In short
Parents share the “craziest” lengths they’ve gone to for their kids—everything from medical advocacy to extreme pet rescues and over-the-top birthday themes—framed as love, persistence, and sometimes disaster.
Guests
Margaret Ables and Amy Wilson (hosts). Episode also includes audience stories from multiple parents (e.g., “Erica” suggested the episode via Instagram DM; an anonymous Facebook group poster; and named contributors like Leanne, Sarah, Leanne’s Threads post, Melissa, Kristen, Kara, Tina, Wendy, Mary, Megan, Alessa/Elisa, Sarah, Joy, Jennifer, Mariah, Anna Lynn, Christine, and others).
Key claims
“Go with your gut” when symptoms are minimized; leaning into kids’ joy matters more than perfection; persistence can unlock diagnoses; and elaborate efforts can still backfire.
Notable examples
advocating for a special-needs diagnosis; rescuing a missing poisonous Vietnamese centipede (“Tortellini”) by ripping carpet and rehoming; buying a fish gift that later dies from an eye infection; driving hours to retrieve a lost stuffed squid (“Squiddy”); climbing a roof to spread reindeer food; hiring Santa for a kid’s birthday; and a Harry Potter party with secret passages and dry ice.
Written by AI. May contain mistakes. Listen to the episode to check what was said.
Chapters
Tap a time to open that second in VOThe Crazy Things We Do for Our Kids
0:37 to 1:12
Exploring the lengths parents go for their children's happiness.
“You don't want to get an unexpected visit from Tortellini in the middle of the night.”
Stories of Motherhood's Challenges
1:12 to 2:06
Moms share personal stories of struggles and triumphs in parenting.
“And let's be clear, we went to our Facebook page, facebook.com forward slash groups forward slash OneFreshLcast.”
Advocating for Our Children
2:06 to 4:48
Discussing the importance of persistence in securing care for children.
“I do feel like there are a lot of things that people talk about in life.”
Leanne's Poisonous Pet
4:48 to 6:36
A humorous tale about a centipede bought for a child experiencing challenges.
“Who bought her daughter, who was having some struggles, but loved creepy crawly things, a poisonous Vietnamese centipede.”
The Tale of Nina the Fish
6:36 to 9:16
A story of dealing with a sick fish while managing a hospital stay.
“but that is going above and beyond in several different ways.”
The Lovey Dilemma
9:16 to 13:19
Sharing funny anecdotes about children's loveys and their importance.
“We were away for the weekend and our babysitter was keeping the fish.”
The Lovey Dilemma
13:20 to 14:30
Sharing funny anecdotes about children's loveys and their importance.
“I throw it in my purse, I dab a little miracle balm on my cheeks and lips and the bridge of my nose, and wherever I am, I look completely natural and just a little polished at the same time.”
The Lovey Dilemma
15:57 to 17:04
Sharing funny anecdotes about children's loveys and their importance.
“I do not have to worry about grabbing my husband's phone to immediately delete most of the photos because my hair is going to be on point.”
Searching for a Beloved Toy
17:20 to 18:08
A story about a frantic search for a lost toy and its emotional impact.
“Posted Minnie signs on the neighborhood Facebook group, alerted the Walmart employees, finally found her on a high shelf shoved behind some toys.”
Blue Bear's Office Adventure
18:11 to 19:19
A humorous tale of a child's toy's adventures at dad's workplace.
“We once, Blue Bear, once we went to visit my husband at work with the kids.”
Show all 27 chapters
Searching Through the Garbage
19:20 to 20:00
A parent recounts the lengths they go to recover a child's expensive items.
“through the ball pit at the trampoline place to find her son's hearing aid.”
Lost in the Playground
20:01 to 21:08
A parent's experience crawling through a playground to find their child.
“I had a kid who was could go up, loved to be in the tube similarly.”
McDonald's Tube Dilemma
21:09 to 22:02
Sharing stories of kids hiding and parents' quirky solutions to retrieve them.
“I'm actually going to have a heart attack.”
Rescuing a Drawing in a Storm
22:03 to 22:54
A parent dives into a dumpster to recover a cherished drawing during a storm.
“She hiked almost back to the top to find and retrieve it.”
The Attachment to Loveys
22:55 to 24:16
Discussing kids' attachments to special items and the lengths parents go to accommodate them.
“but the paper is still on the fridge as a reminder of how ridiculously loved she is.”
Creative Holiday Traditions
24:17 to 25:19
Exploring inventive traditions and activities parents created during COVID.
“during an ice storm in Iowa on Christmas Eve to spread out the necessary reindeer food for Santa's reindeer because her daughter demanded they would need the proper nutrition to fuel their journey.”
Catering to Imagination
25:20 to 27:49
A mother describes how she fulfilled her daughter's pretend pregnancy with a baby shower.
“She's now 11 and still asks for a code to find her birthday or Hanukkah gifts.”
Joy in Simple Moments
27:50 to 28:00
Reflections on embracing simpler joys in parenting over grand gestures.
Imaginary Friends and Joyful Parenting Moments
28:00 to 29:14
Explore how small moments can create lasting memories for kids.
“oh, I never did anything like that for my kids.”
Costume Making and Birthday Traditions
29:14 to 32:39
Discuss the significance of elaborate costumes and birthday celebrations.
“arriving baby, but it's still an amazing story.”
Costume Making and Birthday Traditions
32:47 to 34:08
Discuss the significance of elaborate costumes and birthday celebrations.
“That's Q-U-I-N-C-E, quince.com slash fresh for free shipping and 365 day returns.”
Creative Parenting Superheroes
34:16 to 36:12
Unravel the different superhero roles that moms play in their kids' lives.
“And now your guide to mom superheroes from the What Fresh Out podcast.”
Memorable Birthday Themes and Efforts
36:12 to 42:03
Hear stories of unique birthday themes showcasing parental creativity and love.
“I was not an elaborate, I don't know, like a cake shaped like your dream.”
Creative Parenting Solutions
42:03 to 43:30
Learn about imaginative and practical parenting solutions for kids' challenges.
