Dadz R Us

School with kids- Married vs Single Dad version

May 27, 2023 Jimmy and Jesse Season 1 Episode 7

Dadz R Us

May 27, 2023 Season 1 Episode 7

Jimmy and Jesse

Welcome to the Dadz R Us podcast! In this episode, we're diving into the exciting and sometimes chaotic world of kids' schools. Join us as we navigate the unique challenges faced by single dads and married dads alike, and explore a wide range of topics that are sure to resonate with parents everywhere.

First up, we have Jimmy, a.k.a. "Sparkle Stash," who passionately argues that bus stops are far more problematic than car drop-off lanes. Find out why he believes this to be true and how it shapes his daily routine as a dad.

On the other side of the spectrum, we have Jesse, a.k.a. "Beef Wellington," who mourns the loss of Saturday morning cartoons and mandatory volunteer opportunities at school. Discover why these traditions hold a special place in his heart and how he copes with their absence.

One of the more challenging aspects of parenthood is navigating social stereotypes. Jimmy shares his personal struggles in convincing other parents at school that he's not homosexual, while Jesse sheds light on the importance of dispelling misconceptions and promoting inclusivity.

Homework can be a dreaded task for both kids and parents, but is it the worst aspect of school life? Join our hosts as they debate this topic, delving into the ups and downs of helping kids with assignments and managing time.

Dressing kids for school is no easy feat, and our hosts have differing opinions on the matter. Discover Jimmy and Jesse's hilarious and heartfelt perspectives as they tackle the question of whether dads can be trusted with fashion choices.

As parents, we often face tough decisions when it comes to our children's health. The hosts delve into the ethical dilemma of hiding their kid's illness from teachers and explore the implications of such actions.

Emergency contacts are crucial for any family, but can your new neighbors be legitimate options? Tune in to hear Jimmy and Jesse discuss the boundaries and considerations when selecting emergency contacts in a rapidly changing world.

Fundraisers are a common part of school life, but is it ethical to buy your way out of them? Our hosts examine the pros and cons, and the moral implications of opting out.

Join us for an engaging and thought-provoking episode where we laugh, share stories, and navigate the exciting, challenging, and often unpredictable journey of being a dad in today's world.

If you've want a topic covered in the show, send us a line! dadzruspodcast@gmail.com or visit us on all your favorite social platforms.

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Fundraisers are a common part of school life, but is it ethical to buy your way out of them? Our hosts examine the pros and cons, and the moral implications of opting out.

Join us for an engaging and thought-provoking episode where we laugh, share stories, and navigate the exciting, challenging, and often unpredictable journey of being a dad in today's world.

If you've want a topic covered in the show, send us a line! dadzruspodcast@gmail.com or visit us on all your favorite social platforms.

In this episode, Jimmy tries to convince other school parents that he is not a homosexual. Jesse dresses his kid like a clown for school. And is it okay to buy your way out of fundraisers?

Welcome to the Dads are out podcast, where dad could be a dad. So single verse married parents life advice. Today we're talking about our kids in school. I'm your co host, Jesse, also known as Beef Wellington. And joining me is my other co host and want to be my partner single dad Jimmy, also known as Sparkle Stash. Hi, Jimmy.

What is going on? Why do we have new nicknames?

I think that's my thing. I want to give us new nicknames every time,

every show. Okay, 1.7s I can roll with that. And

since I do the intros a lot, I get to make up anything I want for you. Sparkle Stash.

The stash is gone, though.

I told my kids to call me Beef Wellington. I went on a date

night. It sounds like you said you chode your kids.

I told 1.4s you said I said, hey, I'm beef Wellington. He goes, you're more like beef illington. They like roasting me. 1.5s Is this how it goes?

Kids just love you?

Yeah. So talk about schools. Let's start off with transportation, because my kid that still goes to school rides the bus. And since I walk the neighborhood a lot, I stop at all these bus stops and I tell them dad's jokes. They pretend to laugh. I get the pity laughs. So at what age? There is a time where I used to stand with them at the bus stop. Now I don't. I'm, like, skid out of the house anyway. But it's different for you. You drive your kid to school.

Yeah. That could come off pretty weird as a creeper hanging out at kids and bus stops in the morning. Jesse, you better watch

it, man. Okay, normally, 1.5s

here comes old man Jesse again.

Here comes Beef Wellington with a dad joke. But most of the time when I used to do that, believe it or not, elementary school, and I still see it in my neighborhood, all the dads get together and they talk. The moms never leave their cars, so their kids stay in the cars. And when the bus comes, they get out of the cars and go to the bus. I'm telling you, helicopter parenting is real. That's like a weird one. But maybe this day and age, that's the new norm. Kids just don't hang out in the bus stops by themselves. They're, like, supervised. Yeah, 1.7s I see that going on here because unfortunately for Connor, he doesn't have a bus because he goes to a private school, and so I have to drive him every morning. But as we are driving the school, there's a line of cars down the road with kids standing across the street. And that's like I don't know. I noticed this the other morning. I don't know if the parents are there because the kids aren't aware of their surroundings anymore, because their face. 1.4s Are buried in their phones. Not one kid is looking up when I'm driving by. Back when we stood at the bus stop, dude, our heads, like, if a car was to go off the road, at least we had a chance,

dude, we had a chance. So they can, these kids nowadays, but I think their parents hang out there so they can be the surroundings for them. So I think their parents hang out there guessing. I don't

know. The bus stop was like they adult, like, you know, adult version of the water cooler talk. That's what the bus stop was for me. For a kid, that's when we're, like, swapping the best video game, cheats codes, tips, all that stuff.

