1 00:00:00,320 --> 00:00:04,520 And how is everybody surviving the holidays? 2 00:00:04,520 --> 00:00:07,160 Because we are in it. We are in the holiday season is 3 00:00:07,160 --> 00:00:14,720 December 9th. I'm going with not well I well I 4 00:00:14,920 --> 00:00:19,480 I have not put a single decoration up which is very 5 00:00:19,480 --> 00:00:23,480 unlikely. I normally put 5 trees up like. 6 00:00:23,920 --> 00:00:27,600 Why 5? Because I like Christmas. 7 00:00:27,600 --> 00:00:32,400 I normally like Christmas and I have a big house. 8 00:00:32,400 --> 00:00:34,960 I have a room. 5 is a lot. I know. 9 00:00:34,960 --> 00:00:38,680 Your cats have their own, like domain, their own compound. 10 00:00:39,480 --> 00:00:41,960 I have one cat. Yeah, and they get their own. 11 00:00:41,960 --> 00:00:44,320 Tree. They get their own tree usually. 12 00:00:44,880 --> 00:00:45,200 Yeah. What? 13 00:00:45,200 --> 00:00:48,320 Kind of tree do. They get, it's like, I mean it's 14 00:00:48,320 --> 00:00:50,440 really cute. Like it, it's a little 4 foot 15 00:00:50,440 --> 00:00:52,080 tree. I have a bunch of four foot 16 00:00:52,080 --> 00:00:54,040 tree. I actually have like 5-4 foot 17 00:00:54,040 --> 00:00:55,920 trees. I just didn't put all of them up 18 00:00:55,920 --> 00:00:59,320 last year. And so they get their own little 19 00:00:59,320 --> 00:01:03,760 4 foot tree that's pre lit and then I put it has like cute 20 00:01:03,760 --> 00:01:09,040 little like miniature stockings on it and then some like Winnie 21 00:01:09,040 --> 00:01:13,600 the Pooh ornaments and stuff, stuff that's like for my other 22 00:01:13,600 --> 00:01:17,880 trees, they're generally themed. So my cat tree is kind of like 23 00:01:18,400 --> 00:01:22,320 crunchy. Crunchy how? 24 00:01:22,320 --> 00:01:26,320 Like. Like like typical 90s, nothing 25 00:01:26,320 --> 00:01:29,680 matches. Kind of like and I I don't do 26 00:01:29,720 --> 00:01:32,160 that with my other trees. Like I, I like that. 27 00:01:32,160 --> 00:01:34,640 That's kind of how mine is most of the time. 28 00:01:35,360 --> 00:01:40,080 Like, kitschy, like kitschy kind of like, you know, just like a 29 00:01:40,080 --> 00:01:42,880 mishmash of sentimental things, is what? 30 00:01:42,880 --> 00:01:46,440 Mine is well, and I think when you have kids, especially young 31 00:01:46,440 --> 00:01:48,280 kids, like that's just kind of how it is. 32 00:01:48,760 --> 00:01:52,840 Well, right now I have the kids and the cat who does like attack 33 00:01:52,840 --> 00:01:55,840 the tree. So there were all anything that 34 00:01:55,840 --> 00:01:59,960 was glass or metal like heavy was not put out this year. 35 00:01:59,960 --> 00:02:02,080 Last year I didn't put out any ornaments. 36 00:02:02,080 --> 00:02:04,360 I just put out the tree. I remember that. 37 00:02:04,360 --> 00:02:11,360 Yeah, so this year I did decorate with some ornaments 38 00:02:11,360 --> 00:02:14,640 that are not valuable. Some of them are beautiful, like 39 00:02:14,640 --> 00:02:18,080 wooden ornaments handmade in Europe, but they're not 40 00:02:18,080 --> 00:02:20,840 breakable, right? So like he, he could, he's not 41 00:02:20,840 --> 00:02:22,560 going to hurt them other than dropping them. 42 00:02:22,560 --> 00:02:25,520 And they won't break if they fall because they're solid wood. 43 00:02:26,160 --> 00:02:30,680 So those are fine. But I cannot light the tree. 44 00:02:30,680 --> 00:02:34,080 I'm not comfortable lighting the tree yet because he does get 45 00:02:34,080 --> 00:02:38,520 into it and I'm scared he'd be not like he'd gnaw on the on the 46 00:02:38,520 --> 00:02:40,840 wires. So right now I have like these 47 00:02:40,840 --> 00:02:44,320 little spotlights that I bought for my kids, like 5th birthday. 48 00:02:44,440 --> 00:02:48,320 He was doing Sonic like glow in the dark at this like local 49 00:02:48,480 --> 00:02:50,440 place. And so I bought these little 50 00:02:50,440 --> 00:02:53,200 spotlights and I put them on the bottom of the tree in red and 51 00:02:53,240 --> 00:02:56,480 green for the kids to like kind of see some light in there. 52 00:02:56,480 --> 00:03:00,120 But yeah, it's not the same. I don't like love my tree. 53 00:03:00,120 --> 00:03:06,480 We actually bought this unlit tree last year, smallish and 54 00:03:06,480 --> 00:03:08,680 it's just like kind of plain because of the cat. 55 00:03:08,960 --> 00:03:11,480 I have a beautiful pre lit Christmas tree. 56 00:03:11,480 --> 00:03:15,360 I don't do natural trees. I don't like it. 57 00:03:15,360 --> 00:03:18,440 I feel like it's wasteful. I also worry about all of like 58 00:03:18,440 --> 00:03:23,040 the the fire hazard, especially because it's so dry here when it 59 00:03:23,040 --> 00:03:25,320 like, you know, like it can overheat. 