- 3:06Speaker 3: reason why you get married. Like, especially as like a straight,
- 3:11Speaker 3: like in straight couples, you know, it's like very like, oh, okay, well,
- 3:14Speaker 3: you're obviously just getting married to have children.
- 3:19Speaker 1: Because what else would there be?
- 3:22Speaker 3: Right. Like that's totally the vibe. That's the vibe I'm
- 3:25Speaker 3: getting from everyone. So yeah, the show is about, you know,
- 3:28Speaker 3: those conversations I've had with different family members and different
- 3:31Speaker 3: friends who have kind of like pressured me. And that
- 3:35Speaker 3: kind of pushed me towards this like rabbit hole of like,
- 3:39Speaker 3: you know, what's wrong with me? And, you know, maybe
- 3:42Speaker 3: I should have kids. And then I did have like
- 3:45Speaker 3: a really unusual gynecological incident that kind of pointed me
- 3:50Speaker 3: in the right direction. So that's the show in a nutshell.
- 3:54Speaker 2: Oh, interesting.
- 3:55Speaker 1: Okay. I'm assuming you don't want to spoil what the
- 3:57Speaker 1: gynecological incident was?
- 3:59Speaker 3: I'll say that, you know, the poster has an IUD
- 4:02Speaker 3: on it and it has to do with an IUD.
- 4:05Speaker 2: Okay. Interesting.
- 4:06Speaker 3: Okay. Yes. Lots of things can happen with your IUD.
- 4:11Speaker 3: People should know, especially the copper.
- 4:15Speaker 1: Okay, well, if you want to know what can happen
- 4:17Speaker 1: with a copper IUD, make sure you head to her show.
- 4:22Speaker 1: Tell folks where they can see it, and we'll also
- 4:24Speaker 1: put the link in the show notes.
- 4:28Speaker 3: Yeah, so I'm doing the show this fall in New York, L.A.,
- 4:32Speaker 3: and Chicago. New York, I'm doing it September 18th and
- 4:36Speaker 3: 19th at Soho Playhouse. And then October 18th at the
- 4:41Speaker 3: Lyric Hyperion. And then November 21st at the Den Theater
- 4:45Speaker 3: in Chicago. So it's going to be a cute little
- 4:47Speaker 3: fall tour.
- 4:48Speaker 1: The Hyperion is great. That's going to be so fun.
- 4:51Speaker 2: I'm so excited. Yay.
- 4:53Speaker 1: Okay. Well, let's get into this Regretful Parents post. This
- 4:56Speaker 1: is a post from the Regretful Parents subreddit. How familiar
- 5:00Speaker 1: are you with the Regretful Parents sub, Bailey?
- 5:04Speaker 2: I'm pretty familiar. I also... Watch a few TikToks that
- 5:08Speaker 2: read them as well.
- 5:09Speaker 1: Yeah.
- 5:10Speaker 3: Yeah.
- 5:11Speaker 1: Okay, cool. So you're embedded in the community. Great. Okay,
- 5:16Speaker 1: so this one, let me give a little disclaimer. This is,
- 5:20Speaker 1: I would say, a decent post standalone. For me, where
- 5:25Speaker 1: things really get juicy is in the comments. So OP
- 5:29Speaker 1: gets a little bit impassioned in the comments. So just...
- 5:35Speaker 1: Hold on for that.
- 5:36Speaker 2: Okay. Wait, sorry. What's OP?
- 5:40Speaker 1: Original poster. Good question.
- 5:41Speaker 2: Oh, okay.
- 5:42Speaker 3: Sorry.
- 5:42Speaker 2: Yeah, I guess I'm not that. I'm like, not that
- 5:45Speaker 2: in keyed into Reddit.
- 5:46Speaker 1: Thank you for helping me touch grass. I truly hate Reddit.
- 5:54Speaker 1: And this show has opened me up to the world
- 5:56Speaker 1: of Reddit more than I could have ever dreamt. And
- 6:00Speaker 1: here we are.
- 6:01Speaker 3: All right.
- 6:03Speaker 1: So the subject line of this post is, it's not
- 6:06Speaker 1: the kids I regret, it's what it turned my wife into.
- 6:11Speaker 1: Any initial thoughts on this?
