#299: Yesteryear & What Kind of Genius are You?

A Beautiful Mess Podcast

This week we're discussing Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke and taking a quiz on what kind of genius we are. We'll also chat about a listener hot take on whether or not kids should be taught euphanisms.

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The 6 Types of Genius:

Wonder

Discernment

Invention

Enablement

Galvanizing

Tenacity

Feel Something, Make Something by Caitlyn Metz

Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke

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2026-05-11 60 min Transcript

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Transcript

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Elsie: You're listening to the A Beautiful Mess Podcast, your cozy comfort

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listen. I'm your host, Elsie Larson.

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Emma: And I'm your host, Emma Chapman.

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Elsie: This week we're discussing Yesteryear by Carol Claire Burke, and we're

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taking a quiz about what kind of genius you are. We'll also chat about a listener

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hot take on whether or not kids should be taught euphemisms. I'm so excited.

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Okay, before we jump in, it has come to my attention that a listener has pointed

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out that we never re- recapped our trip to Disney.

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Emma: Oh, okay.

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Elsie: Yeah. So I was thinking, like, maybe in the- maybe in our summer

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episodes we should do, like, an all Disney episode. Okay. because I feel like I

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could at least do that.

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Emma: I think you have more if they're looking for, like, the Disney tips, I feel

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like you have more of that, and I have more of like, "I went with my kid one

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time. I'll tell you how it went."

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Elsie: Yeah. Yeah, yeah.

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Emma: He was four and it was just the two of us. Here's how it went. Yeah.

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Well, I'll just say a couple highlights thenElsie: Yeah and then we can save it. Send us your opinion at

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podcast@abeautifulmess.com, if you think Disney episode or hell no. Either

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way we'll just do it if someone wants it. Sounds good. Okay. So this was a very

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special trip for us because, first of all, my kids are eight and 10, so they are

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getting a little closer to the tween age. And yeah, Marigold had me look up the

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definition of a tween is nine. Hmm. So next January, I'll have a tween.

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Emma: She wanted to know if she was in.

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Elsie: Yes, She's, like, very excited to be a tween. Oh my gosh. But she kind of

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already is.

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Emma: Just let her know she already vibes like a tween.

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Elsie: Well, last weekend she declined to go to Build-A-Bear, so I feel like she's

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already a tween.

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Emma: Yeah. I mean, I'm planning a little mall date with her. And I wasn't

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even gonna suggest- No Build-A-Bear. I'm like, "Let's head into Sephora and

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buy the most expensive lip gloss you can find."

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Elsie: That's right. So it was special because we did the Bibbidi Bobbidi

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Boutique, which if you don't know what that is, it is a little kids boutique. You

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have to make an appointment ahead of time, and they dress your child up like a

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princess, and they do their hair, and they do, I think they do their nails. They do

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kind of, like, everything, and then they sprinkle glitter all over them. It's just a

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whole thing. It's very cute. The Fairy Godmother came in to meet her, and it was

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just magical. And so I feel like she's just at that perfect age where she's

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interested in, like, hair and makeup, but also she still wanted... So she picked the

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Aurora dress. Cute. You get to pick from, like, this big wall of... It's, like, pretty

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much like if you imagine a wedding boutique, but for little kids.

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Emma: Yeah. So. That's what I'm envisioning.

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Elsie: Yeah.

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Emma: Like, when you're, like, watching your friend try on wedding dresses,

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that's you with Marigold at this.

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Elsie: It's like that. They have, like, talking mirrors and it just- Oh my gosh ...

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all this cute stuff. It's very sweet. So we did that, and that was her special

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moment, and it was... It could maybe be her last time. It depends, the lady who

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was there told me that we should try to do it one more time at Paris Disney, and

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I was like, "Okay, that's actually a great idea. I will try it because I guess those

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are there's three places that have the boutique. Marigold was like, "Oui, oui,

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croissant." Yes. The only two words she learned from six months of Duolingo.

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Exactly. So yeah, I think we might try to do that, and then on the second day or

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maybe the third, I don't remember, on one of the days, the last day, Nova wore

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her Peter Pan costume in the park, which is, like, a big deal for her. She's a little

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more of a reserved person, and it's like, it's harder, she's just not as like,

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Marigold would wear a costume every day. Like, Nova's not as much like that.

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So she, like, really planned it out. She really thought it through, and they weren't

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matching. It was just her. So sh- anyway, she wore this Peter Pan costume. It

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was very special, and then when we were on the Peter Pan ride, which has, like,

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a one-hour-long line, when we got to the front of it, they let her go again. There

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was this huge line of people, and they were like, "Do you wanna go again?"

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And I was just like, "Oh my God," like, "Thank you," to this person. It was just

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so kind and sweet, and then it made her feel like a million dollars, and it was

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just a very... And, and it's, and it is one of the best rides, in my opinion.

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Emma: I do think the, like, cast members and Service. I think they're all called

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cast members, right? Yeah. I think is, like, really good. because they do kinda

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have to balance all these lines and all these, you know like, keep the order. But

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I do feel like they really do try to, like, make kids feel special Yeah and, like,

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notice things and, you know, it's very sweet, so.

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Elsie: Yeah. You can tell it's full of people who genuinely love kids, and yeah,

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that's really special.

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Emma: And are trying to make it a special thing, and it's like, "Thank you.

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Thank you so much." Yeah. So.

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Elsie: So yeah, maybe we'll do a summer episode, but I love Disney. I think just

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go if you get a chance to. I think it's a wonderful thing to do. I love doing it with

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my kids. I don't think I would be a Disney adult, but that's a different thing.

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Like, I don't think I would go with just my husband probably.

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Emma: No, I would potentially go. So if they had, like, a day that was, like, just

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adults like, they're like, "This is park day. It's just for adults." I don't know why

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they would do that. I'm not suggesting it. I'm just, you know, if there was that, I

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would potentially go with you or, like, with a group of friends. Like our friend

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Keeley. Oh, yeah, you know, I would totally go. Really, I'd go anywhere with

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Keeley if she invites me.

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Elsie: Yeah. Me too.

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Emma: But because she's fun. But yeah, I'm like, I could see that. My husband's

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not interested in going as just us.

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Elsie: Well, it definitely is magical with kids. I, I find it to be, like, every little

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detail, like, it's just a, it's a very detailed place. There's, like, Easter eggs

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everywhere. There's always something more to discover. And I find it, like,

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incredibly inspiring that people made that, you know, with their own hands.

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Yeah. It's magical.

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Emma: Oh, yeah. I was seeing that the whole time I'm on different rides. I was

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like somebody, like, made this which is crazy. I had never felt more inspired to

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go home and papier-mâché in my life, so.

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Elsie: No. It is.

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Emma: And I think about papier-mâchéing a lot for the record, but this was

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very inspiring.

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Elsie: Yeah. Let's put it on our list of time machine dream jobs. Like, I just

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wanna be one of the people who made the Haunted Mansion. That's one of my,

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like, time machine dreams that it's impossible.

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Emma: But it's like, oh my God, like, it's so magical. I took my son, who's four,

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and it was just the two of us, and we had a great time, but I will say here's a

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couple things I wish I had done a little differently. So one, every kid's different.

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My son's very active, very, very active, so I feel like I needed to look up where

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in the parks there's, like, climbing equipment or, like Oh, yeah playground-type

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equipment because we did two days at the park, and the first day I didn't do that,

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and I feel like it would've been a better experience if I had, like, had a moment

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where we did that- And then went and did another ride or two, whatever.

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because the second day we did, and I think he really liked that. He really

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enjoyed it. We did lose him for a minute, but then we found him, and that was

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terrifying for me and not really for him.

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Elsie: It was like Jeremy was like, "Your sister's not okay." Like, it was so scary.

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It, it really was. Like I 100% knew he was gonna be okay. It's like a contained

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area.

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Emma: But it was, but it was still not, I was not feeling good about it. It was

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not a good moment. So anyway, but, you know, kids. So yeah, looking up the

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places where they can play, and then I did on the way home too, because I really

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learned my lesson on the first day. Oh, yeah. And so at our airport, I found, like,

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where the little play area was. Ah. And he went and played there, and it's just,

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he just needs to run around some. That's very important for him. He needs some

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run around time.

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Elsie: Yeah.

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Emma: So anyway, so there's that, and then the other thing I would say is, so

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the last time I went was many years ago. Nova was, like, two.

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Elsie: Oh, yeah.

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Emma: And I don't remember using the app while I was there. I'm sure they

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had it. But I just don't remember it being a big part of it, and this time around I

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was like, "No, you really need to know how to use the app," and, like, we had

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the Lightning Passes where you the, like, middle one where you could use it one

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at a time kind of thing. I don't know. And I was like, "I don't really know how to

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use this." I really almost, like, needed to be watching, like, a how to use the

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Disneyland app tutorial before my trip so that I did it properly and, like, could,

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you know, at times get us on the rides a little bit faster for certain ones that we

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really wanted like Haunted Mansion, things like that. And it all kinda worked

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out, but I was like, "Oh, I should've, like, done a little more research on using

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this app," because some people I feel like they can download a new app and

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they immediately are an expert at using it. I'm not like that. I'm like, I kinda

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need, like, a little tutorial of, like, here's where everything is and how you use

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your ticket and, you know, whatever. I think if I had done that, that would've

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helped a little bit too. And then for my son, he's a little bit of a picky eater, so I

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just should've packed double the snacks that he's used to. Cause I packed quite a

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few snacks that he's used to. He has these certain, like, basically, like, healthy

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fig Newtons that he likes to eat all the time, and different things like that, and he

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just wouldn't really eat at the hotel, wouldn't really eat anywhere, and I bought

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him all kid food. But he's just a picky eater, and any time I've heard parents be

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like, "Oh, well, you know, if your kid's a picky eater, just, you know, keep, keep

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offering them food and eventually they'll eat it if they get hungry enough," he

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didn't eat for like four straight days other than the snacks I packed. So I'm like, I

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don't know if that advice works on every kid. I'm not so sure. Like, good for you

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if it does, but I was starting to feel, like, anxious. Like, I don't feel like my kid's

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had enough food at all, and I- Mm ... cannot get him to eat anything. So I

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would've packed double the snacks, but I think that's pretty specific to me. But

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we did stay at the Disneyland Hotel. That was great. He loved the hotel. We got

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a room where his bed, like, came out of the wall like a Murphy bed. And he

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thought that was so cool. Awe. And that was super fun. And the pools were

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great- at the Disneyland Hotel. There's like multiple pools. There's a splash pad.