60 00:03:26,000 --> 00:03:28,720 I don't love the pets like drinking the water because of 61 00:03:28,720 --> 00:03:31,040 all the chemicals in there. So there's a lot of reasons why 62 00:03:31,040 --> 00:03:37,280 I like as much as I love a natural tree in like Ruidoso or 63 00:03:37,280 --> 00:03:39,600 Cloudcroft, which is like nearby, which is like a 64 00:03:39,640 --> 00:03:42,240 beautiful like very green wooded area. 65 00:03:42,560 --> 00:03:45,160 I love to see them there. But like here, I'd rather just 66 00:03:45,160 --> 00:03:49,600 do my made in China tree that I can use for years and years and 67 00:03:49,600 --> 00:03:50,800 years. And then once I'm done with it, 68 00:03:50,800 --> 00:03:52,920 I can give it away because they're usually still in such 69 00:03:52,920 --> 00:03:56,560 good shape for so long. They are that I feel like we can 70 00:03:56,560 --> 00:03:58,360 really use those over and over again. 71 00:03:59,200 --> 00:04:01,400 But yeah, Nope, no lights, no lights. 72 00:04:01,400 --> 00:04:03,400 Which sucks because it's like at night. 73 00:04:04,560 --> 00:04:07,960 Yeah, you want to see that Like it's very calming and 74 00:04:08,520 --> 00:04:11,680 comforting. And then yeah, I get that. 75 00:04:12,080 --> 00:04:17,800 I get that. I don't think I like, I have 76 00:04:17,800 --> 00:04:20,880 plugged in trees in my cat room before, but I think the past 77 00:04:20,880 --> 00:04:24,760 couple years I didn't just out of like an abundance of caution, 78 00:04:25,320 --> 00:04:26,960 yeah. And you have older cats too, who 79 00:04:26,960 --> 00:04:29,760 are smarter. I feel like my cat is is 80 00:04:30,240 --> 00:04:32,960 actually really good. And he only now attacks the tree 81 00:04:32,960 --> 00:04:34,600 if I'm hanging another ornament on it. 82 00:04:34,600 --> 00:04:36,040 He's like, oh, we're doing this again. 83 00:04:36,480 --> 00:04:38,960 The day that I put it up, he was all over it, right? 84 00:04:38,960 --> 00:04:40,960 Like, Oh my gosh, couldn't get enough of it. 85 00:04:40,960 --> 00:04:45,560 But now that he's kind of gotten used to it being there, if I 86 00:04:45,560 --> 00:04:47,600 approach it and mess with it, then he's like, what are we 87 00:04:47,600 --> 00:04:49,520 doing? But otherwise, I don't think he 88 00:04:49,520 --> 00:04:51,720 spends any time in there. And I've been working from home 89 00:04:51,720 --> 00:04:54,360 all day today and I, I've not heard him mess with the tree 90 00:04:54,360 --> 00:04:57,040 once. I do think the kids are messing 91 00:04:57,040 --> 00:05:01,280 with the tree more than the cat. And they already asked where, 92 00:05:01,280 --> 00:05:05,120 when the, the, the presents are going to be put under the tree. 93 00:05:05,600 --> 00:05:07,800 And we went to Disney This World this year. 94 00:05:07,800 --> 00:05:09,880 So we went to Disney World for like 2 weeks. 95 00:05:09,880 --> 00:05:15,400 It was very expensive trip. You know it just as much as you 96 00:05:15,400 --> 00:05:18,000 try to be responsible at Disney, you can't. 97 00:05:18,600 --> 00:05:21,960 So we that was the Christmas present for everybody like that. 98 00:05:22,280 --> 00:05:25,640 All the souvenirs we bought, all the things we did that was 99 00:05:25,640 --> 00:05:28,760 Christmas presents. So my in laws did send them some 100 00:05:28,760 --> 00:05:31,000 presents that I have to wrap this week and put under there. 101 00:05:31,000 --> 00:05:32,960 But I'm scared because they're at the age that I feel like 102 00:05:32,960 --> 00:05:35,840 they're going to open them. Yeah. 103 00:05:36,040 --> 00:05:40,400 And like I could even see maybe more Noah than Mila, but like 104 00:05:40,560 --> 00:05:44,120 trying to like sneakily open it and wrap re wrap it kind of 105 00:05:44,120 --> 00:05:46,320 that's. What I used to do as a kid, so I 106 00:05:46,440 --> 00:05:50,920 know him exactly. So I know him well enough to 107 00:05:50,920 --> 00:05:52,520 know that he would totally do that. 108 00:05:52,520 --> 00:05:54,920 Mila's not like she doesn't have the malice yet. 109 00:05:54,920 --> 00:05:57,440 She'll develop, Yeah, I'm sure. But she's like, still little. 110 00:05:58,040 --> 00:06:00,240 But yeah. So we do have the elves to help 111 00:06:00,240 --> 00:06:03,000 us with that though. So the elves. 112 00:06:04,160 --> 00:06:07,440 So whoever's joining us that didn't see this is the weekly 113 00:06:07,440 --> 00:06:09,480 pet roundup. We do this every week about a 114 00:06:09,480 --> 00:06:11,720 different topic that's kind of trending. 115 00:06:11,720 --> 00:06:14,480 And this one is something that I recommended just because it's 116 00:06:14,480 --> 00:06:16,440 not trending as much as it should be. 117 00:06:16,840 --> 00:06:21,080 And it's the Elf on the Shelf trend, right? 118 00:06:21,080 --> 00:06:26,200 The these elves get into mayhem and you know, they have these 119 00:06:26,200 --> 00:06:30,760 antics every year from like December 1st through Christmas. 