THE OFFICE IS TOO OBVIOUS

Welcome to the Carpool podcast with Kelly.

Here's what I want.

But the thing with September is September is still hot.

So how do I accumulate an apple vibe in a warmer climate?

I want an iced apple cocktail.

And Liz.

But to be like, oh, I'm so obsessed with coffee.

I need coffee.

And I'd be like, I always need coffee.

Like, it's so, it's pick me.

It's like, come on, girl.

I have another personality trait.

Your mom time off starts now.

Welcome back to the Carpool podcast with Kelly.

And Liz.

And boy, do we have a show for you.

Do we ever.

So we are here in Missouri, AKA Missouri.

We're experiencing what us Midwesterners call false fall.

Or second summer.

We had false fall.

We had false fall and now we're in second summer.

And now we're in second summer, which here's the thing.

I've now been a Midwestern for 32 years in my life.

So I was ready for this.

I was expecting this.

We had a delightfully long false fall.

And now it's over.

And now it's back up to 89.

And one thing I am Mark Safe from putting up my fall

decorations, I'm waiting till October.

And again, not to bring up football season again.

I promise I'm done.

But it's so fun to have that to distract me

from wanting to go fall decor crazy.

Did you see the football platter from Target

that is in my Dream McKenzie Childs pattern?

Of course I saw it, Elizabeth.

It's $9.

Tell me you bought one and you bought one for me too.

But no, I didn't yet.

No, football platter.

I'm not in my football era, but maybe I just need to be.

Well, you've got to be prepared.

I know.

I also saw that someone sent me a DM.

They went to Michael's.

I need to get to a craft store is what I need to do.

You know what I mean?

Like I need to get to a craft store.

A proper, not the craft section of Target,

a proper craft store.

Sure, I think we can always benefit from a craft store,

but what do you need from there?

They just had, they made their own football garland.

They like found footballs and then they strung them.

No, and I mean this with a lot of love and respect.

Are you sure you want to make one?

No, it's like a kit.

Oh, okay.

So you get, oh, it's just I think you can handle a kit.

I think I can handle a kit.

Yeah, but is that the cutest football banner out there?

I know you're in your banner era.

I am my banner era.

I would say I need to, I would say, first of all,

update from last episode, we're not Powerball winners.

So I need to kind of reel in the banner budget

for this year.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, totally.

Like that's not the banner budget has been blown.

It's been blown for the year.

Did Tyler go through your expenses last month

and be like, this is how much you spent on banners alone?

Well, they kind of had elusive names.

Yeah, for sure.

Like Etsy's Etsy.

I was like, oh, it's closed for the kids.

Yeah, yeah, he has no idea.

No.

Yeah, and I also just think like PayPal

has been like really good for like people

because it's just like it's a PayPal transaction.

Like that's just how it, like, you know?

Yeah.

Anyway.

Loopholes.

Here nor there.

But I have just like refrained from setting up from fall.

I started following and I don't know the name.

Like I don't know the person's name

because I don't want to follow them

because it doesn't, the content kind of pisses me off.

But this girl is on TikTok

and she's giving like week by week tasks

to have the ultimate fall.

And she's like, here's everything you're gonna do

the week of September 6th through the 11th

to maximize like your pre-fall experience.

What?

She's like, I just think it's making me mad

because like I can't, I can't relate to you.

Like, I don't know, like congrats, like you're 22.

Like of course you can like do all of these things.

I would like to see like a mom approach on it,

but I think we're obviously doing things

a little differently.

Well, so I mean, who has the time

to write out a week by week?

Well, that's why she's like, I'm doing it for you.

She's like, I'm a Virgo,

which I don't really know what that means.

She's like, I'm a Virgo, I'm an eldest daughter

and I love fall, like those are her credentials.

It's like, okay, well.

Okay, sounds like, okay, sounds great.

Anyway, things I am enjoying though about pre-fall is,

again, it's like, let's not forget

about the apple of September.

Like, October is so pumpkin, apple is so September.

And you know who's really served us?

Oli Pop, because they have an apple crisp soda.

Have you tried it?

Oh, I have not.

It's delicious.

It's basically apple juice, but in an adult way.

Why as adults have we stopped drinking apple juice?

It's delicious.

Why aren't there apple juice cocktails?

There's cranberry juice cocktails.

There's grapefruit juice cocktails.

Where are the apple juice cocktails?

Yeah.

Yeah, that's a good question.

Where's the apple martini?