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Elsie: The pools were a little too good.

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Emma: They were. I mean, he loved it. It was so- because again, he needs to

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like run around a lot of water slides. Lot of water slides. He didn't hardly even

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do the water slides, but he just loves playing. Yeah. Jumping around. So that

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was really great, too, so I'm really glad we did that, and then you could just

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walk over to the park. So I feel like that was great, and I'm sure it's, you know, it

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is pricey compared to other things, but at least for my kid who is only gonna do

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so many lines in the day and you're gonna have lines at the park, I feel like that

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was a good move so then we could avoid like a long Uber drive or anything like

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that.

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Elsie: Yeah. For sure. I loved the proximity of like how you can just walk there

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compared to Florida. Okay. Well, we will, we'll stop our Disney talk there, but I,

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I think it is. It's wonderful. It's magical. Thank you for asking. It's very magical.

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Okay. You know, we love personality tests. So this test is called The 6 Types of

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Working Genius.Workinggenius.com is where it's from. It is a $25 test, so I'm

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just telling you that upfront. I'm gonna read to you the types of genius, so

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maybe if you don't wanna pay the $25 you can just guess. Yeah. because I

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actually think I could have guessed. I was guessing for you, too.

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Emma: Oh, we'll see if you got mine then.

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Elsie: Don't tell me. Yeah, don't tell me. Okay. The first one is invention. You

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are naturally gifted at and derive energy and joy from creating original and

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novel ideas and solutions.

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Emma: Next one is discernment. You are naturally gifted at and derive energy

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and joy from using your intuition and instincts to evaluate and assess ideas or

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plans.

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Elsie: The next one is tenacity. You are capable of and don't mind pushing

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projects and tasks through to completion to ensure that the desired results are

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achieved. I know that that's one of yours. It has to be.

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Emma: Oh, yeah, it is. Okay. It is. All right. Ours are almost the same. We only

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have one that's really different.So we'll get to it. Galvanizing. You are capable of

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and don't mind rallying people and inspiring them to take action around ideas,

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projects, and tasks.

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Elsie: Okay. I nicknamed that one leadership because I think that galvanizing is

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kind of the completely wrong word for what it is.

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Emma: Yeah. In my opinion.Leadership makes more sense to me or

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management. You could call it that. Something where you're like, "I'm gonna

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get a group together and we are gonna get this done.You know?

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Elsie: Okay, and then enablement. So enablement is when you are naturally

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gifted at and derive energy and joy from providing others with encouragement

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and assistance for projects and tasks. So kind of similar to leadership, but more

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of a cheerleader vibe or a good team player vibe.

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Emma: And the last one is wonder. You are naturally gifted at and derive

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energy and joy from pondering the possibility of greater potential and

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opportunity in a given situation.

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Elsie: Okay, tell me your top two.

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Emma: Okay. My top two are invention and discernment.

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Elsie: Ooh.

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Emma: Which I think are yours.

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Elsie: Yeah. Yeah. Oh my gosh. Okay, so tell me your middle two.

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Emma: My middle two are tenacity and wonder. Okay. I think yours is tenacity

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and then cheerleader? What's, what do we... Or leadership? Yeah. Galvanizing,

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Elsie: Yeah. We're already not using the right, let's call it leadership.

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Emma: And then my last ones, which are like the working frustration is

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enablement and galvanizing or leadership. Cool.

00:03:32.000 --> 00:03:33.000
Elsie: So you, like, hated managing and working on teams. I hate working with

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others.

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Emma: I love hanging out with other people. I love having friends, and I hate

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group projects and working on others. I just wanna work by myself. I always

00:03:36.000 --> 00:03:37.000
hated group projects at school too.

00:03:37.000 --> 00:03:38.000
Elsie: Yeah.

00:03:38.000 --> 00:03:39.000
Emma: And it's not because I didn't get along with people. I had friends at

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school. I didn't really have any problems at school. If we were like group project

00:03:40.000 --> 00:03:41.000
time, I was like, "Ugh."

00:03:41.000 --> 00:03:42.000
Elsie: I had some issues with it too, and my kids are having issues with it, and

00:03:42.000 --> 00:03:43.000
I'm, like, clocking it, this might be a solo entrepreneur.

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Emma: One of them seems like she's got leadership, actually. Really? She, like,

00:03:44.000 --> 00:03:45.000
likes to kind of manage and, you know. And one seems like a solo- Mm ... a

00:03:45.000 --> 00:03:46.000
solo gal. Which I understand deeply, because I am also kind of a solo gal.

00:03:46.000 --> 00:03:47.000
Elsie: Okay. So my top two were invention and discernment. So invention,

00:03:47.000 --> 00:03:48.000
creating ideas. I knew, like, that one I knew. Discernment, it kind of means, like,

00:03:48.000 --> 00:03:49.000
instincts. So I, and I kind of knew that one too because a lot of my woo-woo

00:03:49.000 --> 00:03:50.000
friends and, like, my astrologer and everyone says that I'm psychic, but

00:03:50.000 --> 00:03:51.000
someone explained to me once that psychic and, like, having good instincts are

00:03:51.000 --> 00:03:52.000
kind of the same thing. It's just, like, two different ways of saying the same

00:03:52.000 --> 00:03:53.000
thing. Yeah. And so, like, when you feel like, when people feel like you can see

00:03:53.000 --> 00:03:54.000
the future, it also just kind of means, like, I'm good at predicting trends, I'm

00:03:54.000 --> 00:03:55.000
good at recognizing patterns, and that's something I have always known as a

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strength And then, yeah, my middle ones are galvanizing, which is leadership,

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and I, I don't consider myself a strong leader, but I do enjoy rallying people if I

00:03:57.000 --> 00:03:58.000
think that's kind of fun. I mean, I think that through our podcast we sometimes

00:03:58.000 --> 00:03:59.000
rally people. I like encouraging others to, like, do their thing. Yes.

00:03:59.000 --> 00:04:00.000
Emma: Like, I love, like, you know, we've, we're, we both do this, but we've

00:04:00.000 --> 00:04:01.000
been helping each other with our edits. I've been helping my husband with some

00:04:01.000 --> 00:04:02.000
stuff that he's doing at work. And I love helping other people with their stuff,

00:04:02.000 --> 00:04:03.000
but I feel like if it's like, "And now we're making something together," that's

00:04:03.000 --> 00:04:04.000
where I'm like, "I'm not as, like-" I don't know. I don't really wanna do this."

00:04:04.000 --> 00:04:05.000
Elsie: We were born to work at home alone, and I think most introver- or a lot

00:04:05.000 --> 00:04:06.000
of introverts are. That's okay. Yeah. That doesn't mean anything bad. I th- it's a

00:04:06.000 --> 00:04:07.000
strength to enjoy being alone, right? Yeah. And I've actually heard people say

00:04:07.000 --> 00:04:08.000
it's very hard to become a writer if you don't enjoy being alone, so it's good that

00:04:08.000 --> 00:04:09.000
we do.

00:04:09.000 --> 00:04:10.000
Emma: Yeah.

00:04:10.000 --> 00:04:11.000
Elsie: Anyway, and then my low points where I'm not good are enablement,

00:04:11.000 --> 00:04:12.000
which is being a good cheerleader. I think I do struggle working in groups, and

00:04:12.000 --> 00:04:13.000
then wonder, which is, like, like the Zoolander quote, "I think I've got a lot of

00:04:13.000 --> 00:04:14.000
things to ponder." Yeah, I've never really been, like, a ponderer. I've never I've

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never called myself a deep thinker. That's not really my vibe as much. Yeah. I'm

00:04:15.000 --> 00:04:16.000
more of the snap.

00:04:16.000 --> 00:04:17.000
Emma: I've never called you a deep thinker either decisions type of person. Just

00:04:17.000 --> 00:04:18.000
trying to roast you.

00:04:18.000 --> 00:04:19.000
Elsie: Thank you. That's fine. I love a roast. That's one of the reasons I'm sad

00:04:19.000 --> 00:04:20.000
that I'm not famous, is that I will never get a celebrity roast.

00:04:20.000 --> 00:04:21.000
Emma: That's true. That would be one of the best things. That would be so

00:04:21.000 --> 00:04:22.000
great.

00:04:22.000 --> 00:04:23.000
Elsie: And crazy.

00:04:23.000 --> 00:04:24.000
Emma: I think ours are so similar, except for I am a bit more of a ponderer, a

00:04:24.000 --> 00:04:25.000
bit more of a Zoolander ponderer.

00:04:25.000 --> 00:04:26.000
Elsie: I actually predicted that that might be in your top two, because I do think

00:04:26.000 --> 00:04:27.000
of you as a deep thinker and a person who usually gets, like, a couple layers

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below where I get to on, like, a lot of topics. Yeah.

00:04:28.000 --> 00:04:29.000
Emma: And mine is, wonder is, like, one higher category than yours. But it

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wasn't in my very top, and I think that's in part because I feel like people who

00:04:30.000 --> 00:04:31.000
might have it in the top, they're kind of, like, thinking about how they could

00:04:31.000 --> 00:04:32.000
solve the world's problems. You know what I mean? Like, or they're pastors, or

00:04:32.000 --> 00:04:33.000
they're, you know, like that kinda thing, and I'm not really on that level of

00:04:33.000 --> 00:04:34.000
wonder. I'm more, like, what is this book about? I wanna know the deep themes

00:04:34.000 --> 00:04:35.000
of it, and then I'm moving on with my day. So I don't know.