- 6:16Speaker 3: I mean, first off, I'm just sort of like, you know,
- 6:18Speaker 3: where are they in their child, you know, journey? You know,
- 6:22Speaker 3: are they 20 years in? Are they a few months in,
- 6:25Speaker 3: a few days? And I'm initially already on his wife's side.
- 6:29Speaker 1: Perfect. It took one sentence. Okay. He starts the post
- 6:36Speaker 1: out by saying, sometimes she's familiar, but usually not. Her
- 6:41Speaker 1: desire for selfish personal pursuits is gone, which I personally
- 6:45Speaker 1: find fascinating because that is generally not what we hear
- 6:49Speaker 1: from men who are on this sub, that they're upset
- 6:53Speaker 1: that their wife's selfish personal pursuits are gone. But he
- 6:57Speaker 1: continues on to say... when it is there, it's usually
- 7:00Speaker 1: just a talking point. She's getting back in shape at
- 7:04Speaker 1: eight months postpartum, but I can't help but wonder why
- 7:08Speaker 1: her passion for us has fallen off the planet. Any thoughts, Bailey,
- 7:14Speaker 1: on why her passion for them might have fallen.
- 7:16Speaker 2: Off the planet?
- 7:18Speaker 3: Yeah, because her body is recovering from pushing a baby
- 7:22Speaker 3: out of it.
- 7:23Speaker 2: Oh my gosh.
- 7:24Speaker 3: It's just like, When you hear about what happens after
- 7:28Speaker 3: somebody gives birth, like, you're like, how do you ever
- 7:32Speaker 3: have sex again?
- 7:33Speaker 2: Like, I just, like, the pain. And, you know, it
- 7:37Speaker 2: takes at least, what, eight weeks, right? Does it take
- 7:40Speaker 2: like eight weeks?
- 7:41Speaker 1: I think it's like eight weeks, yeah.
- 7:44Speaker 3: Yeah. And also, like, even if her body is recovered
- 7:47Speaker 3: and she is feeling ready for sex, like, she also
- 7:50Speaker 3: is probably breastfeeding. Like, she's probably meeting the demands of
- 7:54Speaker 3: her baby.
- 7:55Speaker 1: She's, yeah, up in the middle of the night. And look,
- 7:59Speaker 1: you said it perfectly at the top. If your body
- 8:02Speaker 1: can barely handle a copper IUD, what's it going to
- 8:06Speaker 1: do when there's a baby? Exactly.
- 8:10Speaker 2: Exactly.
- 8:11Speaker 1: He says, can't get it back no matter what I push,
- 8:14Speaker 1: which we all know pushing women is really the answer.
- 8:17Speaker 1: We can't get it back no matter what I push,
- 8:19Speaker 1: suggest or encourage. In her world, in her world, baby
- 8:24Speaker 1: comes first. No exceptions. Even when it's just us, her
- 8:31Speaker 1: brain has turned off what used to be there between us.
- 8:35Speaker 1: Occasionally it returns, but it is brief and fleeting. I
- 8:40Speaker 1: always prioritize the relationship with a spouse above all else,
- 8:44Speaker 1: and I thought I had chosen someone who felt the same.
- 8:48Speaker 1: But the last year has really awakened me to how
- 8:51Speaker 1: different she has become and has made me take off
- 8:54Speaker 1: the rose-colored glasses and realize the other flaws that I
- 8:58Speaker 1: could look over. This post just... First of all, your
- 9:04Speaker 1: face looks so confused by this man. What are you feeling?
- 9:10Speaker 2: Well, first, I think.
- 9:12Speaker 3: I'm not sure if you watch The Valley, but it
- 9:14Speaker 3: sounds like Luke from The Valley has written this.
- 9:17Speaker 2: This is like.
- 9:18Speaker 3: Mirroring a storyline that's currently on the Bravo show, The Valley,
- 9:23Speaker 3: between Kristen and her fiance, Luke. And this sounds exactly
- 9:26Speaker 3: like Luke, who's always complaining that Kristen is too consumed
- 9:32Speaker 3: with the baby and not paying enough attention to him.
- 9:35Speaker 2: So I'm just like, oh my God, this might be Luke.
- 9:39Speaker 1: Oh my gosh. What if it is?
- 9:41Speaker 2: I wouldn't be surprised.
- 9:45Speaker 1: Is the Kristen in the show, is this the Valley,
- 9:47Speaker 1: like the updated version from?
- 9:50Speaker 2: This is Green Dress.