Apple is apple-tini, but.

And where is it?

No one's ordering it.

I don't know.

You've only ever seen it in movies.

I've actually never, I don't think I've ever seen it on a menu,

but isn't that the green one?

Well, apple juice is orange-ish, so I don't know.

Apple-tini is green.

An apple martini is a cocktail containing vodka

and one or more of apple juice, apple cider,

apple liqueur or apple brandy.

They're lime green.

Apple juice cocktails.

Okay, so they are around.

This girl says it's my favorite cocktail ever.

Well, you know what I like to make is.

This looks delicious.

Heat up some apple cider on the stove

and add fireball or something like that to it.

That's a great fall drink.

So I don't, no.

I don't do a hot apple cider.

It's not for me.

Oh, okay.

I don't do, and I don't do it boozy either.

Now, a spiked hot chocolate, you've caught my attention.

No.

It doesn't do it for you.

You're wrong for that.

Well, I think you're wrong for not liking the spiked apple cider

and I don't, maybe we're both right

and both wrong in our own ways.

Here's what I want.

But like, the thing with September

is like September is still hot.

So like, how do I accumulate an apple vibe

in a warmer climate?

I want an iced apple cocktail.

Okay.

Something to, something I plan on maybe doing this week.

I think also the kids would love if I bought apple juice.

Like it's something for the kids and then for me.

Mm-hmm, totally.

Maybe I'll try to do that.

But anyway, so excited for fall.

Dude, I want to be excited.

I want to get excited for decorating.

I just cannot see, I cannot see me moving back into my house.

I know it's going to happen, but still so much has to be done.

We're kind of in this waiting period that I'm like, I assume,

like, yeah, Halloween, I'll be at my house,

but I cannot even fathom that.

I can't picture being back here.

I am not just like go totally like bear my entire life,

but I am drowning in not being at my house.

Like I am drowning in survival mode of living,

not in my own space.

And it's been three months, almost three months,

and I'm sick of it.

And I want to be in my house and I

want to be thinking about Appletines

and I want to be thinking about decorating

and I want to be tempted to put a decoration up.

But I'm not even tempted.

I walk by the Target section, the Halloween, the Fall section.

I'm not even tempted because where am I going to put it?

My house is in shambles.

I'm living in my parents' basement.

Well, I'm not OK.

You're not OK.

I feel like an Appletine could fix that.

Maybe I'm just an Appletine away from like being OK

because like I don't really drink anymore.

Maybe that's the problem.

Well, and the thing is though, it's just like I think

all like transitional months, it's just they just you just

have to it's a good time to practice your patience.

You know, like falls not tomorrow.

It actually doesn't start till the 22nd of September.

So like take a beat, enjoy like and believe it or not,

we are going to wish these days back.

We are going to wish these days back come February.

Yeah, but then I'll be ready to wish them back.

It's all the cycle.

It is the cycle of life of living

in the Midwest.

Well, anyway, anyway, you know, I am excited about what?

Dancing with the stars.

Edge of my seat, Grayson.

OK, so listen to them living on home.

I am living with Grayson and Grayson and I are going to watch

together not to make you jealous, Kelly, but I'm so excited

to have something to look forward to.

I love a competition.

I love I can't dance and I can't fully appreciate the art

of dance, but I'm so excited to.

I love watching dance videos.

I love it. So first of all, I think we're all watching

Dancing with the Stars this year.

I think we all are. Yeah.

And here's what dancing with the stars.

Like the way I don't think you could get me to watch

The Voice American Idol, any of those show mask singer.

I don't think you could pay me money to watch those shows.

I am sat friends when it starts.

I'm with you. I like the first of all, the razzle dazzle, the costumes.

The sets. It's all amazing.

The storytelling and they do a great job.

It's like you need the influencers because they are the ones getting the views.

They're the ones making the content.

They're the one re resurrecting this show.

They are the ones resurrecting the show.

And I remember last season, I did not watch it

in the formal sense.

But because there were people that I like, like that Alona girl, the rugby player.

After after I knew the show came out, I would then go and YouTube

everyone's dances and I didn't even know of anyone.

But I was just excited because she was posting about it on social media.

And now the Mormon wives are posting about it.

And Robert Irwin is posting about it.

And I am just so excited about it.

And this would be my first season ever watching Dancing with the Stars.

And I can't wait. And honestly, everyone should just watch it.

Who's listening to this podcast because I think we should do recaps.

