Episode 269: Life With a 16-Year-Old

No need to whine, it's whiny palooza. Have some wine and join us on the whiny palooza podcast with Rebecca Greene.

Welcome to the whiny palooza podcast. I'm your host, Rebecca Greene. I'm a wife, mother of 3, and licensed clinical social worker. I also have 3 fur babies at home too. My passion has always been to help children and their families. I always dreamed of being a wife and a mother. Parents are always learning through their struggles, failures, and successes and joys. I am no stranger to this wild ride of parenting, and I know behind every great parent lies a team of supportive friends and family. I want to be part of your support system. I want you to know that you are not alone. We are in this parenting world together. Join me every week for insightful discussions with experts on parenting and marriage, as well as other parents who have found the secret to successes in parenthood. You'll learn tips and tricks to make life with your family better than ever. I hope you will follow along with me while we dive into what it takes to achieve a happy family.

Hello everyone, happy Winey Plousa Wednesday. No need to whine, it's Winey Plousa Wednesday. Have some wine and join us on Winey Plousa Wednesday with the Green. Family Wine Foods Wednesday. We got all the love, laugh, and light, so tune in every Wednesday to brighten up your night. Okay, I loved it, but they can't see your beautiful face. That's the point. You can't go away. I was going to talk about you. Why is your mother so tired right now? Come and tell the people. She is in a mood today.

She's tired and cranky too.

Okay, so— oh, maybe she's cranky because she's been getting up at 6 with me, right?

Yeah, it's not the only— you're not the only one it affects.

Um, she had an awesome lyric, but she said it fast and she wasn't on camera. Thank you for the awesome new lyrics, I loved it. Life with teenagers. Right there. That'll show you. There's always a feeling with— they're cranky, they're moody, they love me, they don't love me.

I don't know that they ever don't love you.

No, they always love me. They just don't always want to talk to me.

There's a difference.

I loved her new lyric though, if you heard it.

I did.

Did she run that by you?

She did.

Did you help her?

Nope, she did it all by herself.

Uh-oh. I love it. Thank you. Okay, so if you missed the beginning, go back and listen to Ella's new lyrics. I'm so excited we have a longer song. Yay! Who gave us that suggestion? Do you remember?

Was that Melissa?

Somebody asked us to write more.

Yes, I don't remember.

Ella, who asked us for you to write more? Um, okay, whoever, I will give you credit when you remember. I will remember, but whoever asked Ella to write more lyrics. Thank you, she did a great job.

I think it was Taylor Swift.

So we've been getting up at 6 AM every morning. I'm so out of practice trying to win my Pumpkin Taylor Swift tickets. Yeah, if you know, you know. Um, we were waitlisted. We did not get a code to try to buy tickets, right?

And even that wouldn't have necessarily—

and people who got codes still didn't get tickets.

30 million people tried to buy seats to the concert we want to go to, and I've been looking online at seats.

I've been trying to push purchase.

The nosebleed section has— no, those bleed prices.

I found floor seats yesterday.

You said you didn't want floor seats.

I'm trying to decide. So tell me, I am so rusty on this.

Do I want floor seats where you stand the whole time and hope she can see over the people in front?

She's gonna stand Ella's gonna stand the whole time.

We're gonna dance in front of you.

So do I want floor seats? What, what section do I want?

And what section do you want? It's what are we gonna pay for if we're gonna pay for something?

Yeah, but the floor seats were not a lot more money than the 500 seats.

Okay, anyway, moving right along.

I'm trying to take the plunge. And press purchase, but it's too much money.

Yes.

So hopefully we will win tickets or find some decently priced tickets, right?

Right, right.

So moving on from Taylor, that is why I'm exhausted. And when the children start going back to school, I tend to get up at 6 AM, so you're getting ready. So I wonder if I'm ever gonna adjust to this again.

No, never in your entire life. You will always be tired forever and ever. Come on now, of course you're just—

every year it's too early. It's too early.

You say this every year until your body changes, it gets used to it.

Okay, well, we're gonna agree to disagree. I don't think my body ever adjusts to 6 AM.