- 9:51Speaker 3: Okay.
- 9:51Speaker 1: Kristen Doughty. Yeah.
- 9:54Speaker 2: Kristen Doughty.
- 9:55Speaker 3: Okay.
- 9:55Speaker 1: Here we go. Wow. I have not watched, but I
- 9:59Speaker 1: can imagine. But, you know, I'm curious for you because
- 10:03Speaker 1: you mentioned that you're married. When you and your husband
- 10:07Speaker 1: started dating, we're thinking about getting married. Like, how did
- 10:09Speaker 1: you approach the conversation about kids or not kids?
- 10:14Speaker 3: We, you know, I had brought it up a few
- 10:16Speaker 3: times that this was complicated. probably the direction I was
- 10:19Speaker 3: leaning because I've just... And I even told him, like,
- 10:22Speaker 3: I've been waiting for me to change my mind and
- 10:24Speaker 3: it's just not happening.
- 10:25Speaker 2: And so I just... I don't know that I am
- 10:28Speaker 2: going to change my mind, you know?
- 10:30Speaker 3: And he was very, like, open to that. And as
- 10:33Speaker 3: time has gone on, I almost feel like he... I
- 10:37Speaker 3: almost feel like he wants them less than I do.
- 10:42Speaker 1: Yeah. We hear that a lot.
- 10:46Speaker 3: It was easy for us, but I recognize that it's
- 10:50Speaker 3: not easy for everybody. I think a lot of people
- 10:53Speaker 3: grow up with this expectation or this picture in their
- 10:56Speaker 3: mind of what their adulthood looks like. And I just
- 11:00Speaker 3: got really lucky that for us, it seems like we're
- 11:04Speaker 3: on the same page with that.
- 11:07Speaker 1: I love that. It is always fascinating to me because
- 11:10Speaker 1: I feel like there's definitely an upward trend for men
- 11:18Speaker 1: seemingly wanting kids more than women, which is really funny.
- 11:22Speaker 1: And you know, when you hear stories like this, where
- 11:24Speaker 1: like a man is so taken aback that his wife
- 11:29Speaker 1: no longer puts him first against seemingly an eight-month-old baby,
- 11:37Speaker 1: who can't even lift his own head up. Like, what
- 11:40Speaker 1: did you expect? Like, what was the expectation? And it says,
- 11:45Speaker 1: you know, you always prioritize the relationship with your spouse
- 11:48Speaker 1: above all else. And you thought that she had felt
- 11:51Speaker 1: the same. But like, where were these conversations?
- 11:53Speaker 3: Yeah, maybe they didn't talk about it. I also just
- 11:56Speaker 3: think it's like, it's just one of those things that
- 12:00Speaker 3: you don't know what it's going to be like until
- 12:03Speaker 3: you are in it. You know, like, I think that
- 12:07Speaker 3: I have an idea of what parenthood looks like, but
- 12:09Speaker 3: I really don't because I'm not living in it.
- 12:13Speaker 2: You know?
- 12:14Speaker 1: Yeah, but your idea of it is seemingly like, if anything,
- 12:21Speaker 1: I think your perception would be that it's just a
- 12:26Speaker 1: little worse, right? Like, it's not like you would get
- 12:29Speaker 1: to that point and be like, I am completely shocked
- 12:33Speaker 1: at what this experience has been.
- 12:34Speaker 3: Oh, no.
- 12:36Speaker 2: I think in my mind it might be even worse
- 12:39Speaker 2: than how it actually is to your point. Yeah. For me,
- 12:44Speaker 2: it's like it's all downhill.
- 12:46Speaker 3: But, you know, I know that there is a lot
- 12:48Speaker 3: of joy in everything that, you know, they say. But
- 12:51Speaker 3: I think for this guy, like, he just wasn't.
- 12:58Speaker 2: Did he mention, like, is this their first baby?
- 13:02Speaker 1: It seems like it's their first baby, yeah.
- 13:04Speaker 2: Okay. So he just really did not know what was coming.
- 13:09Speaker 3: No.
- 13:09Speaker 1: I should also, now it's just in my brain that
- 13:13Speaker 1: this maybe is Luke from the Valley. His handle is
- 13:17Speaker 1: coffee in my Camino for reference. Does Luke have a
- 13:21Speaker 1: Camino by chance?
- 13:22Speaker 2: Hmm, I don't know what car he drives, but he is.