Like I think we should talk about it.

I think we should totally do recaps might be a little hard, though,

because then it comes out on Tuesdays and we record on Mondays.

So that's going to be difficult.

Yeah, for sure.

But it's giving her elements, but we'll try maybe we can work around that.

Prediction, though, who do you think is going to win?

Well, Whitney is a dancer and she is not only a dancer.

She is entertaining to watch.

She's got the I don't know what it is.

She's got the face. She's got the music.

I enjoy. I don't really I enjoy watching her dance.

I enjoy her TikTok or her reels or whatever where she dances.

I like watching her dance.

I'm of course polling for Robert Irwin because he's just sweetheart.

Well, and Bindi won and Bindi won her season and Bindi won her season.

And see, what's interesting about it is it's the combination of being

a good dancer and you have to have a fan base because the fans vote.

Yeah. So.

I don't know.

I feel like maybe I'll be able to say after the first go round.

Yeah, and we need to see how everyone's going to do.

But yeah, I can't.

And there's people who I don't know and I'm excited to get to know them.

I'm excited to get to know Zach Efron's brother.

Totally.

So well, speaking of TV shows, we thought we would do a model lineup

because if we are going into fall, which, you know, for some 22

year olds on TikTok, that means like being able to have the time

to like watch TV, watch comfort shows.

For us moms, we who get to watch shows at approximately

15 minutes a night, every night.

We thought we would do our favorite comfort shows, though.

Yes, the model lineup is where Kelly and I both pick four things

in the category and then you can vote who had the better line number.

We'll just discuss who had the better set of four, who had the better lineup.

So and we can't repeat.

So like we're going to go popcorn style.

Can't repeat.

Boom, boom, boom, comfort shows.

You can watch again and again all the seasons.

OK, I'm feeling like so good about mine.

And I think we're not going to have as much crossover as you think.

And I'm going to start off so strong with Gossip Girl.

OK, OK, Gossip Girl is such a comfort show, such a repeater.

I only watched Gossip Girl once I tried to restarting it

and I couldn't make it through the first season.

I don't know, it kind of fell off.

Really? Yeah, I see that you're wrong for that.

That's not that's that's not the more common take.

The common take is that it's a show you watch over and over again.

OK, well, a show that I think people actually watch over and over again

because it actually never gets old is New Girl.

You can watch New Girl and relapid things

that you didn't even pick up on on the first time.

New Girl is a flawless show, can't be touched.

The characters are amazing.

I mean, it's probably my favorite show.

It is such a good show.

It's flawless.

Derrickle, what's it on right now?

Derrickle. I honestly, like you might win with that one.

I forgot about I honestly forgot about that show.

I'm so happy you reminded me.

OK.

So many directions to go.

I'm going to throw friends out there.

I like friends.

And I wish I put it back on Netflix so I could watch it more.

I didn't watch friends until college for the first time

because remember, we were allowed to watch Disney Channel until we were 18.

So but it's such a good show.

You see, that's another one that I watched once and I never rewatched.

I never rewatched it.

Did you have you tried?

I guess I haven't tried that.

I didn't love I was not obsessed with the first time through.

OK, I think there are funnier shows out there.

And I think that Friends was like very

Friends was like very controversial for its time.

Was it?

It was, yeah, it was.

It definitely was for the time that it came out.

But I just think like in comparison to what else is out there,

I just think that there are funnier things.

I think there's more interesting storylines.

I'm just I'm not a friends person and that's that might be

very controversial for me to say.

Wow. OK, another show that I think the characters are

unlike any other 10 out of 10 can't be touched.

Also just makes you die laughing is Modern Family.

That is such a good show.

Why are you doing so good?

I forgot about that show.

Modern Family is one of my favorite shows.

It is so good.

But I like there's so many characters

with so many storylines going on.

Oh, my gosh, Modern Family.

Elizabeth, you're kicking my butt at this.

Here's what's here's what we're not going to say

is Gilmore Girls. Gilmore Girls.

Gilmore Girls.

It's not a good show.

It's objectively not it's not a good show.

And I think if you watched it as a 14 year old in the 90s

or in the early 2000s, I mean, when I came out,

if you were like watched it the first time through,

I could see how you find comfort in it.

But like if you if you ever wonder what you're missing,

the answer is you're missing nothing.

It's the most frustrating show.

It's not your problem.

It's not funny and it's too slow to be anything else.

Like you're going to be slow, at least be funny.