“And once I start, I can go a little crazy, you know, but I love it.”
Facing Fears: Airplane Bathrooms
43:30 to 44:40
Explore a humorous story about overcoming fears on an airplane with a child.
“Flying home from Portugal, my husband spent about half the flight coming home in a squat holding my daughter over the airplane toilet so she wouldn't fall in.”
Trying Hard and Failing
44:40 to 46:03
Discuss the challenges parents face when trying to please their children.
“Christine says, I had twins so that my older daughter would have siblings to play with.”
Creating Lasting Memories
46:03 to 46:48
Hear about a parent's dedication to making memories with their child despite challenges.
“So I just had to like carry her from the Liberty Bell to like Benjamin Franklin's house because she was too tired on her crutches after, you know, four hours.”
Transcript
Automatic transcript. May contain errors.0:00This Monday.com ad was created by a team of people and AI agents. The agents wrote the copy and managed the timelines, while our human creative director made sure it all made sense. Easy. Create your own AI agent today on Monday.com. What an adventure mini-head.
0:18Amy Wilson:What fresh hell. Laughing in the face of motherhood. He had to have Mr. Potato Head's right arm in his hand at all times. With Margaret Ables. And Amy Wilson. How is she going to find like one eye infected fish at Petco that don't really carry those? A podcast that solves today's parenting dilemmas. So you don't have to. You don't want to get an unexpected visit from Tortellini in the middle of the night.
0:46Amy Wilson:Hello, everyone, and welcome to What Fresh Hell? Laughing in the face of motherhood. This is Margaret. And this is Amy. Today we're talking about the best, most crazy, most beyond the pale things that you have done for your kids. This episode idea was suggested by Erica on Instagram. She sent us a DM to WhatFreshHellCast and she said that we should do an episode on the crazy things we've done for our kids. Erica said, I bet it could generate some hilarious stories of things gone sideways, but also serious conversation of just how far a mother's love extends. And let's be clear, we went to our Facebook page, facebook.com forward slash groups forward slash OneFreshLcast.
1:28Amy Wilson:And that's exactly what we got. That's what you got. Yeah. A lot of people wanted to point out, I believe correctly, Amy, that just being a mom is already, you've already knocked this category out of the ballpark. Sarah tore her carotid artery on the left side of her brain while pushing out her baby and had an aneurysm. So she really did go above and beyond as her first act. I'm hoping she's better now. She's commenting on her Facebook page. So I'm hoping it's going okay. The aneurysm is resolved. That's true. As you're becoming a mother, you're over delivering in the delivery room. It's already happening for you.
2:04Right. Almost by definition.
2:06Amy Wilson:Yeah. I do feel like there are a lot of things that people talk about in life. Like, oh, and then you have a baby and it's like, well, let's not just skip right over that because it is an incredibly difficult process that I am still talking to my doctor about daily as I have different problems. And she's like, well, yeah, I've been having some acid reflux problems. And she's pointing out like, yeah, your stomach was basically like in between your lungs for nine months at a time, every 18 months for five years of your life. So the fact that your stomach is now not working correctly is not what I would call shocking.
2:42I just had an ultrasound of my insides that took a while because they're like, can't find this part. Like, it's all in there. Clearly, I had kids, but nothing is where it used to be. And the ultrasound technician said, it's fine. It's a lot of organs to fit in a very tiny place in a woman. So no wonder they're all hiding. So, yeah. Yeah.
2:59Amy Wilson:And then you put another person in there with them for nine months. I mean, I guess really for three months towards the end. And we had an anonymous poster who said that they pushed for a diagnosis for my daughter with special needs when she was an infant. We knew something was wrong. And yet we were gaslit or minimized when describing her symptoms to physicians. We were kind, persistent, curious advocates. And we now have a diagnosis. she is a happy and bossy toddler with upwards of 10 specialists and multiple therapies. Go with your gut moms. You talk a lot about this in help. I'm happy to help.
3:38I do. I do over and over again. Like something's not right. I even talked about it in my other book too, because my first kid had reflux and I was patted on the head for, you know, weeks.
3:48Amy Wilson:Calm down, mom. Like babies cry. Or like you said, you heard like all new moms are stressed or all new moms are a little blue. Right. And I was hearing like babies cry. That's their job. And what was happening with him was so, so far beyond what was supposed to be happening. And it took my mother and my mother-in-law in the same weekend. I think they thought I was going to bite their heads off. But each of them approached me separately. Like, I think something's maybe wrong here. And that's when I knew that's what gave me the strength to go back and be like, I'm not making this up. And both grandmothers say, you have to, you have to.
4:19It takes so much persistence. So anonymous poster, congratulations on getting your toddler daughter the care that she needs.
4:27Amy Wilson:So we start by acknowledging that just raising a human is going outrageously out of their own way and doing an extremely crazy thing. Whether your body was involved or not, it is an absolute insane thing to birth, tend, and care for a human for 18 years. Check. You've done it. But now let's talk about Leanne. Okay. Who bought her daughter, who was having some struggles, but loved creepy crawly things, a poisonous Vietnamese centipede. Okay, so wait, the daughter was having some issues, like needs a little happiness in her life? We're going to give her a little something special, and it's a poisonous centipede.
5:11Amy Wilson:And the daughter determined that what would help her was to have something to care for and chose a poisonous Vietnamese centipede named Tortellini. Because it's so cute. Those poisonous Vietnamese centipedes are adorable. Tortellini is amazing. Link in our show notes. But I hate to inform you that Tortellini, the poisonous centipede, they arrived home from a trip at 10 p.m. to learn that Tortellini was missing. I need to set the story here. Is tortellini venomous and poisonous to people, to pets? Oh, no, to people. I think to everybody is pretty much the answer. I don't know if tortellini is deadly or just bitey, stingy, but whatever it is, you don't want to get an unexpected visit from tortellini in the middle of the night.
6:04You wouldn't like tortellini when tortellini is angry.
