Insights Into Teens: Episode 160 ”Perspectives on Parenting: Top Challenges Part 1”

[INTRO THEME]
[INTRODUCTIONS]
Insights Into Teens: Episode 160 “Perspectives on Parenting: Top Challenges”
My co-host Joseph Whalen
And our special guest today, host of our Insights Into Entertainment Podcast and resident Disney expert Michelle Whalen

Summary
We mostly address issues teens deal with on this podcast. But there are challenges to parenting that are worth taking a look at as well. Our Perspectives On Parenting topics are aimed at looking at these issues to help teens understand some of the difficulties parents face to hopefully put things on a more even playing field. Today’s Perspective on Parenting will look at some of the top challenges of parenting today

[SHOW PLUGS]

But first I’d like to invite the listening and viewing audience to subscribe to the podcast.
You can find audio versions listed under Insights Into Teens, you can also find video and audio versions listed under Insights Into Things.

I’d also like to invite you to give us your feedback on what we’re talking about or give us your suggestions for show topics.
You can:
Email us at:
Comments@insightsintothings.com
Links to all these on the web Web:
https://www.insightsintothings.com

[TRANSITION]

[SEGMENT 1]

The Basics

Providing Basic Care for Your Child
Do you believe that parenting just comes down to providing the basic necessities?

Do you find it more or less difficult to provide for a family than just yourself?

Have there been sacrifices you’ve had to make for your family? If so, what were they?

Does the support of your family make up for any possible drawbacks needed to provide for them?

Have you ever had any issues trying to “put bread on the table?”

Do you think you’ve been able to provide me with all my basic needs?

Are you happy with the conditions we live in, or do you wish things could be better?

Do you try to go the extra mile to help support our family’s needs?

Taking Care of Their Mental and Emotional Needs

What do you do to make sure that my mental and emotional needs are looked after?

Can this be a daunting task at times? If so, how?

Would you say it’s easier or harder to look after these needs than to take care of my basic ones? Why?

Do you wish you were better at dealing with these needs than you are now?

What do you think can be changed that could improve the condition of these needs more?

Do you feel looking after these needs are just as if not more important than taking care of my basic needs?

Have you ever thought that I needed counseling to better help these needs?

Would you say that what you’ve done for these needs has helped me from what you can see?

Ensuring children receive a quality education

Has it been difficult trying to get me into school at this point?

Do you have any experiences with this as a parent that might seem like a more unique situation than most?

Have you ever thought of enrolling me in different schools?

Do you have expectations for when college approaches and what are they?

Have you ever had to get involved with something I was dealing with in school?

Do you think you’ve helped to influence my work ethic in school?

Have you ever had any major expectations for me when it came to school activities or my performance?

What do you think the future holds in terms of my education?

[AD1: SSE]

[SEGMENT 2]

Nurturing

Showing That You Love Them

How much or often do you feel you express how much you care about me?

What ways do you feel that you express your love for me?

Would any factor about me that came up, such as my gender or sexuality, cause you to love me any less?

Are there times that you have to limit my actions just because you want to protect me?

Has there been any rifts in our relationship due to anything you might have done that you believed was in my best interest but I didn’t agree with?

Do you think one of the many jobs of a parent must be to love and care for their kid or is it something that’s more optional?

Is there anything I can do that would make you stop loving me?

Should all parents on some level have love for their child no matter what?

Spending Quality Family Time

What would you consider to be quality family time?

Do you think the idea of spending time as a family can differ from different households?

What do you consider to be our quality family time?

Should every family try to strive to have some sort of quality spending time together?

Is quality family time for everyone?

Should parents see quality time with their child as a suggestion or a requirement?

How do you think our family dynamic would be different if we didn’t spend time together?

Do you enjoy that we all have time to spend with each other?

Being a Role Model

Do you believe that parents can act as important role models in their kids’ lives?

Could a parent be both a good or bad role model to their kid?

How do you believe a good role model a parent presents could affect the child?

How do you believe a bad role model a parent presents could affect the child?

Are all parents destined to be role models to their kids?

Is it ok to rely on other sources of role models for your kids?

How much do you think the actions of a parent affects the development of the kids?

How do you feel about the possible role modeling you’ve given me over the years?

[AD2: ENTERTAINMENT]

[SEGMENT 3]

Getting them Ready

Teaching Them to Socialize

Is it the job of a parent to teach their kids how to socialize?

Why do you feel that kids knowing how to socialize is important? Do you think it isn’t?

Can kids gain enough social skills on their own through things like school and interacting with others with little parental influence?

What methods do you feel are best in getting kids to socialize?

Should certain social activities be limited to different age groups? If so, which ones?

How do you feel that you’ve had an impact on my social life?

Could a parent cause a child to be less social?

Are there right and wrong ways of teaching your kid to be social? What are they?

Instilling Good Behavior in Them

What forms of good behavior should a parent try to instill in their child?

How do you feel the actions of the parent can affect how good natured or well behaved their child is?

Is this something that can be trusted to be handled by outside forces like school or peers to be taught to kids?

In what ways can a parent instill both good and bad behaviors in children?

Is teaching nothing about good or bad behaviors to children something to be considered about?

What have you done to instill good behaviors in me?

What good behaviors do you feel are necessary for a child to learn?

Do you feel this can be a more difficult task for certain parents?

Looking after Their Educational Needs

What do you feel are some of the most important educational needs of a child?

Should there be a line between what parents have to teach their kids and what they should learn in school?

Due to more neglectful parenting, should schools be required to teach a bit about more sensitive topics?

Do teens’ educational needs include more than just academics?

What topics do you feel schools need to teach more of to get kids ready for the real world?

Should parents be the ones fully responsible for sending their kid to college?

Is college inherently necessary for someone to live a successful life?

How do you help to provide me with my educational needs?

[TRANSITION]

[CLOSE]

Closing thoughts shoutouts

[OUTRO AND CREDITS]

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00:00:01:21 – 00:00:41:13
Michelle
Insightful podcasts by informative host insights into Things, a podcast network. Welcome to Insights Into Teens, a podcast series exploring the issues and challenges of today’s youth. Your hosts are Joseph and Madison Whalen, a father and daughter team making their way through the challenges of.

00:00:41:13 – 00:00:50:16
Michelle
The teenage years.

00:00:51:18 – 00:01:05:24
Madison
Welcome to Insights Into Teens. This is Episode 160 Perspectives on Parenting Top Challenges. I’m your host, Madison Whalen, and my co-host Joseph Whirlwind for this episode.

00:01:05:29 – 00:01:07:04
Joseph
Hello, Madison.

00:01:07:17 – 00:01:08:00
Madison
Hi.

00:01:08:09 – 00:01:08:28
Joseph
How are you?

00:01:09:05 – 00:01:11:11
Madison
I’m doing great. How about you?

00:01:11:12 – 00:01:12:22
Joseph
I am awesome.

00:01:13:03 – 00:01:34:04
Madison
Nice. So definitely a new set up already. But not only that, but we also have a special guest joining us for this podcast. My mom, also one of the possible hosts of Insights and Entertainment. You know, we’re still we’re still working on that. But my mom, Michelle Whelan.

00:01:34:12 – 00:01:35:14
Michelle
Yes. I’m not Madison.

00:01:35:14 – 00:01:36:05
Madison
Sorry.

00:01:36:18 – 00:01:39:04
Joseph
So that’s who you were named after, anyway?

00:01:39:09 – 00:01:40:01
Madison
How’s it going?

00:01:40:16 – 00:01:42:07
Michelle
I’m doing well. How are you?

00:01:42:08 – 00:01:53:15
Madison
I am good. So bit of an interesting set up we’ve got today. Me hosting special guest, also 160th episode. Let’s go.