Saturday morning reruns and cartoons. What was your favorite episode this weekend? Jesse?

Juicy 18 last night. PA Barakas is the best,

but kids don't watch shows like that anymore. I used to sit down with my dad and watch chips fall. Guy 1.3s 18. Dukes of Hazard. Dude, these kids, 24 hours. Cartoon Network, dude, it's not fair.

That's a whole nother topic. The death of the Saturday morning cartoons. Well documented, I will tell you. And then I got the 80s theme shows. We'll do a top five on theme show, theme

song, back to the train, transportation. So how this goes for me is I drop them off at school because it's on my way to work. Okay? So that's a 20 minutes drive. We leave, I drop them off. The worst part about this is after I drop him off and I pick him up every Monday, Tuesday. 1.5s And every other Friday unless I get that famous. Oh, can you get him today? Once I already made it home. I hate that text. It's the worst text, but she knows that I won't know

what's 1.1s worse than that is dealing with the drop off lane and the pickup line. Tell me that's not annoying for you. I don't have to deal with that. 1s

I don't. Because work. 1.7s Yeah, I park and then I walk up to get them because 90% of the time, I let them go to the park after school. So we just walk instead of but there's really no line.

You're the cool dad.

Yeah. So

do the other parents let their kids play there after school,

too? A lot of times they ask Connor if he's playing first. Are you playing? And I always say yes, unless there's a doctor appointment or I got a poop or something. But back to the worst part of picking him up is I get there at, like, 220, and I got to wait till three. 2.1s

Lit. You gotta you gotta find a but bring a book, man. Okay, you just described some annoying parent traits. There's some parents out there that are just boiling right now where they hear about school pickup line. Like the parents that pretend they don't know the rules or they entitled parents and they just kind of drive up and they cut in front of people. Or I've had teachers tell me. Here's another annoying thing, is the first day of school when the parents all show up 30 minutes early before their kids get out of school. So their kids are looking out the window and they see their parents just waiting there for them. But you're doing this every day, not just the first day of school, because it works stuff. Oh, my gosh. I would pick up if you're talking 40 minutes, I'd multitask. I'd go pick up some grocery 1.3s

well, a lot of times I'll stop in to the grocery store before I pick him up. But if I have meat in the car now, his time at the park has been minimized. So I try not to pick up the meat. You know what I'm saying? 1.3s I get in my steps a lot of

times. Meat, gazer. It's okay if it's ice cream, I get it. But meat? Come on, man. You can let that meat hang.

I'm just saying.

Have you ever thought about carpooling? Actually, carpooling probably wouldn't work

for you. Not for me, because I'm 20 minutes 1.3s from the school. So sometimes what's funny is we'll be driving the school and we see another car in front of us, or a truck, and they have a cabrini sticker on there, and we always try to figure out who it is, but I guess I drive like a grandpa because I never see

you put school stickers on

your car. Yes, I do have one. 1.4s

That means you're an involved parent in schools. Love parents like that. I am very involved. But speaking of being involved, his school this year has decided to make it mandatory to volunteer 16 hours per child, 2s

or they find you, though. $500. Isn't that extortion for 1.7s I have a few thoughts on this one. So they're obviously doing this because parents are not getting involved. I get the impression sometimes, in full disclosure, my mom taught elementary school for middle school for like, 30 plus years. My wife is a she's a substitute teacher. She helps on the side and all that, 1.6s if you count the military. I guess I only do adult education sometimes. It's the same. But I want to say that these parents are treating schools as a pastime and not a priority, because why else would this private school what you're paying for your child to go to? 1.5s

Force you all to basically volunteer or get $500. You know what's sad? I can guarantee I'm almost sure of it because I've seen these people where I live, they will pay that and treat it as a fundraiser, tax write off rather than give up their time. 1.5s

It's going to happen.

And I'm like, well, why don't they want to get involved more? Is it do they do they not prioritize kids school? The involvement? Do you have work and time? Because when I think about your situation, it's absolutely like work and time conflicts or you'd probably do way more than you already do. Well, 1.1s

I got in like 4 hours for the field trip I just went on with the school. So I got 4 hours there. But I had to take a vacation day to do that.

So for you to volunteer, you're giving up what a catch 22? You pay $500 or you can't work and you have to use your vacation time. But I know you and I commend you because you prioritize your kids education, so you probably don't even feel like that's a sacrifice. But there's parents out there that probably do. 1.8s

No, I actually love it. Every time there's a field trip, the class always votes for me to go. They want me to go. I don't know why, but you're the fun dad. We want Connor's. Dad. Yeah.