Okay, we can talk about it again in a couple months.

Oh, let's check in and see if I've adjusted to 6 AM in a couple months. We're on. Okay, okay, I'll talk to you then.

Okay, I'll see you later.

Get back here! We haven't even started our topic yet. I know, you're trying to be patient with me.

I'm very patient. Well, with you.

Okay, so my topic this week is life with a 16-year-old because life has changed drastically for me. Yes, hugely for me. If you read my blog, I wrote a blog about this. It's at whinypalooza.com, or you can find it on Facebook. And I wrote about the list of things that I was driving Max to this summer. And what I have realized these last couple weeks since he got his license is that he was the main person that I was driving around all day long.

He has more activities than any other of our children.

So, which is not normal. He packed his summer. He really was a man on a mission this summer. Yes, I am so proud of him. He is so motivated. He has a list of things to accomplish, got his license, did an internship, is, is almost done with his SAT classes. Like, he was a man on a mission this summer, and I was the taxi driver.

Mission Control.

So one day I said to Seth, I have figured out my hip problem.

She would always complain every day about her— I would have to— I would get to rub her hip and massage her hip on a regular basis.

No, not every day.

On a reg— multiple times a week because it hurts so much.

So I was so perplexed, and I used to blame Tanner.

Yep.

And I used to tell the chiropractor, I think it's my dog. Pulling on, pulling on me. I don't know. Well, I figured it out.

We gotta go tell him.

We gotta go tell him we solved the mystery. It's driving my children around.

I didn't know you could have a driving injury.

I had a driving injury.

Repetitive motion. You're gonna get carpal tunnel of your hip.

Jeez.

Wait, how to prefer— how do like bus drivers and people do it, right? And Uber drivers, people who drive all day, truck drivers.

I thought about and Please, you need to lift weights with your hip. Please chime in and give me suggestions. Um, Vivian gave me— no, was it— it wasn't Vivian. Who did I talk to about this? Lila gave me exercises to do with my feet to like stretch both of the legs.

Okay.

Um, I think I need to do more stretching and more leg exercises. And, um, I was gonna look into— when I figured out the problem, I was gonna look into like pillows or something to sit on or something to reposition myself. But Max is driving himself and I got a new car. So I think that putting those two things together—

I'm driving much less.

I'm driving much less and I have a new seat.

Yes.

So I think my body is so much happier. Have you noticed that?

I have noticed that you are not complaining about your hip very much.

I knew you were going to say that. So the good news is he— Max took a huge load off of me, a huge parenting load, a huge taxi load. He has been like, he comes in, hi Mom, I'm gonna change, I'm gonna go to my internship, hi Mom, I'm gonna grab some food, I'm gonna go back to football. Like, he, he's doing a good job. He's telling me where he's going. Yes, he texted me today to tell me he was going to be late. He was still at his club at school. And, um, so the good news is all of that is great, and, and the load off is great. Let's talk about the, the sadness, the emotional load. Okay, so before we talk about me, how are you feeling about him driving himself? Awesome. Okay, is that all that you feel is awesome?

Proud, excited, happy. Relieved that there's less, less driving on you.

That's it. There's no—

they're digging for something. I can make it up if you want.

No, if you only feel positive things about this, then that's what I want to hear.

I mean, maybe there's a twinge of fear/stress, but it's— I'd say 85% happy, 15% worried.

Okay, so I, I did experience a couple things this week. Um, and I apologize because sometimes I'm, I'm feeling like I need to talk to you and you're busy at work, so I try not to call you. I do. Do you know that? Do you notice that I try not to call you?

How would I notice you not doing something I wasn't aware you were gonna do?

Okay, okay, wait, help me out. Okay, let's rewind. Do you notice on a daily basis I don't call you a lot?

I don't keep track of it. Yes, honey, it's dramatically reduced. You've done such a good job.

No, it's not about— no, it's not about a reduction. It's about the fact that I'm telling you I try not to bother you at work.

First of all, you're never a bother. And second of all, if you don't do it and I wouldn't know—

I love it.