00:01:53:23 – 00:01:56:27
Michelle
Yeah, let’s go. Oh.

00:01:57:24 – 00:02:18:19
Madison
All right. So we figured that for our 10th EP. Now, just for a bit of context, this was technically my idea. The idea of basically, despite the fact that we mainly focus with teen issues, I figured why not focus on parent issues as well to have, you know, an equal playing field?

00:02:19:15 – 00:02:19:29
Michelle
Okay.

00:02:20:06 – 00:02:42:27
Madison
So we mostly address issues teens deal with on this podcast. But there are challenges to parenting that are worth taking a look at as well. Our perspectives on parenting topics are aimed at looking at these issues to help teens understand some of the difficulties parents face to hopefully put things on a more even playing field. Today’s Perspectives on Parenting.

00:02:43:03 – 00:03:15:14
Madison
We’ll look at some of the top challenges of parenting today. But before we do that, we have a few show plugs so you can find our audio versions listed under inside in the teens. You can also find video and audio versions listed under insights into things. I’d also like you to. I’m bad at this. Don’t mind me. I’d also like to invite you to give us your feedback on what we’re talking about, or give us your suggestions for show topics.

00:03:15:27 – 00:03:34:09
Madison
You can email us a comment and insights into things that come all links to all of our social media’s websites and much well, not websites could really help one, but most all our social media and more on our website. Insights into things dot com. Now with the fact that I pretty much butchered our show plugs, are you ready to begin?

00:03:34:10 – 00:03:35:10
Joseph
I think we’re ready.

00:03:35:12 – 00:03:36:28
Michelle
Let’s do it.

00:03:42:11 – 00:04:15:28
Madison
All right. So we’re going to basically this is going to be kind of a Q&A for you guys. I came up with questions based on challenges that you’ve picked out for study. So the first segment, we’re going to be focusing on the basics, and these questions are going to be focusing on providing basic care for your child. So the first question I have for you both is, do you believe that parenting just comes down to providing the basic necessities?

00:04:16:24 – 00:04:19:19
Joseph
News answering first.

00:04:19:19 – 00:04:20:28
Madison
I guess you can answer first.

00:04:20:29 – 00:04:47:14
Joseph
Okay. I guess I will. No, I mean, obviously, the basic necessities of, you know, food on the table, a roof over your head, that type of stuff is is kind of a requirement legally. We kind of have to do that for you. But parenting is much more than that. And parenting is is you know, it’s nurturing, it’s growing, it’s teaching, it’s mentoring.

00:04:47:15 – 00:04:51:01
Joseph
It’s it’s a lot of different things, Mommy.

00:04:52:05 – 00:05:19:22
Michelle
Yeah, it’s definitely a lot of different things, you know, in a lot of cases, there are people that, you know, don’t have a suitable roof over their head or have enough, you know, food to eat, unfortunately, but yet have the love and care of and support of, of their parents. So it’s, you know, in a perfect society, you have everything.

00:05:19:22 – 00:05:28:27
Michelle
But there are people that that are missing on certain aspects and kind of make up for it in in other respects.

00:05:30:06 – 00:05:40:10
Madison
All right. I think those are some solid answers. Next is, do you find it more or less difficult to provide for your family than just yourself?

00:05:42:15 – 00:05:45:00
Joseph
Sure. I’ll go first. It’s good if you direct traffic.

00:05:45:00 – 00:05:45:27
Madison
Okay. Sorry.

00:05:46:09 – 00:06:14:25
Joseph
So I don’t know if it’s more difficult because I think regardless of of I was by myself or if I had a family, I would still have the same needs, the same income, the same requirements. I think where it makes a difference is the sense of responsibility. You know, it’s one thing to have to take care of myself.

00:06:15:15 – 00:06:41:06
Joseph
It’s a whole nother thing to know. I’ve got a family I have to take care of. I’ve got your individual needs that has to be taken into consideration. It’s a much bigger lift, they’ll say much bigger responsibility that you’re wearing about where you’re not. Just worry about yourself. You’re not you’re not self-centered at that point in time. You have to worry about other people.

00:06:41:17 – 00:06:53:25
Joseph
And that comes with its own rewards as well. It’s not it’s not a burden or or dragging it out or anything, but it’s a bigger perspective, I think, on life.

00:06:54:04 – 00:07:22:20
Michelle
Yeah. And I think, you know, again, not every parent, you know, does everything to the full 100% that, you know, that they can because of limitations on on different things. And I think, you know, if a parent is is giving as much of themselves as they can and they’re doing the best that they can, then hopefully, you know, they’re there.

00:07:23:15 – 00:07:47:03
Michelle
You know, the family dynamic and everything is is is functioning. You know, there are some people who have, you know, tons of money, but they don’t do anything with their kids. And then there are people that don’t have a lot of money, but yet find a way to to do things and be with their kids and do things.

00:07:47:03 – 00:08:10:01
Michelle
So it’s kind of, you know, doesn’t really matter what your economics standing is. You could, you know, have the best economic standing and be the worst parent out there or be on, you know, the low end of things, but be the best parent. So it’s it’s you know, it kind of can can go all over the place, really.

00:08:12:01 – 00:08:22:01
Madison
Next up, have there been any have there been sacrifices you’ve had to make for your family? If so, what were they? Mommy, why don’t we go with you first?

00:08:25:06 – 00:08:29:07
Joseph
Well, there that blood altar in the backyard. There.

00:08:29:15 – 00:09:17:09
Michelle
We don’t talk about that and the chickens. But now I don’t know if I you know, I. I probably made some sort of of sacrifice in terms of, you know, not knowingly doing it, but, you know, pursuing my career and trying to, you know, get ahead, knowing that I had a family at home. You know, I guess I was willing to only work so many hours a day, so many hours a week, so that I still had family time.

00:09:17:28 – 00:09:47:01
Michelle
So I guess in some cases, you know, some sacrifices, you know, but I don’t really think that I made any I don’t think there was ever an opportunity that came forward, you know, in my career where it said, oh, well, if you came and worked on weekends, you’d get promoted. Nothing like that ever came to me. But I’m sure if I tried, you know, there might have been something.

00:09:47:01 – 00:09:59:22
Michelle
If I had wanted something a little bit more, I would have had to sacrifice something else. And I wasn’t willing to, you know, to sacrifice that that family time.

00:10:00:16 – 00:10:38:23
Joseph
I think I’m kind of in the same boat. I don’t I don’t see them as sacrifices. I think there were different choices had I not wanted to have family time, had I not wanted to spend. I’m the type of person who there’s a very clear delineation between personal life and professional life. And I’ve always maintained that. And there are there were instances in which had I let the professional life bleed into my personal life more, I probably would have had different career choices.

00:10:38:23 – 00:10:58:21
Joseph
I probably would have had more opportunities, but I don’t think I lost anything. There was an opportunity at one point in time for me to travel more for work, and I was never big on traveling. So it wasn’t a sacrifice. It was a choice I made that that wasn’t what I wanted to do, but it would have taken me away from the family more.

00:10:59:04 – 00:11:14:16
Joseph
So I don’t think I’ve made sacrifices. I think I’ve made choices because of the family that had I not had the family, I would have gone down a different path. So certainly no regrets on my part.

00:11:14:28 – 00:11:32:21
Madison
All right. That’s good. I’m glad I don’t give you guys and the regrets to make you think you had to sacrifice stuff other than, you know, the chickens. But we got that right. The next question I have is, does this does the support of your family make it possibly make it make up for any possible drawbacks needed to provide for them?

00:11:32:26 – 00:11:33:10
Madison
Mommy?