6:07Amy Wilson:Okay. Leanne, I'm going to post because she wrote this story on threads and it's quite funny and quite long. But I'm going to just tell you that Leanne's recovery of Tortellini involved ripping out all the carpet in the room, sealing the door. Tortellini was eventually found in a sock and he was thankfully rehomed. And now lives, I believe, with a teacher at the school who keeps care of creepy crawlies. but that is going above and beyond in several different ways. It's funny about these animals. My sister had a turtle. I've talked about Riley, her turtle, who is probably about 40 years old now.
6:48No, no, he's older. You think he's like 45 years old now. She got him when she was eight and we weren't sure how old he was, but he was not a baby and he's still around. Anyway, he would constantly try to get out and he would escape sometimes and then they hide like tortellini. He's not out to, he wouldn't hit in a sock. He's not out to like sting everybody. He's just out to get back somewhere dark and warm. So that's nice when these animals get out. But that's why you can't find them, because they need to go hide somewhere really good. They're way better at hide and seek than kids are.
7:15Amy Wilson:Right. And I would say as nice as you are projecting that Tortellini is, if you were to step on him while trying to put that sock on your foot, he would murder you. Yeah. I mean, he may be nice. He may mean no harm. But that doesn't mean Tortellini is a net zero. He's a negative, I would say. Yeah. Yeah. You have to be careful. He's a centipede at heart. I don't think he has motives. I think he just stings anybody who comes at him. But if that's your bare foot putting on a sock, you've got a problem. My daughter wrote me, I think she was six. She worked on it all weekend. A letter. But I mean, a booklet is more of a correct word.
7:57Amy Wilson:I mean, it was a tome with well-reasoned arguments, research and drawings and diagrams about how she should be allowed to have a rat in her room. And I was like, in the movie version, the mom's heart is melted by all of this beautiful work. And the mom is like, yes. And Ratatouille comes and live with them. And they all live happily ever after. But that is not what happened in my case. I was like, there's literally no way I could sleep at night knowing there was a rat in my house. There's no way. never gonna happen we got a fish and this is the things you do for your kids my daughter was in the hospital and of course you're in that moment or like anything anything to make the kid happy and one of the teachers came to visit and she did ask first this is definitely an opt-in thing so she did the right thing is it okay if i bring your daughter a fish as a gift and i will you know again it was like anything to lighten the mood right now yes so she bought a fish and let me let me tell you the things that i did cleaning that tank eventually it was named nina y underwater water was the name of this fish.
9:00And we didn't clean it enough because I was dealing with a sick kid. And so eventually Nina had like an eye infection. And I have a fish to deal with. So be aware of any pet, especially one that's poisonous. Nina has long swum off to the oceans in the sky. Yeah. Nina didn't make it. We were away for the weekend and our babysitter was keeping the fish. And she texted me in a complete panic because Nina had swum to the fish tank in the sky while we were gone for the weekend and she was going to do a replacement but she couldn't because nina had one bug eye from this infection so how was she going to find like one like an eye infected fish at petco they don't really carry those anyway i was like i think it's okay and
9:41Amy Wilson:my daughter was gonna call yeah like everybody was like yeah it's okay yeah bye nina it's fine i started this post giving the example of my you know the lovies that your kids have when they're little. I have three kids and two of them still have their loveys from when they're little. My oldest had a bear who was blue, whose name was Blue Bear. And then my daughter had a blanket. And then my son had a, he had a lovey named Elmo, but Elmo disappeared at some point. And we, we lost track of Elmo and it wasn't that big a deal. Well, sometimes it surprises you, right? You're like, oh no, like Elmo's missing.
10:26And then it quickly becomes evident everybody's okay that nina it's perfect perfect personalities my oldest
10:33Amy Wilson:still has blue bear i mean doesn't sleep with anything but like yeah yeah my oldest is like organized knows where his stuff is and we bought a second blue bear early on to try to out fight and we would try to keep them in rotation and i want to say my son was six months old i don't know when we tried to put new blue bear in rotation, he threw it right out of the crib. He knew what was up. He's like, that's not blue bear. Didn't smell it. Don't even bother. It looked exactly the same, same brand, same everything. And that bear, for some reason, got named T-Bear. And we had blue bear and T-Bear for a while.
11:09Amy Wilson:But T-Bear never replaced blue bear. No, didn't rate. But my niece had, when she was probably two or three years old, a squid, whose name was Squiddy. and Squiddy went everywhere. And Squiddy... A stuffed squid, right? I'm sorry. I was like picturing the tank. Okay, stuffed squid. No, no, no. Stuffed squid. And named Squiddy. Squiddy went everywhere. And at some point, they were on a road trip. They lived in Chicago. We lived in New York and they used to drive it. Driving back to Chicago and they realized two hours late that Squiddy had been left at a rest stop. And my sister-in-law was like, we're going back.
11:50Amy Wilson:And so they drove four hours to go recover Squiddy. Oh my gosh. And my brother thought she was crazy, but she's like, for me, it's four hours now versus seven days of absolute trauma. It's not even so much I have to get my kids Squid back. It's like I can't face the next seven days without Squiddy of being home with a screaming two-year-old. The easier choice is to drive back to the rest stop. Yeah, yeah, yeah. The much easier choice. And my brother, I think, tried to be like, that's insane. And she, I'm sure, said, if you want to stay home all week from work and be with a two year old with no squiddy, then you can make that choice.
12:29Amy Wilson:But otherwise, we're going back. And back they went. I just saw on Facebook this week, I like, you may remember, you know, back in time. And it showed a madhouse of a department store near where I grew up in Pennsylvania of the year the Cabbage Patch Kids were it. Just mayhem in a department store. Everybody grabbing these boxes. And anyway, my dad that year was in that scrum. I couldn't find him in the photo, but he was in that scrum getting me and my two sisters each Cabbage Patch dolls because you had to get them. Had to have one. Yeah. And if he lost it, he might have driven two hours back.