00:04:35.000 --> 00:04:36.000
Elsie: Yeah. But you were a philosophy major in college, so I feel like that'sYeah ... someone who enjoys sitting there thinking.

00:04:36.000 --> 00:04:37.000
Emma: Yeah. Also reading.

00:04:37.000 --> 00:04:38.000
Elsie: Yeah.

00:04:38.000 --> 00:04:39.000
Emma: A lot of reading in philosophy. I love reading, always have. I could read

00:04:39.000 --> 00:04:40.000
the boringest text in the world. Bring it.

00:04:40.000 --> 00:04:41.000
Elsie: Yeah.

00:04:41.000 --> 00:04:42.000
Emma: I can read that, no problem.

00:04:42.000 --> 00:04:43.000
Elsie: Yeah. So anyway, this one was fun. Workinggenius.com. We, we do

00:04:43.000 --> 00:04:44.000
kinda any personality test, so send them to us any time and we'll do it. It's just

00:04:44.000 --> 00:04:45.000
fun.

00:04:45.000 --> 00:04:46.000
Emma: I also say just from the materials they sent, I think this would be a

00:04:46.000 --> 00:04:47.000
really good one to do as a team. Like, so if you have a small business and you're

00:04:47.000 --> 00:04:48.000
like, "We're thinking about hiring," or, "We're looking to, like, do something on

00:04:48.000 --> 00:04:49.000
a weekend retreat or something," I don't know. Like, I think this is a pretty fun

00:04:49.000 --> 00:04:50.000
one because it kind of gives you ideas for how people can work together and

00:04:50.000 --> 00:04:51.000
who could, you know, oh, you have these strengths, so this person has these

00:04:51.000 --> 00:04:52.000
strengths, you know.

00:04:52.000 --> 00:04:53.000
Elsie: That's true.

00:04:53.000 --> 00:04:54.000
Emma: So I think it'd be really nice for that too. I liked it on my own, but I just

00:04:54.000 --> 00:04:55.000
think like, oh, this one actually would be really nice, like, at a company picnic

00:04:55.000 --> 00:04:56.000
or I don't know what people do. As I've already said, I work alone. I don't know.

00:04:56.000 --> 00:04:57.000
So.

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Elsie: Well, we used to manage a team. Yeah. And I will say I thought you

00:04:58.000 --> 00:04:59.000
were, I thought you were very good at it. And I think that understanding other

00:04:59.000 --> 00:05:00.000
people's strengths and being curious about, like, other people's special abilities

00:05:00.000 --> 00:05:01.000
and strengths and, like, where they shine is kind of like, that's part of the special

00:05:01.000 --> 00:05:02.000
sauce of working with a team, and I, I do think that we were pretty good at that,

00:05:02.000 --> 00:05:03.000
like, kind of identifying where people go.

00:05:03.000 --> 00:05:04.000
Emma: I have curiosity and kindness. And I think those things can get you far. .

00:05:04.000 --> 00:05:05.000
I don't necessarily have strong leadership abilities, but I do have curiosity and

00:05:05.000 --> 00:05:06.000
kindness, so. Yeah. And we were working on things that I'm passionate about,

00:05:06.000 --> 00:05:07.000
so I ultimately wanted them to come to life and to do well. So that helps. It's

00:05:07.000 --> 00:05:08.000
tough when people have to work somewhere that they're, like, not passionate

00:05:08.000 --> 00:05:09.000
about at all, because you really gotta muster a lot to get going, you know?

00:05:09.000 --> 00:05:10.000
Elsie: Yeah. That's tough. I haven't, I haven't really had that experience very

00:05:10.000 --> 00:05:11.000
much in life, so I don't know what it's like. Like, I wish I would've worked a

00:05:11.000 --> 00:05:12.000
corporate job for, like, six months just so I had that, like, just so I understand

00:05:12.000 --> 00:05:13.000
what people are talking about. But I don't know. Maybe I would've liked it. I

00:05:13.000 --> 00:05:14.000
don't know. Who knows?

00:05:14.000 --> 00:05:15.000
Emma: Yeah. Who knows?

00:05:15.000 --> 00:05:16.000
Elsie: But yeah. I love the idea that there are all different kinds of genius. I

00:05:16.000 --> 00:05:17.000
think that that is very true, and I think knowing your own strengths gives you

00:05:17.000 --> 00:05:18.000
more confidence, like, in your own career to, like, find your spots where you're

00:05:18.000 --> 00:05:19.000
like, "I know I can do this," and then find other spots where you're like, "I might

00:05:19.000 --> 00:05:20.000
need some support from a knowledgeable person, a mentor, a business partner,"

00:05:20.000 --> 00:05:21.000
whatever, you know? Yeah. So I'm sure if you're living in any kind of the same

00:05:21.000 --> 00:05:22.000
algorithm as us. Well, you're not in an algorithm

00:05:22.000 --> 00:05:23.000
Emma: Nope, not at the moment That's me.

00:05:23.000 --> 00:05:24.000
Elsie: Emma's off. Emma is a happily offline woman. So you've probably heard

00:05:24.000 --> 00:05:25.000
about the book Yesteryear by Cara Clare Burke. So we both read it pretty much

00:05:25.000 --> 00:05:26.000
immediately. I read it the week it came out in 24 hours. It's so compulsive, it's

00:05:26.000 --> 00:05:27.000
so much fun, and we got a request from our friend Caitlin Metz, and I wanted to

00:05:27.000 --> 00:05:28.000
shout out Caitlin's book, Feel Something, Make Something.

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Emma: It’s awesome.

00:05:29.000 --> 00:05:30.000
Elsie: It's a wonderful book, and yeah, if you need something that will kind of

00:05:30.000 --> 00:05:31.000
motivate you to make small little journaling projects, it has so many fun ideas in

00:05:31.000 --> 00:05:32.000
it. So Caitlin sent me 10 points of discussion.

00:05:32.000 --> 00:05:33.000
Emma: Oh, wow.

00:05:33.000 --> 00:05:34.000
Elsie: Through my email of just to talk about for Yesteryear. So I thought we

00:05:34.000 --> 00:05:35.000
might as well like, just like pop through these points of discussion. Wow. Talk

00:05:35.000 --> 00:05:36.000
about it. It's just such a fun book to discuss. It is kind of the perfect.

00:05:36.000 --> 00:05:37.000
Emma: I feel like we talk about our book club a lot. So if you are in a book

00:05:37.000 --> 00:05:38.000
club and it's a fiction book club and you're looking for something that's like kind

00:05:38.000 --> 00:05:39.000
of a fun summer read but still has a lot to discuss, this is the book. If you haven't

00:05:39.000 --> 00:05:40.000
already, like this is the book. Yeah. It is a modern-day trad wife. She gets

00:05:40.000 --> 00:05:41.000
transported back somehow to pioneer time, and she has to live in that, that era.

00:05:41.000 --> 00:05:42.000
So that's sort of the whole story, and it goes back and forth in those two different

00:05:42.000 --> 00:05:43.000
worlds, and you don't even know. I didn't have a sense of what genre it was

00:05:43.000 --> 00:05:44.000
either other than just book club fiction. I feel like people always call books like

00:05:44.000 --> 00:05:45.000
this that kind of thing, women's fiction. I think it's a genre bender. And I think

00:05:45.000 --> 00:05:46.000
everyone knows what a trad wife is. . Even I knew what that was, even though

00:05:46.000 --> 00:05:47.000
I'm a off the internet kinda gal. . I'm not really off the internet.

00:05:47.000 --> 00:05:48.000
Elsie: Have you ever like fallen down a rabbit hole of like watching their videos

00:05:48.000 --> 00:05:49.000
or like were you interested in?

00:05:49.000 --> 00:05:50.000
Emma: Okay. I knew what it was because it's kinda obvious by the name, and

00:05:50.000 --> 00:05:51.000
I've, you know, just been adjacent to all sorts of different kinds of influencers

00:05:51.000 --> 00:05:52.000
over the course of our career. So I had a feeling I knew generally what people

00:05:52.000 --> 00:05:53.000
were upset about and what kind of worldview it represented, but I didn't know

00:05:53.000 --> 00:05:54.000
of any trad wives and hadn't watched any videos of them. So I don't know if this

00:05:54.000 --> 00:05:55.000
is like based on someone or anything like that. I have no idea so.

00:05:55.000 --> 00:05:56.000
Elsie: No, it's definitely fiction, and I think that for people who enjoy trad wife

00:05:56.000 --> 00:05:57.000
content, it's kind of fun to like pick at who inspired what parts, but I think it's

00:05:57.000 --> 00:05:58.000
definitely a culmination of different influencers, not just one person.

00:05:58.000 --> 00:05:59.000
Emma: That makes sense.

00:05:59.000 --> 00:06:00.000
Elsie: Yeah. My favorite trad wife is Nara Smith. I love Nara Smith. I already

00:06:00.000 --> 00:06:01.000
pre-ordered her cookbook. But she's kinda not like really like a trad wife.

00:06:01.000 --> 00:06:02.000
Emma: Oh does she have the amazing outfits because she cooks? She's a model

00:06:02.000 --> 00:06:03.000
lady.

00:06:03.000 --> 00:06:04.000
Elsie: Yeah

00:06:04.000 --> 00:06:05.000
Emma: Yeah, that's her I think I pre-ordered her cookbook too because it just

00:06:05.000 --> 00:06:06.000
looked beautiful with the table dress. Yeah It has a table dress, yes. Yeah. It's

00:06:06.000 --> 00:06:07.000
gonna be, like, just for the photography alone. I love cookbooks, and so I kinda

00:06:07.000 --> 00:06:08.000
saw this somehow and I was like, "Oh, I want that." I pre-ordered Cozy

00:06:08.000 --> 00:06:09.000
Kitchens. I was just on a kick that day of pre-ordering cookbooks. Anyway, so I

00:06:09.000 --> 00:06:10.000
do know a tradwife, because she's a tradwife? Like, technically, but I feel, I

00:06:10.000 --> 00:06:11.000
personally don't really consider her a trad.So people say she is or whatever.