120 00:06:30,760 --> 00:06:34,040 And there's a lot of different variations of how the elves 121 00:06:34,040 --> 00:06:36,560 behave. But a lot of what you see online 122 00:06:36,560 --> 00:06:40,480 on social media is like them getting into messes. 123 00:06:40,520 --> 00:06:43,400 And a lot of these, my mom thinks it's adorable. 124 00:06:43,400 --> 00:06:47,840 So she sends me these videos and a lot of these are very, very 125 00:06:47,840 --> 00:06:51,360 cute, super imaginative, super fun. 126 00:06:52,000 --> 00:06:55,560 However, they use some really dangerous ingredients for our 127 00:06:55,560 --> 00:06:58,080 pets. So I don't know how we aren't 128 00:06:58,080 --> 00:07:01,000 speaking about this more. I know for my clients, I've been 129 00:07:01,000 --> 00:07:05,080 encouraging them to talk about this topic, their pet industry 130 00:07:05,080 --> 00:07:07,680 businesses that you know, that they do a lot of marketing 131 00:07:07,680 --> 00:07:10,600 that's kind of content marketing where you like share information 132 00:07:10,600 --> 00:07:13,560 and best practices and stuff. And a couple of my clients have 133 00:07:13,560 --> 00:07:16,720 been putting out blogs about these elves this week and last 134 00:07:16,720 --> 00:07:18,080 week. But like, I haven't seen it 135 00:07:18,320 --> 00:07:20,800 enough. And that's why I wanted to talk 136 00:07:21,080 --> 00:07:24,640 about it because while it can be a fun tradition, we need to make 137 00:07:24,640 --> 00:07:28,320 sure we're not putting our four legged kids at risk, right? 138 00:07:28,320 --> 00:07:32,080 While we're like making our two legged kids giddy with joy 139 00:07:32,360 --> 00:07:38,320 around the Christmas holiday. So I just want to say before we 140 00:07:38,320 --> 00:07:44,360 get into the whole like pet part of this, the reason that I am 141 00:07:44,360 --> 00:07:51,880 not a big fan of Elf on the Shelf is because they're there's 142 00:07:51,880 --> 00:07:58,320 some rationale for the idea that I don't what it's Sandra 143 00:07:58,320 --> 00:07:59,880 something I don't know who created it. 144 00:08:00,240 --> 00:08:04,440 So Elf on the Shelf has only been around since 2005 and 145 00:08:04,440 --> 00:08:09,960 somehow people, a lot of people like it is so ingrained in 146 00:08:09,960 --> 00:08:14,120 tradition that like people don't remember a time without. 147 00:08:14,120 --> 00:08:16,120 I remember a time without. I never had it I. 148 00:08:16,120 --> 00:08:17,560 Never had it. I never had. 149 00:08:17,560 --> 00:08:19,280 No plans of implementing it in my home. 150 00:08:20,040 --> 00:08:21,400 I've never. Yeah, I never had. 151 00:08:21,720 --> 00:08:24,880 A0 interest in them because it wasn't part of my tradition at 152 00:08:24,920 --> 00:08:27,760 all. But the the marketing behind 153 00:08:27,760 --> 00:08:30,680 this came out strong. It is always from the very 154 00:08:30,680 --> 00:08:32,880 beginning said a Christmas tradition. 155 00:08:33,280 --> 00:08:40,120 And some of the lore behind this is that because she apparently 156 00:08:40,120 --> 00:08:43,080 said, and I was trying to find it on the website, but 157 00:08:43,080 --> 00:08:46,520 apparently she said that like this idea came to her from an 158 00:08:46,520 --> 00:08:54,960 elf from her childhood. And fairy or fairies are, if you 159 00:08:54,960 --> 00:08:58,880 have any, like knowledge of folklore. 160 00:08:59,280 --> 00:09:04,760 And I think it's wise to maybe dabble in it just a little bit. 161 00:09:04,760 --> 00:09:06,800 We we don't know what we don't know. 162 00:09:07,040 --> 00:09:10,720 Like there is so much out there. Like literally there are there 163 00:09:10,720 --> 00:09:14,560 are like UUFOS over New Jersey right now that people are like, 164 00:09:14,560 --> 00:09:19,680 what is going on? Like it's OK to be like there's 165 00:09:19,680 --> 00:09:22,480 stuff that we don't know or understand in this. 166 00:09:22,520 --> 00:09:27,880 World, that person who says I have no idea, could be, could 167 00:09:27,880 --> 00:09:30,440 not be. And if there are UFOSI just 168 00:09:30,440 --> 00:09:35,600 don't want them to appear to me. Yeah, I don't want the way that 169 00:09:35,600 --> 00:09:41,560 I feel about witches. Sorry, she's just, she's just 170 00:09:41,560 --> 00:09:47,240 her. So it, and I don't want to get 171 00:09:47,240 --> 00:09:49,840 down the rabbit hole of the UFOs over in New Jersey right now, 172 00:09:49,840 --> 00:09:59,120 but I just say that to say that we don't know so much, so very 173 00:09:59,120 --> 00:10:03,560 much that nothing surprises me anymore. 174 00:10:03,600 --> 00:10:07,520 And I don't take anything for like, I try not to be super 175 00:10:07,520 --> 00:10:10,760 naive about anything. Like, OK, I'm going to bank 176 00:10:10,760 --> 00:10:13,000 that. And I'm going to say right now, 177 00:10:13,040 --> 00:10:15,280 I don't know that I believe in that, but I'm going to bank it. 178 00:10:15,920 --> 00:10:17,680 Yeah, exactly. I completely agree. 