It's like somebody saying, do I get credit for keeping my mouth shut about something? I'm like, how would I know you kept your mouth? Okay, I'm telling you that I wanted to call you 7 times and I didn't, and then I would give you lots of applause.

Okay, so I will shoot you a text here and there. Yes, but I try really hard not to call you during the day.

Yeah, you do a pretty good job. Leave me alone most of the time. I mean, I don't know what else about me. I'm trying, woman.

You leave me alone.

Like, you let me work.

It's like you want me to leave you alone.

I never want you to leave me alone, honey. I want you to call me 50 times a day so I talk to you nonstop all day and get nothing done and get— and make you no money. Exactly.

Okay, so I did experience a couple of issues this week.

What were those issues, honey?

So issue number one was Max left for football, came back like 15 minutes later and forgot he was supposed to be wearing a certain outfit. So he was frantically looking for the football clothes. Yes, that I didn't know I was supposed to wash. And that I have now since, um, and don't, don't start throwing digs at me that he needs to do his own laundry. Oh, I do.

Talking to me about that. I do the other mom.

I do the laundry and I like taking care of them.

There's no, no issues about control there at all.

Well, that's a whole nother topic.

Throwing it out there.

Okay. So anyways, he found his clothes, he was frantically changing and frantically running out the door, and I was like, Max, I was like, you need to slow down, you need to drive slow, and you just need to be late. Yes. And it was my first panic moment of, oh please, for the love of God, keep my son safe. And then I worried And if I haven't told you this, Life360 has become my best friend.

Except in this instance, he left his phone at school, so she couldn't track it.

So I couldn't track him and make sure that he wasn't speeding, which I have been doing, and I couldn't track him and make sure he was safe. So I called Seth.

Yes, in this case you did call me because I was frantic. You were.

And I was— it was like one of those panicked moments of I know what it's like to drive in that state, and I have really worked on myself not driving in that state.

Yes.

Um, because as a teenager I did get in an accident in that state. So I call Seth at work and I'm, and I'm like, when are you done working? And he was like, I can be done, right? What up? He told me what time he could be done, and I said, okay. I need you to do me a favor. He works next door to school. On your way home, I need you to swing through the parking lot and ease my mind and just tell me that his car is there.

Which it was.

Which he did. I know I worried for no reason, but that was my first panic moment of Max driving. So, second this week— there will be more, there will be more— it is A time for me to be patient and compassionate and understanding with myself.

Okay, why are you giving yourself compassion?

I'm adjusting, I'm adjusting.

What are you adjusting to?

To my son driving.

Oh, okay, okay.

Second moment.

Got it.

He went all day yesterday— club, internship, football. We met at the football meeting after football in the auditorium, and he sat with me and he showed me around the locker room. And the meeting ends and he gets in his car and I get in my car and he follows me home. And I'm looking at him in the rearview mirror and I'm crying. I'm gonna cry.

It's okay, let it out.

So I was crying and I was like, I didn't need to drive him home. And I was like overcome with so many things. Nobody tells you that as a mom you're gonna experience every single emotion about your kids in the next 10 minutes. In, in, in, in the— how far is school? 5 minutes?

5 minutes?

In the 7 minutes that I drove home, I felt every single emotion that I probably could feel. And I felt so proud of him that he was driving behind me and that, you know, he was so old and responsible and was driving the car and following me. And I felt so good about it, and I was so sad that he didn't need a ride home. And I, and I would go like, I'm so happy, but I'm so sad, and I'm so proud, but he's my baby.

Yeah.

But, but I'm looking in the mirror and I'm like, but he's not my baby because look at, he looks like a man. And I had—

You're supposed to be driving with your eyes on the road at this point.

And I'm looking in the rearview mirror.

Yeah.

And I'm driving really slow because I'm watching my speed down the 30 miles per hour street, trying to stay at 30 miles per hour to be a good example for the child following me.

Yes.

So I'm driving and I'm feeling all these feelings and then I'm crying because I'm feeling so many things and I'm like, I'm on emotion overload. So I had a couple moments this week already. It's only Wednesday.

Yeah.

But it's been a couple weeks, I think, and let's knock on wood that I think he's doing a good job. Yes. Please keep it up. I am adjusting better than I thought that I would be adjusting.