They want sparkle. Stash

but unfortunately, I always can't take the time off work or I don't get picked. So my next time, I'm volunteering. Which kind of sucks, though, because what I've heard from other private schools around the area is if you volunteer, you get money off your tuition. Not this school. This school is like, hey, you volunteer or you're fined $500. And not to mention 1.1s what they say is it's to keep tuition down. 2.5s

Yeah, it's a whole nother 1.2s great private schools. They're going to teach some things that public schools don't. But I grew up going through private school up until 7th grade. And then I went to the public school. I got to be honest, the public school had more resources. I actually had a real gymnasium. I had a wood shop, I had auto shop. I had real computers where when I went to the private school, we didn't have any of that stuff because they just didn't have the money. The teachers were paid less, probably reflected in quality education. But to my parents, they're like, we don't care. You're learning religion. And I look at it now, I'm like, okay, well, I'll teach my kids religion if I want. On the side, I'll supplement. Like I said, man, parents are the kids first teachers. And if I look at it that way, school is kind of a bonus. 2.2s But like I said, man, field trips. I ain't got worried about field trips. My kid gets kicked off a field trip. So not doing one this

year. Well, I opened up my field trip. Morning. A little side. Quick story here. There are some new parents that I've never met before, so there's some

forced to volunteer. 1.7s

It was the zoo, actually. We had more people just show up because they just wanted to go to the zoo, I guess. I don't know. Before

you get in this story. 1.3s This has been. I have a lot of teacher friends and this is one of their biggest beefs is when the parents just show up for class trips and they never signed up to be a chaperone. So it's like a surprise. And they're like, great. If we would have known this, we wouldn't have tried so hard to get all these other chaperones. Your case, everybody's going to try to sign up.

Well, you know what I think is some parents think it picked, but they're going to try claiming the 4 hours and volunteering even though they weren't a volunteer.

Are you serious?

That's what I think. I don't know. I could be wrong. But back to my story. So I go and I meet these new parents, right? Me, I'm the only guy there. I'm always like the only dad. 2s I don't want to say sad, but it's awkward for me because a lot of times when I talk to other parents, it's never the dad, it's always the mom. So you got a single dad always talking to these moms. And it's like I feel awkward sometimes. It's like, 1.3s well, you're like an honorary fake mom. 2s

Fill in both roles.

But so the story. So I meet these new parents and for some reason I felt the need to say. 1.8s I'm not gay. I just like to participate in things with my son when it comes to school. And then I'm like,

Is this because it's a Catholic school, you have to throw out disqualifiers?

I don't know. But then two, three minutes passes and I go, not that there's anything wrong with that. I had to make it clear that if someone was gay in the group or had gay them, that there was nothing wrong. I was just saying, hey, 1.8s

I'm not throwing out I got to be honest with you, sparkle, Stash. Jimmy, they're going to take one look at you and see how you dress and know you're not gay. 5.3s I don't think that's going to be a problem because I know all the parents, the co parents my kids hang out with and who's married, who's got two dads, who's got two moms, and it's like, that's something you don't have to announce, and you shouldn't have to put that out there. Let people decide on their own what they think about you. Don't worry about what they think. 1.2s But then the other part of me, after I say that, I'm like, so do these moms think I'm trying to hit on them? Because I was like, hey, I'm not gay. Just so you okay.

What have I done? Yeah, you caused your own problems. That's actually hilarious. 1.1s Are you trying to tell them you're available? 1.7s

Hi, I'm Jimmy, single dad of one divorce. 1.9s

What was I doing? I don't know. 1.4s Oh, no, it's about the kids, not about you. Stop being so open about yourself. 1.7s

Be mysterious.

Just saying. All right, so routines, man. Pick up your kid. My kid just rolls in, grabs his snack and his drink.

You make him do the homework right away. I'm bad about this. I think I want to get better on

this, to tell you the truth. I really don't have to say it anymore. He just comes home.

Good. It's a habit. Yeah, but he doesn't do it at his house. So he'll come home and if he's got homework, he'll sit there sometimes if it's a whole lot, he'll be like, dad, can I do like part now and part later? I'm like, I don't have a problem with that. Do what you want. But believe it or not, these last two years,

I can probably count on two hands how many times he's had homework. The kid does not have homework.

Does he do it in school or they just don't assign

it? No, I guess they get a little free time at the end and he knocks it out. And its grades are mostly A's and B's, so I can't really say anything. But it's like I think next year, though, when he starts 6th grade, he is going to be in for a rude awakening because I think he's just going to have a lot of homework. I could be wrong. 2.3s I could have a genius here and I don't even know it.

So when they're younger, they get and this is just my anecdotal, my experience. When they're younger, they get a lot of homework and it's a lot of rote memorization where my older kids did great doing the homework. That's real stressful for a kid, showing to school and not finishing it. So finishing that school, that homework at home, cool. It helps them, but then they're going to get to an age. So my son's getting to this age now where it's not getting a lot of homework, but they get projects and get reports and it's a lot like college. So where my kid went to college. 1.7s They're great at doing what they were told, but they get to college, and they're like, all right, now you got to think for yourself. What's your opinion? And write about it. And it's like, that was too overwhelming for them. So I think I want to teach my youngest how to approach homework and learning a little differently to where maybe he's pumped for it come time for college, if he wants to do that. I don't know. Lessons learned, I

guess. Do you have any ideas on how you're going to do this?

Yeah, the only thought I've given to it right now, I'm working on behavior, so discipline always starts at home, and I'm afraid these teachers see my kid at school and be like, oh, it must be crazy at home. Their parents must be a personality. And I'm like, he doesn't he's a moody teenager. He doesn't talk to me at all. And he tells me he goes, Stop asking me how my day at school went. I don't know. It was fine. That's what he said. But then if I ask him things he's interested in. 1.3s He won't shut up about it. So I told him today that, hey, over the summer, we're big into fitness. I know we talked about this in the last episode about sports. He sucks at sports. But that does not mean that he cannot be good and fit in exercising, like CrossFit compete and exercise. So we got this whole workout plan laid out for him this summer especially. And 13 going through puberty sometimes, right? Talk about nutrition. And in turn, if he does this, then I will help him become a YouTube streamer. It's his dream. He's decorated his room. He's working on his content.