179 00:10:17,800 --> 00:10:24,280 Like I I never say never. So fairies specifically if you 180 00:10:24,280 --> 00:10:27,680 get into this. So I went to, so I, I've seen 181 00:10:27,960 --> 00:10:34,000 like from people who have masters in folklore and things 182 00:10:34,000 --> 00:10:36,920 like that, like that. I, I have some weird stuff in my 183 00:10:36,920 --> 00:10:40,360 algorithm now. I went to ChatGPT. 184 00:10:42,920 --> 00:10:45,040 I have some weird stuff in my algorithm. 185 00:10:45,040 --> 00:10:47,720 I love that so much. You do Harley beer? 186 00:10:47,720 --> 00:10:53,040 I can only imagine. I went to ChatGPT and I said act 187 00:10:53,040 --> 00:10:57,280 as if you have a master's in folklore and tell me why we do 188 00:10:57,280 --> 00:11:04,160 not want to invite Faye into our home and it gave me a whole 189 00:11:04,160 --> 00:11:09,040 bunch of reasons. Basically, they have their own 190 00:11:09,680 --> 00:11:15,280 sense of justice, etiquette, and logic that can be not just 191 00:11:15,280 --> 00:11:21,080 foreign but dangerous to humans. Inviting them into your home 192 00:11:21,160 --> 00:11:25,200 might obligate you to unknowable or unreasonable terms. 193 00:11:25,600 --> 00:11:28,840 A casual welcome can be interpreted as permission to 194 00:11:28,840 --> 00:11:31,160 stay indefinitely or to act without constraint. 195 00:11:32,720 --> 00:11:36,000 They that that kind of sums it up, but there's a lot more. 196 00:11:36,000 --> 00:11:38,600 Like they it says they demand reciprocity. 197 00:11:39,520 --> 00:11:43,280 They they are literally the definition of give them an inch. 198 00:11:43,280 --> 00:11:47,480 They will take a mile misinterpretations, a lot of 199 00:11:47,480 --> 00:11:49,680 misinterpretations between humans and fae. 200 00:11:49,800 --> 00:11:55,120 Like you have to be Uber Uber specific and try to dot your IS 201 00:11:55,120 --> 00:11:57,920 and cross your T's and not leave any loopholes because they will 202 00:11:57,920 --> 00:12:00,680 find a loophole or make a loophole because they have their 203 00:12:00,680 --> 00:12:03,320 own set of rules that they live by. 204 00:12:03,640 --> 00:12:07,960 And it's they're very, very mischievous, tricky creatures. 205 00:12:08,280 --> 00:12:12,840 And basically the, the kind of lore behind elf on the shelf is 206 00:12:12,840 --> 00:12:17,840 that this elf that this lady grew up grew up with, she made a 207 00:12:17,840 --> 00:12:23,160 deal with this fairy and said that she wanted to be rich. 208 00:12:23,720 --> 00:12:27,640 And the elf said let's do it because I want to be powerful. 209 00:12:28,000 --> 00:12:34,320 And so she has since made many, many, many, many, many, many 210 00:12:34,320 --> 00:12:39,920 millions of dollars and put this fairy in many, many homes, 211 00:12:40,160 --> 00:12:44,960 millions of homes. And basically people cannot 212 00:12:44,960 --> 00:12:50,320 remember like he is ingrained in Christmas tradition and people 213 00:12:50,320 --> 00:12:55,920 like he is. He is almost as powerful and all 214 00:12:55,920 --> 00:13:00,320 knowing and all seen as Santa who could potentially also be 215 00:13:00,320 --> 00:13:04,800 considered they. So I love you. 216 00:13:04,880 --> 00:13:05,720 Thank. So much. 217 00:13:06,480 --> 00:13:09,480 You are such an oddball. I love you so much. 218 00:13:09,480 --> 00:13:12,040 You are such an oddball. This is not at all where the 219 00:13:12,040 --> 00:13:15,560 conversation was, I know, headed in my head, in my mind. 220 00:13:16,200 --> 00:13:17,520 I. Had this is not where we're 221 00:13:17,520 --> 00:13:20,200 going to start, but I love that we're starting here because I 222 00:13:20,440 --> 00:13:23,360 like, I'm not a huge fan of Elf on the Shelf either. 223 00:13:23,360 --> 00:13:27,120 And obviously giving like a carte blanche to like a creature 224 00:13:27,120 --> 00:13:29,400 in my home. I've already done that with 225 00:13:29,400 --> 00:13:33,720 Satchmo the angry dog and Van Gogh the the sweet cat and Kira 226 00:13:33,720 --> 00:13:38,520 the mess of nerves dog. So like I feel like I don't want 227 00:13:38,520 --> 00:13:41,720 to give up any more of my power to this home full of like we 228 00:13:41,720 --> 00:13:44,080 have 7 creatures in this home including myself. 229 00:13:44,080 --> 00:13:45,680 It's a lot of oh. My gracious Yeah. 230 00:13:45,680 --> 00:13:48,600 But we don't need any more like influences here. 231 00:13:49,160 --> 00:13:51,960 I the so the Elf on the Shelf was given to me. 232 00:13:52,120 --> 00:13:53,680 I have two of them. I don't have one. 233 00:13:53,680 --> 00:13:56,400 I have two. OK, I have a male and a female. 