You should give yourself some credit for that.

I am definitely like checking Life360 to make sure he's arrived safely. Are you doing that at all?

Yes.

And then as I was writing all about this, I was like, you give your kids so much credit and you're so proud of them, but what about you? What about how far you've come? So there are a lot of moms and dads dropping their kids off at college this week, which is part of all the feelings because I have empathy pains.

Yes, you do.

And I am so proud of all of your kids Your kids are going to do fantastic, and you have raised them to be successful and make it this far, and you should give yourself a pat on the back for that if you haven't. And I am going to live in this moment, and I'm going to stay in this moment with Max and, and realize that he's still here, and it's junior year, and he's not off at college. And I am going to give myself credit for how far I've come today. Because when I thought about Max driving and getting his license, just the thought about it freaked me out. I saw my friend today, which I will tell you more about. She stopped by and she was talking about like driving anxiety, like the anxiety we feel about our kids driving and the anxiety feel, we feel about our kids going away to school. And one of the moms that I've talked to in the last week said that her friends are getting her through this because she just sent her second and last child to school. So she has an empty nest. And she said, my friends are getting me through this. I have an excellent support system. And I said to my friend today, I think we need a mom support group.

You have one.

Oh, you're talking about the one on Facebook? Yes, I do have the Whiny Poohs and Mom Facebook group, which is a support group.

Look at that.

But I think I was talking about— so I think that there needs to be some sort of like weekly meetup or Zoom or something.

Totally do that in all your spare time.

Well, it's gonna— I'm gonna have more spare time when the kids go back to school. Yes, right now there doesn't feel like there's much spare time.

I remember the previous school year, all the times you talked about how much spare time you had then.

Mr. Greene, Mr. Greene, I have time for what I want to make time for.

And that's on video, baby. Gotcha. You said it on camera for the record.

Okay. As I told our daughter, I could be busy from the time I wake up till the time I go to bed with just the house and kids and errands and cooking and cleaning and laundry. I could be busy without anything else. The other stuff is the added bonus into my life that I give to myself, that I make time for.

Okay.

Are you not processing?

If you say so.

Okay, I'll talk to him about this more because he is not following me at all.

No, I got it.

Okay, do you have anything to say about that?

I do not.

Okay, do you have anything to say about your life with a 16-year-old?

Very interesting.

Okay, how are you feeling about the summer and everything he's done?

I'm proud of him and impressed. He's done a great job.

How do you feel about being in the raising a teenager mode of parenting?

Awesome. I learn something new every day.

So we mastered raising babies. Okay, I don't know if we've mastered it, but we did a pretty damn good job.

I was gonna say something like that.

We did a really good job raising toddlers. We did a really good job raising little kids.

Yes.

And now we're really entering— well, we have been in teenage mode.

Yes.

And I feel like it's a whole new world.

I think teenage mode escalated when we got our first driver. Yeah, right. When he was 13, it wasn't as a big transition.

No.

As it is now.

And I think this is going to be a huge year.

Yes. Well, it's his most important high school year.

So forgive me Okay, every year is important, and I want my kids to do well every year, and I want them to try their best. But in middle school, I said to them the whole freaking time, nobody is gonna care about your grades in middle school. Now, do I care? Does Seth care? Do they care? Yes. But the principal who retired, who was there for over 30 years, said to me, not once has anyone ever come to me and said, can I get a middle school transcript? Can I see what they got in middle school? Nobody cares. Well, this is what I'm saying today, and I have said this to my son. He's going into junior year, and guess what? It matters. It freaking matters. And it— and, you know, I've had so many people tell me, oh, junior year is so hard, you know, because sophomore year was a piece of cake, right? Um, he worked hard freshman and sophomore year, and he puts his all into it. And I hope that this year goes well for him. Yes, because this is a big year.

It is.

It feels like a lot.

Yes.

And the constant talk about college does not help.

Probably stressing you out a little bit.

I think that I have gone from— and you can say more on this— I think I have gone from don't bring it up 'shut up' to 'oh, I want to hear more.' No?

