It’s Friday! Emily’s still out sick, so producer Nina is putting Leah and special guest Lauren to the test with the most intriguing parenting dilemmas sent into Mum Club. This week, they tackle how to survive the mind-numbing parts of playtime, whether parents should warn you if a kids’ party isn’t fully funded, and Leah’s top frozen school lunch hacks.
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Yeah, I'm just like highlighting what I need to say, holding highloading, shut up, just hoy looading. Hello and welcome to mum Club. I am Leah Gouless otherwise known as Yahya, and I am here today because Emily is still off sick and we've got the lovely Lauren Robinson, our kids sports parenting writer. You did such a good job last time towards I decided to get you back on you.
Thank you. I was nervous, could you tell no, not at all?
That it's good to know.
And because you're also good at your job, I decided to bring you back.
Not that I have a choice, thank you.
I do have to bring here every Friday, that is my job. I do have a question that Yeah, you and m haven't had some sort of Oasis style like falling out, have you? So I feel like you're not recording a lot together. So I know the public wants to know. Are you guys feuding?
Yeah? I have no problem with her. Isn't that what most of them saying?
No, I was off, like legit, on annual leave, and then I came back for a little bit and then I got sick.
Yeah, and now she's she's not sick. Her little one is.
Sick, all right, blake lively with stick and sticking with them.
You can like check the videos and like analyze all of our body language.
Let us know.
Yeah, let's do a cut of that, all right? Shall we get some questions?
Sure? Now?
If you have questions that you would like answered.
You should write into Mumclub atnews dot com dot are you, or you can get us on Instagram and TikTok at mum club podcast.
Well done, all right? Question one? Hi, mom Club, love the show. Thank you. I'm a mom to a two year old, and I have a confession. I hate playing. I hate the park. I hate building blocks. It's so painfully boring. I don't mind reading with my son. But I have to admit I'm yearning for the days when my life does not revolve around park visits alone.
In this you've come to the right place because Los has a two year old?
How do you feel about that?
I love playing?
Do you?
I do?
I live vicariously through my son. Here's a little kitchen. That thing is so fun. I like pretend.
Yeah.
I don't know.
Maybe I'm just like really unleashing my inner child a little bit. I'm not a fan of the park though.
No is only one a fan of the park, No, anywhere where you need to participate. When my kids were two around to two to about five, I had a cubby house that I enjoyed a lot playing in and like also decking it out, so I made it really lush, and I did enjoy having lunch out there sometimes, and they'd like have lunch with me. Yeah, but I get it, like it's it is exhausting, but it sounds like maybe you need a little bit more of me time. It sounds like maybe you're all just like play play play kid kid kid.
Yeah.
Is there some way that you can get out and do something that you enjoy in the mix and then you might not feel like it's so much of a chore.
Yeah.
The other thing is I think to remember, like it feels like the park days will never end.
They do, they do, and it's glorious.
It's glorious, but it's also really fast, like it's over. Yeah, your kids, before you know it will be at an age where they don't want to go to the park with you. Yeah, or most places with you, unless this's Mecca is your credit card.
That's there's a park when they hit ten.
So you know, you don't have to love it, and probably not that many people do, but just you know, stick it out. It's not going to be that long. Yeah, yeah, yeah, And maybe like what about more fun like art projects, like can you make play a bit more interesting? Like building blocks is not fun to an adult obviously, no, but maybe you can do a little interactive sensory stuff.
There's so much out there, like resources and inspiration for sensory activities on TikTok or kid spot and yeah, yeah, Kmine has a whole bunch of stuff too.
Yeah.
Well, maybe even like something that you're passionate about and like bring them into it and then that way you get to do something that you enjoy. I really loved Mindful Drawing during COVID when you just like listen to like a like a meditation you type mindful like podcast or whatever, and that it's but it's linked to the book. And then so as you're coloring like a lion that's got like about one fifty billion segments that you have to color in, you're listening to this podcast at the same time. That sounds really boring, but it was during COVID, so it was like you know it calm, and I enjoyed it.