13:05Amy Wilson:He's like, I punched three housewives from Scranton to get my hands on this thing. Right. And we're not leaving it behind. Right. I mean, I guess that those are good old days, maybe better left in the past that we're all fighting over a stupid toy. But yeah, the things we do for our kids. We will be right back and talk about many other lovey rescues from our audience. We'll be right back. summer is not a time for a full face of makeup but there are days I just still want to look awake and alive maybe even healthy and to do all that really I only need one thing miracle balm from Jones Road Beauty I love their miracle balm I have it in four different colors I'm currently obsessed with happy hour which I use as like a highlighter bronzer a little bit of a blush you can even use it on your lips.
13:53It's the ultimate no fuss multitasker. I throw it in my purse, I dab a little miracle balm on my cheeks and lips and the bridge of my nose, and wherever I am, I look completely natural and just a little polished at the same time. And Jones Road actually just launched their foundation stick for buildable, real coverage that feels completely weightless on your skin and looks like everything Jones Road makes totally natural. Modern day makeup that's clean, strategic, and multifunctional for effortless routines. For a limited time, our listeners are getting a free full-size mascara on their first Jones Road purchase when they use code FRESH at checkout.
14:30Just head to jonesroadbeauty.com and use the code FRESH at checkout. After you purchase, they will ask you where you heard about them. Please support Wet Fresh Hell and tell them our podcast sent you. After a long day in the summer sun, my skin needs a hydration reset. That's why I love Osea's Hyaluronic Body Serum. It's super lightweight to put on, no waiting 10 minutes before you can even get dressed. And even though I'm just starting to use it, the hyaluronic acid is really helping my skin retain more moisture.
15:01Amy Wilson:Amy, agree. Osea's Hyaluronic Body Serum delivers multi-level non-stop hydration to support the skin's moisture barrier. It provides soothing hydration even for sensitive skin like mine and was recently awarded the National Eczema Association Seal of Acceptance. Osea's Hyaluronic Body Serum is made for everyday use or just when your skin is in need of a little TLC. Instantly refresh your summer stressed skin with this cooling, refreshing, weightless and powerfully hydrating serum. For real, guys, I'm loving Osea's Hyaluronic Body Serum. It's a multi-layer hyaluronic powered hydration for the entire body.
15:41Amy Wilson:And right now, we have a special discount just for you. Get 10 % off your first order site-wide with code FRESH at OSEAMALIBU.com. That's code FRESH at OSEAMALIBU.com. Amy, you know I'm going to my big family wedding this summer and thanks to NutraFall, I do not have to worry about grabbing my husband's phone to immediately delete most of the photos because my hair is going to be on point. I love it. Nutrafol is the number one dermatologist recommended hair growth supplement brand. And it's the number one hair growth supplement brand personally used by dermatologists. Nutrafol's hair growth supplements are peer reviewed, NSF certified for sport and clinically tested.
16:28Amy Wilson:Nutrafol offers multiple formulas for men and women tailored to different life stages like postpartum or menopause and lifestyle factors such as plant-based diet so you get the support that's right for you. Adding Nutrafol to your daily routine is easy. Order online, no prescription needed, with automated deliveries and free shipping to keep you on track. Let your hair be one less thing to worry about. See visibly thicker, stronger, faster-growing hair in three to six months with Nutrafol. For a limited time, Nutrafol is offering our listeners$10 off your first month's subscription and free shipping when you visit Nutrafol.com and enter promo code LAUGHING.
17:09That's Nutrafol.com, spelled N-U-T-R-A-F-O-L dot com, promo code LAUGHING.
17:19Amy Wilson:Amy, Melissa spent two hours searching every corner of a Walmart for her four-year-old's beloved Minnie that was left behind during her birthday shopping trip earlier that day. Posted Minnie signs on the neighborhood Facebook group, alerted the Walmart employees, finally found her on a high shelf shoved behind some toys. I would do it all over again, worse seeing the relief and smile on her face. Now, wait a minute. I feel like there is a bad actor here. Like, how did Minnie end up hidden behind toys on a high shelf? What an adventure Minnie had. The kid didn't put Minnie there. Yeah, I guess that's right.
17:58Who put Minnie there? I mean, some like lazy employer is like, here's some kid's toy. Well, they'll never see it again and hid it behind toys. It's a weird story. Only Minnie knows what happened.
18:09Amy Wilson:Did Minnie come to life while Walmart was closed? Maybe the other toys I heard. Do you think about that? We once, Blue Bear, once we went to visit my husband at work with the kids. This is a random event, but there was a space shuttle. They were retiring the space shuttle and they were flying it on top of a plane and landing it at LAX in Los Angeles. My husband's office was by LAX and we went to go see it. And we got a great view of the space shuttle landing. And then my son left Blue Bear at the office and got home, went to take a nap. Blue Bear was all upset. But then my husband, who's a hilarious person, spent the whole afternoon texting pictures of what Blue Bear was doing at the office.
18:53Amy Wilson:And we ended up making one of those little, like, on Apple, you could make, like, little photo booths. Photo book, uh-huh. And we still look at it. Blue Bear's answering phones. He's doing the Sudoku. He's having a meeting with all the other employees. My husband spent the whole afternoon. And it became such a funny thing for our three-year-old. Like, what is he doing next? and he was just doing all sorts of money. He was on the phone talking to vendors. It was adorable. Kristen says that she jumped and searched through the ball pit at the trampoline place to find her son's hearing aid. She went right in.
19:28Amy Wilson:And she correctly added a barf emoji that she had to go into the ball pit. But this is one. See also retainers in the school garbage. I mean, a hearing aid is a very, very expensive item. Yes. And so that's both love and practicality that like there are definitely things, you know, if the retainer got thrown out at lunch, we're going through the garbage. Right. $500 or going through the garbage. We are going through the garbage. That's right. You know, that's an expensive loss if you can't find it. One time I was at SeaWorld with my kids and SeaWorld, if you ever end up in Orlando, SeaWorld has a surprisingly really good like playground play area.
20:09if your kids are really little and they kind of want to climb on stuff more than they want to stand in line for rides sea world might be for you anyway sea world had this playground and but parents weren't allowed in it huge you know thing and they go up on one side and they come out the other side and my kid was three old enough to be allowed to go in and just like didn't come out didn't come out didn't come out didn't come out and it's like one of those things it's like all pipes it looks like a steampunk thing like lost in the tubing i ended up crawling in the exit you You know, it was really too small for a grown up screaming, yelling his name all around this giant, like building sized playground.