00:06:11.000 --> 00:06:12.000
Elsie: She definitely posts rage bait, and so in that way, I think she's kind of a

00:06:12.000 --> 00:06:13.000
tradwife and I think when she got her start, maybe it was a little more leaning in

00:06:13.000 --> 00:06:14.000
that direction, but I think over time she's kinda got her own and it's, like,

00:06:14.000 --> 00:06:15.000
adorable. So anyway, I have not personally gone too deep, but I know, I know

00:06:15.000 --> 00:06:16.000
about Ballerina Farms. I know the basics, and I'm on TikTok, so I've seen some

00:06:16.000 --> 00:06:17.000
and we all have. It's definitely a cultural phenomenon, and it kind of is rage bait,

00:06:17.000 --> 00:06:18.000
I think, for liberal women, even if I'm not the type of person who would, like,

00:06:18.000 --> 00:06:19.000
leave a mean comment for anyone. No, but I still, I, like, still kind of sit there

00:06:19.000 --> 00:06:20.000
and, like, think about it and stew on it a little bit, which I think is, like, why this

00:06:20.000 --> 00:06:21.000
makes such a good book club book.

00:06:21.000 --> 00:06:22.000
Emma: What also made me think about as I was listening to the book, because

00:06:22.000 --> 00:06:23.000
this one for me was an audiobook, which is really fun, because now I'm like, I

00:06:23.000 --> 00:06:24.000
was doing my paint by numbers. Anyway, and listening to this. Anyway, I also

00:06:24.000 --> 00:06:25.000
thought it was just a lot about fame, and kind of about internet fame, and what it

00:06:25.000 --> 00:06:26.000
means to be, you know, small or big, however you wanna look at it, famous on

00:06:26.000 --> 00:06:27.000
the internet, and how people love you and hate you and want so much from you,

00:06:27.000 --> 00:06:28.000
and say they want nothing from you. And, and I thought that was pretty

00:06:28.000 --> 00:06:29.000
interesting and good, and it could be about a tradwife, but it could be about a

00:06:29.000 --> 00:06:30.000
number of influencers, like all sorts of different people on the internet, because I

00:06:30.000 --> 00:06:31.000
think that phenomenon exists in all sorts of corners. So I thought that part, to

00:06:31.000 --> 00:06:32.000
me, was like really ringing true whether we're talking about tradwives or

00:06:32.000 --> 00:06:33.000
whatever. Anyway, I'm, maybe I'm already getting into some of the discussions

00:06:33.000 --> 00:06:34.000
that they sent us, but- no, no.

00:06:34.000 --> 00:06:35.000
Elsie: It's good. Okay. So Caitlin says, "What religion did she grow up within?"

00:06:35.000 --> 00:06:36.000
"She talks about being Catholic, but then references being born again and a full

00:06:36.000 --> 00:06:37.000
submersion baptism, neither of which happen within Catholicism. Can't decide

00:06:37.000 --> 00:06:38.000
if the author doesn't know or if she is purposefully obscuring it." And then it

00:06:38.000 --> 00:06:39.000
says, "The overall tone is very Midwestern MAGA evangelicalism." I agree

00:06:39.000 --> 00:06:40.000
with this. Okay, so as someone who is an ex-evangelical, I was raised Southern

00:06:40.000 --> 00:06:41.000
Baptist, and I had sort of a traumatic split from it. I did crave more of a specific

00:06:41.000 --> 00:06:42.000
upbringing from the character that. And I think that, like, books like this are a

00:06:42.000 --> 00:06:43.000
mirror, so that's what I was seeing, and I know Caitlin has a similar upbringing

00:06:43.000 --> 00:06:44.000
to me. So yeah, like, I think that a lot of people wanted that, that, like, more

00:06:44.000 --> 00:06:45.000
specificity, but I personally think that the author purposefully obscured the

00:06:45.000 --> 00:06:46.000
religion. Like, kind of like in the movie Wake Up Dead Man, the new Knives

00:06:46.000 --> 00:06:47.000
Out movie, they did the same thing in that movie. Where it was like, it was

00:06:47.000 --> 00:06:48.000
definitely giving MAGA, but it was aesthetically Catholic. And to, I think to

00:06:48.000 --> 00:06:49.000
kind of give a little bit of, like, no fingers pointed perhaps. And I don't know if

00:06:49.000 --> 00:06:50.000
that was the intention behind it, but yeah, if it were my book, which it wasn't, I

00:06:50.000 --> 00:06:51.000
probably would've gone full LDS. But I also think you could've gone MAGA, I

00:06:51.000 --> 00:06:52.000
think with the president father-in-law, the presidential candidate father-in-law, it

00:06:52.000 --> 00:06:53.000
was definitely giving MAGA. Sure. And the... Or is it MAGA? I don't know. I

00:06:53.000 --> 00:06:54.000
don't know.Whatever. And then the other parts of it were, you know, I, I think

00:06:54.000 --> 00:06:55.000
that in general many trad wives are LDS, so yeah, I think that it's also a

00:06:55.000 --> 00:06:56.000
fascinating religion with the sharp specifics of it, so I would've loved to just

00:06:56.000 --> 00:06:57.000
see... Like, that's probably the biggest thing that I personally craved, was just,

00:06:57.000 --> 00:06:58.000
like, a more specific religion. You tell me what you think about the religion.

00:06:58.000 --> 00:06:59.000
Emma: So I also couldn't decide if it was on purpose that it sprinkled in clearly

00:06:59.000 --> 00:07:00.000
a bunch of different things. And it was very Latter-day Saints adjacent, very

00:07:00.000 --> 00:07:01.000
Mormon adjacent too. But it didn't seem to be anything specific other than

00:07:01.000 --> 00:07:02.000
probably Evangelical. But I felt like it didn't nail that either. And I don't really

00:07:02.000 --> 00:07:03.000
know the author's intent. I haven't seen an interview on this or anything. . But if

00:07:03.000 --> 00:07:04.000
it was intentional, which I probably was, because they're editors and all sorts of

00:07:04.000 --> 00:07:05.000
things. Yeah. You know, so probably it was. I think the idea was to kind of point

00:07:05.000 --> 00:07:06.000
out that a lot of these religions, spiritual beliefs, whatever you wanna call them,

00:07:06.000 --> 00:07:07.000
do have elements of this kind of traditional roles that I think the trad wife kind

00:07:07.000 --> 00:07:08.000
of represents. Woman stays home with the children, the man makes money.

00:07:08.000 --> 00:07:09.000
There's other things to it, but, you know, whatever. And I think that that's kind

00:07:09.000 --> 00:07:10.000
of interesting to kind of point out, hey, there's a l- you know, there's not just one

00:07:10.000 --> 00:07:11.000
religion out there saying this. True. There's a lot, so let's put them all into this

00:07:11.000 --> 00:07:12.000
bucket because that's my point here is to be doing a trad wife, not to be doing

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one specific religion or spiritual belief. And if it wasn't on purpose, then it was

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just silly. So I'm assuming it was.

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Elsie: I think it had to be. I'm so curious if there was, like, a draft where it ever

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was, like, a full commitment to a religion or not, or what the, the reason was to

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not commit. But yeah, it was distracting for people like us.But at the same time,

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I think people who were raised outside of a high-control religion didn't seem to

00:07:18.000 --> 00:07:19.000
notice it, because I've talked to a lot of my friends about this book, obviously.

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It's the thing to talk about at the time. It's the thing to talk about.And my friends

00:07:20.000 --> 00:07:21.000
who were not raised in a high-control religion, they were like, "Oh, I thought

00:07:21.000 --> 00:07:22.000
she was Mormon," or, "I thought she was, you know, Evangelical." They're not

00:07:22.000 --> 00:07:23.000
noticing, like, the, the small little details and so I think that it is, it is only

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applicable to a certain, and that's a mirror element.

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Emma: Yeah. And I think you're right. Art's a mirror, and you know, it should

00:07:25.000 --> 00:07:26.000
be, it is inherently.You can't really get away from that, so why not let it be?

00:07:26.000 --> 00:07:27.000
Yeah. But my only really critique of the religion, because I think it's on purposethe whole vagueness of it. I would've loved if our main character, Natalie, had a

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little more, because we're in her head a lot in this book. I would've loved to see

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her actually like her religion, whatever it was, actually have a, some kind of

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personal relationship with a god, any kind of god, Jesus, Lord, whatever y- wewhatever. I just felt like that was a missed opportunity in a way, because to me,

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that's, like, part of what's compelling about wanting to have a lifestyle like this

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or staying in a marriage that you don't like or whatever is because you find

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comfort, peace, joy from your relationship with God, and I didn't feel like she

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had that at all, ever in the book. And I just, you know, I kind of feel like that

00:07:34.000 --> 00:07:35.000
was a little missed opportunity. That's my only, like, real critique of the, the

00:07:35.000 --> 00:07:36.000
portrait of religion in this book was I was like, "Where's the thing where she

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actually believes." Like, even more talk of, like, "Hell's real," more fear, I guess

00:07:37.000 --> 00:07:38.000
would've been okay too. But most of the Evangelicals I grew up knowing, and

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also, by the way, Latter-day Saints that I've known, did feel like they had a

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personal relationship with God, that they could talk to him, that when they

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prayed it meant something. And I think that that kinda matters, because if you

00:07:41.000 --> 00:07:42.000
don't have that, why would you care? You know? I know it's about performance,

00:07:42.000 --> 00:07:43.000
and I'm sure we'll talk about that more. Yeah. because that's a lot of the theme of

00:07:43.000 --> 00:07:44.000
this book is about performing a certain thing. It's not that it's real, it's that you're

00:07:44.000 --> 00:07:45.000
performing it. So, you know, I think she's doing that with religion, but I also just

00:07:45.000 --> 00:07:46.000
felt like what does she like? What does she care about? Religion would've been

00:07:46.000 --> 00:07:47.000
a good choice in my opinion.