00:11:34:14 – 00:11:38:14
Michelle
Well, if you guys would like empty and load the dishwasher a little bit.

00:11:38:14 – 00:11:39:17
Madison
More, I mean, I.

00:11:39:17 – 00:11:43:22
Michelle
Do appreciate it. I did that Monday day. I know you did it Monday.

00:11:43:29 – 00:11:45:10
Madison
I’ve done it before.

00:11:45:16 – 00:11:48:05
Joseph
I did that once back in 2018. I.

00:11:48:25 – 00:12:11:14
Michelle
I. Okay. I’m just saying, there are certain things where I shouldn’t have to ask. I shouldn’t have to beg. It should be. Hey, you know, that sink looks a little full. Maybe I should help out. Hey, would you like some help with something that’s really more of what I was, you know?

00:12:11:27 – 00:12:12:12
Madison
Okay.

00:12:12:20 – 00:12:14:09
Michelle
Going towards.

00:12:15:01 – 00:12:16:15
Joseph
I think I’ll just for the next couple.

00:12:17:29 – 00:12:19:05
Michelle
It’s safer that way.

00:12:20:10 – 00:12:30:22
Madison
All right. The next question is, have you ever had any issues trying to, quote unquote, put bread on the table? Daddy?

00:12:31:06 – 00:13:02:02
Joseph
Not recently. We’ve been very fortunate with that. There have been a couple of times that I’ve been between jobs. There was a period that I was working as a consultant, and you didn’t know if I was going to go to work the next day. It never got to the point where we couldn’t pay our bills, but it was one of those things where other plans were kind of in limbo, you know, like we couldn’t plan a vacation.

00:13:02:02 – 00:13:21:26
Joseph
We couldn’t I didn’t know what Christmas was going to be like the one year. So it’s never been to the point. Like, I grew up in a family that every week we didn’t know if we were to put bread on the table. You know, I knew what it was like growing up literally not knowing if you’re going to have a meal the next day.

00:13:22:29 – 00:13:47:28
Joseph
Clearly looking at me, we didn’t we got over all those problems, but we never got to that point. But we got to the point where it was uncomfortable from time to time, especially this one period that I was out of work for, for quite some time. And I tried the the stay at home dad role there and, and wanted to see how that fit.

00:13:47:28 – 00:13:52:24
Joseph
And I came to the conclusion that, that I’m not cut out for that type of thing.

00:13:52:24 – 00:13:57:22
Madison
Yeah, I do remember around that time mainly because I was almost grounded, but you know.

00:13:57:22 – 00:13:59:03
Joseph
You were always grounded.

00:13:59:15 – 00:14:02:25
Madison
Well, I got in trouble at school, but, you know, we all talk about that.

00:14:03:23 – 00:14:38:00
Michelle
Well, I mean, I would have to you know, kind of piggyback with that. We have been very fortunate. Knock on wood, you know, for the time that we’ve been together and we’ve had our family that, you know, we there were just, you know, a few months where it was a hiccup for us. And I don’t think it was anything that, you know, ever affected you in terms of things that you couldn’t do or things that you couldn’t have or, you know.

00:14:38:02 – 00:14:40:21
Joseph
Other than having to put up with me being home for an extended period.

00:14:40:26 – 00:14:55:15
Michelle
Right. Because it was also during the summer, too. So instead of going to camp that one year, obviously that was the well, there’s no sense in sending her to camp lets you know you stay home and you guys, you know, go to the park and do things.

00:14:55:15 – 00:15:06:00
Madison
And yeah and I remember that you would be able to pick me up from school when that ended up starting and well I didn’t really like that at first because, you know, I got like in trouble two times, but you know, we all talk.

00:15:06:00 – 00:15:45:03
Michelle
About that. So yeah. So it was again, very, we’ve been very fortunate and very blessed to have, you know, we didn’t have to really modify too many things, you know, at that time going into the pandemic. You know, we’ve talked about this, you know, multiple times to that. You know, Daddy and I both worked full time. From the moment the pandemic started until now, nothing ever changed for us where a lot of people didn’t have that luxury.

00:15:45:08 – 00:16:07:12
Michelle
And it really was a luxury to be able to, you know, keep the lights on, keep the heat on, keep the air conditioner on. You know, all the bills got paid. And, you know, there were times when, you know, I worried that maybe something was going to happen with the pandemic. And we we were very fortunate, you know.

00:16:07:12 – 00:16:35:01
Michelle
So I totally feel for those parents out there who, you know, they don’t know one week to the next how they’re going to manage. And they do, you know, in some cases, they they do what they have to to make sure things go well for, you know, as well as can be in their situation for their family.

00:16:35:26 – 00:16:48:06
Madison
Yeah, I tend to agree. I definitely think we are pretty fortunate. Knock on wood. All right. So the next question we have is, do you think you’ve been able to provide me with all my basic needs, Daddy?

00:16:49:06 – 00:16:52:28
Joseph
Yeah, I think you’re really. You’re good now. Seriously.

00:16:53:04 – 00:16:53:19
Madison
Okay.

00:16:53:26 – 00:17:10:17
Joseph
I think I think we’ve been in a position where we’ve been fortunate enough to not only meet, but exceed those basic needs. There’s very few things that you need. There’s very few things that you ask for.

00:17:11:23 – 00:17:14:17
Madison
And the stuff that I do ask for, it’s normally me paying for it.

00:17:14:25 – 00:17:42:23
Joseph
Usually. Usually sometimes once in a while. But, you know, we’ve we’ve been able to do things with you that a lot of families can’t do. I mean, we’ve you’ve been to Disney more times, I think, than pretty much most human beings out there that don’t live in Florida. Okay. Some kids never get to go. Most kids get to go once in their lifetime.

00:17:43:10 – 00:17:53:22
Joseph
Twice, maybe. So, yeah, I think I think not to put myself in the back, but I think we’ve done pretty good.

00:17:53:22 – 00:17:56:12
Madison
Are we good? You know, everything I do on it.

00:17:56:12 – 00:18:40:15
Michelle
No, I think, you know, in some respects, you know, and we know that you’re spoiled, but in a good way you’re not you know, you don’t expect to get the newest phone or the newest iPad or the newest whatever. You’re happy if you get a hand-me-down of something. And, you know, so the way that we kind of reward you for being a good student and being a pretty great kid is if we feel, you know what, you do deserve an upgrade of some sort and we give it to you.

00:18:40:15 – 00:18:59:18
Michelle
And, you know, for the holidays. You wanted a purple hoodie that was your big gift that you wanted. You didn’t care about anything else where there are some kids that are like, I want the new blah, blah, blah, or I want, you know, the new game system and I want this. And you’re just like, I just want leggings and a purple hoodie.

00:18:59:18 – 00:19:03:08
Michelle
And I’d be. And you were ecstatic that you had a purple hoodies.

00:19:03:08 – 00:19:14:07
Madison
Yeah, that’s the thing. Like all of my gaming systems, I’ve never asked for them. I’ve never asked for this switch. We have I have a switch. We never I never asked for the ps5. I never asked for the Xboxes. We have.

00:19:14:07 – 00:19:15:07
Joseph
Those. Well, technically.

00:19:15:09 – 00:19:17:11
Michelle
Well, they’re they’re well technically that.

00:19:18:01 – 00:19:28:06
Madison
I don’t really even anyway I’m not really I don’t even use it that much anyway. Technically, I mainly just play with the older Xbox because you know, there’s a rock band on it.

00:19:28:19 – 00:19:29:03
Joseph
Yes.