- 13:25Speaker 3: A tell for Luke would be he really hates living
- 13:28Speaker 3: in Los Angeles and wants to move back to Colorado.
- 13:30Speaker 2: Oh, interesting. So if it was like fishing in Colorado,
- 13:35Speaker 2: I'd be like, that's Luke. There we go.
- 13:38Speaker 3: But he could be using it, you know, he could
- 13:41Speaker 3: be trying to trick us.
- 13:43Speaker 1: Yes, right. All right. So Not Luke writes... Anyway, just
- 13:56Speaker 1: wish I could put the toothpaste back in the tube.
- 13:59Speaker 3: The toothpaste meaning the baby?
- 14:03Speaker 1: I mean, actually, yes. At first I was like, what's
- 14:07Speaker 1: that reaction? But no, you're right. Put the baby back
- 14:10Speaker 1: in that tube. He says, just so I could have
- 14:17Speaker 1: my wife back. Instead, I think in another couple years,
- 14:21Speaker 1: I will have given up on my wife as she's
- 14:24Speaker 1: just not someone I share hardly anything in common with anymore,
- 14:29Speaker 1: and our personalities just don't align. I'll have my son,
- 14:33Speaker 1: who I care about very much, but that would never
- 14:37Speaker 1: replace the loss of the relationship with my wife. Really
- 14:41Speaker 1: hope it gets better soon.
- 14:45Speaker 3: Okay, so that's the first time he even mentions the
- 14:47Speaker 3: sun and that he really cares about him. But just
- 14:49Speaker 3: two seconds before that, he was calling him toothpaste that
- 14:51Speaker 3: he wants to put back in the tube.
- 14:55Speaker 1: Wish I could put that jizz back in the condom.
- 14:59Speaker 3: Right.
- 14:59Speaker 1: Like, you're the holder of the tube, man. I know.
- 15:03Speaker 1: I know.
- 15:03Speaker 3: This reminds me of people who, like, and I hear
- 15:06Speaker 3: about this a lot, like, on TikTok, about men who, like,
- 15:10Speaker 3: want to be dads. But they, like, want to have
- 15:13Speaker 3: been a dad. Like, they want to be, oh, I'm
- 15:16Speaker 3: a dad. But they don't really want to do the
- 15:21Speaker 3: things that come with being a dad, if that makes sense.
- 15:24Speaker 1: The identity without the responsibilities, yes.
- 15:27Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, exactly.
- 15:28Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah.
- 15:31Speaker 1: Isn't it so fun? Okay, let's get into the comments
- 15:36Speaker 1: because this is, in my opinion, where things start to
- 15:38Speaker 1: really wind up. Okay. So the first comment that I
- 15:43Speaker 1: saw where he really started getting involved was one person said,
- 15:47Speaker 1: I want you to read this again and ask yourself,
- 15:51Speaker 1: are you being a supportive partner to your wife? Which,
- 15:57Speaker 1: great question. We have heard a lot about what's going
- 16:01Speaker 1: on with the wife and very little about what their
- 16:04Speaker 1: actual home dynamic is like. So I love that somebody
- 16:06Speaker 1: asked that. Original poster, O.P., responded and said, yeah, question mark.
- 16:15Speaker 1: I'm paying most of our bills right now, even though
- 16:18Speaker 1: she works, even though she works. I told her the
- 16:21Speaker 1: money she makes is hers. I told her she is
- 16:25Speaker 1: free to stop working or not stop working, whichever she
- 16:29Speaker 1: would prefer. She does Pilates several times a week, and
- 16:34Speaker 1: I take the boy without question. What a saint. She
- 16:39Speaker 1: goes to work out several times a week, and he
- 16:42Speaker 1: takes his own son, no question. Give this man an award. Right.
- 16:49Speaker 3: It's like these guys who are like, I'm babysitting.
- 16:53Speaker 2: It's like, you're not babysitting, you're parenting.
- 16:56Speaker 1: That's your fucking child. Yeah. I do think that maybe
- 17:03Speaker 1: some men genuinely like going to the gym, and they
- 17:06Speaker 1: see that as like their thing. fun time. But a
- 17:11Speaker 1: woman going to Pilates is like a chore. It's not
- 17:14Speaker 1: something that she's doing just for funsies. You know, even
- 17:19Speaker 1: the most Pilates girl, she is doing that for her
- 17:22Speaker 1: health and not because this is her like me time.