00:07:47.000 --> 00:07:48.000
Elsie: Yeah, I do, I like to have that, like, deep sense of motivation, and I think

00:07:48.000 --> 00:07:49.000
that, I actually used to talk to my therapist about this a lot. There's, like, a very

00:07:49.000 --> 00:07:50.000
strong connection between religious fear and OCD behaviors.And it can make

00:07:50.000 --> 00:07:51.000
you do some pretty crazy things. Like, the, just the, the feeling of believing.

00:07:51.000 --> 00:07:52.000
That's why cults, believing that God is in your head talking to you. Which is

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how we were raised.

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Emma: Yes.

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Elsie: Like, the there's just many, many, many things that I did in my life that

00:07:55.000 --> 00:07:56.000
almost, like, verge OCD behavior, like, from the outside because I was so driven

00:07:56.000 --> 00:07:57.000
by fear. So yeah, I agree that that is a... That's, like, an interesting thing. But

00:07:57.000 --> 00:07:58.000
yeah, I, I'm sad, I don't think I'll ever make a book that's about this kind of

00:07:58.000 --> 00:07:59.000
trauma, and I, but I think- Never say never, it's such a fascinating subject, and

00:07:59.000 --> 00:08:00.000
it's so interesting.

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Emma: It is. It is. And I think, you know, this isn't a spoiler. I'm sure we will

00:08:01.000 --> 00:08:02.000
have some spoilers. This isn't one. But this book is kind of a psychological

00:08:02.000 --> 00:08:03.000
thriller. And so I feel like if we're going to do a lot of head stuff, really go there

00:08:03.000 --> 00:08:04.000
with the religion for me. because I do think, as you're saying, as you, you know,

00:08:04.000 --> 00:08:05.000
talk to your therapist about, my therapist said the same thing, there's kind of a

00:08:05.000 --> 00:08:06.000
lot there, and I'm not saying praying to God is crazy. I don't believe that at all.

00:08:06.000 --> 00:08:07.000
But I think the level at which we were raised in is kind of verging into some

00:08:07.000 --> 00:08:08.000
psychosis-type areas at times, depending what's happening, not just prayer

00:08:08.000 --> 00:08:09.000
generally. I wanna be super clear on that. I actually think prayer generally is

00:08:09.000 --> 00:08:10.000
really healthy. But I think the, you know, different levels, and I would've liked

00:08:10.000 --> 00:08:11.000
to seen some of those levels depicted in this fictional book. It would've been

00:08:11.000 --> 00:08:12.000
fun, and I think it would've played into the plot and also the themes of the book.

00:08:12.000 --> 00:08:13.000
But, you know, I don't know. I think, too, we're supposed to understand that

00:08:13.000 --> 00:08:14.000
everything in her life is a performance, so I suppose you could say her religion

00:08:14.000 --> 00:08:15.000
is a performance as well.

00:08:15.000 --> 00:08:16.000
Elsie: Yeah. So since we're bringing up the word performance a lot, let's talk

00:08:16.000 --> 00:08:17.000
about the influencer element of it, because that was my other big react, like, I

00:08:17.000 --> 00:08:18.000
have very strong because Emma and I have kind of been influencers, or we've

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been, you know, whatever you wanna call it, bloggers, public figures, for pretty

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much our whole adult lives I find it really difficult to read fiction about

00:08:20.000 --> 00:08:21.000
influencers, and I knew that going into this. I knew it was gonna. But I was like,

00:08:21.000 --> 00:08:22.000
"Well, it's so unhinged," or I thought it probably would be, that it maybe

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wouldn't bother me, which was true. It didn't bother me as much as, like,

00:08:23.000 --> 00:08:24.000
normally if there's, like, a subplot with an influencer in a book, it just, like,

00:08:24.000 --> 00:08:25.000
grinds on me. Like, I feel like authors just, they show that they know it's a hated

00:08:25.000 --> 00:08:26.000
group, and a, like, harshly judged group, but they never offer us any, like,

00:08:26.000 --> 00:08:27.000
human qualities that I feel like balance that out. I don't know.

00:08:27.000 --> 00:08:28.000
Emma: Yeah. I mean, it's funny because I think a lot of times in, not in this

00:08:28.000 --> 00:08:29.000
particular book, but in other, when they do influencers, they just make them

00:08:29.000 --> 00:08:30.000
seem either very silly, very, like, full of themselves very obsessed with their

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appearance. But they never really show the flip side, which is, like, why are we

00:08:31.000 --> 00:08:32.000
so obsessed with watching them if we think they're so stupid? You know? And I

00:08:32.000 --> 00:08:33.000
think this book did a nice job of let's go back and forth here. She kinda makes

00:08:33.000 --> 00:08:34.000
fun of both groups, or at least shows the weaknesses and the, you know, the

00:08:34.000 --> 00:08:35.000
ugly parts of each, of the person being famous and the people following the

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person being famous, and I think that was interesting and good, excellent

00:08:36.000 --> 00:08:37.000
writing. I think about, like I, since listening to this, I keep thinking about she has

00:08:37.000 --> 00:08:38.000
this part where she talks about Natalie explains that she's a shark, and all the

00:08:38.000 --> 00:08:39.000
people following her are the little parasites eating off of her, and they just wanna

00:08:39.000 --> 00:08:40.000
eat her. For the re- the parasites don't actually eat the shark, but they're eating

00:08:40.000 --> 00:08:41.000
the bacteria on the shark. But at any rate, I thought that was beautiful. And just,

00:08:41.000 --> 00:08:42.000
like, the writing of it, I've butchered it for you here. You should read the book.

00:08:42.000 --> 00:08:43.000
But it was lovely, and I was like, "Yeah, fame is this, like, weird symbiotic

00:08:43.000 --> 00:08:44.000
relationship," and like, you can make fun of the shark all you want, but, like,

00:08:44.000 --> 00:08:45.000
you're still eating off of them, so you're both crazy. You're both, you know,

00:08:45.000 --> 00:08:46.000
you're both participating.

00:08:46.000 --> 00:08:47.000
Elsie: Okay. Yeah. So I know that she is bad. The character is, like, presented as

00:08:47.000 --> 00:08:48.000
kind of a bad person, unlikable. Yeah. I don't think you ever like go through the

00:08:48.000 --> 00:08:49.000
whole book. I don't think you're supposed to like her, and that is totally fine. But

00:08:49.000 --> 00:08:50.000
the one thing that I wish that it had was, like, a little bit more of, like, all

00:08:50.000 --> 00:08:51.000
influencers, but I would say especially extreme people like trad wives, are

00:08:51.000 --> 00:08:52.000
bullied, like, in a way that is, like, almost not human. Like, they are bullied in a

00:08:52.000 --> 00:08:53.000
way that, like, is just, I don't know how to describe it, like, crazy behavior.

00:08:53.000 --> 00:08:54.000
Yeah. And, you know, just the, from both the fans and the detractors, there is

00:08:54.000 --> 00:08:55.000
just this, this gross, poisonous, sort of, like, soup that you have to live in from

00:08:55.000 --> 00:08:56.000
peoples, people talking about you. And I think that it would've been interesting

00:08:56.000 --> 00:08:57.000
to show a little bit more, like, the undeserved, because we do see the deserved

00:08:57.000 --> 00:08:58.000
like consequences of her actions, and there's plenty of those. But also, I think

00:08:58.000 --> 00:08:59.000
every influencer, even the worst person who you think is a bad person, they also

00:08:59.000 --> 00:09:00.000
receive so much undeserved hate, and people will constantly lie and speculate

00:09:00.000 --> 00:09:01.000
about you and make up that isn't true. And I think that that's like a big part of

00:09:01.000 --> 00:09:02.000
being an influencer and being internet famous that was kinda like not shown in

00:09:02.000 --> 00:09:03.000
the book, that can give you a little bit of compassion. You know, because I can

00:09:03.000 --> 00:09:04.000
feel compassion for anyone, any famous person. Yeah. Just because I

00:09:04.000 --> 00:09:05.000
understand what it feels like for people to make shit up about you and for

00:09:05.000 --> 00:09:06.000
everyone to believe it. It's really sad. It is really sad. Yeah, you're just kind of

00:09:06.000 --> 00:09:07.000
the trash service.

00:09:07.000 --> 00:09:08.000
Emma: People think you have a like, you know, have this perfect little life, and

00:09:08.000 --> 00:09:09.000
it's like you're just the dump where everyone throws their trash all the time.

00:09:09.000 --> 00:09:10.000
That's what it really is.

00:09:10.000 --> 00:09:11.000
Elsie: Kind of. But yeah. Yeah.

00:09:11.000 --> 00:09:12.000
Emma: Yeah, there it is.

00:09:12.000 --> 00:09:13.000
Elsie: And there's a ton also of misogyny baked into it, which I, I do think that

00:09:13.000 --> 00:09:14.000
was shown in the book, and I think that's an interesting part, is like when she

00:09:14.000 --> 00:09:15.000
was kinda like handing your ass back to like liberal women, I enjoyed that. I

00:09:15.000 --> 00:09:16.000
think that's fun, how it was like all going in circles all the time.

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Emma: Yeah, it was a good examination of everything.

00:09:17.000 --> 00:09:18.000
Elsie: So Caitlin also brings up, let's talk about the full circle moment of the

00:09:18.000 --> 00:09:19.000
college roommate. I loved that. I love the college roommate.

00:09:19.000 --> 00:09:20.000
Emma: Rena.

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Elsie: Yeah. And I also loved the Target scene where she sees someone that she

00:09:21.000 --> 00:09:22.000
went to high school with. That was one of my favorite scenes. I thought that was

00:09:22.000 --> 00:09:23.000
very nice, like the interiority in that scene was probably like one of my favorite

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parts of the whole book.