234 00:13:56,800 --> 00:14:01,160 OK, I was given them by my friend Debbie who used to live 235 00:14:01,160 --> 00:14:04,400 up the street from me and she was, she gave me a ton of hand 236 00:14:04,400 --> 00:14:07,080 me downs, including these elves. And she was like, I'm going to 237 00:14:07,080 --> 00:14:09,320 give them to you. My kids already outgrew them. 238 00:14:09,920 --> 00:14:13,680 Her kids are teenagers now and you know, if you want to use 239 00:14:13,680 --> 00:14:16,760 them. So I didn't think much of it. 240 00:14:17,280 --> 00:14:23,920 My kids, I think we started it last year and, and in my case 241 00:14:24,640 --> 00:14:26,520 only because I was like, I already have them. 242 00:14:26,520 --> 00:14:29,040 What do I do? Do I use them and like, you 243 00:14:29,040 --> 00:14:31,640 know, they're becoming trendy so I was like, I'll use them. 244 00:14:32,680 --> 00:14:35,560 So what we do with them in my house is they're actually the 245 00:14:35,560 --> 00:14:38,240 bringers of the candy of the advent calendar. 246 00:14:38,880 --> 00:14:40,760 They're the ones who bring the candy. 247 00:14:40,760 --> 00:14:43,600 That is it. They are not informants for for 248 00:14:43,600 --> 00:14:49,720 Santa Claus. They are, they're not sneaky, 249 00:14:49,720 --> 00:14:52,640 but they're kind of, they don't communicate in the same way that 250 00:14:52,640 --> 00:14:54,680 we do. So they kind of leave messages. 251 00:14:55,160 --> 00:14:58,240 So the first day they came, there was only one. 252 00:14:58,560 --> 00:15:01,720 I could only find one of them. The other one I only found his 253 00:15:01,720 --> 00:15:04,040 hat. So I put her out. 254 00:15:04,040 --> 00:15:09,240 Her name is Molly. And I put MO his hat out and I 255 00:15:09,240 --> 00:15:14,280 didn't put anything else. So then no one went to school 256 00:15:14,280 --> 00:15:18,280 and told them about that. And he said that apparently he 257 00:15:18,280 --> 00:15:21,600 came back and reported to me that apparently there was a 258 00:15:21,680 --> 00:15:25,080 snowstorm in the North Pole and a lot of elves were delayed. 259 00:15:27,200 --> 00:15:30,720 I. See, so maybe that's why we only 260 00:15:30,720 --> 00:15:33,880 got his hat and not his whole being. 261 00:15:34,640 --> 00:15:39,000 The next day he showed up, him and Molly just hung out and they 262 00:15:39,000 --> 00:15:40,920 just be. When the elves are there, they 263 00:15:40,920 --> 00:15:44,280 know that they open up the little box of the advent 264 00:15:44,280 --> 00:15:47,920 calendar we have that I got at TJ Maxx or HomeGoods. 265 00:15:47,920 --> 00:15:52,720 Like not a fancy thing. They open it and there's candy 266 00:15:52,720 --> 00:15:55,800 inside one, one piece for each. So that's it. 267 00:15:55,800 --> 00:16:00,080 That's what our elves do. However, I do find that the 268 00:16:00,080 --> 00:16:04,720 elves are good motivators. And that's where you get stuck 269 00:16:04,720 --> 00:16:08,560 in this like situation where you almost fall with this informant 270 00:16:08,560 --> 00:16:10,400 situation. Like I don't like the Big 271 00:16:10,400 --> 00:16:14,040 Brother idea that my kids are being watched like Santa Claus 272 00:16:14,040 --> 00:16:16,480 is not watching here. Like I, I don't have that 273 00:16:16,480 --> 00:16:19,080 message for them. I feel like that's creepy AF. 274 00:16:19,080 --> 00:16:22,280 I don't like that. Like my kids should feel that 275 00:16:22,280 --> 00:16:25,600 they are safe and not being watched by anybody in their 276 00:16:25,600 --> 00:16:28,000 home. That is how I feel like I should 277 00:16:28,000 --> 00:16:30,040 be able to live. So I feel like my kids should 278 00:16:30,040 --> 00:16:32,480 feel that way too. They know where we have cameras, 279 00:16:32,480 --> 00:16:35,440 like they have a camera in certain areas. 280 00:16:35,440 --> 00:16:38,120 And so I tell them like don't change in front of the camera, 281 00:16:38,120 --> 00:16:41,320 blah, blah, blah. So I really do like try so hard 282 00:16:41,320 --> 00:16:44,680 to not make them feel like they gave up their privacy, even if 283 00:16:44,680 --> 00:16:49,520 they're four and seven. But the other day I had the 284 00:16:49,680 --> 00:16:53,880 elves kind of do fun things. The first night they were just 285 00:16:53,880 --> 00:16:55,320 there was only one. The second night they were 286 00:16:55,320 --> 00:16:57,600 together. The third night, I can't 287 00:16:57,600 --> 00:17:01,360 remember what they did. The fourth night they were like 288 00:17:01,360 --> 00:17:06,680 sitting on my stove with like a little bowl of like red noodles 289 00:17:06,720 --> 00:17:10,319 with it's like this Mexican candy that's chili based and 290 00:17:10,319 --> 00:17:12,960 like chopsticks. So they were like cooking or 291 00:17:12,960 --> 00:17:17,359 eating. And then then I put them fishing 292 00:17:17,359 --> 00:17:20,480 in like I have a fishbowl glass. Of course I do because I'm boozy 293 00:17:20,920 --> 00:17:26,160 and I put like a little fishing. I made like a little fishing rod 294 00:17:26,440 --> 00:17:28,200 and I put some Swedish fish in there. 