Nothing happens.

Yeah, and I can't I have only watched a few episodes

because I couldn't get into it.

But I found is her name Lorelai.

Yeah, I found her so

frustrating.

And again, maybe at the time, it was like very new.

But to be like, oh, I'm so obsessed with coffee,

like I need coffee and I'd be like, I always need coffee.

Like it's so it's pick me.

It's like, come on, girl, like I have another personality trait.

And again, I am you can slander me.

I deserve to be slandered for that

because I've only watched a few episodes,

but I found them infuriating.

I have given it the college try with when I was postpartum

with Libby, I was giving it the college try.

And I was just really try was I was I was looking

for something just easy to throw on.

Nothing happens.

All the characters are infuriating.

It's just like in like Lorelai

doesn't have a relationship with her parents, with her parents.

And it's just like everything I said,

I think her parents are actually pretty awesome.

Sorry. Oh, yeah, I'm actually sorry.

I'm on team parent.

Like, I actually think they I think

that Lorelai makes horrible decisions.

And she should listen to her parents

because they seem they're obviously pretty well off.

Yeah, they've got figured out.

OK, so that's not what you're going to say.

But that's how are you going to say?

Well, I feel like I'm not going to win

because I'm not as popular,

but I'm going to stay true to myself. OK.

And how I met your mother,

yeah, I'm going to say that one of my favorite shows.

But I agree with you, it's not.

I could see how how I met your mother

is like Gilmore Girls to some people.

I think it's funny.

Yeah, it does have the worst ending in television history.

It's possibly worse than Game of Thrones.

And that's saying a lot.

That's saying a lot.

But it's a fun journey to go on.

I like the characters.

I like Neil Patrick Harris.

Is that his name?

I think he's funny.

No, the characters are good.

There are some infuriating aspects of the characters.

But yeah, I think how much mother is a great show.

OK, I show that I love.

I think it's so funny.

And then it goes down that the comforts

are the funny ones for me.

They're just like, I like to revisit and be like,

oh, I didn't pick up on that the first time.

I'm going to go Parks and Rec.

That is such a good one, too.

I thought you were going to say the office.

No, an office is on my list.

And I have rewatched the office multiple times.

It's just been so long since I've rewatched it

that that feels like such the obvious answer.

So I'm trying to think of something.

You just gave three.

I'm going to restart.

I don't think I've ever rewatched Parks and Rec.

Oh my gosh, you're in for a treat.

Parks and Rec, I love the workplace, love the characters.

You're so good at that.

I'm like so mad that I'm doing so poorly.

They're just different.

Well, I'm going to go for it.

Can I say my last one?

And like any chance I get to talk about the show,

and I have not had the privilege yet of rewatching it.

I'm waiting for time.

You know what I'm going to say?

I'm waiting for time to pass.

And I'm not trying to wish my life away,

except for this one aspect I would

love to wish five years away.

So then I sit down and rewatch the show.

Desperate Housewives.

And that is Desperate Housewives.

It is the best show on television.

It's the best show on television.

It's the best show ever written.

And it's cinematic, complete genius, first of all.

The characters are amazing.

It's drama.

It's funny.

It's rich women, which is like my favorite genre.

Like rich, not even rich.

Some of them are rich.

It's suburbia.

It's just kind of suburbia.

It's so suburbia, but it's so juicy.

There's every single thing in a show I love about it.

And like if you haven't watched it,

like if you haven't watched these other shows,

like I'm excited for you.

If you haven't watched Desperate Housewives,

I'm envious of you.

I'm envious of you because you get to experience it

for the first time.

So I still haven't finished it.

That's insane.

And let me tell you why.

I was loving it, loving it.

I'm on probably season six or seven.

There's eight seasons.

And then just moving back to my parents' house,

I don't have a TV in the room that I'm staying in.

So I used to watch it before bed.

I would lay in bed and watch it.

And I don't do that anymore.

But everyone's been talking about the summer I turned pretty.

And I-

Did you start it?

So I had watched season one and two.

Like I'm a summer I turned pretty fan,

but I haven't started season three.

So I turned it on one day when I was like nap trapped.

And now I'm finding myself looking for opportunities

to watch TV.

So when I'm rocking kids for sleep, I have it on my phone.

Like that is cinematic genius.

The summer I turned pretty is so good.

It's so good that it has me like

putting desperate housewives on pause.

Do you watch it?

I've never watched it.

Kelly, now I'm envious of you.