00:19:29:28 – 00:19:59:22
Michelle
Yeah. If you had one game to play, you’d be, you know, all right, whatever and that and that’s fine. And that’s why it was so funny when you and Daddy started going to the gaming stores and looking and you’re like, There’s all these games for Switch. How did I not know? And it was like your mind had just like exploded because it was just you were happy playing one game or two games on it and, and that’s fine and, and nothing wrong with that.

00:19:59:22 – 00:20:24:25
Michelle
So it’s nice when Daddy and I can spoil you in that respect because you appreciate it. You don’t take it for granted. You don’t try and con us out of, you know something. The only thing you might con us out of is something at five below that’s like $3. Like that’s money when it comes down to it or Yeah, anything else, you’re like, All right, I’ll, I’ll pay for it.

00:20:24:25 – 00:20:33:06
Michelle
Or There’s a new Sims pack or something and you know how much money you have and. All right, I’ll pay for it. That’s fine.

00:20:33:07 – 00:20:37:11
Madison
Yeah. And like, I have to ask you guys, hey, can we sort out my finances real quick?

00:20:37:11 – 00:20:41:22
Michelle
Right. Which normally means there’s something I want to buy. I want to make sure I have enough money for it.

00:20:43:21 – 00:20:51:00
Madison
All right. The next one we have is, are you happy with the conditions we live in or do you wish things could be better?

00:20:51:00 – 00:20:53:04
Michelle
Mommy, I want a mansion. No.

00:20:54:21 – 00:20:56:06
Madison
I. A haunted mansion. Maybe a.

00:20:56:06 – 00:21:29:13
Michelle
Haunted mansion. Oh, that’s a good one. I’m I’m happy with with where we are. You know, could we always have a bigger house? Yeah, but then that would be more too clean. Could we, you know, live someplace warmer? Yeah. Then we have to deal with bugs. You know, I think I’m. I don’t need to have the biggest. The newest, the best of of whatever, because I have you.

00:21:29:26 – 00:21:31:13
Michelle
Yeah, both of you.

00:21:31:14 – 00:21:41:03
Joseph
I’m the biggest, right? I mean, come on. Look on the big yes. You’re the best. You know, we’re good, right?

00:21:41:05 – 00:21:41:18
Michelle
Right.

00:21:41:27 – 00:21:44:17
Madison
And mommy’s the beauty, right?

00:21:44:27 – 00:21:51:25
Joseph
Oh, there you go. See the three B’s where instead of bed, bath and beyond. Biggest, best and beautiful.

00:21:52:00 – 00:21:52:25
Michelle
They’re going bankrupt.

00:21:53:23 – 00:22:26:05
Joseph
Yeah. With all of you, then. I agree. You know, you always want to provide a better life for your kids than you had yourself. And I. I know from my perspective, we’ve accomplished that quite handily. But you always want something that’s better. You know, you want something to strive for and there’s always something else that we could do, something different vacation.

00:22:26:05 – 00:22:44:23
Joseph
We could do a bigger house, you know, nicer bathroom, a bigger firepit. Whatever it is, it doesn’t have to be huge things, but it’s always something else to to look forward to. And that kind of is what drives you. It’s like, I don’t want to be complacent, say, Oh, I love my life and it’s as great as it can be.

00:22:44:23 – 00:23:04:17
Joseph
And I never want to change because at some point in time it’s going to change. And if you’re if you don’t prepare yourself for that and you don’t prepare yourself in a way that kind of looks for that positive change, you get stuck in your ways and it changes in a way that you don’t like and you’re trying to adjust to it and stuff like that.

00:23:04:17 – 00:23:28:13
Joseph
So yes, I’m happy with the conditions that we live in, but I wish things could be better and we try to make things better. That’s the big thing. It’s not just wishing I don’t sit around wishing I hit the lottery right. You know, we work harder, we work smarter, we save our money, we make the right decisions so that we can have things better.

00:23:28:13 – 00:23:39:04
Joseph
It’s not just about sitting back and envying what the neighbor has or something like that. It’s actively doing something is being motivated to do something to make it better. So that’s that’s my $0.02.

00:23:39:09 – 00:23:39:15
Michelle
Yeah.

00:23:39:15 – 00:23:53:01
Madison
I’d would much agree with everything, you know, things could be better, but things are great as it is now. The final one for basically us is do you try to go the extra mile to help support your families needs mommy?

00:23:54:19 – 00:24:18:06
Michelle
I think so. I, I hope I do. You know, I hope you appreciate, you know, everything that that we do. That I do. Could I do more? Probably. Could I do less? Sure.

00:24:19:22 – 00:24:44:25
Madison
I mean, I can definitely appreciate especially the fact that you get up with me in the morning, even if you don’t have to get up that early and you help me to make my lunch and occasionally help me remember to get my lunch, you’re like up to drive me and and like, wait for me with the bus. And occasionally you’ll even pick me up if you know you are able to.

00:24:44:25 – 00:24:56:22
Madison
And, you know, I really appreciate that because otherwise I don’t really know what I would do in the morning. Like when you go and like I have to do my own lunch, I have to do my own stuff. It’s like, what is this?

00:24:57:29 – 00:24:59:18
Michelle
So Daddy feels the same way.

00:25:00:18 – 00:25:17:05
Joseph
Indeed I do. I would say I don’t go the extra mile that I used to go because I live much closer to work now and I don’t go the same extra miles that Mommy goes. I think we go down different mile paths.

00:25:17:17 – 00:25:18:10
Michelle
Yes.

00:25:18:10 – 00:25:45:09
Joseph
All for the same goal of trying to make things better. That’s where Mommy and I have very different skill sets and we complement each other. And I think that’s what makes things work so well around here. If I complement Mommy more, it probably would work better. Yes, I don’t compliment Mommy enough, but I think we’ve each found the path for our own skill sets.

00:25:45:25 – 00:25:46:26
Madison
I would tend to agree.

00:25:47:25 – 00:25:53:18
Joseph
Let’s take a quick break here and then we can come back and talk about some more stuff.

00:25:53:24 – 00:25:54:10
Michelle
All right.

00:25:54:15 – 00:26:36:08
Joseph
All right. We’ll be right back. For over seven years, the second Sith Empire has been the premiere community guild. In the online game, Star Wars, The Old Republic, with hundreds of friendly and helpful active members, a weekly schedule of nightly events, annual guild, meet and greets, and an active community both on the Web and on Discord. The second season of Empire is more than your typical gaming group, We’re Family.

00:26:37:16 – 00:27:00:22
Joseph
Join us on the Star Forge server for nightly events such as operations, Flashpoints, World Boss Funds, Star Wars, Trivia Guild, Lottery and much more. Visit us on the Web today. W w w start the second civ and empire dot com.

00:27:06:18 – 00:27:32:18
Madison
Welcome back to Insights into teens. This is our first episode of Perspectives on Parenting, talking about the top challenges. And now we’re going to talk about taking care of the mental and emotional needs there, being children, just so that, you know, don’t you? So so the first question for this section is, what do you do to make sure that my mental and emotional needs are looked after?

00:27:34:13 – 00:27:36:15
Joseph
Mostly neglect and ridicule, really.

00:27:37:06 – 00:27:39:10
Michelle
Lots of chocolate.

00:27:40:16 – 00:28:03:24
Joseph
This is one of the things, you know, we started doing the podcast as a way of having these discussions and trying to help out with the various things that you run into. But there’s a lot of talk. You know, we we tend to do a lot of dinnertime talks. We tend to do a lot of incident talks. We’ll call them.

00:28:03:24 – 00:28:24:08
Joseph
And there’s there’s a lot of life lessons to pass on and stuff like that. But I think it’s time. It’s about taking the time to listen and to engage. And I think they’re probably the biggest things that I do. And occasionally stopping and getting chocolate on the way home. There are certain circumstances, you.