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Emma: Yes, I agree. Target scene was great. I didn't necessarily love the full

00:09:25.000 --> 00:09:26.000
circle of Rena. I would've been more interested in a book that made the trad

00:09:26.000 --> 00:09:27.000
wife right. I would've found that more compelling and interesting personally.

00:09:27.000 --> 00:09:28.000
But this does neither and to me a little bit. So in the beginning of the book, we

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have all these like, I think, very, very good criticisms of Rena and the life that

00:09:29.000 --> 00:09:30.000
she's going to have. And, you know, she's going to live this liberal woman

00:09:30.000 --> 00:09:31.000
feminist life. And there's all these criticisms of it that Natalie has of it, and I

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think they're pretty good. Like, they are the weaknesses of that whole

00:09:32.000 --> 00:09:33.000
worldview because every worldview has some weaknesses or trade-offs or

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however you wanna look at it. And then in the end, we kinda see that Rena

00:09:34.000 --> 00:09:35.000
wins, has the good life, Natalie has the bad life, and I just was kinda like, eh.

00:09:35.000 --> 00:09:36.000
Saw that coming a mile away. Don't find it all that interesting. Like, I don't

00:09:36.000 --> 00:09:37.000
know. It was so nice in the beginning. I felt like you saw something. You were

00:09:37.000 --> 00:09:38.000
making us look at something, and then in the end I'm like, eh, I don't know. I

00:09:38.000 --> 00:09:39.000
don't know. It was okay. Did you like it?

00:09:39.000 --> 00:09:40.000
Elsie: I don't know. I really liked that Target scene.

00:09:40.000 --> 00:09:41.000
Emma: That's not Rena, though. That's like the friends from high school.

00:09:41.000 --> 00:09:42.000
Elsie: That's true I don't know. I don't know. I don't wanna comment about the

00:09:42.000 --> 00:09:43.000
ending, but I will say I enjoyed the whole book all the way through. I couldn't

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get enough of it, and I was just like bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam. You

00:09:44.000 --> 00:09:45.000
know what I mean?

00:09:45.000 --> 00:09:46.000
Emma: Oh, yeah. It'sa mover.

00:09:46.000 --> 00:09:47.000
Elsie: Biggest page-turner ever. Yeah.

00:09:47.000 --> 00:09:48.000
Emma: Take this on your ne- your vacation, and you'll be like, "Read the whole

00:09:48.000 --> 00:09:49.000
thing immediately. Loved it."

00:09:49.000 --> 00:09:50.000
Elsie: Okay. Let's talk about Caleb.

00:09:50.000 --> 00:09:51.000
Emma: Okay.

00:09:51.000 --> 00:09:52.000
Elsie: The husband. Caleb is the husband. I loved this character. I thought he

00:09:52.000 --> 00:09:53.000
just, from the beginning when they show you sort of, like, what attracted her

00:09:53.000 --> 00:09:54.000
and then how she feels shortly after their marriage, their, all their issues, the

00:09:54.000 --> 00:09:55.000
solution that she comes up with for helping him become a man, I loved that. I

00:09:55.000 --> 00:09:56.000
love his ending, but we did have the same can't let it go. We did. And I'm not

00:09:56.000 --> 00:09:57.000
sure how to explain it without a spoiler, but I basically feel like I don't think we

00:09:57.000 --> 00:09:58.000
can he had some growth, and she didn't, and I find that odd given their character

00:09:58.000 --> 00:09:59.000
journeys. Okay, let's just say it this way, and I think people who have read it will

00:09:59.000 --> 00:10:00.000
know, and people who haven't read it will know later. The way that he

00:10:00.000 --> 00:10:01.000
transforms by the end, like, in bed, we were like, "Huh? That doesn't make

00:10:01.000 --> 00:10:02.000
sense to me," and I can't let it go. Yeah. Like, I just wanna know, like, how did

00:10:02.000 --> 00:10:03.000
that change? How and why did that change? Yeah. It feels like just a misdirect.

00:10:03.000 --> 00:10:04.000
And it can't really be explained later. It's very confusing. And it's like, okay. It's

00:10:04.000 --> 00:10:05.000
minor. It's a minor thing, but it's still like, all right. I don't know. I don't know

00:10:05.000 --> 00:10:06.000
about that. Yeah. We just were mystified. I was mystified by it, and my brain

00:10:06.000 --> 00:10:07.000
just kept g- circling back and back and back, and it wouldn't let it go, and it's

00:10:07.000 --> 00:10:08.000
like, that's, that's a me problem, but it's fine. Whatever. If everyone else feels the

00:10:08.000 --> 00:10:09.000
same, maybe it's a problem. But I don't know. I don't know.

00:10:09.000 --> 00:10:10.000
Emma: I haven’t heard anyone talk about this specific part very much other

00:10:10.000 --> 00:10:11.000
than you and me.

00:10:11.000 --> 00:10:12.000
Elsie: That's true. Okay, so let's talk about the movie for a moment. So it is

00:10:12.000 --> 00:10:13.000
gonna be a movie. It is going to star Anne Hathaway. I think that is just perfect.

00:10:13.000 --> 00:10:14.000
I can't wait. I think it'll be a great movie. I hope that they lean harder in certain.

00:10:14.000 --> 00:10:15.000
I think that movies are always just an opportunity to, okay, so a book like this is

00:10:15.000 --> 00:10:16.000
probably, I don't know, I'm just guessing, like 90 to 100,000 words, and so just

00:10:16.000 --> 00:10:17.000
so you know, a screenplay is 20,000 words. So it is one-fifth the size of what a

00:10:17.000 --> 00:10:18.000
novel can be, so you can never tell that whole story. You do have to pick and

00:10:18.000 --> 00:10:19.000
choose no matter what, and that's how all movies are, and that's why in movie

00:10:19.000 --> 00:10:20.000
adaptations, you know, that's one reason why sometimes people get, like,

00:10:20.000 --> 00:10:21.000
disappointed, you know, that it doesn't, it left out their favorite part. Okay, so

00:10:21.000 --> 00:10:22.000
let's say what parts we hope they expand on. because I hope they expand on the

00:10:22.000 --> 00:10:23.000
children. I was really interested in the children. I like the Target scene. I would

00:10:23.000 --> 00:10:24.000
like more, more like that. I'd like to see more her social media rise, because I

00:10:24.000 --> 00:10:25.000
felt like that was a little bit condensed in the book. And that's a fascinating

00:10:25.000 --> 00:10:26.000
thing, to see if someone who has eight million followers has had a lot of

00:10:26.000 --> 00:10:27.000
different breakthroughs, and that's just interesting and fascinating, and we get,

00:10:27.000 --> 00:10:28.000
we get in the book to see one big one that is very... I love that scene as well.

00:10:28.000 --> 00:10:29.000
Emma: Yeah, it's good. But yeah, there's just one.

00:10:29.000 --> 00:10:30.000
Elsie: What do you hope they expand on? Well, I love, in the book, I love the

00:10:30.000 --> 00:10:31.000
college scenes.

00:10:31.000 --> 00:10:32.000
Emma: I think that's some of the strongest part. And I'm curious, you know, if

00:10:32.000 --> 00:10:33.000
they're going to even do it or if they're gonna take the information and the things

00:10:33.000 --> 00:10:34.000
that you learn from that time of her life and kind of move it to a later timeline.

00:10:34.000 --> 00:10:35.000
Not because Anne Hathaway couldn't play a college student, because frankly, I

00:10:35.000 --> 00:10:36.000
think she could do it. I think she can. She looks amazing. She can do all the

00:10:36.000 --> 00:10:37.000
ages. I'm not worried about it. But I just wonder if they'll move, move it,

00:10:37.000 --> 00:10:38.000
because I just think, like, you could probably get the same information about

00:10:38.000 --> 00:10:39.000
basically two different worldviews. We're, like, seeing that through roommates.

00:10:39.000 --> 00:10:40.000
Elsie: Yeah.

00:10:40.000 --> 00:10:41.000
Emma: So it's like, could we do that later? I don't know, I, probably, but I'm not

00:10:41.000 --> 00:10:42.000
really a screenwriter. So I don't know. But I'm very excited for the movie. I also

00:10:42.000 --> 00:10:43.000
feel like we haven't said, and I wanna make sure we say this I think the writing

00:10:43.000 --> 00:10:44.000
is so good in this book. Like, if you are interested in writing, if you like writing,

00:10:44.000 --> 00:10:45.000
if you're like, because I feel like we're talking about the book, it is very

00:10:45.000 --> 00:10:46.000
commercial, it's very fun, it's very, like, book club read. It also has, like, in my

00:10:46.000 --> 00:10:47.000
opinion, extremely upmarket, if not literary, writing. It's gorgeous. So if you like

00:10:47.000 --> 00:10:48.000
just interesting sentence structure, beautiful metaphors, I think this book is great

00:10:48.000 --> 00:10:49.000
for that.

00:10:49.000 --> 00:10:50.000
Elsie: Yeah. I loved the writing, and I think that, I think it is upmarket writing

00:10:50.000 --> 00:10:51.000
that goes unhinged. Yeah. And I just thought it was delicious and amazing.

00:10:51.000 --> 00:10:52.000
Emma: Yeah. You should be eating popcorn while you read this. Yeah. It's just

00:10:52.000 --> 00:10:53.000
fun.

00:10:53.000 --> 00:10:54.000
Elsie: And I guess the biggest, the biggest compliment that I wanna give to

00:10:54.000 --> 00:10:55.000
Carol Claire Burke for, because this is her debut.

00:10:55.000 --> 00:10:56.000
Emma: Yeah.

00:10:56.000 --> 00:10:57.000
Elsie: So that means it's her first published novel, which is, like, a very, very big

00:10:57.000 --> 00:10:58.000
deal. I cannot wait to see what she writes next.

00:10:58.000 --> 00:10:59.000
Emma: I can't wait.

00:10:59.000 --> 00:11:00.000
Elsie: I have no idea what it'll be. Yeah, I am so happy- And also no pressure

00:11:00.000 --> 00:11:01.000
for her success.