It is so good.

I haven't watched it.

Do you need to watch it?

I might.

I'm okay with what until it's just done though, you know?

Yeah, I would recommend that.

Cause I have like one more season,

or I have one more episode left.

And then-

Then you're caught up.

Then I'm caught up.

So I'll be back to my housewives.

Anyway, that's not gonna be my comfort show.

My last one is I'm taking a different route.

I've gone, I've gone humor the entire way.

I'm gonna go drama series.

And that's gonna be Grey's Anatomy.

Yeah, I've never seen that either.

Excellent.

You have a lot of shows you could watch, Kelly.

I know.

Grey's Anatomy is excellent.

There's twists, there's turns, there's drama.

Love like a medical drama.

There's love.

Excellent.

So Kelly's model lineup for comfort shows

is Gossip Girl, Friends, How I Met Your Mother,

and Desperate Housewives.

And mine is New Girl, Modern Family,

Parks and Rec, and Grey's Anatomy.

So.

It's kind of, you kind of beat me, I think.

But that's different.

I mean, I would prefer, there's different.

I prefer mine over yours, but that's just me.

I-

I think we should vote on the Carpool Instagram.

So I'll put up a poll.

Yeah, okay.

I'm trying to think like if I wanna swap out the office

for one of my other shows.

So it's like you didn't claim it.

But I think I'm just gonna lock in.

Lock in.

Friends and How I Met Your Mother

just are very similar in their vibe.

Well, the office is too obvious.

Totally.

So.

The office is too obvious.

And I think I have overwatched it too many times,

rewatched it too many times.

I am, I think my biggest takeaway from this

is I'm gonna rewatch Parks and Rec.

And I think everyone listening's biggest takeaway from this

is if you have not starred Desperate Housewives,

it needs to be done today.

Here's the thing about it.

You'll get hooked from the first episode.

The first episode hooked ya.

Yeah.

It's very good.

But the summer, but the summer, it turned pretty though.

There's summer.

I would, okay.

It's so good.

You need to watch it.

Anyway, that was a fun game.

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Okay, moving right along to a second,

we have not done it so long

because we just have not been on our regular schedule.

We have some advice questions.

So if you wanna get your own advice,

you can write into hello at thecarmomofficial.com.

And it can be car related,

it can be like,

things to pass on to your children related,

like whatever you need.

Like a family drama,

if you wanna like spill the tea,

like we're happy to weigh in a long time.

Whatever you need from us.

Okay, how long can we keep this car?

Hey, Kelly and Liz,

I feel like this question aligns a lot

with what you've been talking about

with delaying new slash used car purchases.

I have a 17 Ford Explorer with a bench, 128,000 miles.

It's paid off and we have two kids,

two year old rear facing

and a six month old still in an infancy.

They are both tall,

we'll probably grow out of it.

He'll grow to the infancy by eight months.

My husband is complaining about the space

and that we need a new vehicle.

As much as I would love an expedition,

I do want to maximize this vehicle as much as possible

and love not having a car payment.

We're not planning to be pregnant for a few years

but would love to add at least a couple more kids

in the next six to seven years.

Realistically,

how long do you think we can stretch this vehicle

until kid three longer would love your insight?

Our current car seats in my vehicles

are the Graycoe Slumpette 3LX

and a Nuna Pippa Lite Rx infancy.

How old's the oldest?

Two, but he's a tall two year old.

So he'll be used.

So it's two a baby

and they're gonna have another baby eventually?

Yeah.

So interesting.

A 17 Ford Explorer historically

is not very three across friendly.

They got a lot better when they redid

I think in 2020, they got a lot better.

So I do think that's going to be a little difficult.

So I, but I think, so then, you know,

you could talk about like using the third row

but I feel like then you're gonna lose the trunk space.

So, I mean, there's so many ways

that you could like skin this cat.

Oh, that's a horrible saying.

Yeah, I hate that.

What's a better saying?

Break this down.

I don't think...

But skin the cat means like different ways you could do it.

Like what's a better way to say skin the cat?

Oh my gosh.

Skin the cat alternative.

But haven't you heard that?

Or is that one of those sayings you've never heard?

All roads lead to Rome.

There are different ways to slice a cake.

There are different, thank you, Elizabeth.

So anyway, there's a lot of different ways

to slice this cake.

Not having to carve it, it's awesome.

I would say you could probably stretch it.

I think that's everything.