295 00:17:28,200 --> 00:17:31,120 And so it said like gone fishing and like that's what they were 296 00:17:31,120 --> 00:17:32,200 doing. They were just fishing. 297 00:17:32,840 --> 00:17:35,320 The next day I was Chris was gone. 298 00:17:35,320 --> 00:17:37,920 He travelled this weekend. He just got back, went straight 299 00:17:37,920 --> 00:17:39,640 to pick up the kids. So thanks Chris. 300 00:17:40,480 --> 00:17:46,520 So I could do this and he left me obviously in the middle of 301 00:17:46,520 --> 00:17:48,400 Christmas, so much stuff going on, blah, blah, blah. 302 00:17:48,760 --> 00:17:53,400 And so I just put the two elves in the fishbowl the next day, 303 00:17:53,560 --> 00:17:57,440 like the fishbowl that they had put big fishing from, I just put 304 00:17:57,440 --> 00:17:59,800 them in. And then my kids started being 305 00:17:59,800 --> 00:18:03,000 like, Mila's not that into it. But Noah really is, he's 7. 306 00:18:03,440 --> 00:18:05,360 And they're, they talk about it at school a lot. 307 00:18:05,520 --> 00:18:08,840 So it's like very much ingrained in the tradition, like you said, 308 00:18:08,840 --> 00:18:10,200 because they talk about it constantly. 309 00:18:10,640 --> 00:18:13,360 And he was like, why are they in the fishbowl? 310 00:18:13,800 --> 00:18:15,400 Like, what are they doing in there? 311 00:18:15,440 --> 00:18:18,760 And like Noah's trying to like read between the lines, figure 312 00:18:18,760 --> 00:18:22,120 stuff out. And again, I'm limited with how 313 00:18:22,120 --> 00:18:24,320 creative I can get because of my pets. 314 00:18:24,320 --> 00:18:26,200 And we'll talk about like certain things that people are 315 00:18:26,200 --> 00:18:29,920 doing that concern me. But then Noah started being 316 00:18:29,920 --> 00:18:33,920 like, oh, I think, and I said, because they hadn't, they hadn't 317 00:18:33,920 --> 00:18:36,240 showered in a minute. So I was like, I think they're 318 00:18:36,240 --> 00:18:38,160 trying to tell us that we all need to take baths. 319 00:18:38,320 --> 00:18:40,200 Like we all need to take showers or baths. 320 00:18:40,200 --> 00:18:43,840 Like, let's see if they're happy with us doing that. 321 00:18:44,520 --> 00:18:47,120 And so they took a shower. Mila took a bath on Saturday. 322 00:18:47,120 --> 00:18:48,720 They both took showers yesterday. 323 00:18:49,000 --> 00:18:51,800 And so I put away the fishbowl. Like it went away. 324 00:18:51,880 --> 00:18:53,320 Like, so they took their shower. Awesome. 325 00:18:54,360 --> 00:18:57,200 And and I don't say for sure that that's the message. 326 00:18:57,200 --> 00:18:59,920 We kind of try to interpret it and see like where our 327 00:18:59,920 --> 00:19:02,800 creativity takes us. That's the only thing I could 328 00:19:02,800 --> 00:19:05,240 come up with being like, oh, you guys, maybe you need baths. 329 00:19:06,040 --> 00:19:08,920 And then yesterday we have a little thing that I bought at 330 00:19:08,920 --> 00:19:11,560 home goods that's like the naughty or nice scale. 331 00:19:11,560 --> 00:19:14,240 And then in the middle it's it says needs work. 332 00:19:14,240 --> 00:19:17,720 So I put them next to that and I put it on needs work just so 333 00:19:17,720 --> 00:19:20,520 that I can encourage them to, you know, do their best and 334 00:19:20,520 --> 00:19:25,040 behave well. But you know, the, the elves, I 335 00:19:25,040 --> 00:19:26,920 guess, are the ones delivering that message. 336 00:19:26,920 --> 00:19:28,880 And Noah was like, elves are mean. 337 00:19:29,120 --> 00:19:30,960 I hope you leave. I'm not. 338 00:19:30,960 --> 00:19:33,120 I don't need work. And I'm like, I think you do. 339 00:19:33,120 --> 00:19:35,680 Like yesterday you did this and this. 340 00:19:35,800 --> 00:19:38,080 It's that you got in trouble at school last week. 341 00:19:38,080 --> 00:19:41,200 So maybe they're just trying to remind you that like you have, 342 00:19:41,240 --> 00:19:43,360 there's room for improvement and you can do it. 343 00:19:43,360 --> 00:19:47,280 They believe you can do it, so that is what they did yesterday. 344 00:19:47,280 --> 00:19:50,520 So here are a few things I have planned for the remainder of the 345 00:19:50,520 --> 00:19:52,960 Christmas holiday. And mine don't get into messes 346 00:19:52,960 --> 00:19:54,520 every day. I don't have time for that. 347 00:19:54,800 --> 00:19:57,520 My kids also sleep with me so it's hard for me to like sneak 348 00:19:57,520 --> 00:20:00,800 away because they're so spoiled when it comes to sleep. 349 00:20:00,800 --> 00:20:02,840 And like I can't fight them anymore on sleep. 350 00:20:02,840 --> 00:20:05,360 They won't sleep by themselves. That's a whole other topic for a 351 00:20:05,360 --> 00:20:07,880 whole other conversation, and probably a whole other audience. 352 00:20:08,400 --> 00:20:11,760 But I cannot, I just can't fight with them anymore about sleep. 