00:11:01.000 --> 00:11:02.000
Emma: Write whatever you want, because I think you, it could be so scary to

00:11:02.000 --> 00:11:03.000
have big success, and then, you know.

00:11:03.000 --> 00:11:04.000
Elsie: No she has so much pressure. Just keep being unhinged. But it's like, just

00:11:04.000 --> 00:11:05.000
whatever.

00:11:05.000 --> 00:11:06.000
Emma: I'm interested in anything. Go ahead and write it, whatever it is.

00:11:06.000 --> 00:11:07.000
Elsie: Because it'll be great. I feel like whatever subject she chooses, you can

00:11:07.000 --> 00:11:08.000
trust her now to take it to a 12 out of 10, and I just think that's wonderful. Okay,

00:11:08.000 --> 00:11:09.000
so Caitlin says, "The confluence of mental health, religion, morality, social

00:11:09.000 --> 00:11:10.000
media. Holy I have lived this experience in my family, and wow, the nail hit." I

00:11:10.000 --> 00:11:11.000
agree. I think that stuffing all those things together in the same little package is

00:11:11.000 --> 00:11:12.000
so incredibly satisfying for anyone.

00:11:12.000 --> 00:11:13.000
Emma: It's just, it's a lot. Well, I will say, like, in a personal note, I didn't

00:11:13.000 --> 00:11:14.000
particularly enjoy the experience of reading this book. I thought it was

00:11:14.000 --> 00:11:15.000
beautifully written. I think, like, it's such a strong premise. Like, I get the

00:11:15.000 --> 00:11:16.000
success of it, and I definitely would recommend it for a book club pick. But,

00:11:16.000 --> 00:11:17.000
like, Emma Chapman, I didn't really enjoy. It's just very cynical, and I like, I

00:11:17.000 --> 00:11:18.000
like optimism and, you know, I read a lot of romance. I also like weird stuff. I'm

00:11:18.000 --> 00:11:19.000
like, "Bring me your aliens. Bring me your, you know, like, I like, you know,

00:11:19.000 --> 00:11:20.000
kind of science fiction, science fiction adjacent, speculative, like, you know, I

00:11:20.000 --> 00:11:21.000
don't know. And so this wasn't for me, like, my typical to me, this wasn't

00:11:21.000 --> 00:11:22.000
particularly enjoying, an enjoyment read. It was kind of, like, for me, kinda

00:11:22.000 --> 00:11:23.000
dark, which is funny to say about a book that's, like, about trad wives, but I'm

00:11:23.000 --> 00:11:24.000
like, no, it's just very cynical.

00:11:24.000 --> 00:11:25.000
Elsie: I think that it is a painful read, and I think that's intentional.

00:11:25.000 --> 00:11:26.000
Emma: I think you like a painful read.

00:11:26.000 --> 00:11:27.000
Elsie: I do.

00:11:27.000 --> 00:11:28.000
Emma: And I'm kind of like, "I'm good on that."

00:11:28.000 --> 00:11:29.000
Elsie: The knife twisting is pretty extreme. But I found it delightful, yeah.

00:11:29.000 --> 00:11:30.000
Emma: She twists it. So if you're wanting that, get ready. And if you're like, "I

00:11:30.000 --> 00:11:31.000
like a happy book," that's me, too, so I see you, girl, because that's what I feel

00:11:31.000 --> 00:11:32.000
like, so. It's not a romance. It doesn't make you feel horny. I really like a book

00:11:32.000 --> 00:11:33.000
that makes you feel horny. This does not do that. She made no promises about

00:11:33.000 --> 00:11:34.000
that, but it makes you feel un-horny. It does. What's the word for, I don't know

00:11:34.000 --> 00:11:35.000
She, she's just not in the mood now. Like, dry as a bone after reading this.

00:11:35.000 --> 00:11:36.000
Elsie: Okay, this is the last thing I'm gonna read from Caitlin's incredible,

00:11:36.000 --> 00:11:37.000
wonderful email.

00:11:37.000 --> 00:11:38.000
Emma: I know. They wrote the whole episode for us, babe.

00:11:38.000 --> 00:11:39.000
Elsie: Yes. Thank you. Thank you, Caitlin. So the pretending you're being

00:11:39.000 --> 00:11:40.000
watched to push through impossible expectations to be good, Santa in the sky,

00:11:40.000 --> 00:11:41.000
Jesus in your chimney, performing on Instagram, the Venn diagram of that, I

00:11:41.000 --> 00:11:42.000
completely agree. Like, this is what I was talking about with the therapy stuff

00:11:42.000 --> 00:11:43.000
earlier. I think that it is very psychological, like the, the need to prove to

00:11:43.000 --> 00:11:44.000
yourself, to others. I don't think we've talked yet about her sister relationship. I

00:11:44.000 --> 00:11:45.000
loved her up sister relationship.

00:11:45.000 --> 00:11:46.000
Emma: Her mom has some up too, but it's like, I don't know. To me, it is

00:11:46.000 --> 00:11:47.000
obvious, but it's also like her mom's also, like, kind of an anchor in the book, so.

00:11:47.000 --> 00:11:48.000
Elsie: Yeah. Anyway, I think that that, the pretending to be watched Is an

00:11:48.000 --> 00:11:49.000
interesting part. Yes.

00:11:49.000 --> 00:11:50.000
Emma: Yeah. It also made me think about, I don't know if this character has

00:11:50.000 --> 00:11:51.000
postpartum depression, but I would venture to guess maybe. I've also had

00:11:51.000 --> 00:11:52.000
seasons of that in my life, and I think that it has an element of that too where

00:11:52.000 --> 00:11:53.000
you're like, "I wanna be a good mother. I do, sincerely, and I feel really beaten

00:11:53.000 --> 00:11:54.000
down with it right now because I'm not sleeping, because I can't get my kid to

00:11:54.000 --> 00:11:55.000
latch, because I, you know, something, something that I feel like I should be

00:11:55.000 --> 00:11:56.000
able to do, I can't, and it makes me feel like I can't be the person that I wanna

00:11:56.000 --> 00:11:57.000
be. I feel like I have to perform, like keep going through the motions of this to

00:11:57.000 --> 00:11:58.000
get there." And it's just this kinda like, it kinda messes with your head and it

00:11:58.000 --> 00:11:59.000
makes you feel very down and depressed. And I think, like, they show

00:11:59.000 --> 00:12:00.000
motherhood in this book, along with religion, along with performing online,

00:12:00.000 --> 00:12:01.000
along with being a woman, and I think, you know, all those things have an

00:12:01.000 --> 00:12:02.000
element of sometimes there's something about that role that you don't feel like

00:12:02.000 --> 00:12:03.000
you can do, but you kinda, you want to be good at it, or it matters to you on

00:12:03.000 --> 00:12:04.000
some level.

00:12:04.000 --> 00:12:05.000
Elsie: Or it hurts to be bad.

00:12:05.000 --> 00:12:06.000
Emma: Yeah, it hurts to be bad, or, you know, you don't want other people to

00:12:06.000 --> 00:12:07.000
see you being bad at it because it's the shame. Yeah, so there's, you know, all of

00:12:07.000 --> 00:12:08.000
those things, too. I mainly was like, "Oh, this character has postpartum

00:12:08.000 --> 00:12:09.000
depression. Maybe someone should get her some help." Offering her drugs or, I

00:12:09.000 --> 00:12:10.000
don't know, like, just like, ugh, it's not good.

00:12:10.000 --> 00:12:11.000
Elsie: Yeah. Okay, so to summarize, you have to read it. The book is Yesteryear

00:12:11.000 --> 00:12:12.000
by Caro Clare Burke. I think that it has some, like, and definitely not all, but I

00:12:12.000 --> 00:12:13.000
think it has some similarities to last year's All Fours by Miranda July, like in the

00:12:13.000 --> 00:12:14.000
way that it's just exciting to talk about to everyone you see. It's just that, it's that

00:12:14.000 --> 00:12:15.000
kind of book. Like, if you like to talk about books to other people who like to

00:12:15.000 --> 00:12:16.000
talk about books, you gotta read this book, because it is that girl for 2026. And

00:12:16.000 --> 00:12:17.000
I, I don't know, I thought it was delightful, but also painful, and also I did feel

00:12:17.000 --> 00:12:18.000
enraged in some parts. I think that it's designed to give you strong feelings, so

00:12:18.000 --> 00:12:19.000
you're not gonna like everything about it, and that is normal. I think that you're

00:12:19.000 --> 00:12:20.000
kinda not experiencing it if you're just nodding your head the whole time. Like,

00:12:20.000 --> 00:12:21.000
you're going to have points where you're like, "that," or whatever. And I think

00:12:21.000 --> 00:12:22.000
that that's good.

00:12:22.000 --> 00:12:23.000
Emma: Yeah. So my husband listened to it as well, and we have had many

00:12:23.000 --> 00:12:24.000
discussions about it, so if you're needing, if your husband reads, if your partner

00:12:24.000 --> 00:12:25.000
reads, here's anotherGet it for them, too. It's fun. The birthday present I got for

00:12:25.000 --> 00:12:26.000
Trey last week, and he already read it by Sunday when I saw him. So it is

00:12:26.000 --> 00:12:27.000
definitely a fun book. I was like you have to read this so we can talk about it at

00:12:27.000 --> 00:12:28.000
the pool all summer. And he was like, done, immediately.

00:12:28.000 --> 00:12:29.000
Elsie: Yeah, I hope that we sold it. I hope that you read it. I don't think that we

00:12:29.000 --> 00:12:30.000
gave anything away that is a major spoiler. Okay, enjoy All right, let's move on

00:12:30.000 --> 00:12:31.000
to our hot take debate. This one is from Pauline. Teaching kids, quote-unquote,

00:12:31.000 --> 00:12:32.000
"child appropriate terms," euphemisms for words that you are uncomfortable

00:12:32.000 --> 00:12:33.000
with as an adult, like words for going to the bathroom, private parts, pain, et

00:12:33.000 --> 00:12:34.000
cetera, is ridiculous and will only instill this discomfort in them as well in the

00:12:34.000 --> 00:12:35.000
future. Just teach them the real words. Okay. Strong opinion?