00:28:24:08 – 00:28:24:18
Madison
Know, that.

00:28:24:18 – 00:28:57:26
Michelle
Helps, right? You know, I think we’re we’re very fortunate that we are so open with each other and that we can have serious conversations and we can have silly conversations about things. But in the end, it all kind of boils down to that. We have that open communication and hopefully there’s nothing that you are afraid to talk to us about or worried about.

00:28:58:07 – 00:29:41:13
Michelle
And yes, there are times when the emotions run wild and we try to to manage the situation as it comes, because it’s happened from, you know, when you were younger. And it’s going to continue to happen. And hopefully we can give you enough life lessons and enough help so that, you know, ten years from now, if something comes up and we’re not nearby or can’t get us on the phone, you can go back, you know, and kind of remember something, oh, this is how my parents would have helped me out.

00:29:42:15 – 00:29:56:01
Madison
Okay, that’s all fair. I definitely agree with all that. The next question we have is, can this be a daunting task at time and if so, how you first?

00:29:57:17 – 00:30:00:11
Joseph
Absolutely not. It’s been a pleasure, really.

00:30:01:12 – 00:30:06:27
Michelle
I never realized. Yeah, I was nice.

00:30:07:15 – 00:30:13:16
Joseph
As as a man.

00:30:13:16 – 00:30:15:08
Madison
That’s always a great way to start a sentence.

00:30:15:09 – 00:30:39:04
Joseph
Is it’s proven difficult when we just like when I had to deal with the female element of raising a child. And when I see that, I mean the emotional rollercoaster. It’s very different than when Sam was growing up.

00:30:41:08 – 00:31:04:05
Joseph
Yeah, I can’t I just. I don’t have words to really describe some of the challenges, because there are times that you’ll get emotional about something, and I. I just. I don’t get it, but, like, I can’t be like, I don’t get it. Just get over it. Like, because I’ve tried that and it doesn’t work.

00:31:05:08 – 00:31:07:06
Michelle
So it’s amazing you’re still alive.

00:31:07:06 – 00:31:43:19
Joseph
After saying it’s one of those things where I have to, at the very least, try to understand the situation. From your perspective and then figure out a way to say something that’s encouraging and uplifting and not demeaning or going to make the situation worse. And I’m very good at demeaning and and humor and stuff like that. I have a difficult time with the encouraging part of things.

00:31:43:19 – 00:31:48:05
Joseph
Sometimes when you when you have an emotional incident.

00:31:48:15 – 00:31:49:03
Madison
That’s fair.

00:31:49:14 – 00:32:29:06
Michelle
So I and I and I want to give Daddy some props because not a lot of men can be as open minded about certain situations with with their daughters. And you probably know a whole lot more about things pertaining to your daughter then than most dads with daughters, honestly. So that that’s, you know, kudos to you for not shying away or say, oh, we’ll talk to your mother.

00:32:29:21 – 00:32:55:21
Michelle
You know, that’s her department there. And and, you know, there’s only so much knowledge that you have and knowledge that you can look up. But without having lived that you don’t know. But you do your best and you don’t try and fake it. You know, you you admit when you you have your fault.

00:32:55:24 – 00:32:56:24
Joseph
That you recognize.

00:32:56:24 – 00:33:03:06
Michelle
That I do. And then if you bring chocolate, then it makes everybody happy.

00:33:03:06 – 00:33:04:11
Joseph
Offset some of those demeaning.

00:33:04:11 – 00:33:35:02
Michelle
Comments. And and and trust me, it’s I can only because I’m still in it. It’s hard for me to even take a step back and go, why does he just not get it? You know, because I understand what she’s going through and she understands what I’m going through because we’re going through it the same time. So I can only imagine where you walk in the door is it say, do I leave you here?

00:33:35:05 – 00:33:46:09
Michelle
Here’s a chocolate grenade. Oh, and then she, you know, they’re like, crawl from the wall. What invokes Gary to pick up the dog?

00:33:48:01 – 00:33:57:28
Joseph
There are times that I come home and I know what’s going on, and I’m just like, All right, yell at me and I’ll go downstairs and I’ll leave you alone. Is that.

00:33:57:28 – 00:34:00:11
Michelle
Right? Just take take my beating.

00:34:00:18 – 00:34:04:24
Joseph
And there are times. I just know I got to take one for the team, for the for the greater good.

00:34:04:24 – 00:34:18:13
Michelle
I know in three days, everything will be fine. Everything will go back to normal. And it’s just the way it’s going to be. And it’s not a personal attack. It’s just what happens.

00:34:18:13 – 00:34:22:07
Joseph
So so that’s one example.

00:34:22:07 – 00:34:35:28
Madison
Yes, the one example. Anyway, moving on to the next question, would you say it’s easier or harder to look after these needs than to take care of my basic ones? And if so, why, mommy?

00:34:36:27 – 00:35:37:05
Michelle
Hmm? I don’t know. I guess some some people are meant to be parents and I, I guess, firm for me. I don’t see it as a challenge. I don’t see it as a hardship. I don’t. I kind of knew what I was signing up for. I did it willingly. I wanted it where I know that there are people that end up being parents because of other situations and and have to kind of grow into it and some people are just parenting types, you know, you’re a very motherly individual all when you’re with your group of friends, you’re kind of the mom of the group making, hey, does you know, if your guys are sitting outside

00:35:37:12 – 00:36:06:04
Michelle
and it’s, you know, cold out, hey, does anybody need a blanket? Does that, you know, does anybody need a snack? Does anybody need a drink? You take care of your your little group of friends. So, again, some people have that kind of into them, no matter if they’re a parent or not. There are some people that never become parents but still have that in them.

00:36:06:04 – 00:36:35:05
Michelle
And then there are people that become parents that never had it in them. And unfortunately their kids kind of suffer because they didn’t have that nurturing environment. So I think for me it’s just in some cases, second nature. Obviously, there are things that happen on the day to day basis where, oh, this isn’t what I signed up for, but okay, well, how are we dealing with this today?

00:36:35:05 – 00:37:00:09
Michelle
And but for the most part, I try and keep as cool and calm collective sometimes. And, and. Okay, what do we need to do to get past this? What what’s the lesson here so that the next time we don’t have a freak out.

00:37:00:09 – 00:37:01:13
Madison
Were you going to say anything on that?

00:37:01:14 – 00:37:05:05
Joseph
No. No, I don’t think.

00:37:05:05 – 00:37:15:03
Madison
All right. Good enough. The next question we have is, do you wish you had better at dealing with these needs than you are now? I guess we can start on you for that one.

00:37:15:23 – 00:37:18:26
Joseph
Why? Because it seems like I need to be better dealing with these things.

00:37:18:26 – 00:37:22:05
Madison
I don’t know. And just because you didn’t say anything on the other one.

00:37:23:03 – 00:37:52:14
Joseph
Yes, I and I and I. I try to get better. I try to be more patient. I try to be more understanding reading. But, you know, like Mommy said, there’s only so much that I can understand, right? I don’t have the same physiology will say. So there are things that you go through that I could never go through.

00:37:52:14 – 00:38:13:28
Joseph
And I can. You can only get so much out of hearing someone talk about it and reading about it that I’ll never really understand these things. What I try to understand is what my role is in helping to cope with these things. Is that role being that guy that gets yelled at because someone needs to get their frustrations out.

00:38:14:10 – 00:38:38:14
Joseph
All right. I can I can take the punches and deal with that is a role. The guy who stops and gets chucked all the way home. Okay. I can I can handle that, too, you know, so it’s a matter of figuring out where I can constructively fit into the equation, knowing I can’t fill the gap. So that’s where I try to get better at those things.