If I start talking about, hey, let's talk about finances. 2.4s We don't teach our kids well, finances. So if I want to start talking about this kind of thing, I'll do it in terms of YouTube monetization. You just got to find something that motivates them intrinsically. Intrinsically be internally. And the only thing that he likes internally is his passions. Right now. I want him he quit. I'm phrasing quitters. 1.1s He very selective for his middle school to be on this panther panther cast. They're panthers where they do. 1.2s Basically news interviews and stuff. Well, he didn't like that. He didn't have creative control. He wanted to be able to interview the way he wanted to, and he just quit. So I think we're going to reach back out to the principal because everyone's kind of disappointed in that. See, come 8th grade, what we're going to do, 3.4s his middle school is one of the amazing things they do is they took this concept from Harry Potter and they got several houses. Harry Potter, you got House Slytherin, which is a bad one. I don't know.

Got to catch up on my Harry Potter. Do they

build these houses or are they make believe?

They're make believe, bro. 1.6s

So it's a metaverse is what you're saying.

It's meta, that's for sure. So all it is is homeroom, where they take these 6th, 7th, and 8th graders and kind of put them together. And his house is House Pack and they're orange and they do all the school spirits and stuff. So now he's 8th grade. So he spent the last two years meeting homeroom in their den, they call it. And he basically for like a fox. 3.9s Yeah, he's a teacher's pet. I'm sure they hate him. 2.8s

Is there spirit animals connected? I'm going to ask

him. I don't know. Because his house, Peck, is actually named after our town's first postmaster. Our town doesn't have a lot of famous people, so they had to reach deep. But this year he's actually going to go into 8th grade. He's going to run to be the den president. I don't know how they could do that. House president and house leader. He's extremely popular. But what he doesn't know is it doesn't just count for student votes. He has to have the teachers also agree and kind of vote. And right now, I'm going to tell you, I don't think he's got the teachers vote. Now granted, he's got good grades, always a couple of B's, but he also gets in trouble for singing and dancing in the hallways. 1.2s So he's got some work. But I'll take this motivation and I'll use that and I'll tie it into teaching things. 1s It's a parenting heck, man, you find what they like. 1.1s

And go with it, man.

Go with the grain.

It's their life. You got to support what they like and what they want to do. Unfortunately, sometimes they like to sing and dance and the

other times

they like to hang out and bends.

Singing and dancing is okay in my house? Apparently not when you're disrupting 100 kids trying to get the class. And they only get like 3 minutes in between class. So they're racing between class and they don't even go their lockers. They load up like nine books. Nine

books. A pair of tap shoes. And tell them the tap is asked the class.

No crocs. Did your kid with crocs? So public school or private school is different. 1.4s I always picture single dads dressing their kids like shit. 1.4s

Well, I don't have that option since he has a uniform that he has to

wear. 1.6s Really? Then you're just make sure it's clean and not too wrinkly. Like he slept in it. Yeah, I went to private school and got in trouble for having my clothes wrinkly. Because guess what? I'd sleep in it. Third grade. Spaghetti stains on it. Wear the same crap next day. These nuns were so mad at me. Don't do that. 1.2s So my kid walks out of my house, and even though I'm a married dad, 2.2s if I let him go to school looking like an idiot with pajama bottoms and crocs,

why is that your fault? 2.2s

Because my wife left before me and 1s I should have caught

him. Now, your wife strikes me as a type of person that would lay out exactly what she wants him to wear. Yes. She's a control freak. Say, Jesse, listen, jesse, this is what you are going to wear today, and that is what Brody is going to wear today. You make that happen. That's what I see happening. So what happened when you didn't follow

that? So being a married ed, first off, you

know, open the fucking dryer. Your pants are in

there. You know she dresses me. That's why I'm laughing. You set me up here. 1.3s Yes. She picks my clothes. She gets rid of the clothes she doesn't like. She does dress me. She does the same thing with Brody. And if you listen to the last bonus episode she's tried

I'm sorry, women, he is taken. You cannot have your own Ken Barbie doll.

Please. If you listen to the last episode, you know she's a trophy. She's trying to correct me on air on my new show. Jesse, 2.4s she's the Factsr us. 1.9s She's going to hear this because she listens to every episode. The day comes out and then gives me a laundry list of notes of where I was wrong and how I need to correct myself. I'm not doing that. 1.9s I will say she is so good with the kids, though, making sure they're comfortable. Brody feels like he's safe to talk to her about school. The school straight up told me. They're like, listen, the only thing effective that we found that works is we tell him we're going to tell their dad and he straightens right up. So I guess I'm good for that. That but yeah, it's always a work in progress and I always try to team up with the teachers. I'm on their side.

Well, let me ask you this, because I have a son. He's eleven. 1.2s When when did these and I don't want to call him problems or issues because he's a young kid, the school thinks it's a problem. When did this start happening? So I know when to possibly and the other dads out there that have young kids that are single, married, whatever, might start experiencing this. Has this always been going on? No, because I've never had a call from the principal yet, and I can honestly say my son everyone says this as a great kid, but everyone, when he goes places, I've had people pull me, your son is so polite. He's got great manners.