Like you would kind of do it whenever

because if your husband's feeling tight

and like you know you're gonna want to have a third,

like there's something to be said about like,

okay, so you kind of have a good idea

of what your family's gonna look like.

If you've already got the two, you're gonna have the three.

Like you, it's not a bad idea to maybe like

buy your long-term car now

because you know what your family's gonna look like.

Like I feel like a level of that advice,

I get to people who maybe don't exactly know

what their family's going to look like,

but also you don't have a car payment.

So I also understand like, you know,

you could take the money you'd be spending on a car payment

and put it towards a down payment.

And so I would probably give you the advice

like as your friend is, you know,

figure out what you want.

Like, you know, like let's say you know

you want an expedition.

I think this would be a good way for you to do it.

Okay, I want an expedition.

Let's say that's gonna be whatever

it's gonna be, $65,000.

You're like, I would like to fee,

I would like my payment to be around X.

So I want to save up this down payment

to be able to do that.

And you just kind of set that.

I think that will give you a better timeline.

And then you could just start saying,

okay, I'm gonna start taking that,

what I would be on a car payment.

I'm gonna save it for the down payment of the expedition.

And then know that like you'll have,

you know, you'll have your Ford Explorer trade-in

plus the down payments.

Like let's say you want to get to $15,000

with trade-in plus down payment.

I just think that would kind of give you

a goal to work towards.

But I mean, the answer is you could keep it

till as long as you want.

I mean, it could technically fit three kids.

It could for sure fit three kids.

It could fit four kids.

So it's just more a matter of like when you want to do it.

And I would allow yourself enough time

to get the car that you want.

So I wouldn't delay the purchase so much where,

you know, if it's truly on its last leg

and then you're gonna have to be at the mercy

of whatever is available

and not the actual expedition that you want.

So I would give yourself like at least a six month buffer

on when you want to get out of it.

But I think giving yourself like a monetary goal

would make you, would feel like you're working

towards something like you're taking that first step

might give you some more contentment

with your current car.

Cause you're like, well, we're saving the money

to get the down payment.

Yeah.

I think that's like really.

Also might kind of get you used to

when you do have a payment again on your car.

Here's what a car payment feels like.

And maybe you'll be like, wow, that feels not fun.

I'm going to keep it.

Yeah.

Well, I'm going to pivot

or I'm going to buy a lower price car.

I think that would be a really good exercise.

I think this is really solid advice.

That's a good place to start.

Okay.

That was really good.

Okay, let's see if you can do it again on this one.

Back to work advice first time mom.

Hey Kelly Liz.

I've been a car polisner for a few years

and loving the pod as a first time mom to our sweet girl.

I go back to work labor day and with love advice.

I don't love my job,

but with our current financial situation,

I need to work.

I work in a male dominated industry

and no one on my team has children.

My job is flexible, fully remote.

And I'll have my daughter in daycare starting in November.

Any tips you have for mom guilt,

especially with a job you don't love

and work family balance.

I would really appreciate it.

Well, first of all, you know how I feel about mom guilt.

Yeah.

There's a lot of ways to slice a cake.

There's a lot of ways to feel guilty as a mom.

And I don't think that guilt should ever be

one of your deciding factors when making a change

or even in how you feel

because you have to learn to be comfortable with guilt

because if you quit your job,

pull your daughter from daycare, you will feel guilty.

Yeah.

If you keep your daughter in daycare, you'll feel guilty.

If you find a job that you love

and then send your daughter to daycare, you'll feel guilty.

So like, get used to the guilt.

That's welcome.

Now you're a mom.

We always feel guilty.

Super fine.

But I do feel like in a matter of what,

the reason you're feeling guilty,

I do think there's things that you can do

to kind of have some mindset shifts

to just make the guilt, to leave room for the guilt.

And I think those are going to look different

for a lot of people.

And I think the way I've always handled mom guilt,

and to some people, it may seem like a band-aid

or it may seem silly, but it's always helped me.

And ultimately, I think what helps,

anything that helps is fine.

And what I mean by that is it's like,

when I'm feeling guilty, I,

if I could feel guilty from working,

and of course I can give you the basic answer

of make time, make special one-on-one time,

put your phone on, I'm sure you can do that.

I also find it helpful to buy something for my kids.

Or I find it helpful to talk to my kids about my work.

So I say buy something for my kid,

not that I spoil my kids with toys,

but there's something that makes me feel better as a mom.

And it's not even toys necessarily.