00:38:38:14 – 00:38:49:18
Joseph
And it’s a learning experience. It comes with time, it comes with trial and error.

00:38:49:18 – 00:38:51:05
Madison
Mind you, June one, same thing.

00:38:52:01 – 00:38:52:26
Michelle
No, I think I’m good.

00:38:53:22 – 00:39:06:29
Madison
All right. The next question we have is, what do you think? Can we change that could improve the condition of these needs more mommy. See, I don’t.

00:39:06:29 – 00:39:45:29
Michelle
Know if we not to toot our own horn, but I think we have open that line of communication where, as far as I know, you don’t have an issue coming to us about things. There were certain topics not that long ago that you didn’t feel comfortable going to daddy with. And you came to me and we talked them through and and then I was able to, to talk to Daddy about them and kind of prepare him.

00:39:45:29 – 00:40:11:21
Michelle
And that was definitely a little bit of a bumpy situation. But since then, the the lines of communication have been pretty open about it. And it it was a learning curve for for all of us. So I think anything that comes our way, we all kind of. All right, well, what do we need to do for for this?

00:40:11:21 – 00:40:35:21
Michelle
And and had a couple of different situations that have popped up more recently where you were afraid to talk to me about something and you talked to your guidance counselor about it. And your guidance counselor said, if that’s the way you feel, that’s the way you feel. And you and Daddy had the conversation and you didn’t want to bring it up to me because you figured I’d be upset.

00:40:35:21 – 00:40:59:03
Michelle
And yeah, I was upset. But I understood your reasoning behind it and made sense and said, All right, well, if that’s what you want to do, then that’s what you want to do and we will support you. Same thing with, you know, another topic where not that we wanted to push you toward something, but you kind of made a decision on something.

00:40:59:03 – 00:41:20:23
Michelle
And we kind of agree. Yeah. Okay. That’s that’s the way it’s going to be. So I think even though we still have these situations that come up where. All right, well, I don’t want to tell Daddy. I’ll tell mommy or I don’t want to tell mommy. I’ll tell Daddy. At least there’s somebody that you feel comfortable talking to.

00:41:21:12 – 00:41:59:15
Michelle
And I and there are lots of kids out there who can’t talk to their parents about anything, and they don’t have a guidance counselor at school that they’re able to talk to or they don’t have a family friend or somebody. And it eats them up. And in some cases destroys who that person is. So, again, I, I think we’re very fortunate that we’ve been so open and understanding with you from the beginning that when these little kind of hiccups happen, they’re just little bumps in the road.

00:41:59:15 – 00:42:10:07
Michelle
They’re just little pebbles, you know, in the sand. They’re not these huge mountains that we can’t overcome anything.

00:42:11:01 – 00:42:14:02
Joseph
She went on the mountain analogy. Can’t really top that.

00:42:14:13 – 00:42:16:06
Madison
Well, I mean, so yeah.

00:42:16:21 – 00:42:17:04
Joseph
You know.

00:42:17:11 – 00:42:18:19
Michelle
I’m just that good.

00:42:19:10 – 00:42:25:24
Joseph
What can be changed or improve? The only thing I could say is, you know, a subscription to the Chocolate of the Week Club or something.

00:42:26:17 – 00:42:27:03
Michelle
Okay.

00:42:27:07 – 00:42:28:24
Joseph
I like I got nothing there.

00:42:30:19 – 00:42:40:10
Madison
All right. The next question we have is, do you feel looking after these needs are just as, if not more important than taking care of my basic needs? You first.

00:42:41:08 – 00:43:02:26
Joseph
Me being daddy? Yes. I think they’re more important. I think the basic needs are the ones that kind of cover themselves. I think all of what we’ve been talking about here is the important stuff, because these are the formative things. Yes, you need food. Yes, you need a roof over your head and, you know, clothes and all that stuff.

00:43:03:23 – 00:43:36:16
Joseph
But what makes you who you are when you’re an adult is everything else. You know those experiences. Where do you get your sense of compassion? Where do you get your sense of empathy? Where do you get your sense of morals? Those are all the things that these other things are instilling in you. So I definitely think that these are really where you need to be focusing on the most important things, because if you’re focusing on those things, chances are you’ve taken care of the basics.

00:43:37:02 – 00:43:38:18
Madison
Fair enough, Mommy.

00:43:38:27 – 00:43:46:03
Michelle
Yeah, I would have to agree with that. I don’t think I really have anything.

00:43:46:03 – 00:43:52:06
Joseph
I think I can pull another mountain analogy out on me. No. Okay. Mommy’s not under the mountain again.

00:43:52:24 – 00:43:56:12
Michelle
All right? I’m saving it for later.

00:43:56:12 – 00:44:13:10
Madison
All right. The next question we have is, have you ever thought that needed counseling to better help these needs? Mommy?

00:44:13:10 – 00:44:56:07
Michelle
Possibly I. I am not one who thinks that those that need help are weak or can’t do their day to day life or that it’s something to look down upon. I think if there’s something that you can’t get, the help from those around you and you’re still struggling in some sort of way that absolutely you should go and find support elsewhere.

00:44:57:27 – 00:45:22:06
Michelle
So it’s really up to the the person, you know, you have to be the one to want the help. People can suggest it and say, yeah, I think maybe you you you should or, you know, but if you aren’t ready to go for help, then going and talking to somebody, you’re not going to get anything out of it for anybody in general.

00:45:22:16 – 00:45:41:19
Michelle
So but to to be able to admit to yourself, you know what, I think I need a little extra work to to help. I think that there’s nothing wrong with that.

00:45:41:19 – 00:46:15:10
Joseph
There was a time in the not too distant future that I probably would have said, no, you don’t need that. My perspectives on counseling and professional help have evolved over the years, and I not being a professional or qualified professional, I can’t say that you need counseling. I will say that it doesn’t hurt. You know, there are times and it depends on the person you talk to as well.

00:46:16:00 – 00:46:48:07
Joseph
There are counselors that are very in tune with your thoughts and feelings and needs and they’re very helpful. They’re the type of people that can they can read you well and can unlock the parts of you that need to be unlocked and let loose. There are other counselors who aren’t like that, who aren’t very good, who are I don’t want to say conventional or unconventional, but there are people who do it by the book.

00:46:48:24 – 00:47:17:23
Joseph
And the book was written as a guide. It wasn’t written for everybody. So somebody who who’s adaptable and can understand your needs probably could do wonderful things for you. But like Molly said, you have to be ready for something like that. You have to, one, not stigmatize it yourself, because there’s absolutely nothing wrong with talking to a counselor or a psychologist or psychiatrist.

00:47:17:23 – 00:47:47:18
Joseph
There’s nothing wrong with that. So you can’t stigmatize it because then you’re going to look down at yourself and you have to be willing to unlock those parts of you. You know, there are times that a lot of the issues that we have and this was you know, part of my experience with counseling was there were parts of my past that I locked up and throw away the key because I didn’t want to deal with it because it was too painful to deal with.

00:47:49:04 – 00:48:08:23
Joseph
The problem is, is that you’re lugging this chest around, this very heavy chest and it weighs you down emotionally and and it’s an impairment to you until you deal with it. You know, you can either cut it loose or you can open it up and deal with it. And you have to be prepared to deal with it sometimes.

00:48:09:23 – 00:48:31:10
Joseph
And in my experience, I found that when you deal with it and you come to terms with it and you accept it, you can move on and. It’s part of you at that point in time. You’re not trying to run away from it and you can embrace it and understand it. And in my case, it was about forgiveness.