20:45Found him. He just was hanging out at the top. He hurt me. He hurt me. He just was busy.
20:49Amy Wilson:He was doing his thing. I had a kid who was could go up, loved to be in the tube similarly. And we would go to McDonald's on Friday night. There was still a McDonald's with a play place in L.A. and we would go on Friday night. And once I went up into the tube and I am very claustrophobic and I sometimes have nightmares that I'm in confined spaces. And I'm like, I cannot do this. I'm actually going to have a heart attack. And so my new system, because this happened to us often enough, is that I would grab like the biggest kid at the playground and be like, yo, go find a kid with blonde hair, Lightning McQueen shirt and drag him out of there.
Read the full transcript
21:26Amy Wilson:And then the kid would come out and be like, he doesn't want to come out. I'm like, I didn't ask you whether or not he wanted to come out. I said, go find a kid with blonde hair, light him a queen shirt and drag him out. And like this 10 year old would come out dragging my three year old. So funny. Do not take no for an answer, kid. Oh, that's so funny. Just like Totellini. These kids like lost inside the maze. They're like, they're not lost. They just don't want to be found. They found a really good hiding spot up there at the top. Yeah. And like who wouldn't want to hang out in the McDonald's tube and eat someone's leftover french fries up there forever?
21:56Amy Wilson:I mean, it's a utopia. Parents can't find you, right? Until they come crawling up the wrong way. Kara, son lost a lovey during a mountain hike. She hiked almost back to the top to find and retrieve it. I would say do not take loveys on a hike, people. And Tina, she goes camping. Picture this with her five-year-old daughter who loves to draw on little scraps of paper. She put her beloved drawing in the pocket of the tent. And then there's a 50 mile an hour windstorm. Oh no. The campsite is destroyed. The tents break and there's a dumpster just full of destroyed tents. When the five-year-old starts screaming bloody murder that her scrap of paper is gone forever in the destroyed tent.
22:43Amy Wilson:Husband dumpster dives in the wind with everyone's tents folded like origami, finds theirs, digs for the pocket, and retrieves the scrap of paper. Daughter is now seven, but the paper is still on the fridge as a reminder of how ridiculously loved she is. Oh my gosh, that is so funny. We should do a whole other episode on the weirdest things our kids were attached to. A tiny scrap of paper? It sounds like it was that day's tiny scrap of paper, but the love was real. I had a cousin whose son carried Mr. Potato Head's right arm everywhere he went. He had to have Mr. Potato Head's right arm in his hand at all times.
23:23Amy Wilson:Would he check the hand to make sure it wasn't the left? Your left arm could be the T-Bear backup, but would he notice the arm? Oh, no, no, no. He would only carry the right arm. If he tried to hand him a left arm, no way. This is a left arm. And they contacted, I don't know who makes Mr. Potato Head, whatever company it is. Hasbro, I believe. Hasbro. And they were like, we have an unusual situation. We have a child who must have Mr. Potato Head's right arm at all times. We would rather not buy 30 Mr. Potato Head's. Would it be possible to simply purchase a dozen right arms? Because he has to have one at all times and it's hard to keep track of it.
24:02Amy Wilson:And I believe they sent them a bag of right arms for Mr. Potato Head. Yeah. But yeah, that's a funny one. Like, what was your kid hung up on? How do you get attached to Mr. Potato Head's right arm? I don't know. Kirstie says she climbed up onto their metal roof during an ice storm in Iowa on Christmas Eve to spread out the necessary reindeer food for Santa's reindeer because her daughter demanded they would need the proper nutrition to fuel their journey. I thought the reindeer can come down into the yard and you could just leave. Maybe in Iowa, they just land right on the slippery roofs. Yeah, I mean, this is a big one.
24:36Amy Wilson:And I was impressed that my husband climbed out onto our roof to rescue our cat. I was like, I think that he'll get down eventually or just die out there. Christy's doing it to put out reindeer food. If there was a cat in the roof, I'd be like the Nina Y. Underwater reaction. Like, it's OK. It's all right. Figure it out. I don't need her back. It's fine. Yeah, that is impressive, Christy. Anna says she talks about and a lot of people noted that during COVID, just to survive, you had to kind of get pretty inventive. Christmas in July, FaceTime read-alouds, and so, so many forts. She's not wrong.
25:14Amy Wilson:But she says, for an insanely long time, I made a daily code to find something hidden for my six-year-old. She's now 11 and still asks for a code to find her birthday or Hanukkah gifts. I'm going to need more information on a daily code. Does it mean like an anagram? What does she mean? Yeah, I think it means we did this. I mean, be careful when you start traditions. Yes. We did this once for one of my kids' birthdays. I don't even know why. I just thought it would be fun that came down and the balloons are up and it's, yeah, it's your birthday. And then usually we just put the gifts on the table and like, yeah, let's open your gifts.
25:55Amy Wilson:And instead I put a clue on the table. And then he had to run around on a scavenger hunt for like 15 minutes and find all the gifts, bring them back to the table and then open them. Guess who now does that for everyone's birthday every year ever since for the last 10 years? The Easter Bunny does a scavenger hunt at our house, which is a lot of work for the Easter Bunny. Yeah. Still? And one present leads to the next present. No, once your kids go to college and they're not there on Easter anymore, it's fine. Okay, you could actually stop. No more climbing out the roof. Yeah, yeah. I guess we do want to know more about the code, but I think I can kind of picture it.
26:36Amy Wilson:Megan, I loved this one. Her daughter's five years old and announces one day that she's expecting a baby and will be giving birth to a baby girl. I thought she was just pretend playing, but after a couple of weeks of daily talk, it became clear that she was quite serious. One day, she announced her baby was going to be born in a few days and that she was having a shower complete with specific detailed instructions on cake menu and decorations. So naturally I did what any overextended tired mom with no free time to spare would do. I picked up an inexpensive baby doll from Target that magically appeared in her room the day of the baby's arrival.