Every kid was different for me. So I tried to go out of my way to be approachable. And I think in this day and age, what's happened over the years, our teachers are hesitant to reach out and communicate with parents. And there's a

couple because they're afraid they're going to get sued or lose their job. And I don't

know how this became there's a couple of things I've learned the hard way. 2.6s

We've come from teachers being able to fucking spank you with a ruler to, hey, I'm afraid to even call a parent because I might lose my

job. And let's be fair,

parents aren't

good parents to teachers nowadays, I don't think. Maybe that's just my opinion. But again, I'm going back on. My mom was a teacher for 30 years. I go, So many of my friends are teachers and principals. And there's a couple of things I learned the hard way, like in my 20s compared to now in my 40s, pushing 50. Number one, don't go above the teacher's heads. 1s Always go directly to the teachers. Trust me when I say talk to the principal. I've always talked to the teachers. But when the principal reaches out to me, we have a good rapport. I would hope so. Again, we're a team here. I'm on a side. The other thing is, don't ignore teachers emails, because there's nothing worse than getting to the end of the year, and your kids like, Why don't I have a yearbook? Your teacher sent out 100 emails about buying a yearbook. Or, hey, this is their homework. And I get it. You get flooded. Because when we were kids, my parents didn't have this open access to teachers that parents today do, and I get all the updates, right? So when I look at his grades, and I'm like, okay, I know what missing assignments he has, I'm like, what the heck? What did you do? Why did tell me about this test? 2.9s I don't want to be a helicopter parent, but I'm like, all right, I see some stuff trending here, so I want to help you on this. The teachers, anytime I think they don't at first, early in the school year, at least this year, they didn't send me a lot of emails or correspondence right away. But they have quite a bit at the end of the year. And for the most part, I always try to email them back and communicate and be super respectful, not confrontational. We're on the same team school and these folks. Again, I consider my kids education a priority, not a pastime. And from stories I've heard, parents want to fight the teachers. They don't agree. Why? You're not fair with my kid. Listen, you you know your kid even better than they do because you're with them more. Let's take a hard look at your own kid and be like, all right, what's important? What's not? Porn? What can we make better? 1.3s You know?

Right? What what can we do different?

Yeah. Because ultimately we want the same goal for the kids. We want them to have a good time. You want to make sure that 1s they're safe with other kids. They're not a danger to themselves or others. They're not into the cyberbullying vandalism stealing. It's good. And honestly, if the only problem is we're working on is kids dancing in the hallway, that's fixable, man. That's not bad. That's workable. 1.1s It's not worth getting in fights with. That solves nothing.

No, that's just a kid being a kid, man.

Which being encounters eleven. I'm telling you right now that by the time he goes to middle school and then by high school, these are formative years, and you want to make them enjoyable. You want him to like school.

Well, honestly, I can honestly say loves school. He gets mad if he's sick and has to stay home. He never asks to say, hey, can I stay home today? Or even when he's sick, sometimes I will go. And I know this is wrong because nowadays you're supposed to keep them home for a runny fucking nose. But I'll ask them. I'm like, hey, okay,

listen. That's annoying to teachers when parents try to hide sickness. Now, again, runny nose is like, no, 1.5s

I didn't say anything about hiding anything. I just said, hey, you got a runny nose.

I know parents. 1.7s Parents do this. They know their kid has COVID. They'll send them to school because they can't take off of work. Or they'll try to, or the kids throwing up all morning and they're like they'll send them to school because they know. They're like, oh, you're probably going to be fine. I can't take off of work. But guess what? You know

what happens? No. See, two things. If my kid's throwing up, he doesn't have the option of going to school. And if he's shit himself, he ain't got the option. He's staying because we're normal parents. 1.1s But I'm just saying, if he's got a cough or a fucking runny nose now, they go, Guess what if I look at him and hey, how do you feel? I feel good. See, my son, he has asthma, he has allergies. So a lot of times I chalk it up to that. I give him an allergy pill, I stop off, I get him some cough drops, then lou the ones I wasn't allowed to have when I was a kid because they tasted too much like candy. Well, listen up, motherfuckers. They do the same job as Halls. Jesus.

I got stuck with halls. They're gross. So who's your emergency contact? Say, kids sick, they can't get a hold of you, you call the mom?

Well, it's. The first call. If I wake up and he is sick, the first call is his mom. Well, unfortunately, his mom likes to sleep late sometimes, and she doesn't get that phone call. And 2s like I've mentioned before, her husband doesn't like her talking to me, so I'm probably unsilent. So my next one is my mom. If it's a Wednesday, I can call my brother. And if all else fails, I am in a spot to where I could miss work. 2.3s I don't like to miss work, but if it comes down to it, and depending on how sick he is, I don't want to be dragging him around. All right, put on shoes. If he's sick, sick legitimate, then I just no questions asked. I don't even try calling.

I'm just worried about when your kids get hurt at school. I already get the call.

I'm the first no, they call me, and they

can't get a hold of you. That can be stressful for a single dad. You're like, you have to come up with this list of who

can. Well, I have two phones. I have a work phone, and I have a real phone. So when I'm at work, I always have one of those phones. And they know to call both good. There was one like, I've never had that call. I've got a call to where he wasn't feeling well, and I know if I get that call, he really isn't feeling well.