Okay, well, the 'don't bring it up' was like a couple days ago. I think it changes. Your mood changes.

What did I say 'don't bring it up' to?

Stuff.

Okay, you'll have to tell me about that. I haven't said that in a while.

Okay, maybe it wasn't 'don't bring it up.' You didn't want to be a part of a conversation.

Oh, that was a whole different— that's a whole different Right, but it was part of the college conversation.

It's on the topic.

No, that's, that's a different ball of wax. Okay, that's not what I'm talking about.

Okay, then I, I misconstrued and I apologize.

Max talking about college, I want to hear his thoughts. I want to hear what he has to say. I want to hear what mood he's in. One day he wants to go to this school. Yes, one day he went. And you know, if you are like, go wherever you want, that is impressive to me. I do not feel that way. I am going to let him go wherever he wants, but I don't feel like I want him to go across the country or to a different country. These kids who want to go to a different country for college, and now your daughter is talking about studying abroad.

Yeah, but that's a semester. That's not all 4 years.

Oh geez, I can't talk about that yet. So have I made progress?

Yes, you've certainly made progress.

I've made progress. Can I talk about my 14-year-old studying abroad yet? I'm not there. But what I notice about myself is I get there, and I get there, and I got to give myself some grace. I will get there when it's time.

Yes, there's no deadline for you.

I will arrive, I will be there. But for now, I'm gonna adjust to my son driving.

Yes.

And I have a lot of emotions. Yes. And if you have anxiety about your children driving, you are not alone. It is stressful. And what I wanna say to all of you drivers out there is, can you please, for the love of God, slow down and drive careful. Everyone seems to be in a hurry. Yeah, a woman pulled out of a parking lot today, didn't even see— okay, I totally had the right of way, it was clear as day. She didn't even see me, she just drove, didn't look around, was busy on her phone and just drove out of the parking lot. Could have smashed into me if I would have said to myself, oh no, I have the right of way. So what I have told Max is I don't care if you have the right-of-way. Make sure that it's actually your— that they're actually aware that you're going. So please drive carefully. It will help all of us mothers and our anxiety and reduce the number of accidents too, which would be nice. Oh, and you know, I know you're making fun of me, but I've been watching videos about my car, and my car is really cool. And the, the newer the car the more— like, we lease cars every 3 years, more safety features, and the newer your car, the more safety features. My car will brake for me if it's not happy with how close I am to a vehicle. I mean, the safety features on this car are amazing. I need to adjust to them because there's some stuff like, um, it like Tries to stop you from speeding. Well, yeah, but I don't want to speed, so it keeps telling me—

Are you sure about that, honey?

I don't, I don't want to speed.

Okay.

I have been driving so much slower since we started teaching Max to drive.

That is very true. It has affected me too. I find myself doing things that he has said his driving instructor told him, and I found myself conscious of like the street that you're talking about that's 30. I have found myself, it's so easy to go 40+ on that street. Everybody else does it, and I'm trying going, nope, Max, I gotta drive the speed limit. I gotta pay attention because I want him to do the same.

And I— and he also taught me to use my blinker more, like in, in things that I didn't know I was supposed to be using my blinker, like, okay, okay. Um, Heather has a good comment.

Heather says, I always tell my kids to assume that no one is stopping, sees you, nor cares about other people, and that's just on foot or on a bicycle.

Very good advice.

Like that, Heather.

I, I said to Max, just like have eyes everywhere, just be looking everywhere. And you know, driving down our street, I, I said to him, there could be a kid on a scooter going into the street, there could be a kid on a bike, there could be— our neighbor has like 12 cats, there could be a cat in the street.

Couldn't— our neighbor has a dog that's not on a leash that runs into the street on a regular basis that I have avoided, honked at, not hit my multiple times.

I pulled down the street and it was laying in the middle of the street, just chilling, just chilling in the middle of the street. So I need to tell Max that story too. He is so tired of my stories. I texted him.

I'm fine.

I texted him.

Drive good. She asked him to come on the show and tell people what he thought about driving. He said, me get license good. Good drive. That's what we got.