27:12Amy Wilson:She went into her room alone for a couple of minutes and came out with a doll wrapped in a blanket to introduce us to her daughter. I made the cake down to the specific details, chocolate with pink frosting and strawberries and a homemade congratulations. Welcome to the world poster dug out of my old baby shower decorations and through the shower with her dad, brother, grandparents and uncle all dressed up to celebrate. At times I felt I was absolutely crazy for going along with it, but she was so happy and over the moon that I would do it all over again in an instant. Three years later, she still plays with her daughter.
27:50That is some great, I mean, Megan, kudos. That is some great parenting.
27:55Amy Wilson:And I want to say that we want to make sure that this episode, you're not listening and be like, oh, I never did anything like that for my kids. Therefore, I stink. I think what's fun about it, and I have found this in parenting to be very true, that it's not the everyday moments. You know, we talk about this example of the meal of small things that the woman writes in and says, you know growing up my mom would make meal of small things and yeah it was it was because they struggled her mother struggled to put food on the table and so once in a while it would be meal of small things for the dinner it would be like you know cubes of cheese and yeah whatever in the back of the fridge right right and it's her favorite memory and her mom is walking around thinking i failed you know it doesn't have to be an elaborate shower with the whole i think whenever you can lean in to your kids imagination and joy they find it so fun and joyful and that can just mean like I met a friend who's a turtle at the park and it's like well let's go visit your turtle friend or whatever it happens to be that you just want to lean into whatever momentary joyful thing they're feeling it doesn't have to be quite as elaborate as Megan's entire baby shower for her arriving baby, but it's still an amazing story.
29:16I was really into my imaginary friends when I was little. I had two named Kathy. Surprises me not at all. One was named Kathy. And then there was another one. I don't remember Kathy's name, which is terrible. They were my best friends. Your besties. But there were two of them. And I talked about them all the time. And one day, and then I was two, but I was a very verbal two-year-old. So I explained to my parents that they were coming over for dinner, but we had to go get them at their house. And my parents, and I was an only child at the time. Oh, no, I wasn't an only child. I must have put my brother in the car seat.
29:44Anyway, we drove around for a long time with me in the backseat saying it's over there. Turn right. Like they just let me go at it for a while and drive all around our neighborhood. I think it's almost up here. And then I said, I think they got a ride to our house and we eventually went home. I was wondering how that was going to. Yeah. Yeah. When it was going to eventually I think I saved face by saying I think they got to our house a different way.
30:08Amy Wilson:We have talked about this before because I shared with you that my mom at some point I was trying to help her set up something on the computer. My mom has since died. So it's okay for me to give away her computer password. And I said, well, what's your password? And she was like, oh, it's Norma Nersher. And I was like, I'm sorry, I don't understand the word you're saying. She's like, Norma Nersher spells it. The first name is Norma. The last name is Nersher. And I said, what is this combination of what, what, what are you saying? And she said, oh, Norma Nersher. She was my imaginary friend the whole time I was growing up.
30:36Amy Wilson:Norma Nersher. And I mean, stay with her what a name and she's still yeah she must have been in her 70s at the time and she was still celebrating norma nurser her childhood imaginary friend as a computer password speaking of my mother wendy says spent weeks crafting a costume for my train obsessed toddler including lights sound and a secret candy drop compartment down the smokestack totally worth it we've often talked about have one thing. And my mom's one thing was Halloween costumes. You put your order in in June. She worked all, I mean, full Statue of Liberty, over the top Halloween costumes.
31:17Amy Wilson:I think, you know, it's like you can choose like some people love to really decorate the birthday cake. Some people love to go wild on the summer vacation. You can't do all the things, but sometimes it's great to pick one thing. And Wendy did costumes and this train costume sounds It's completely amazing. Okay, we'll be back with even more things we have done for our kids that really go beyond. Summer is definitely a time when you want to be able to throw something on just before running out the door while also somehow looking like you definitely didn't just do that. Oh, that's why we are so in love with Quince.
31:51Amy Wilson:Quince makes elevated essentials using premium materials like European linen, organic cotton, and washable silk without the traditional retail markup. Quince's 100 % European linen pants, dresses, and tops are the pieces you'll reach for all summer long. They're lightweight, soft, comfortable, and perfect for layering. I already told you about my summer linen striped pajamas from Quince. Between us, they're just a summer outfit now. An actual just, I go out in them because they're so cute. I am also living in Quince summer linen. Everything at Quince is priced 50 to 80 % less than similar brands.
32:28Amy Wilson:And it's not just apparel. Quince also offers elevated essentials for your home, from bedding and bath to kitchen essentials and furniture. Make your summer wardrobe feel easier. Go to quince.com slash fresh for free shipping on your order and 365 day returns. Now available in Canada, too. That's Q-U-I-N-C-E, quince.com slash fresh for free shipping and 365 day returns. Quince.com slash fresh. Amy, let me tell you about a magical place that is so exactly designed to be enclosed space, year-round fun for the whole family, that I bet you already know what I'm going to say before I even say the name.
33:15Amy Wilson:Let's say it together on three. One, two, three. Great Wolf Lodge. You got it, Amy. My kids loved Great Wolf Lodge when we went. You probably already know that it has a huge indoor water park with a wave pool, lazy river, a bunch of massive water slides. But then your pack can hit the other attractions because wait, there's more. Great Wolf Lodge has adventure packed attractions like Magi Quest, a live action game kids can play throughout the lodge. Plus the Northern Lights Arcade spent some quality time there. So your kid who loves the lazy river and your kid who loves fantasy games will both have a great time great wolf lodge also offers great dining options and complimentary daily events like nightly dance parties all under one roof unpack the car once and you're settled in to have fun and with 22 lodges across the country you're always a short drive away from adventure we've both had such great times at great wolf lodge so bring your pack together at a lodge near you learn more at greatwolf.com and strengthen the pack.