But me and Tyler make these sacrifices,

me and Tyler work, so we buy organic blueberries.

Or I buy the nice jammies,

or I pick them up something that's a dollar

on my way home.

And again, I'm not saying like that's...

Hey, is it the right thing to do?

I don't know, is it a tangible takeaway

that sometimes alleviates mom guilt?

Yeah, is it a band aid?

Yeah.

Yeah, it's all of those things.

Yeah.

And that's fine.

I also find it very helpful,

I know your daughter's young,

but I find it very helpful to talk to my kids

about my work and about what I'm doing.

And I think it in a way prepares them for what's to come.

And I treat my job very seriously.

I've also kind of had to recently refer to my job

as I have a boss,

even though I'm technically my own boss

because it's just been easier for my kids to conceptualize.

So I'd be like, sorry, my boss called,

I have to work today.

And it helps, I know that sounds crazy,

but like it helps my kids understand it

because they were like, why do we have to go?

Oh my gosh, why do I have to go to school today?

Or why are you on your phone right now?

It's like, well, I'm working right now.

I have to work right now.

But I was able to pick you up from school today,

but now I have to work.

So that, and things do get easier with time for sure.

I mean, I definitely think the hardest kids

to leave our babies because it sucks to leave the baby

because in a way there is no benefit outside of like,

that's what it costs to be a mom these days, unfortunately.

When you have older kids

and like they're getting like the social aspect,

the educational aspect, like the fun aspect,

like my kids have way more fun in daycare

than they would at home with me.

Like I'm just not as creative in that aspect.

So it does get easier.

I do find babies are actually sometimes easier.

Like I think that that like one year old to 18 month old

is like kind of the hardest to leave.

Oh really?

I disagree.

I think a baby's the hardest to leave.

I'm like, I feel like anyone can give them a bottle

and put them down for an app.

But they don't really notice.

Well, I mean, I'm sure that they notice,

but they don't, you know, maybe mine was just so,

James was just so hard to leave.

I also just think we need to,

I don't know why I think as a society,

this is so profound.

So take notes, Elizabeth.

Okay.

I don't know why as a society,

we like hang on to these like previous versions

of parenthood and motherhood so much.

And like I'll give you the really granular example

of like sitting down as a family

and eat dinner every night.

Why?

Like that probably like that was what popularized

like the 1950s, 1960s, like where they were like,

I just don't think like that's the pinnacle

of like your family being close.

And we like put these like weird,

we're like holding on to like these generations

and these things that worked in one period of time

that don't work now, life is different now.

And I feel like instead of feeling like a failure

because we're not doing that,

like we were created, like God put us,

God put each one of us on earth

for this time for a reason.

Like he designed you to be a mom in 2025

and he designed your children to be children in 2025.

So like I take a lot of comfort in that too.

Like, yeah, we don't sit down and eat

because that's not our reality right now,

but it has nothing to do with our family's closeness.

Like I just think since we put these like weird,

like, well, if I could do that, it'd feel better.

What is it?

Like, I mean, because that's just not

the way the world works.

Like now kids do parents work,

kids do after school activities.

Like people eat when they're hungry.

Like, I don't know.

I also think with like that example too,

I think that there will be a phase in your family's life

where you and your kids all sit down at 6.30

and have a dinner together.

Your kids are just gonna be older.

It doesn't make sense right now.

Yeah.

And it's kind of like the tradition thing.

Like, oh, if you didn't do something

on their first birthday,

you can't ever start a tradition on their fifth birthday.

Like you can start doing things differently at any point

and every phase of your life and your motherhood

is going to look different.

And you just don't have to feel so like pressured

to get it all right at this exact phase.

Like you have to do what works for you right now.

And that's kind of not what the question is about.

And I totally feel you on the mom guilt.

Like it sucks.

It's a terrible, it's a bad feeling,

but you just have to like recognize the feeling

that you know that it is normal.

And like you are sacrificing

and you are doing something for your family

because you have to.

And at the end of the day,

sometimes we just have to do things that we don't wanna do

because it's the right thing to do for our family.

And so to answer the advice question,

best of luck.

You've got this.

You can do hard things.

You can do things that you never thought you could do

or never want to do because you are strong

and you can do it.

And you will get through it.

And it's gonna be hard.

And I cried a lot when I dropped my kids off at daycare

and that's normal too.

So.

Same.

Anyway.

Okay, well are you ready for industry news?