Because they want to stay in school. My kid fights me, too. He doesn't want to stay home from school because it's

a party. Is that Brody? Yeah, man. Well, what I'm asking now, 1.2s we've had this discussion before about friends in the neighborhood. He doesn't have a lot in the neighborhood. Correct.

He's got four. Well, one. He's friends with everyone.

Right? Come on. You know what I'm talking about. We're not going I'm just saying. I'm telling you, I kick him out of the house, and he's walking with a roving band of adolescents. But when we first moved here, he didn't know anybody, and I had to register him for school. And I'm asking neighbors across the street like, hey, I know you barely know me. Can you be my emergency contact? And what's crazy now is they introduce themselves as, like, yeah, I'm Brody's, emergency contact number one. It's like a badge of honor. And I've had new folks move into my neighborhood that I've known for years, like, other military, close knit community. They're like, hey, I don't know anybody, so you're my mercy contact. And guess what? Jody's been called in to pick up a puking kid from school. Really?

Yeah. So it actually works

well for the parents out there that are listening. Do you have that kind of relationship with your neighbors to where you can have them as an emergency contact? 1.5s Me. I don't. So send us a question. I'm sorry? Send us an answer to this question at dadrus@gmail.com or on our Facebook page. And share this out with your friends. Ask your friends if they're comfortable. I'm not. I would not have my neighbor. But I know your circumstances are different because you didn't know anyone in the area. But your wife doesn't work at the time, right?

No, she was working at some gyms, teaching spend classes, personal trainers. 1.9s

Before you asked your neighbors, were your older kids on that list or were they not driving?

My older kids in this neighborhood, they didn't live with me. They're in college. Okay, but you have to put somebody local down other than your wife. 1.6s That taught me a lesson early on. So I've been in this neighborhood four years now. I work real hard at building relationships with my neighbors in the neighborhood. And just for things like that, I can tell you right now, ten houses on my street that are all surrounded by me. We all look out for each other. I've got all their phone numbers. They know everything about me. 1s It works out. And I tell them. I'm like, hey, if you see my kids doing anything, they call me. They tell me all the time. They all got the cameras. Kids can't even run up to houses and ding dong ditch and take off, because we're like, yes, we know all the kids in the neighborhood again. I tell them jokes at the bus stop every day, so they all know me. A lot of them don't know my name. They'll call me nicknames or whatever. Or the funny

guy behind your back. They know your name. 1.2s It's creepy.

Too bad you couldn't get those for volunteer hours at your school. What about does that mean you got to join the PTO?

No, actually, at the end of the year, they have a carnival. 1.3s So 1.2s I signed up for the liquor tent for 6 hours. And then on Saturday

my Catholics don't disappoint with the festivals and the carnivals. Tell me I'm wrong.

I will be running the Vegas tent on Saturday. Come on down and see me. Help me. I

wish you were close, because if it wasn't, Memorial Day weekend would go out there for the polka bands because I grew up St. Pius, Man, St. Mary Magdalene. And then you're with the Cabrini. The Catholics still mess around with the carnivals and the festivals. 1.4s

Well, it's not Memorial weekend. It's the weekend after Memorial

Day. Oh, that probably makes more sense. And plus the polka band where we grew up. 1.3s Strong Polish influence. I'll tell you what one of my favorite festivals back in the day was St. Pascals. They had every year. 1.8s Fucking Elvis impersonator. And I think this is why I love Elvis so much is because when I was a kid, I remember going to church there. Dude, I would go there and they hunk a hunk off burning love and giving out little petty bears. And these girls are all and this guy, he'd take a scarf off his neck, probably rubbed it on his cock beforehand. They were fucking whatever. I'm

like, think

those fundraisers yeah, fundraisers suck to begin with, but I forgot, so that's probably a huge fundraiser for you guys, but in public schools, it's

different. They sent me a pack of tickets. I'm supposed to be selling right now. Raffle tickets. Buy some. Sold one. 1.1s Well, you can buy. You can be the first and last because

I don't sell. How many do you

have? Remember back in the day? Oh, dude, if you want to pause this, I can go and let you know right now. Don't worry about it. I have venmo and cash app for all of our listeners out there. If you want yourself a chance at winning $12,000 from the Cabrini Festival, please get a hold of me on Dad's R US Facebook page and we can work out a deal. Maybe

this podcast can solve the fundraising problem. Hate the fundraisers. I just would rather give them money.

Well, let me ask you this. Nowadays, if. 1s Remember our fundraisers back in the day? Motherfucker, you'd call an 800 phone number and they send you this magazine with all this dollar store shit in there. You wanted to as a kid, you wanted you had to go around and sell this candy. You remember that? Like, you go door to door. 1.1s

You might be surprised to hear this, but, well,

man, would you let your kids go door to door now to sell stuff out of a magazine?