34:17Amy Wilson:And now your guide to mom superheroes from the What Fresh Out podcast. Calm mom. The large C on her chest doesn't stand for catastrophe. This is calm mom. Able to soothe bleeding toddlers with a single word. Ready to counsel some and teens. Banned from a popular table at lunchtime with helpful insights. This mom is cool, collected, and there to support kids in need day and night. But self-care woman. It's a bird. It's a plane. It's a mom who knows she's no good to anyone else in her family unless she's taking care of herself first. Self-care mom can fill a bubble bath in seconds flat and sweet Odin's beard.
34:57Amy Wilson:If you don't see her in front of a sink full of dirty dishes, it's probably because she's letting her kids watch some screens so she can finish enjoying her novel. The Van Lantern. To the minivan offspring, the Van Lantern is ready at the wheel. No late night scout speeding. No 5.30 a.m. hockey practices too daunting for this mom. She's got remote opening doors. Her temperature controlled beverage fits perfectly into her cup holder. She's revved up and ready to go. Bedtime mom. Faster than a speeding bullet when it comes to finding lost lovies at bedtime. This mom comes into her full power at 7.30 p.m.
35:31Amy Wilson:sharp. She's the ultimate slayer of monsters under the bed. And requests for just one more glass of water bounce right off of her. So don't even bother. Captain Holiday. Some claim she was scratched as a child by a radioactive candy cane. But whatever the cause, Captain Holiday has never been the same. She starts decking the halls in October. And by December, she's got her home festooned from pillar to post. She's got inflatables, menorahs, and that Rudolph nose thing for the front of her car. Look out, Grinches. Mary has a new hero. And it's Captain Holiday. This has been your guide to mom's superheroes.
36:06From the What Fresh Hell podcast.
36:11It occurs to me, here's the thing that I did for my kids. I am not a costume maker. I was not an elaborate, I don't know, like a cake shaped like your dream. But I did read all seven Harry Potter books to my kids and do different voices for all the voices. Oh, that's fun. I put thought into it. I looked ahead like, oh, okay, tonight we have Mr. Percy and, you know, Lord Grominer or whatever. I'm making those up. And I really, I put a lot into it.
36:37Amy Wilson:Yeah. Speaking of Harry Potter, we're going to move into the birthday party category, which I think could be another one of these places where you go over the top. Alessa or Elisa threw an 11th birthday party, Harry Potter themed. And it has gone down in family lore. Swapped the living room and dining room furniture to surprise the kids with a pop-up Great Hall while they were out playing Quidditch. did a trip to Honeydukes for Bernie Bot's Every Favored Bean Challenge. Then they went to the Owlery to find secret maps, sent them to the potions lab in the basement, where her husband led them in a complete class with dry ice through a mirrored room of requirement, through a secret passage to a Defense Against Dark Arts class, and then out to the Quidditch pitch, where they rode brooms down a zip line to the slack line that followed to the trampoline.
37:40Amy Wilson:And each child had a fight against a giant Aragog the spider, which was made out of garbage bagpipe insulation. Okay. They beat him like a pinata until a balloon inside revealed the snitch used for Quidditch. I mean, that's quite a party, guys. Yeah. I hope that you found, sounds like you did, I hope you found as much joy in that and your husband as the kids did. That's a year of your life right there. We also had a Harry Potter themed party. It was about one 250 second as elaborate as this one. We did do the zip line and we attached a broom so that they could fly on the zip line, which I thought was extremely clever.
38:26Amy Wilson:until like the second kid on the broom hit another kid in the head with the broom as they were flying by. You know, it was like the broom was low down so that it would look like they were riding it. And then some kid tried to run under it and got hit in the head with the broom. So we had to take the broom off of it and, you know, care for the wounded child. So ours didn't go quite as amazingly. Mary says when her son was 18 months old, he became obsessed with Wheel of Fortune, as one does. I love this one. These are the best kinds of birthday parties, and there's no Wheel of Fortune plate to target.
38:57So his second birthday party, Mary made it Wheel of Fortune themed, complete with a handmade puzzle board backdrop and a spinning mini prize wheel cake, also handmade. made.
39:08Amy Wilson:I love Sarah's worked connections hard to find a falconer to bring his bird to her son's peregrine falcon themed eighth birthday party. As a surprise, we pulled it off. He was blown away. Having had a child who was obsessed with peregrine falcons, I can say this would have been an absolutely amazing party. I happen to love, it's kind of like the old picture of all the girls dressed as the princess and one kid dressed as a hot dog. Like, yeah, I love when you see those parties where it's like venomous centipede, you know, themed or whatever, like kids who are kind of very much into their own thing.
39:50Amy Wilson:There's something very adorable about it. Joy created an Alice in Wonderland Mad Hatter themed tea party for a two year old's birthday. During the pandemic, I was obviously compensating for the lack of social life. I spent months making centerpieces using teacups that I had glued together so it looked like they were falling over and frozen in midair, crafted life-size flowers, and just went absolutely crazy with the theme decor. She won't even remember it, but it was all of my love pouring out in party form. That's sweet. Well, good pictures, I suppose. Great pictures, and I do think that, I was talking to a guest, now I can't actually remember what guest it was, about they grew up without a ton of money and that their mom would get up early and go chalk the soccer field.
40:37Amy Wilson:And then they were able to play soccer for free. And that they would complain when they were kids, like, well, there's no one here to make us breakfast. And it's kind of embarrassing that why are you doing that? And that as an adult, they look back and think their mom, who was tired and had a job and had a million other things to do, was chalking the soccer field. And believe me, your two-year-old, your eight-year-old, your 11-year-old is not necessarily going to say like, well, I really realized the months that went into that. I think they're probably going to spend a lot of time being like, why are you so extra?
41:09Amy Wilson:Probably. Right. Or they're just going to move on with their day, but they are going to remember when they're older. Like, wow, somebody did that for me. It's pretty cool. Jennifer's kid invited Santa to her own sixth birthday party. She gave him the invitation. She went to see Santa at Christmas time and said, by the way, my birthday is in February and I hope you can come. The real Santa couldn't do it. Clearly, he was on vacation in February. He doesn't start working for the next year till March. But they hired somebody who could dress up like Santa, rang the doorbell on her birthday, hung out at the party, brought some cookies that the real Mrs.