- 17:27Speaker 3: Yeah. I mean, especially if she's going to like Solidcore
- 17:30Speaker 3: or SLT. That sucks.
- 17:32Speaker 2: It's not fun.
- 17:33Speaker 1: Yes. I want to see him go to Pilates.
- 17:37Speaker 2: Exactly.
- 17:37Speaker 3: He hasn't been to Solidcore. That's why he thinks he's
- 17:40Speaker 3: giving her a break.
- 17:41Speaker 1: Have you seen those TikToks of women taking their husbands
- 17:45Speaker 1: to Pilates? Yeah, it's hard. I love being on the
- 17:50Speaker 1: side of TikTok of like firefighters trying Pilates, like anybody,
- 17:54Speaker 1: any man who wants to try it. I live for that.
- 17:56Speaker 1: So the saint lets his wife go to Pilates several
- 18:00Speaker 1: times a week. He says, I just come home after work.
- 18:04Speaker 1: I've gone out on my own five times since he
- 18:08Speaker 1: was born, where she goes out one to two times
- 18:12Speaker 1: a week for her personal pursuits.
- 18:15Speaker 3: Wait, I'm really confused now because the first sentence of
- 18:18Speaker 3: this was like, she has no interest in like any
- 18:22Speaker 3: selfish needs or something.
- 18:24Speaker 1: Personal pursuits, yeah.
- 18:26Speaker 3: Yeah. And now he's saying, so now all I'm thinking
- 18:29Speaker 3: is that what he means is she has no interest
- 18:32Speaker 3: in my dick.
- 18:35Speaker 1: It do be feeling that way. He says, I only
- 18:42Speaker 1: get three weeks PTO, which... Three weeks is kind of
- 18:47Speaker 1: a lot for a normal job, I feel like. Not
- 18:51Speaker 1: saying it's right. Just saying that's the way it is.
- 18:54Speaker 2: We need more. We need more.
- 18:56Speaker 3: Yeah.
- 18:57Speaker 1: I only get three weeks PTO. Meanwhile, she's off for
- 19:01Speaker 1: the summer. She got eight weeks paid maternity leave, and
- 19:08Speaker 1: I got two days. That luxurious eight weeks of paid
- 19:13Speaker 1: maternity leave.
- 19:17Speaker 2: No, no, no.
- 19:19Speaker 1: He doesn't know how to help himself. He says, so
- 19:22Speaker 1: obviously when she chooses to be home and not pay
- 19:25Speaker 1: for child care with her money, I cannot help further.
- 19:33Speaker 2: What does that mean?
- 19:35Speaker 1: Just going to let you process for a second. When
- 19:39Speaker 1: she chooses to be home and not pay for child
- 19:43Speaker 1: care with her money. But when I'm home, I cook,
- 19:49Speaker 1: I clean, I take him wherever she needs. I give
- 19:53Speaker 1: him some of the baths, feed him, change him. I
- 19:57Speaker 1: let her decide what we do with our weekends. If
- 20:00Speaker 1: she plans something for herself, it takes priority over anything
- 20:05Speaker 1: I had planned or will plan, even if I planned
- 20:08Speaker 1: for me first. I've given up on what I wanted
- 20:12Speaker 1: for myself because she barely supports me and doesn't show
- 20:16Speaker 1: any real interest in me beyond what you would expect
- 20:19Speaker 1: out of roommates. I'd been with her for 10 years,
- 20:23Speaker 1: so it's a profound change. There's still another paragraph to
- 20:27Speaker 1: this response that has 14 downvotes. Any thoughts before I continue?
- 20:35Speaker 3: I mean, it just sounds like he is not thinking
- 20:38Speaker 3: about things in terms of, like, a family unit like
- 20:45Speaker 3: I feel like he's thinking of things as like her
- 20:49Speaker 3: time and her needs and wants and my time and
- 20:52Speaker 3: my needs and wants I'm like but I am really
- 20:55Speaker 3: curious though about like what his ideal weekend is with
- 20:59Speaker 3: like an eight week old baby.