00:48:33:03 – 00:48:47:06
Joseph
And until you’re ready to forgive yourself in those situations, going to a counselor is not going to matter to you at all. So it you know, it’s like chicken soup. It might not help, but it won’t hurt, right?

00:48:47:13 – 00:49:06:11
Madison
Fair enough. All right. Those are some very deep responses. Thank you. The final question for this section is, would you say that what you’ve done for these needs has helped me from what you can say, from what you what you can see, mommy?

00:49:08:00 – 00:49:44:04
Michelle
Yes. Yeah, I can see that. You know what we’ve talked about in general, as has affected you with the way that you act, with the way that you think, with the way that you you do certain things. So I again, not to, you know, pat ourselves on the back, but I think we raised a pretty decent kid. You you you’re a pretty decent human being.

00:49:45:22 – 00:49:53:02
Michelle
You know, there’s nothing that you do that disappoints us.

00:49:53:02 – 00:49:55:08
Madison
Yeah, and not a disappointment. I’m just a bird.

00:49:55:08 – 00:50:25:17
Michelle
That little bird in. And that’s an inside joke. That’s, you know, that’s that we joke about it, you know, where unfortunately there are parents that yell at their kids and say that their burdens and their disappointments and, they mean it. And yeah, we might get upset that you didn’t do a chore or something. And, you know, when was the last time you were grounded for for something?

00:50:25:17 – 00:51:03:11
Michelle
But I’m still early, right? I’m sure we can find something, but we trust you because we we have, you know, you’ve never done anything for us to not trust you. You’ve never done anything. You know, the night still young, who knows? You might sneak out, but you don’t want to. You don’t want to go outside. It’s cold. You know, I think you’d want to go outside and play with a cat that would really be the only.

00:51:04:04 – 00:51:10:02
Madison
Yeah. It’s not like I have a social life.

00:51:10:02 – 00:51:15:08
Joseph
All right, now we want to take another break and come back and finish up.

00:51:15:18 – 00:51:52:02
Michelle
All right, let’s do it. All right. Insights into entertainment, a podcast series taking a deeper look into entertainment and media. Our husband and wife team of pop culture fanatics are exploring all things from music and movies to television and fandom. We’ll look at the interesting and obscure entertainment news of the week. We’ll talk about theme park and pop culture news.

00:51:52:17 – 00:52:21:04
Michelle
We’ll give you the latest and greatest on pop culture conventions. We’ll give you a deep dove into Disney, Star Wars and much more. Check out our video episodes at YouTube.com Backslash Insights into Things, our audio episodes and podcast insights into entertainment dot com or check us out on the web at insights into things dot com.

00:52:27:06 – 00:52:47:01
Madison
Welcome back to Insights in a teen today we’re doing perspectives on parenting at top challenges. And now we’re going to talk about ensuring children receive a quality education. So the first question we have in this section is, has it been difficult trying to get me into school at this point? We will go to you, Daddy.

00:52:47:16 – 00:52:50:13
Joseph
No, it hasn’t.

00:52:52:21 – 00:52:53:24
Madison
Next question, then.

00:52:53:24 – 00:52:54:25
Joseph
Next question.

00:52:54:29 – 00:53:06:18
Madison
All right. Our next question we have is, do you have any experiences with this as a parent that may seem like a more unique situation than most mommy?

00:53:06:27 – 00:53:40:01
Michelle
Well, fortunately, you’re in the public school system. We didn’t decide to send you to a private school. We felt that the school district that for the town that we live in, that there weren’t any issues where, again, not every parent has that opportunity or feels that a public education is sufficient for their child. So then they do go above and beyond and look for a private school.

00:53:40:24 – 00:54:09:27
Michelle
We haven’t started looking at colleges yet. That’ll be next year’s big fun activity, so I’m sure that will be a new set of challenges for us. But as of right now, we’ve been very fortunate with doing, you know, what you’re doing now with the engineering program and things like that. That was all you getting into it. So there was nothing that we had to to really worry about.

00:54:09:27 – 00:54:30:21
Michelle
The only thing we kind of worried about was at the start of the pandemic, what was school going to be like? Did we have to start homeschooling you? That was really, I think, the only time we ever really worried about what are we going to do for school? Do I have to now be a homeschooling teacher? Do we have to find a homeschooling group?

00:54:30:21 – 00:54:36:12
Michelle
What you know, what online programs can we do? And that was probably the biggest challenge.

00:54:36:29 – 00:54:44:09
Madison
That’s where the next ones we have is. Have you ever thought of enrolling me in different schools, Daddy?

00:54:45:16 – 00:55:07:10
Joseph
Not seriously. I didn’t the that that Mommy mentioned with the COVID stuff. But every time I go and look for a different house, I always look at the school district. And, you know, I consider whether or not we to pull you out and move to a different school district and then mommy’s little voice in the back of my head just sort of smacks me in the back.

00:55:07:12 – 00:55:08:23
Michelle
Like, all.

00:55:08:23 – 00:55:15:21
Joseph
Right, we won’t look at that house anymore. So, no, I don’t think there’s ever been any real serious consideration except for the COVID experience.

00:55:16:02 – 00:55:31:19
Madison
All right. That’s fair. Next up is is do you have any expert? No, sorry. Next question is, do you have expectations for when a college approaches and what are they, mommy?

00:55:32:23 – 00:56:00:24
Michelle
Hmm? I think it’s you know, is it something that a school that you want to go to, it’s ultimately your choice by by then, you know, do you feel comfortable at the school? Does it you know, do you do you feel excited by it? Does it have what you’re looking for? Is it far enough from home? Is it close enough from home?

00:56:01:06 – 00:56:24:27
Michelle
You know, what are your criteria is? And I think right now it’s a little early for you to really know what it is. So it’s again, it’s where you’re going to end up for hopefully four years. But also, it’s one of those things where you might end up someplace and absolutely hate it after the first year and decide to go someplace else.

00:56:24:27 – 00:56:39:09
Michelle
And again, by then, it’s your choice. Daddy and I need to be there to to support you with that decision. So, again, it really it’s going to come down to you where where you want to go.

00:56:40:03 – 00:56:55:06
Madison
Yeah, I love getting pressure put on me. That’s fun. Yeah. All right. Next question we have is, have you ever had to get involved with something I was dealing with at school? I definitely think this is a good question for you, Father.

00:56:55:08 – 00:56:58:01
Michelle
Mm hmm.

00:56:58:27 – 00:57:29:25
Joseph
There have been a few instances in which there were issues that you had in school and I had to express my displeasure at the situation. The first one, the biggest one I think that comes to mind was an incident where you had a teacher who was making fun of one of your phobias.

00:57:32:25 – 00:57:58:07
Joseph
Well, let’s just say he didn’t after I had a conversation with him, I’ve never had a problem exercising my right to free speech when it comes to situations with your school that I don’t necessarily agree with, but I’ve never had a problem with that, with just about anything. Getting me to engage is not difficult. Getting me to shut up.

00:57:58:07 – 00:57:59:04
Joseph
No, that’s a challenge.

00:58:01:04 – 00:58:14:25
Madison
All right. That’s fair, polite way of saying that. Next question we have is, do you think you’ve helped to influence my work ethic in school? Mommy, this is for you.

00:58:15:01 – 00:58:25:07
Michelle
I believe so. I think in some cases, you have a better work ethic than Daddy or I had.

00:58:25:08 – 00:58:30:04
Joseph
Oh, definitely. But I was a slacker.

00:58:30:04 – 00:58:56:02
Michelle
You know, on a Friday afternoon, you come home and do homework where most people are, like, I got all weekend, whatever. Or You did homework on a Friday. You had off on Monday just so that you could get it done and then you could relax. Same thing when you get home school, you come home, you relax for a couple of minutes, and then you take out your books and you you start doing it.