41:43Claus had baked and a photo album of how things look at the North Pole. She's 12 and she still thinks that Santa might actually come to her house again on her birthday. I mean, I love that one.
41:53Amy Wilson:It's very cute. It's just that moment where you're like, guys, I'm leaning in. I don't know. You just get that thing of I'm definitely this person. And once I start, I can go a little crazy, you know, but I love it. It's like, hey, if we're going to now, let's make the car look like a dragon and drive the kids around it. And once I get going, I keep going. Mariah's is a little more practical. It's not gluing teacups, but it's still an amazing skill. She has gotten really good at catching her son's vomit. Her son, chronic puker as a toddler, and she learned to read his face and act fast. I never knew when it would hit.
42:33Amy Wilson:Couldn't always reach. But she was very good at reading his cues. Saved a lot of mess. Yeah. Yeah. Again, this is like, do you want to do this? No. Do you want to take the car in to be detailed and then still have it smell? Also, no. So this is like, it's the least worst choice in this moment is to catch. Also, it's a really unrecognizable skill that like the ability to look at a kid's face and say that kid is about to puke and action needs to be taken is a skill that is hard to put on a resume. But wow, is it valuable? And wow, do we respect that? Yeah. And it is a parenting. It's a like I never knew how to read dogs until I had a dog.
43:15Like when a dog is running at you, I now can obviously tell if this is a friendly dog or not. I don't know. You just read it once you have a dog. And this is definitely something only the mother can read the face of a kid who is just about to throw up.
43:28Amy Wilson:Anna Lynn has a similar. Flying home from Portugal, my husband spent about half the flight coming home in a squat holding my daughter over the airplane toilet so she wouldn't fall in. She was four at the time, terrified of airplane bathrooms, which, by the way, really fair point. Loud flush. Yeah. And also, like, just the complete certainty that it flushes out the side of the plane. and you'll just go flying out with it. I mean, felt it. They went back and forth from their seats to the bathroom until she finally went. I tried to help, but she refused to go with me and said, you can't keep me safe like Papa can.
44:04Amy Wilson:Order another drink, Annalyn. Sounds like you're off the hook. Exactly. Always take the opportunity when it's spouse's turn. And I guess she went over and over again because she was having like stage fright. She couldn't. She was probably too scared to go, of course. So it was multiple, multiple trips. And I'm sure every trip involved a tremendous amount of crying and not being able to go because you're too frightened. Right. And yeah, good job to Annalyn's spouse who took care of it and kept the child from being flung from the airplane when the toilet flushed. You know, this is an important one to close on because despite our best efforts to do the most wonderful things for our children, just give them everything they ever desired, it doesn't always work out.
44:50Christine says, I had twins so that my older daughter would have siblings to play with. It backfired. She hates them.
44:57Amy Wilson:First of all, Christine, great try. Really good try. At least you tried. Yeah. And this is a great point. They can play with each other. That sometimes you throw the 18-month prepared Harry Potter birthday party, and your child announces two days before, I'm not into Harry Potter anymore. Now I'm into Bratz dolls. Right. and you're just completely out of luck. Like there's a whole other episode in we tried to go out of the way and it blew up spectacularly. And Christine could be the kickoff post of that because certainly sometimes we try to do nice things for our kids and we get absolutely nothing or total disaster in return.
45:44My daughter had an injury in fourth grade and her class went on a trip to Philadelphia and I didn't want her to not be able to go. So this was the same after she'd been in the hospital and got the bug-eyed fish. So anyway, she's going on this trip to Philadelphia and so I went on the overnight trip to Philadelphia too so this kid could go. Anyway, old Philadelphia is not the most handicapped accessible city in the world as it turns out and I spent like two days carrying my kid around the Liberty Bell and all these places in Philadelphia like Tiny Tim on my back because there was nowhere to like have somebody pull up and drop her off.
46:18So I just had to like carry her from the Liberty Bell to like Benjamin Franklin's house because she was too tired on her crutches after, you know, four hours. And I did it. And I don't even know if she remembers, but I sure do.
46:28Amy Wilson:Yeah. But show her the pictures. Good for me. Yeah. Yeah. You'll be bringing out those pictures at the therapist's office one day when she's trying to say you were a terrible mother and being like, this, by the way, this is a picture of me walking from the Liberty Bell to Constitution Square with her on my back. It wasn't all bad, kid. Or if it was, I was trying. If you know someone who's gone way above and beyond for their kid, share this episode with them. You can literally share this episode right from the app. You could, of course, post about it on social media. You can post about it if your story was featured and say, come listen to how great a mom I am.
47:05Amy Wilson:That's right. Just share it with someone you know. That's right. We'd love to see it. Podcasts, the number one way people find new podcasts to listen to that they like is from hearing about it, you know, from a friend, word of mouth. So help us spread the word. And with that, thanks so much. And we will talk to you all next time. Kudos for all the times you've gone above and beyond. Good job.
47:30Amy Wilson:Thank you to Osea for sponsoring the show. Osea's Hyaluronic Body Serum is multi-layer, hyaluronic powered hydration for the entire body. And right now we have a special discount just for you. Get 10 % off your first order site-wide with code FRESH at oseamalibu.com. That's code FRESH at o-s-e-a-m-a-l-i-b-u-t-com.
From the publisher
From road trips to reclaim lost lovies to birthday extravaganzas with six-month planning windows, parents will do just about anything for their kids.
Amy and Margaret share listener stories—and their own—about the wildest, weirdest, and most over-the-top lengths we have all gone to make their kids happy.
Read the saga of the missing Tortellini
We love the sponsors that make this show possible! You can always find all the special deals and codes for all our current sponsors on our website:
https://www.whatfreshhellpodcast.com/p/promo-codes/
mom friends, funny moms, parenting advice, parenting experts, parenting tips, mothers, families, parenting skills, parenting strategies, parenting styles, busy moms, self-help for moms, manage kid’s behavior, teenager, tween, child development, family activities, family fun, parent child relationship, decluttering, kid-friendly, invisible workload, default parent, Margaret Ables, Amy Wilson
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