- 21:03Speaker 1: You know yes 100% it feels to your point it
- 21:06Speaker 1: feels very transactional like she does this and then I
- 21:10Speaker 1: don't get anything in return I also just think it's
- 21:14Speaker 1: funny that it's like, da-da-da-da-da. I let her decide what
- 21:19Speaker 1: we do with our weekends, which I understand why he
- 21:23Speaker 1: thinks this is maybe nice, but also if you've been
- 21:27Speaker 1: taking care of the majority of the childcare, having another
- 21:31Speaker 1: responsibility about the weekend is not, that's more mental labor.
- 21:35Speaker 3: Right.
- 21:37Speaker 1: He wants her to be his manager, which is just like,
- 21:42Speaker 1: really crazy right I.
- 21:45Speaker 3: Mean maybe she was like the cruise ship director for
- 21:47Speaker 3: these 10 years and he's like okay well you have
- 21:50Speaker 3: to keep you know planning my activities you know and
- 21:56Speaker 3: it does sound like that and I think there are
- 21:57Speaker 3: a lot of guys kind of like that like especially
- 22:00Speaker 3: I've been with somebody the other day and they were
- 22:02Speaker 3: like oh like my new my friend is like a
- 22:04Speaker 3: new divorcee and he seems to really be relying on
- 22:08Speaker 3: me a lot to, like, come up with, like, activities
- 22:12Speaker 3: and plans.
- 22:13Speaker 2: And they were like, I think it's.
- 22:14Speaker 3: Because his wife used to plan all of his activities.
- 22:18Speaker 1: Oh, my God.
- 22:22Speaker 2: Yeah.
- 22:22Speaker 1: I think that's spot on. And I do think that's
- 22:25Speaker 1: why men so frequently will rush to get remarried after
- 22:30Speaker 1: a divorce because they, like, they need a caretaker, you know? Like,
- 22:35Speaker 1: they need a little... A nanny.
- 22:38Speaker 3: Yeah.
- 22:39Speaker 2: Cruise ship director. Yeah.
- 22:43Speaker 3: I mean, and also, I just am curious of, like,
- 22:45Speaker 3: what he thinks the idea, like, not only is it
- 22:49Speaker 3: labor for her to plan their every move for the
- 22:52Speaker 3: weekend as he wants, but it's also, like, you have
- 22:56Speaker 3: a third person who has very particular and specialized needs
- 23:01Speaker 3: and can't, like, yeah.
- 23:03Speaker 2: Like, your baby isn't, like, going to go on a
- 23:05Speaker 2: bike ride anymore.
- 23:08Speaker 3: So I think like I'm just sort of like, what
- 23:10Speaker 3: are the things he wants to do so badly and
- 23:12Speaker 3: like that she's not planning for him?
- 23:15Speaker 1: Yeah, I wish that he would have expressed that because
- 23:18Speaker 1: I think that that's a really insightful point. So here
- 23:20Speaker 1: we go. He says she used to be more depressed.
- 23:25Speaker 1: And I think being a mom scratched an itch that
- 23:28Speaker 1: she didn't fully know she had. I have had many
- 23:31Speaker 1: times this past few months thought that if I didn't
- 23:34Speaker 1: come home one day, She'd only miss all the things
- 23:38Speaker 1: that seemed to be getting themselves done and barely realized
- 23:41Speaker 1: that I had disappeared. Like I said, I hope that
- 23:45Speaker 1: fades after the first year and somehow she comes back
- 23:49Speaker 1: to being how she was, but who knows.
- 23:51Speaker 2: This guy.
- 24:00Speaker 1: A different person responded and said, she's a mother now.
- 24:03Speaker 1: She will never and can't ever be the same person again.
- 24:06Speaker 1: And he said, wow, that's a fairly doomy and gloomy
- 24:10Speaker 1: way of putting it. This man is delusional.
- 24:16Speaker 3: Oh, I'm like, now I'm like a little worried. I
- 24:18Speaker 3: know we're like dunking on this guy. I'm like a
- 24:21Speaker 3: little bit worried about it.
- 24:22Speaker 1: What are you worried about?
- 24:25Speaker 2: I just am like, does he know what he signed
- 24:27Speaker 2: up for?
- 24:27Speaker 1: You know? I fear he does not. I fear he
- 24:32Speaker 1: does not.
- 24:32Speaker 3: I mean, also, like, we are in the Regrettable Terrence channel, so, like,
- 24:37Speaker 3: of course, but he's already kind of admitting regret, but
- 24:41Speaker 3: this is just, oh, it just bums me out when people.