353 00:20:11,760 --> 00:20:13,160 So I just like lie down with them. 354 00:20:13,160 --> 00:20:15,960 I eventually just like fall asleep or I work while they fall 355 00:20:15,960 --> 00:20:19,720 asleep, whatever. So tonight, because Chris is 356 00:20:19,720 --> 00:20:22,840 back, I'll probably do one of the more creative things that I 357 00:20:22,840 --> 00:20:26,480 have. And it's I got a potato and I'm 358 00:20:26,480 --> 00:20:30,280 going to draw a little scared face on the potato like, and I'm 359 00:20:30,280 --> 00:20:34,560 going to put it next to a cheese grater and then on the cheese 360 00:20:34,560 --> 00:20:36,200 grater. And then I'll put Pringles on 361 00:20:36,200 --> 00:20:40,680 the bottom so that it looks like we're making potato chips with 362 00:20:40,680 --> 00:20:44,640 that potato, potato the the chips. 363 00:20:44,800 --> 00:20:47,160 I'll probably add the chips in the morning when I let the dog 364 00:20:47,160 --> 00:20:48,640 out before the kids get out of bed. 365 00:20:48,640 --> 00:20:51,440 So that but the potato, it's going to be whole, like the cat 366 00:20:51,440 --> 00:20:52,760 won't get into it, I don't think. 367 00:20:53,520 --> 00:20:56,640 So I'm OK with that. I don't love leaving stuff out 368 00:20:56,640 --> 00:20:59,160 all night just because you don't know what your pets are going to 369 00:20:59,160 --> 00:21:01,640 get into, especially a cat who has access. 370 00:21:01,840 --> 00:21:05,000 So I might just like cover it with like a Tupperware and then 371 00:21:05,000 --> 00:21:07,280 just like uncover it really quick so that they don't catch 372 00:21:07,360 --> 00:21:10,320 because again, it's like this balancing act and so stressful 373 00:21:10,320 --> 00:21:12,120 for no reason because it's so stupid. 374 00:21:13,240 --> 00:21:16,960 But that's one thing I'll do. And then I have another idea for 375 00:21:16,960 --> 00:21:19,200 like Skittles. You're supposed to put like a 376 00:21:19,200 --> 00:21:21,880 plate with like Skittles and then you just leave a note that 377 00:21:21,880 --> 00:21:26,200 says like use hot water to create a rainbow and like so you 378 00:21:26,200 --> 00:21:28,320 like put the water in and then it's really cute. 379 00:21:28,320 --> 00:21:31,280 It like creates a rainbow because of the dyes and the 380 00:21:31,280 --> 00:21:33,760 Skittles and then the Skittles go to the trash. 381 00:21:33,760 --> 00:21:37,360 So that's good hopefully, or at least they're white and they 382 00:21:37,360 --> 00:21:40,600 don't have all the dyes, so the if they eat them, I don't know. 383 00:21:40,880 --> 00:21:42,840 So those kinds of things are fine. 384 00:21:43,120 --> 00:21:46,240 Then there was really cute one that my mom sent me where it was 385 00:21:46,240 --> 00:21:51,640 like the little tiny Oreos, the elves were stuffing them with 386 00:21:51,920 --> 00:21:54,040 toothpaste. And that was like where my first 387 00:21:54,040 --> 00:21:56,320 red flag went up. Like what's in that toothpaste? 388 00:21:56,320 --> 00:21:58,200 Right? Because xylitol. 389 00:21:58,320 --> 00:22:01,280 Xylitol will kill your dog. It is not. 390 00:22:01,560 --> 00:22:03,440 We're not sure how bad it is for cats. 391 00:22:03,440 --> 00:22:06,720 Like I've never been able to see like how bad it is for cats, but 392 00:22:06,720 --> 00:22:09,200 it can't be good. So even a lick of it, I don't 393 00:22:09,200 --> 00:22:12,840 want my cat getting into like even if it may not kill, I don't 394 00:22:12,840 --> 00:22:16,000 really want to take that risk for a dumb Christmas tradition, 395 00:22:17,000 --> 00:22:18,960 especially because this is like, like you said, like this 396 00:22:19,040 --> 00:22:23,040 fabricated tradition. So what I decided to do was put 397 00:22:23,040 --> 00:22:26,120 like hand cream and like my hand cream is totally safe. 398 00:22:26,120 --> 00:22:29,920 Like totally. And so I'll keep it covered, but 399 00:22:29,920 --> 00:22:34,240 I'll have like the Oreo kind of open and like supposedly the 400 00:22:34,480 --> 00:22:37,600 elves stuffing the Oreos with hand cream instead of toothpaste 401 00:22:37,880 --> 00:22:40,800 because again, the toothpaste could be super toxic. 402 00:22:41,520 --> 00:22:45,880 Another thing that they also get into is like stuff with like 403 00:22:46,080 --> 00:22:48,720 shaving cream, shaving cream. You don't want shaving cream all 404 00:22:48,720 --> 00:22:50,680 over your house like because your cat's going to walk on it. 405 00:22:50,680 --> 00:22:53,200 And like we've talked about before, walking on it is the 406 00:22:53,200 --> 00:22:55,400 same as ingesting it because they're going to lick it. 407 00:22:55,400 --> 00:22:56,960 And like what chemicals are in there? 408 00:22:57,160 --> 00:23:02,080 What like surfactants and like nasty stuff and soaps and stuff 409 00:23:02,080 --> 00:23:03,040 are in there. We don't want that. 410 00:23:03,040 --> 00:23:07,000 We want our pets like bellies to thrive, not like be like covered 411 00:23:07,000 --> 00:23:09,880 in like who knows what chemical from shaving cream. 