My neighborhood? Yes, your neighborhood. No, 2.3s

I wasn't just in my neighborhood, dude, I'd walk 3 miles trying to sell this

shit. So there's a story I heard this weekend. Our neighborhood had our semiannual garage sale where everybody has garage sales. And I talked to a parent, it and they sent their daughter, who's a cheerleader, door to door, the fundraise. But they had their older brother driving, watching her. And I'm like, yeah, that's smart. This day and age, I don't blame you. But actually, it backfired because. 1.5s Some old Karen's got on the Facebook page and started spouting off that saying, hey, there's a car full of black kids slow rolling through the neighborhood. And I'm like, are you serious? 1.1s She had to deal with that. And I'm like, here they are thinking they're being responsible and letting their child fundraise and then you got to deal with systemic racism with the old I was going

to say that's. So oh, that's so wrong. Just because you see a car full of different colored people in your neighborhood that you stereo those

folks that made that complaint yeah, those folks. He's an amazing football player. He's going to Kentucky State for his masters. You're like, great kid. And those people I know for a fact the ones that made that complaint know longer live in this neighborhood. Well, that's good. Things kind of have yeah. I know I'm going to scare people away. I keep telling how great my neighborhood is, 1.4s but I do have all these horror stories. I guess that's society. 1.2s But I will tell you this on the fundraiser part. When I went to Catholic school, there was a couple of years where I led every student in candy sales. We're selling M and Ms earned candy bars. Fifty cents. And my trick was and we're talking late eighty S I went to

you had the omega moves naked. 2.6s

Hey. I learned sales at an early age. What I would do is every Friday, they give us about a six week window to sell as much as we could. So what I would do is every Friday, I would go up to the bank. People would back in the day in the 80s, would go walk into banks to cash their checks and get money. And on the way out, I'm like, I'm in my school uniform saying,

we need computers because we didn't have anything. And they're like, oh, man, give me four of those. Here's $2. And I would just sell out every single box of candy I had within an hour and then go home. My mom, she was going to college at the time to be a teacher. 1.2s She would just sit in a car and do her homework while I'm at a bank. Of course, I asked the bank, I'm like, Can I sell candy in your lobby? And they're like, yeah, man, no one's going to say no to a kid. But now the fundraisers are stupid, man. Hey, frozen pizza, cookies. Here's a magazine. It's not just candy where you just buy on the spot. You have to pay for flowers, candles.

Buy a puncetta you're like, you'll get it in six weeks. It's like Amazon or like Kickstarter. You buy something and a year later it shows up. You're like, oh, I bought a yearbook. I don't know. I hate them. I hate fundraisers. I hate them so much. Every parent there's no parent that likes it. PTO. 1.9s

Well, I think the parents don't like it because the kids really aren't responsible for it. True. It's the parents. 1.8s Here we go, scouts. 1.1s Like I said. 1.5s Oh, well, it. I don't know. Good times, man. I would

say schools are definitely different from when we went to they are now.

Could you imagine if schools were like they were in the remember days when confused and go around swatting people? Can you imagine if it was like that?

Nowadays, that's a teacher's worst nightmare is if you say the word bullying. They like to use the words hi jinx and jokey because it's so much paperwork. They have people dedicated to prevent bullies. 1.8s And I keep telling Joni this, I'm like, Kids just don't fight. And she goes bull crap. They do, because she's a substitute teacher. She sees fights all the time. But the schools are real good at keeping stuff quiet and under wraps. Because I know for a fact 1.1s they've caught kids bringing guns to school and they kind of take care of it right away. And 1.2s they got it so bad, these teachers, they're fighting public perception. Like, they're fighting this idea that somehow they're against the students and the parents. They're not. They're fighting social media. Social media will go in there. Anybody can put anything like, oh, they hate my kids. They won't feed my kids because he forgot his lunch money. It's not true. Like, all these falsities and we didn't have the social media and the echo chambers and the parents talking to each other. Don't get me wrong. I talk to parents all the time about their kids and what they're going through because I'm generally curious their thoughts and feelings. But I'm not doing it through social media. That's not a place for it, if you ask me. But. 1.8s

No. 2s At least it's good talk today, man. We covered a lot of stuff, but you need 16 hours. Yeah. So how many

hours are you at right now?

Probably four from the field trip. But what I didn't bring up, though, right, is 1.1s to be a volunteer at the school, 1s you need to go to this class called God's Children, right? It's, like a four or five hour class. It was the most uncomfortable class I've ever had, dude. Like, they go into prison and talk to pedophiles, 2.7s and they're like, yeah, so this is what you need to look for, and this is what you are not to do or or how to not touch a child. And it was so uncomfortable. You're like, really? We got to have a class like this to volunteer, dude. And some of the things these prisoners were saying were so uncomfortable, dude. I couldn't handle it, dude. It was like, I'm so glad you only have to do that once. And then they run your background check.

The public schools is good with the background check and the fingerprints, but that's 1.1s private school is probably a reason why they're putting it out there to educate. 1.7s

I mean, maybe, but, dude, it was so uncomfortable, man. I think I'd rather pay the $500. 3.3s Well, back then, they didn't have that Role $500 because I took the class when he was in kindergarten, because I wanted to be able to participate in things that were going on at his school. I love going on field.

Sometimes education is uncomfortable. Bull. Sparkle. Stash. 3.9s

Well, there's my first merchandise. You guys are interested in buying yourself a sparkle?

It's a literally. Girl dad. I don't know.

Just look us our Facebook page at Dads R US, Oregon. Send us an email and I'll send a shirt to you right away. Yeah. 1.2s Schools. I love how

they're different. I would say 1.7s my older kids got in trouble the more traditional way. In fact, my oldest kid literally got suspended from school when he was five years old. I didn't even know that was possible. 1.6s Then 1.3s it started changing over. What do you

do, pee on someone's leg? No,

he said asshole in kindergarten. 3.2s

What do you say?