We got the caveman answer from the 16-year-old.

You drive good.

Oh my gosh. Oh my gosh. What did you say before that? Because I had something to say. The dog. Oh, the deer. I texted him.

Say that.

I texted him and I was like, I just, um, I just got home and I want you to know that there was a family of deer that I avoided. Like watch for deer, because I don't know what your, what your thoughts are on this, but I feel like there's more deer out at dusk.

Yeah, for sure.

Right? And why is that?

You'd have to ask the deer.

I need to look that up. If you know, let me know.

But the deerologist—

but he drives home from his class when it's like dusk. Yes, the SAT class ends at like 8:30, and, um, now it's actually like late dark at 8:30 now, which sucks. Yes, but I, you know, I like give him all these random thoughts like, be careful of this, drive super careful. Like, he's like, he's like, wah wah wah. That's what he says to me. Like, just listen and drive careful. So let's hope he continues to drive careful. Let's hope I continue to adjust.

Uh, whilst we are driving yet— not driving, we are not driving yet— exactly one year behind Max, I print out the Kia 33 story and posted it all over our house. Sorry to be morbid, but this is 1 mile from our home. These poor souls are gone forever. Oh, Heather, we will have to— I don't know what we're talking about. We'll have to go look that up. That does not sound good.

So, um, we will look that up, Heather. We— I was thinking about it today. We have not let him go on the thruway yet, right? So he started driving at the end of January. He just got his license a couple weeks ago. We still have not taken him on the thruway. The 33 is going to be last. The 33 is like scary.

990, 290, 90, 33. It's my vote.

Are we ever going to let him on the 33? So we will look up the story and we will talk to him about it.

You'll be more traumatized. So thank you, Heather.

Well, so I'm not alone in my, in my anxiety.

You are not.

Um, my anxiety has settled the more that city living, she says. Yeah, city living, you kind of have to drive on the 33. My friend's daughter was driving herself to school in the city every day, and I was like, how do you deal with that? I, I have to deal with him driving down the street to school. That's about where I'm at right now.

5 minutes.

I'll take 5 minutes. He texted me and he was like, I'm gonna go to this place 20 miles away, and I was like, nope, negative, you are not. And he's like, how about— he was like negotiating with me, and he's like, okay, how about this place? It's only like 12 miles away. Oh, so maybe you'll see a few more gray hairs in my hair, but I'm doing pretty well. I'm adjusting better than I thought.

You should give yourself some—

I'm gonna, I'm gonna give myself some praise. I give my kids a lot of praise. I give Seth a lot of praise. I I need to give myself more praise, and I need to give you more praise too, right?

I'll never turn it down.

I love— and you don't have to be calm. I'm telling you now, you are allowed to fall apart and have feelings.

But don't not have any feelings, they're just mostly positive. But, but go ahead.

You are the calm in my storm. Yes. And I have a lot of feelings.

Yes, you do.

I don't know how you deal with all my feelings. Some days I don't know how I do it, but you are nice and calm and you settle me and you ground me. And when I looked into your eyes when I met you, I knew that you were a home for me. Why not? And you still are.

Well, I knew that.

You still are. And you steady me and you ground me. And I would like to know how you deal with all of my feelings.

That's all— we could do a whole separate vlog on that.

Let's do that.

Audience, is that— do you want to hear about how I deal with my wonderful wife's many, many feelings? And perhaps it could benefit you in whatever relationship you're in. Watch it with your significant other who you want to deal with your feelings better.

Okay, well, thank you for bringing that up Because if—

crap, I just need work for myself. If you know, um, did you let Max drive in friends' cars previous to learning how to drive? Not as a driver.

No, no, no, no.

Um, she means as a passenger.

As a passenger, yes, yes, yes. He has older friends actually who have their license, and it was really hard for me at first.

He wasn't worried about it at first.

I said no. And then I said, um, yes, but— and I wanted him to pay attention to if he thought his friends were good drivers. Um, I know, I know Heather says it's her biggest fear. Um, I want—

it took a lot. Like, it wasn't— he got his license last week, can he, can he take me for a ride? Which he asked and we said no.