- 24:46Speaker 2: Don't know what they signed up for because this is
- 24:47Speaker 2: a lifetime thing, you know?
- 24:49Speaker 3: I know.
- 24:50Speaker 1: That's the other thing that's, like, so funny to me is, like,
- 24:53Speaker 1: in that post, he says, you know, all these things about, like,
- 24:59Speaker 1: I give him some of the baths. I change him sometimes.
- 25:04Speaker 1: I feed him. It really feels like he really needs
- 25:10Speaker 1: validation for that. Because if we heard a woman say that,
- 25:15Speaker 1: I give my baby some baths and I change him sometimes.
- 25:19Speaker 1: People would be like, what's happening here? I'm just like,
- 25:21Speaker 1: I really am curious about why you seem to feel
- 25:24Speaker 1: like you're a hero for doing the things that come
- 25:28Speaker 1: with this decision that you willfully made.
- 25:31Speaker 2: Yeah. I wish his wife would find this and respond.
- 25:38Speaker 3: I know. I know.
- 25:40Speaker 1: He does have another very long post where he responded
- 25:47Speaker 1: to somebody else. I haven't read all of it, but
- 25:50Speaker 1: let's go through some of it and see what we
- 25:51Speaker 1: can glean. He had said, how about when I'm at
- 25:55Speaker 1: work for 10 hours while she's home, I leave her
- 25:58Speaker 1: with just one small task, clean her nightstand, sort that
- 26:03Speaker 1: pile of clothes, etc. She doesn't do it. I let
- 26:06Speaker 1: it go. I bring it up a couple days later.
- 26:09Speaker 1: Still doesn't get done. Eventually, I clean it myself. I
- 26:13Speaker 1: don't get a thanks, but I've already cleaned three full
- 26:16Speaker 1: rooms in a week with the time that I have
- 26:18Speaker 1: when I got home, which is less time than I
- 26:21Speaker 1: would like. Yet, by the end of the following week,
- 26:24Speaker 1: two of the three rooms are as messy as they
- 26:26Speaker 1: were when I cleaned them initially, and nothing else has
- 26:29Speaker 1: gotten done. Meanwhile, she will complain about the things I
- 26:33Speaker 1: haven't done. I haven't finished the bathroom project, haven't finished
- 26:37Speaker 1: the kitchen cabinet doors. I tell her I can't do
- 26:40Speaker 1: that and that I clean the house with the time
- 26:41Speaker 1: that I have. She says I told her I would
- 26:44Speaker 1: cook dinner every night, which I did say I would,
- 26:48Speaker 1: if she would handle the dishes during the day. which
- 26:50Speaker 1: she has done maybe three times in the past eight months.
- 26:54Speaker 1: She says she can't do things while watching the baby,
- 26:57Speaker 1: but I watch him and can get things done while
- 26:59Speaker 1: she's out of the house. I know that in a
- 27:02Speaker 1: 10-hour span, there is time to clean a table at
- 27:05Speaker 1: least once a week anyway.
- 27:06Speaker 3: Oh. Oh, no.
- 27:14Speaker 1: I know. I know. I mean, he goes on from there,
- 27:17Speaker 1: but just looking at it, I'm like, I don't think
- 27:20Speaker 1: we need to explore the rest of this cave.
- 27:25Speaker 2: This is really bumming me out. I mean, I just think, like.
- 27:33Speaker 1: I don't know.
- 27:33Speaker 3: I mean, there's a million reasons why she can't do
- 27:37Speaker 3: the chores he's given her, you know?
- 27:39Speaker 2: But it's like, just do.
- 27:41Speaker 3: Just fill in the gaps where you can. I think, like,
- 27:44Speaker 3: that's important in every marriage, like, whether you have kids
- 27:46Speaker 3: or not. Like, just helping each other out and, like,
- 27:50Speaker 3: I don't know, like, not giving each other to-do lists
- 27:53Speaker 3: and being, like, on top of each other.
- 27:55Speaker 2: Like, hello, I told you to do this.
- 27:57Speaker 1: Right, totally. Also, like, the fact that his example was
- 28:02Speaker 1: to clean her nightstand. let her nightstand be whatever her
- 28:06Speaker 1: nightstand is exactly if my husband started giving me notes
- 28:10Speaker 1: on my nightstand please it's.