And because I liked it, the kids then got involved in it, and then they did like it. Maybe lead with something you love.
Yeah, when in.
Doubt, just stick them in a box with some crayons.
Yeah, or make a mess. I loved like kids Spot. I think it has a really good recipe for like fake snow. You can make it cloud like cloud dough and stuff. When you can do your little figurines in it. I've always enjoyed that. Yeah. See, if there's something else that you could do, it's more fun. But also just stick it out. It's not going to be forever.
Yeah, it's not going to be forever. It is that cliche, isn't it?
All right?
Question two? Yes, all right, Hi ladies. I just got back from what might be the worst kids party ever, and I wanted to share. It was a party at a play center, so I assumed that they would have bought a party package, but no. When I arrived, I had to pay the normal entry fee, and I quickly realized there was no food provided either. Basically, this woman just invited us all to come and play at the center at the same time and called it a party. I was really pissed off. My husband doesn't think it's a big deal. I just think if you can't afford to have a party like that, then don't have one. And this approach of not communicating that we would have to pay for entry and food was really rude. What are your thoughts?
I did?
You can't be that angry about not having some really shitty chicken nuggets?
Come on, like those party centers speak of the cold shits.
Yeah, I mean maybe this person couldn't afford the whole party package. Times are tough, mate, And those party place is they're expensive, like there now like thirty five forty bucks per kid, and they.
Charge for parents to just sit there and more do they Yeah?
Oh wow, I didn't know that they charged for parents.
But then do you think that you should communicate that, like what are you going to what are you going to say?
Though? Put on the invite like food not provided?
But maybe you can say, like, you know, come join us for a play. This is not like a party. You have to pay your own I think you should communicate if someone's going to have to fork out thirty bucks.
Hang on, so did they pay they paid their own entry?
Yeah?
Oh, I thought they just didn't pay for the party package.
No, they didn't pay it, like it wasn't a party. Basically, she just it sounds like.
She' said, oh, yeah, that's rough.
They just divided to be there at the same time and called it a party.
Oh yeah, that's rough. Nah, okay, I pivot pivoting. I just said, yeah, that's rough. You have to say something.
Yeah, yeah, you need a heads up for sure.
Yeah, if you're going to host a party, you have to pay for something. And even if you can't afford the whole thing, at least pay for their entry and then get like a couple of like bags of Allan's lollies and just chuck them in some bowls, some cheesels whatever, cheesels.
I love a cheesel at a party.
Yeah, but like communicate, I reckon, you need to communicate.
Yeah, I'd be annoyed too. Did you take your your present back? Maybe you should have.
I hope it was a no present party.
Didn't realize that this was a party, So I'm taking my prison back.
Yeah. Those parties, so like there are always such a nightmare. I did one that was like a laser tag and I was at the stage where I thought we had to invite the whole class.
Oh I hate those ones.
And I didn't realize that. Like then the rest of the year happened and no one else did, and I was like, Okay, this is the year we could have done smaller parties, which is great to know.
And it was so you were first up, were you? You know? I don't know.
Anyway, we invited it like heapes of kids, and then like one showed up who had an RSP paid and I was paying per head. Yeah, so I had to kind of scramble and just go over and pay extra. And then that kid didn't play laser tagh.
Yeah.
I hate that when people come and then they don't participate, and it's like, could you tell me that beforehand?
Yeah, I have paid for you to participate.
Yeah, or like don't show up without rsvping and then not Yeah, they saw me go like no worries, I'll go and pay like their problem, and then still didn't play lest ah.
Yeah that's annoying. Well, also very annoying is when they bring their bloody siblings and then you're stuck.
Yeah.
I'm actually a bit when it comes to that kind of stuff.
I'm like I'm having a smaller party. If you bring your siblings, that's on you, and then they just kind of hang around expecting I'm.