00:58:56:10 – 00:59:01:21
Madison
Even then, I don’t even relax. I kind of just drop all my stuff in the kitchen, take off my shoes, call you and.

00:59:02:14 – 00:59:20:04
Michelle
Right. And that’s what I’m saying, is that. That you instilled that kind of all on your own, that wasn’t really anything that we ever talked about. And I don’t know if that was kind of due to doing like, aftercare.

00:59:20:04 – 00:59:28:16
Madison
Yeah, that might be the reason, cause it’s like they got us to do our homework. Like, at the very start. That probably might have been the reason why I did that.

00:59:28:27 – 00:59:35:06
Michelle
Yeah, and it’s a good work habit to have, so. No no complaints there.

00:59:36:16 – 00:59:48:01
Madison
All right. The next question we have is, have you ever had any major expectations for me when it came to school activities or my performance? Daddy?

00:59:49:24 – 01:00:11:05
Joseph
I think every parent has an expectation. I think my expectations for you, regardless of what it was, whether it was scholastic, whether it was marching band or even the clubs that you’re in, it’s to do your best, always do your best. Sometimes your best doesn’t get you in a but if you’re doing your best, that’s all I can ask for.

01:00:11:05 – 01:00:35:15
Joseph
I have no right to ask for anything more than you to try your best. Don’t go in there and do it half heartedly. Don’t try and coach through. Do your best every time. Because if you adhere to that ethic, when you get done school, get done college, and you’re out in the real world and you’re working in your professional career, that same philosophy will pay off in the long run.

01:00:36:10 – 01:00:38:20
Joseph
So my expectation is always try your best.

01:00:39:24 – 01:00:45:01
Madison
All right. I agree with that. Well, at least I agree with that. That’s your expectation.

01:00:46:01 – 01:00:47:11
Joseph
But you don’t agree with that philosophy?

01:00:47:12 – 01:01:00:04
Madison
No, I agree with the philosophy or whatever. The last question we have for you, Mommy, is what do you think the future holds in terms of my education?

01:01:01:24 – 01:01:35:18
Michelle
Let me get my crystal ball. I don’t know. It’s where do you want it to go? That’s really the the most that I can hope for, you know? I’m hoping you’re planning to go to college at this point. I believe you are on that track. Do you go to school for engineering? We don’t know yet. It’s still early to to make that decision.

01:01:36:03 – 01:01:59:18
Michelle
You have to do what’s best for you, not because daddy wants you to do it. Not because I want you to do it. Because you want to do it. And yeah, there were things that we made you do when you were younger that as you get older, you don’t have to do what we want you to do because you are your own person.

01:02:00:21 – 01:02:14:21
Michelle
And that’s where I’m having issues because I’m trying to guide you to certain things and you’re like, No, I don’t want to do that anymore. It’s like, but, but, but, but.

01:02:15:14 – 01:02:16:00
Madison
Talking about.

01:02:16:10 – 01:02:35:08
Michelle
Chicken and chicken. But, but I have to realize not to hit my microphone that you’re an individual and you’re going to do what you want to do. Just because I love the Haunted Mansion doesn’t mean you have to love the Haunted Mansion.

01:02:35:09 – 01:02:37:23
Madison
Despite the fact that I’ve been really interested in the loyal recently.

01:02:37:24 – 01:02:57:08
Michelle
Right. Which is totally fine. And you love SpongeBob. Where? There was a conversation not that long ago where. Oh, she’s going to grow out of that phase. And it’s like, well, no, for how long have liked Darth Vader? Oh, ever since you were a kid. Okay, well, maybe she’s going to like SpongeBob.

01:02:57:09 – 01:02:58:27
Joseph
Not the name. Any names?

01:02:58:28 – 01:03:01:11
Michelle
I’m not. I’m not.

01:03:01:15 – 01:03:04:13
Joseph
Hey, look, you want to back that bus up over me again?

01:03:05:23 – 01:03:34:16
Michelle
Where’s that beer truck? Oh, but that’s. That’s the thing, is that we can, you know, we’ve guided you for for as long as we can, and hopefully we will guide you longer. But at some point, you have to take the reins and you have to make that decision. And it’s and hopefully we give you enough knowledge and enough confidence to make those right decisions.

01:03:36:15 – 01:03:42:25
Madison
All right. I think we have a solid discussion, maybe in a little long, but solid discussion that’s fine.

01:03:43:01 – 01:03:43:24
Joseph
Is worthwhile.

01:03:44:08 – 01:03:44:17
Madison
Yep.

01:03:44:28 – 01:03:45:18
Joseph
Got a bit longer.

01:03:47:05 – 01:03:56:07
Madison
All right. When we come back, I guess I’m still are we still am I still doing the, you know, thing at the end, or are we just.

01:03:56:24 – 01:04:04:25
Joseph
Uh. Yeah, yeah. Let’s see how bad you murder that one. Oh, we’ll be right back. Did you want to do your your closing thoughts?

01:04:05:04 – 01:04:05:29
Madison
I mean, sure.

01:04:06:08 – 01:04:10:28
Joseph
Okay, do that. Then when we come back. Ready? Here we go.

01:04:14:22 – 01:04:34:16
Madison
All right. So despite the fact that we didn’t have a general theme when it came to all of this, I guess what I can at least say is try your best to keep open communication with each other. That’s that’s really something that we’ve really been fortunate about. And that’s one of the reasons we’re able to have this podcast with each other.

01:04:34:16 – 01:04:45:17
Madison
And I know it’s obviously not going to be the case for everybody, but if you have the ability, try to keep an open communication with your parents or your kids.

01:04:46:11 – 01:04:46:25
Joseph
Okay.

01:04:48:18 – 01:04:52:03
Madison
Yeah. Don’t really have too much else to say. And I guess I’m doing the show books.

01:04:52:05 – 01:04:52:23
Joseph
Oh, yeah.

01:04:53:04 – 01:05:26:08
Madison
All right. So for audio versions of the podcast, they are listed as insights and teens. We also video versions of the podcast that are listed as insights and things. You can find our podcast on all popular podcast services like Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google, Stitcher, iHeartRadio and you know, much more. Any place you can get a podcast really, you can email us our comments and insights and the things NBC.com or on Twitter, at Twitter, at insights and the insights underscore things.

01:05:26:17 – 01:05:59:03
Madison
You can find us on Facebook at Facebook.com, slash inside of the Things podcast. We’re on Instagram and Instagram, dot coms, less insights and the things or you can find all that and much more on our official website w w w dot inside of the things dot com. And don’t forget to check out our other two podcast insight and insights in entertainment hosted normally by you and Mommy and ingestion of tomorrow are not really a monthly podcast that’s really only filmed almost once a year at this point, hosted by you and my brother Sam.

01:05:59:04 – 01:05:59:29
Madison
Okay.

01:05:59:29 – 01:06:02:26
Joseph
Okay. Well, we clearly have to work on your marketing skills.

01:06:03:12 – 01:06:12:21
Madison
Well, I mean, you know, maybe that that’s what gets people actually interested in the ad. They don’t just want a regular read through. They actually would like personality when it came to it. Yeah.

01:06:12:26 – 01:06:13:15
Joseph
There you go.

01:06:13:15 – 01:06:14:09
Michelle
That’s, you know.

01:06:15:01 – 01:06:16:15
Joseph
That’s it. Another one of the books.

01:06:16:15 – 01:06:16:23
Michelle
By.

01:06:16:23 – 01:06:17:28
Joseph
Everyone by.

01:06:21:06 – 01:06:47:16
Michelle
Oh, by.