- 28:13Speaker 3: Probably covered in things she needs to like parent her
- 28:16Speaker 3: baby too like it's probably got like a breast pump
- 28:19Speaker 3: on it it's like why don't you go clean your
- 28:21Speaker 3: breast pump for her.
- 28:23Speaker 1: Totally also like just the sheer fact that he's like
- 28:27Speaker 1: you know like oh in 10 hours like what is
- 28:29Speaker 1: she doing she says she can't do things while she's
- 28:32Speaker 1: watching the baby like I would imagine that breastfeeding alone
- 28:35Speaker 1: is like a time-sucking and exhausting thing to do. And
- 28:40Speaker 1: I don't think that people talk about that enough, that
- 28:42Speaker 1: that must be terrible.
- 28:45Speaker 3: Yes. Like, not only is it time-consuming and messy, but
- 28:49Speaker 3: it's also painful. But I do believe it's like, it
- 28:53Speaker 3: burns a ton of calories. Like, I think it is
- 28:55Speaker 3: like something that like really puts your body through it.
- 28:59Speaker 2: Every time you do it.
- 29:00Speaker 3: Yeah.
- 29:00Speaker 1: Totally.
- 29:02Speaker 3: Well.
- 29:05Speaker 1: What a joy this has been.
- 29:10Speaker 3: Oh, I really hope this guy gets the talking to
- 29:13Speaker 3: that he needs to get.
- 29:14Speaker 2: Like, I really feel for her, too.
- 29:19Speaker 1: If by some miracle he's watching this, what advice do
- 29:22Speaker 1: you have for him?
- 29:25Speaker 2: Oh, I would just say, you.
- 29:28Speaker 3: Know, if you really do love your son as much
- 29:31Speaker 3: as you are saying that you do, like, I think
- 29:35Speaker 3: you need to start thinking of your life in terms
- 29:38Speaker 3: of the three of you. and what is best for
- 29:42Speaker 3: your son and your wife and you as a whole unit.
- 29:46Speaker 3: And to quote Kristen Doty from The Valley, this is
- 29:51Speaker 3: just a season of life that will pass.
- 29:53Speaker 1: Yes. Oh my gosh, Kristen, what a great quote. Embroider
- 29:59Speaker 1: that and put it over your door, sir.
- 30:03Speaker 3: She has imparted on Luke, she says, look, like this
- 30:06Speaker 3: baby is only going to be a baby for so long.
- 30:09Speaker 3: This is a temporary phase that we're all going through.
- 30:11Speaker 3: It's very hard, but this isn't like long-term what things
- 30:15Speaker 3: look like because we're not always going.
- 30:16Speaker 2: To have a baby.
- 30:17Speaker 3: So yeah, my advice to him is to watch the season,
- 30:21Speaker 3: whatever season we're on, of The Valley.
- 30:25Speaker 1: I mean, you seem to be a fan. Do you
- 30:27Speaker 1: recommend the show?
- 30:28Speaker 2: I love everything on Bravo.
- 30:33Speaker 1: Favorite Real Housewives franchise?
- 30:36Speaker 2: I mean, Salt Lake City is elite.
- 30:38Speaker 1: Okay. I also have not watched that. I've watched some
- 30:41Speaker 1: of the Real Housewives, but I have not watched Salt
- 30:43Speaker 1: Lake City.
- 30:45Speaker 2: It's really good stuff.
- 30:46Speaker 1: Okay. I'll have to check that out.
- 30:48Speaker 3: Amazing.
- 30:48Speaker 1: Well, thank you so much, Bailey, for being here with
- 30:51Speaker 1: us today, unpacking this Nightmare of a post. You have
- 30:56Speaker 1: been a real trooper. If people want to follow you,
- 31:00Speaker 1: where can they find you?
- 31:01Speaker 3: Yeah, you can find me on Instagram and TikTok at heybaylay.
- 31:05Speaker 2: So that's H-E-Y-B-A-I-L-A-Y.
- 31:08Speaker 3: L-A-Y.
- 31:11Speaker 1: Do you spell your name that way?
- 31:14Speaker 2: No, it was just defined with A.
- 31:18Speaker 1: Naturally. Duh.
- 31:19Speaker 3: Duh.
- 31:25Speaker 1: That's so good. Awesome. Well, thank you, everyone. Make sure
- 31:29Speaker 1: you like and subscribe. All the things. And until next time,
- 31:34Speaker 1: don't get pregnant.