Like, no, no, perfect. Yeah, but yeah it is. Times are tough. But also then be considerate of the guests, right, Yeah, times are tough for these parents too. They need to know if they have to fork out thirty bucks. Yeah, totally.
Yeah.
Are you doing birthday parties yet? We've done the first one?
Yeah, this one year party, that's a big, whole higher hole, FEMA all that stuff. This year, I don't know if we're doing a party because last year's like, I'm still exhausted, stressful.
The first birthday, isn't that? Did you do a big one?
Yeah?
I did Mickey Mouse themed. I made my own cake, thank you very much. It was actually a really good cake. Yeah.
Yeah.
Now I did rainbow rainbow everything, rainbow food like whole thing.
Yeah.
Never again.
He did Teddy Bear picnic. Oh that's cute, which was really fun.
Yeah all right. Question three, Hello, it feels like my eleven year old's extracurriculars are out of control. It's starting to interfere with our family time. Between homework, school projects, and after school activities. There's no time left to relax or bond. My husband is big on all the activities our sun does, but I'm exhausted and I feel like he must be two. How do I convince my husband that we all need to slow down?
You get him to take him to the all of the activities, That's what I would do, and then sign the divorce papers afterwards.
I'm very big on not too many activities because I don't want my kids to be overwhelmed with homework and stuff like that. They get a shitload. Yeah. Also, like it's a long day, it's tiring, right, So I allow them to do one activity like sport wise outside of school, and then if they want to do something extra they can at school. So like the co curricular eats into like after school time. I let them do that, but it's one sport after school only.
Otherwise I can't keep up. I'm exhausted myself.
Yeah. You can't go home from work and then be running around, right, Yeah.
No one wants to do that.
You want to just sit down on the couch and scroll Instagram until it's dinner time and then wonder what's dinner?
Because no one's no one's.
Good for dinner, and I'm the person that takes them everywhere because my husband still is still working until six seven o'clock. So if you can't do it and you're exhausted and you're concerned, see how he feares.
Yeah on his own, Yeah, definitely, yeah, Yeah, that's a good idea. My daughters just started doing saxophone school band.
I've been trying to get my kid to do saxophone age. Why it's such a sex looked.
At how much saxophones cost, That's what I should.
Have looked at. Aldi had them recently.
We looked every Audi could not find the bug and they kept going like, oh no, like they're going to be in stock, but they haven't arrived yet. And I don't know what. They seem to have lost all their saxophones. I don't know if you anyone was lucky enough to get one. We couldn't find.
One after we record. I'm not going to say this on air. I'll tell you which Aldi.
To go to.
It's in Sydney, Okay, and it's one where no one really knows. Yeah, no one knows that it exists. And then when those special buyers come on and you can't find them anywhere you can always find.
They weren't even sold out. They did not arrive. I don't know where they're like, there must have been like putting the saxophones in special places. Anyway, she asked to join the band, and she said she wanted to play saxophone. We were like cool with saxophones, a cool instrument. We ended up paying nine.
Hundred dollars phone and does she love it or not?
No?
After a week, And this is back to what we were talking about. And Wednesday's episode was.
I'll tell you my solution was, I said, you can make a jar. I'll call it a saxophone jar. And when there's nine hundred dollars in the jar, you can quit the saxophone. Yeah, if you buy this saxophone office and you can do whatever you want with it. So she's still doing that, but that's before school. That even before school ones are hectic. She has to be at school like eight am to do it.
Mate, that's nothing. My school has to be there seven am for before school starts.
That's crazy. It's crazy to do any of that one.
It's dark strictly the swimmers.
Yeah, this why are we all acting like we're swimmers all of a sudden.
No, I don't know, but seven am is way too early for me.
I hate it to play saxophone.
Yeah, anyway, that's good advice. Make him do the extracurricular run. Yeah, see how he likes it, See how he likes it. Management.
Let me just say, I don't want to break up a happy family here, So if it doesn't look like it's going well, and then just have a nice little conversation with him and say, Okay, well, obviously it's too much for you to maybe we should split it, or maybe we should get rid of an activity.