My dad's an asshole. Tells the principal. The principal is like, Where'd you learn that? He goes from my dad. And I'm like, I'm an adult. I can swear. And the principal is like, Lecturing me. He said he learned it from you. And I'm like, yes. I said asshole all the time. In fact, he's an asshole. No, I wasn't like that. That was a religious school as well, so they weren't messing around. I'm like, yeah, man, I'll work out. I'm in the military, young man, where I grew up. I don't realize how much I do swear until I'm trying to bleep out my wife's cussing and a bonus podcast, apparently all the time. Anyways, so, yeah, now the kids, they find more creative ways to get in trouble. It all has to do with technology, and I'm fighting with preventing these kids from sending inappropriate pictures on the phones. I keep him off of social media. Now he's trying to sneak into the social media life. 1.6s Oh, and you know Google Docs, Share Docs, you get access to that and you make changes on someone else's extra credit. Guess what that gets you all day? Detention. Ask me how I know that. Anyways, get into some girl's assignment you like and you put the word but 1.3s that's going to get you in trouble. Yeah, he was upset. He got in trouble for that one. I was like, I'm empathetic, but there's no sympathy. Empathy, but without sympathy, like, you messed up. You know, right and wrong. And that's how I know he knows right and wrong because he went back in a day later and tried to fix it so he knew what he was doing. Never get into somebody's assignment. So lessons learned. So at the end of the year, they always have a field day. They call it a carnival. And he's basically got to be good the Monday, Tuesday. So he is allowed to participate, but he's not going on the field trip because I guess a combination of things

since this recording. Brody was caught in school googling what 69 was. While his friends found this hilarious, his teachers and parents did not. He will be suspended and miss his field day. He was already removed from his field trip. He is literally spending his entire last week in 7th grade in detention. I wish I was making

this up. Excused absences because he got COVID a few times, but when you add in all the tardies and referrals and the dancing in the hallway, 2.4s there's no way teachers want to deal with that kind of ringleader outside of a school environment. It which is why I think Joni and I are going to volunteer to chaperone as much as we can as time allows. But I travel a lot, so I'm not going to be there to help. But Joni, she's all for it next year. It's a big one. 8th graders go to Washington DC. And it's like $1,400. 1.7s

Soda. Yeah, actually, when he's in 7th grade, they do Chicago. 1.1s It rotates. So one year he'll do Chicago, and then next year he does. But yeah, it's like

that's how they did it in Catholic school. It's St. Pius. Man, chicago was like Toronto was fifth grade. I forgot what 6th grade was. Chicago's, 7th grade. DC's, 8th grade. Yeah, it's all cool stuff, but it's expensive. And you got a budget. You got to save up for it. And again, fundraisers suck. But teachers need parents to be involved. Even single dads. Man, as much as like I said, your 24 hours in a day are a lot different than my 24 hours a day. But we both want the best for the kids. And part of that is getting involved with schools.

Yes, it is. You'll never hear me really truly complain. I mean, as long as I get to see my son. But the fact that they're charging some people because 1.2s back in the day, actually, like, my dad, he would work 16 hours shifts. How would I be able to volunteer work in seven days, 16 hours? I guess if you're banking all that old tea, I guess the $500 doesn't

manner no, you're right. How do I justify working out of town? 1.3s And doing that, it's up to a juggle. But I'm fortunate because my wife is amazing and she's going to fill in on the parts. I can't you can't. You're by yourself. 1.7s Would you stop touching that

damn bike? 2s I'm trying to give you more work to do. 6.2s And just in case, if she catches wind of this, because my son's telling everybody my dad's on itunes, my dad's on Spotify. Follow them. Follow them. But I'm not alone. 100%. I would say 85% to 90%. Yes. I don't have a lot of

you co parent, but you just do a majority.

I've told you before, 80%. 1.6s

80, 20 coparenting, if you ask my wife. 1.6s She'll tell you it's an 80 20 co parenting as well. She's doing 80,

but we both know she doesn't work as hard as you do.

Listen, 1.1s number two, if you're as pretty as her, you don't have to work as hard either. Like I said, she's pretty, so she definitely doesn't have to work as hard. So lessons learned

on this little podcast.

US one of our takeaways. 1.7s

Just because a single dad is chaperoning a field trip does not mean he's gay or hitting on you.

Or when he tells dad jokes at bus stops. It's not weird at all. 1.9s

Well, you can't I don't know. It might be weird for some people. 2.7s Now you gave one of the weirdos that listen to us and all right, I can start telling dad

jokes at the bus stop. Yeah, and don't cover up when your kids are sick. The teachers hate that. They know that get involved. Even fundraisers, even though they're even though they're a child, they're basically bypassing child labor laws. We get it. We know what you're up to. Of course, some private schools. Now it's mandatory or you get fines. That's like jury duty, right?

And sometimes, just because you don't have an emergency contact, guess what? You do? It's your neighbor. 1.5s

That sounds like a bad movie. Hollywood is going to take notes like, oh, let's make this funny. All right, man. Until next time. Thanks for joining Jimmy and Jesse otherwise known

episode five. I don't know. I think it's six. Sparkle Stash. This

is episode six? Yeah. Sparkle, Stash and beef Wellington. It sounds

like a horrible you all have a good week. We'll see you next week.

Horrible pinterest recipe.

Download and share.

Oh, yeah, if you like, please share. See you.

Dadz R Us

School with kids- Married vs Single Dad version

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