00:12:35.000 --> 00:12:36.000
Emma: I don’t really have a strong opinion about this. I do think it can be really

00:12:36.000 --> 00:12:37.000
valuable to make sure kids know what private parts are called. Penis. We say

00:12:37.000 --> 00:12:38.000
vagina. We've had a discussion though because it's really vulva and, but I feel

00:12:38.000 --> 00:12:39.000
like most people say vagina, and so I didn't under- I wasn't sure what to even

00:12:39.000 --> 00:12:40.000
teach my kids. They're both boys, so it actually doesn't come up that much. And

00:12:40.000 --> 00:12:41.000
they're little, so. Penis comes up a lot more because they like to walk around.

00:12:41.000 --> 00:12:42.000
Elsie: It'll come up more, I promise you.

00:12:42.000 --> 00:12:43.000
Emma: Well, when they get older, I want them to actually use the real word,

00:12:43.000 --> 00:12:44.000
which is vulva. Anyway, that's a side note. But I think that can be good because

00:12:44.000 --> 00:12:45.000
if there was ever a scenario where something got touched, there was some

00:12:45.000 --> 00:12:46.000
inappropriate touching, they can tell you specifically where they were touched.

00:12:46.000 --> 00:12:47.000
Otherwise, it can kind of turn into this sort of vague thing, and I think, you

00:12:47.000 --> 00:12:48.000
know. But if you feel like you got a handle on that with your euphemisms, all

00:12:48.000 --> 00:12:49.000
right. I don't know. For me, I feel like they come up for us just, because they're

00:12:49.000 --> 00:12:50.000
silly. Like, I usually say booty, and it's not because I don't ever say butt around

00:12:50.000 --> 00:12:51.000
them or, I don't know, anus. I don't know. Like, I don't even feel like I say that to

00:12:51.000 --> 00:12:52.000
myself, but I'm not trying to avoid the word butt. I just say booty. I don't know

00:12:52.000 --> 00:12:53.000
why. It just come, it just, a lot of times they do this little dance at night, and we

00:12:53.000 --> 00:12:54.000
call it the booty dance. You know, it's a little bit of a private family thing. I'm

00:12:54.000 --> 00:12:55.000
not gonna explain it to you. Yeah. You can guess what it is. But at any rate, it's

00:12:55.000 --> 00:12:56.000
cute to call it booty dance, and I feel like butt dance isn't as cute. I don't know. I

00:12:56.000 --> 00:12:57.000
guess we do say ouchie for when they get hurt. Like, "Show me where it's

00:12:57.000 --> 00:12:58.000
ouchie." But I'm not really trying to avoid anything. It's more like I'm trying to

00:12:58.000 --> 00:12:59.000
help them understand something. I don't know. Okay. So I don't, I don't really

00:12:59.000 --> 00:13:00.000
feel strongly about this. I feel very like, yeah, I see your point. I also feel like

00:13:00.000 --> 00:13:01.000
that's hard to do. Some of the words are very advanced. I don't know.

00:13:01.000 --> 00:13:02.000
Elsie: Okay. Yeah, I wanna talk about cursing as well. First of all, in our family,

00:13:02.000 --> 00:13:03.000
we say breasts and we say boobies. I feel like we kinda just cover all of it. I'm

00:13:03.000 --> 00:13:04.000
fine with it. I've taught them plenty with the real terms, but at the same time, I

00:13:04.000 --> 00:13:05.000
don't think baby talk is, like, gross or anything.I just don't, I don't really care.

00:13:05.000 --> 00:13:06.000
But okay, what I wanna talk about, which is not your point, Pauline, I'm sorry, is

00:13:06.000 --> 00:13:07.000
cursing. Okay, so curse words. Euphemisms for curse words. I think curse word

00:13:07.000 --> 00:13:08.000
euphemisms are So cheesy. Like, so, like I just don't want my kids to grow up

00:13:08.000 --> 00:13:09.000
being like, "Heck no."

00:13:09.000 --> 00:13:10.000
Emma: No offense if you say heck no, but now you know how we feel about it.

00:13:10.000 --> 00:13:11.000
Elsie:Or like, I don't know. One of my, like, parenting hot takes is my children

00:13:11.000 --> 00:13:12.000
are going to learn all the bad words in the world, in the whole rainbow anyway,

00:13:12.000 --> 00:13:13.000
so they might as well learn them from Post Malone. I just don't think that it's a

00:13:13.000 --> 00:13:14.000
big deal, and I also think it's, like, kinda cool too. Like, I think it makes them

00:13:14.000 --> 00:13:15.000
feel cool and acknowledged when you explain what it is, and then you explain

00:13:15.000 --> 00:13:16.000
to them, like, "This is a word you can't say at school, you can't say around other

00:13:16.000 --> 00:13:17.000
adults. Like, you can only say it in when you're singing this Post Malone song

00:13:17.000 --> 00:13:18.000
in our company with permission. I don't know. I just think it's part of growing

00:13:18.000 --> 00:13:19.000
up, and you do have to learn all this stuff at some point. So I guess I agree with

00:13:19.000 --> 00:13:20.000
Pauline in that there's nothing that a child can't understand. I don't think

00:13:20.000 --> 00:13:21.000
everything needs to be coded. My kids understand, like, the majority of what I

00:13:21.000 --> 00:13:22.000
try to teach them, and more than I think they will usually. Sometimes less. It

00:13:22.000 --> 00:13:23.000
depends. But yeah. And we haven't had problems with cursing in public, and we

00:13:23.000 --> 00:13:24.000
haven't had problems with saying, like, explicit body parts in public, so I just

00:13:24.000 --> 00:13:25.000
don't consider it's a non-issue. Yeah. It hasn't been, there hasn't been any issue

00:13:25.000 --> 00:13:26.000
that's come up for us with it.

00:13:26.000 --> 00:13:27.000
Emma: But mainly, yeah, to me it's the body parts. I'm like, I think it's, I think

00:13:27.000 --> 00:13:28.000
there's some value with them being able to say, "My penis hurts."

00:13:28.000 --> 00:13:29.000
Elsie: Yeah.

00:13:29.000 --> 00:13:30.000
Emma: I think there's some value there. I also think, like, if he said whatever

00:13:30.000 --> 00:13:31.000
our little code word was somewhere else, they might not know what he's talking

00:13:31.000 --> 00:13:32.000
about. So if he needed to tell a teacher at school, "My penis hurts," and he used

00:13:32.000 --> 00:13:33.000
a different word, they'd probably get it, but maybe not, and that's not ideal if he's

00:13:33.000 --> 00:13:34.000
needing help, if something's happened, if, you know.

00:13:34.000 --> 00:13:35.000
Elsie: Yeah.

00:13:35.000 --> 00:13:36.000
Emma: But I also think, like, I don't know, sometimes it's hard to use the very

00:13:36.000 --> 00:13:37.000
correct medical big word just because it's difficult to say or to explain, and I

00:13:37.000 --> 00:13:38.000
think that's fine, too. We're just helping kids get there. If there's, like, stepping

00:13:38.000 --> 00:13:39.000
stones to the real word. I don't really view that as a big deal.

00:13:39.000 --> 00:13:40.000
Elsie: I guess I do agree with the idea that if your parents refuse to say it, it

00:13:40.000 --> 00:13:41.000
makes it weird for you the first time you need to say it. So maybe it's a little

00:13:41.000 --> 00:13:42.000
better if your parents just act like, who cares? Yeah. Who cares, everyone? Who

00:13:42.000 --> 00:13:43.000
cares? And now it's time for a joke or a fact or a meditation with Nova. Hey,

00:13:43.000 --> 00:13:44.000
Nova. What do you have for us this week?

00:13:44.000 --> 00:13:45.000
Nova: A joke.

00:13:45.000 --> 00:13:46.000
Elsie: Okay, I'm ready.

00:13:46.000 --> 00:13:47.000
Nova: What is a cheetah's favorite food?

00:13:47.000 --> 00:13:48.000
Elsie: What is it?

00:13:48.000 --> 00:13:49.000
Nova: Fast food.

00:13:49.000 --> 00:13:50.000
Elsie: Good job.

00:13:50.000 --> 00:13:51.000
Nova: Bye bye, and have a great week.

00:13:51.000 --> 00:13:52.000
Elsie: Have a great week. Thank you so much for listening. If you have a topic

00:13:52.000 --> 00:13:53.000
idea you'd like for us to add to our summer schedule, email us anytime at

00:13:53.000 --> 00:13:54.000
podcast@abeautifulmess.com. Thank you to everyone who's already been

00:13:54.000 --> 00:13:55.000
sending topics because we are getting ahead, and we're using your ideas.

00:13:55.000 --> 00:13:56.000
Emma: I feel like we should say we're doing summer episodes because I can't

00:13:56.000 --> 00:13:57.000
tell you how many emails we got where they're like, either way, no pressure, but

00:13:57.000 --> 00:13:58.000
I really want episodes this summer, so here's my best ideas. Yes. Like, they're

00:13:58.000 --> 00:13:59.000
just, so nice. So nice. And I'm like, okay, everyone really is trying to, like be

00:13:59.000 --> 00:14:00.000
writers for us, so we'll keep going, so thank you.

00:14:00.000 --> 00:14:01.000
Elsie: We love you.

00:14:01.000 --> 00:14:02.000
Emma: We're doing it.

00:14:02.000 --> 00:14:03.000
Elsie: We’re doing summer. Thank you. And yeah, keep sending us your most

00:14:03.000 --> 00:14:04.000
unhinged ideas because for summer we're considering it kind of like bonus

00:14:04.000 --> 00:14:05.000
season, and we'll kind of just do whatever, so. Woo-hoo.

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