You can always cycle through the activities, so do one activity for like a few term and then the next year and all ones.
Yeah.
Yeah, that's a good idea. Loss.
Thanks, all right, last question, this one is for your yah oh high Leah. I've had you talk about school lunches before and prepping them ahead.
This is my jam.
Please share your secrets with me. What kind of things should I make that I can stick in the freezer ahead of time? Okay, to it.
So you're going to go to I've got this. I got this.
So I'm immediately going to go off track. But when I was working with Lea. She once spent like every day she would come in and talk about these like weird sandwich cookie cut cookie cutters. But they had a special word for them. They had like like depths ones.
Don't you're using them to like to make tiny teddies?
To make tiny teddies? Like up about it, like it was real.
I've still got them.
Yeah, do you use them? Because you know they tracked them down for such a long time. I tried.
I bought them offline. I think I got them off Eba or something. They're great. They look like tiny teddies, but they're different shapes lots like they're like fruits and like trains and stuff. You'd love them, But the recipe that I got wasn't good, and so they didn't taste very nice. And I haven't used them since. But what you're going to do, listener, is you're going to go to the supermarket and go and get some puff pastry. Food prep, lunchbox prep and puff pastry will be your best friends. You can make all sorts of things with those things. You can make pizza scrolls very easy. Head to Kidspot Kitchen website and you'll find so many recipes. But you know, really easy ham, salami, cheese, a little bit of tomato paste, roll them up, cut them up.
In the oven.
I think I do the cheese and vegimite one off kids spot.
Cheesey mite is very good.
And if they've got a sweet tooth, obviously you can't put natolla or peanut butter, but you can do like a cinnamon sugar and then make it like one of those cinnamon scrolls. If you want to be really fancy, you can do a glaze, but that doesn't.
Freeze very well.
My other suggestion is making homemade sausage rolls as well. Now I do a bit of a cheat where I get so sidge is like just normal sausages, and then I just take all the meat out of the casing and then I put it in the pastry and then like chop up some veggies or something make it a little bit healthier. And then there you are, like, that's easy to go.
And do you cook them and then freeze them?
Ah? No, no, I don't.
How does it come?
Oh?
Sorry, no, my puff, my puff pastry scrolls I do, But the sausage rolls I don't because I cook them in bulk. I don't cook them. But you could and will still freeze very well.
So you just kind of make it up and then freeze it ahead of time and then make.
Them fresh and yeah, okay, yeah, there's heaps that you can do.
Another thing that I like to do is make a cold pasta salad and then just have a big bowl in the fridge and then that can be lunch.
That's Sundays. I heard some people talking about freezing sandwiches, which I never could figure out how that works. If you tried that, Nah, it.
Never works for me. I do freeze my bread.
If I buy lots of bread, I do freeze that, and that's okay, But I don't freeze the sandwich has already made. But I have herd lots of success stories Nina, Okay about people.
Maybe wanted to try it, Nah, I don't think I could.
And Emily was talking about a couple of weeks ago, wasn't she where she was saying that someone gave it to their kid and they said that you gave me an ice cream sound with salami or ham or whatever it was in it that would not taste nice.
Okay, So puff pastry is the key.
Puff pastry is your key.
And also like go to like, if you see muffins on sale at Aldi or the supermarket, go freeze them.
They're good. I it yeah cool, lots of freezing happening in my house. It's great.
Thanks yah yahah. That's all for me this week, ladies.
All right, well, thanks Sanina and thanks Lodz for joining us again. Maybe we'll see em next week. We'll see if she's forgiven me for all of my scenes and if this feud.
Has entered there is no feud. Make sure you followed.
Mum Club in whichever podcast app you're listening on, and if you want your advice needed question answered by us on the podcast, hit us up on Facebook, Instagram or email us at Momclub atnews dot com dot au. That's it from me. We'll see you next week.
Gain bye bye bye