Let's get into industry news

where we show the hot tea going on the auto industry.

Well, this is kind of a fitting story

for if we think about our last advice question

about trading a car.

Now your car's paid off,

but guess what?

A lot of people's aren't.

In fact, according to Edmunds,

one in four trade-ins had negative equity in Q2 2025.

Wow.

The average amount owed on an upside down auto loan

remains historically high at 6,700,

Edmunds Analyst Report says.

So, TLDR, if you owe more than your car, then it's worth.

That's called being upside down or underwater.

It's not where you wanna be.

The problem with these cars

is they're depreciating assets.

The other problem with these cars

is that these auto lenders are doing anything

and everything to lower your payment.

When you have a low payment on an expensive car,

you pay off very little of the car,

which means you get out of equity very easily.

So, for example, if you go and you buy a brand new car

and they say, hey, we'll defer your payment for 90 days

and you can finance this thing for 84 months

and you don't have to put anything down,

all you're doing is setting yourself up for failure

to be upside down just because you have a lower payment.

And it's not always a bad idea.

It's crucially not always a bad idea

because if it is a low APR rate

and you know you're going to keep this car

for forever and you have gap insurance, sure.

But you have to be really honest with yourself

that all of those things are true

because if you're not 1,000% sure

this could be like your 10-year car,

like if surprise twins would throw a wrench in everything,

then you could be in a bad position like this,

where now you owe more on your car than it's worth

and it's very hard to get out of loans like this.

And in some cases, it's impossible

because basically like if you,

and here's why it's impossible

this confuses people.

So like if you owe $5,000 more than your car is worth

and you go to try to buy a new car,

well the $5,000, you have to pay the $5,000.

So what they can do, what they can try to do

is take that $5,000 and add it to your new car loan.

So like let's say you're looking at a $30,000 car,

well you're gonna add the $5,000 of negative equity on

and now you're financing $35,000, right?

But the problem is depending on the car,

depending on the bank,

sometimes they're gonna be like,

well that car's not worth $35,000.

So like we're not gonna do that.

So I mean $5,000 isn't a ton of money

so like you'd probably be okay,

but if you had like $10,000 out of equity,

even if it's 0% financing, it doesn't even matter.

You're still in a bad spot because you can't,

it's called loan to value rate.

Like you can't finance invisible worth.

Like it's worth what it's worth.

And new cars, they can kind of fudge the numbers

a little bit because new cars have rebates

and like they can say,

oh yeah, well we'll own 110% of the value.

But all's to say is you've gotta check,

I think it's important for everyone to know

where they're at on their car loan,

whether you're interested in trading that or not,

how much you own your car, how much your car's worth

and are you in the green?

And that's my advice for today.

Okay, I love it.

Is all your industry news?

That is all my industry news.

Okay, that's fine.

Let's move on to ditch the drive-through

where we give you an easy dinner recipe

to mix it up to get you out of your dinner rut.

And boy do I have one.

Oh.

Well, it's soup timber.

It's soup timber.

And one of my favorite soups

is ham and bean soup with cornbread on the side.

Ham and bean soup is so delicious.

Have you ever had it?

I don't think so.

So isn't that the matter?

But I think I would like it.

Yeah, my mother-in-law makes it for me

and then like I've started making it and it is,

it's so, like it gives potato soup

but it's not as heavy, it's very protein-based.

It's like everything about it is delicious.

Look up a recipe.

I can find the one that I like.

It's a 10 out of 10 situation.

How hard is it to make?

Well, it depends how,

with soups it's how much you want to try

because like sometimes when my mother-in-law makes it,

she gets like ham hocks

and like she like makes her own broth with it.

Sometimes I just queue up ham, chicken stock.

Yeah, okay, so obviously I'm not gonna do that.

Yeah, so sometimes you just like can't

queue up some ham and add some chicken stock

and see if that just-

Okay, okay, I have ham.

Yeah, no, it's a good thing to do with ham.

I have a lot of ham.

Do you want some Kelly?

Or do you have some?

I'm pretty ham heavy.

Okay.

So why don't you make some soup?

Yeah, that's a good idea.

Maybe I'll try my ham at September.

And that's my dish to drive.

Okay, well thank you guys so much

for listening to the Carpool podcast

and we will talk to you next time.

See ya.

Thank you for listening to the Carpool podcast

with Kelly and Liz.

Make sure you're subscribed so you never miss an episode.

And if you enjoyed riding with us,

tell everybody you know.

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