Um, he did ask if his friends could drive him and And we did say no at first, and as his friends got more experience and he would say things to me like, "Mom, he's a good driver." You know, Max, I think Max would tell me, I think he's smart enough to know if his friend is a crappy driver. And there was something else. I do make it clear to him, and I do go over this with him multiple times, that if anyone is drinking or doing drugs or under any sort of influence. He is not allowed to get in their car, which is what I worry about. Um, and for him to not do any of those things and drive— there's so many conversations to have. And slowly but surely, we're having as many conversations as we can. Heather says, precisely my feelings too, 1000%. And I want him Heather, I want him to call me. Like I said, I don't care what time it is if none of you can drive, you know. And we got to put like Uber— I don't know if you're comfortable with him taking Uber yet, but you know, I'm like, there's Uber, which we have to talk to Max about if we're comfortable with him taking an Uber. And there's us, and we will be your Uber driver at any time of night. My parents did such a good job of making me feel— your parents did too.

Yeah, mine said the same thing.

My parents were like, you call us at any time and we'll come get you. And I knew they were sincere, and I felt like I could do that.

And did you ever actually call them and have them come get you?

I think so.

I think I did it once.

I think so. There wasn't Uber back then.

No, there wasn't. And I mean, and you also don't know, depending on if it's 2 in the morning in Williamsville, I don't know that you're getting an Uber, right? Because someone has to be up and willing to drive you.

But I would go pick him up at 4 in the morning. I would just roll out of bed and go pick him up. I just don't want him to get in, in his car or anyone's car if any of them are under any sort of influence.

I agree.

I don't want him to ever do any drugs or alcohol in his whole life, but I don't necessarily think he's going to agree to those terms, right? So If you know parents with teenagers, share this with them, please, so that they know that they're not alone, so that we can help more people. And, um, I really appreciate everyone who listens, comments, likes, shares. And Seth, we need to tell people to— when they're listening to the podcast on a platform to rate and review it. Yes, because the ratings and reviews is what gets it out to more people.

Yes, right. If you will give my wonderful wife a 5-star review and a 5-star rating and a positive review, even just a couple sentences would mean the world, because then iTunes, Google Play, Spotify, Stitcher, TuneIn, Amazon, Amazon Audible, Pandora will get it in front of more people when they see that you like it.

Yes. And, and when I— what I love when I'm listening or watching something, people remind me to do that, and I realize that I don't think to do it for other people until they remind me. So I'm trying to be better at reminding people.

All right, we are reminded to remind them.

Okay, so, um, come find me on Facebook at the Whiny Pooza Mom group It is a wonderful supportive community. It is private. You may have to ask me for an invitation. I would love to have you, and thank you to everyone who's part of that group. And there's a new podcast out this Friday, and listen to it. And anything else you want to share?

Uh, is there a— you finished the August challenge, right?

Finished the August challenge. Um, I gave prizes to 3 Leos. I— there was 75 entries.

Oh, that's awesome!

We had—

did you go?

We had—

oh, Sandy says best group out there! You're the screenshot of that.

You're the sweetest. I love that you're part of it with me, and they help me, and I hope it's helping them.

What is he doing?

I don't know. Is he stretching on the stairs? Okay, so what was I saying? What was I saying? Focus.

Group, group, August challenge. You get prizes. Okay, Leo.

So we had 75 entries to the August summer challenge, and I decided because there were so many entries and there were so many August birthdays that I was like, let's give it to a few of the Leos who took part. So I gave out prizes to 3 birthday ladies, and what I realized doing the August challenges. Man, do I like Leos. I have a lot of Leo friends.

How about that?

So happy birthday to all the Leos. I think we're— I think the Leos are over. I think we've moved into Virgo, maybe tomorrow. I'll look it up. So Virgo is next, and, uh, I love organized Virgos. So, so thank you for joining us. I hope that your summer is ending wonderfully. We still have a little bit of summer left and have a wonderful week.

Thank you, everybody.

Thank you for tuning in to the Winey Palooza podcast. If you like what you heard, please be sure to subscribe so you never miss an episode.

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