412 00:23:10,160 --> 00:23:13,600 So that's a no go for me. There's a lot of stuff with like 413 00:23:14,760 --> 00:23:19,440 gum, for example, and like you cannot find gum anymore really. 414 00:23:19,440 --> 00:23:22,120 It's hard to find without xylitol in it. 415 00:23:22,240 --> 00:23:26,200 So like it's like the idea is it's kind of cute. 416 00:23:26,640 --> 00:23:30,040 It's the elf sitting with like a balloon from its little from its 417 00:23:30,040 --> 00:23:33,240 butt and it says don't swallow your gum. 418 00:23:34,240 --> 00:23:39,280 So you but but the way they have it set up is with like pieces of 419 00:23:39,280 --> 00:23:42,840 gum that like like he chewed it. So you could still do that with 420 00:23:42,840 --> 00:23:46,720 a balloon, assuming your cat won't break, because my cat 421 00:23:46,720 --> 00:23:48,280 likes balloons and he likes to break them. 422 00:23:48,280 --> 00:23:51,520 And then you're the concern is that he'll swallow the the 423 00:23:51,560 --> 00:23:53,720 rubber balloon. So you could still do that. 424 00:23:53,720 --> 00:23:56,600 If you have like a dog and he won't get him, he or she won't 425 00:23:56,600 --> 00:23:58,640 get the balloon. You could still do that, but 426 00:23:58,640 --> 00:24:03,360 just skip the gun, right? There's a lot of stuff that has 427 00:24:03,360 --> 00:24:05,800 to do with candy. The only reason that I felt 428 00:24:05,800 --> 00:24:08,560 comfortable with the candy noodles is because they're 429 00:24:08,560 --> 00:24:10,120 chilly and my cat won't touch that. 430 00:24:10,720 --> 00:24:13,480 Like they're spicy even like my daughter wouldn't touch that. 431 00:24:13,480 --> 00:24:18,920 That's like it's, it's, it's like hot spicy, like gummy 432 00:24:18,920 --> 00:24:20,640 noodles. They're Mexican. 433 00:24:20,640 --> 00:24:22,840 It's Mexican candy. I'm in El Paso so I find Mexican 434 00:24:22,840 --> 00:24:24,920 candy everywhere. And so like anything Mexican 435 00:24:24,920 --> 00:24:28,120 candy with chili in it I could probably use because they don't 436 00:24:28,120 --> 00:24:30,200 use xylitol for those. They are definitely not sugar 437 00:24:30,200 --> 00:24:34,040 free and they're not appealing at all to my pets. 438 00:24:34,040 --> 00:24:36,920 Even though I feel like this guy Satchmo who's sleeping over 439 00:24:36,920 --> 00:24:39,760 here, he's the little schnauzer. I feel like he would eat it 440 00:24:39,760 --> 00:24:41,000 before he even tastes. Yeah. 441 00:24:41,480 --> 00:24:45,520 So the other challenge is not just what's on the counter, it's 442 00:24:45,520 --> 00:24:47,840 also what falls on the on the floor, right? 443 00:24:47,840 --> 00:24:50,640 Because my cat will drag stuff and then he'll drop it. 444 00:24:51,280 --> 00:24:54,200 And so it's, it's not just my cat that's in danger, it's 445 00:24:54,680 --> 00:24:56,200 everybody. Yeah, it is. 446 00:24:56,200 --> 00:25:00,200 And you have to be very aware of your pet as well, because even 447 00:25:00,200 --> 00:25:02,520 if it's something that they normally wouldn't eat, I mean, 448 00:25:02,520 --> 00:25:05,520 there are pets that have like, was it Pika? 449 00:25:05,800 --> 00:25:08,520 Yeah, exactly. Or, you know, I mean, there are 450 00:25:09,240 --> 00:25:12,760 and there are certain certainly are instances where you know an 451 00:25:12,760 --> 00:25:17,160 animal will get into something just because it's there to get 452 00:25:17,160 --> 00:25:19,160 into it, right? I mean, there's, there's so 453 00:25:19,160 --> 00:25:20,400 many. Smells, I just can't. 454 00:25:20,520 --> 00:25:22,960 I'm just gonna swallow it and then I'm gonna ask questions 455 00:25:22,960 --> 00:25:24,880 later and then it's like, oh God, that's terrible. 456 00:25:24,880 --> 00:25:28,440 But it's already ingested and I'm also the pet the the elf 457 00:25:28,440 --> 00:25:30,280 itself. So like I don't have high 458 00:25:30,280 --> 00:25:33,680 chewing dogs but the elf itself is totally looks like a chew 459 00:25:33,680 --> 00:25:34,880 toy. It looks like a toy. 460 00:25:35,400 --> 00:25:38,760 It totally, I mean, it would, it would be a great chew toy for a, 461 00:25:39,160 --> 00:25:44,200 for a dog because it's like kind of like heavy on one side, kind 462 00:25:44,200 --> 00:25:47,320 of like floppy on the other. So it's like a lot of textures, 463 00:25:47,320 --> 00:25:50,560 a lot of fun, and it's stuffed with stuff you don't want your 464 00:25:50,560 --> 00:25:53,480 pet ingesting. It's got plastic on the head, 465 00:25:53,480 --> 00:25:55,400 like face the little, the little. 466 00:25:55,480 --> 00:25:58,920 I mean, a Lab could easily swallow the hat like this before 467 00:25:58,920 --> 00:26:03,000 you even know that it's gone. So that is a huge concern for 468 00:26:03,000 --> 00:26:05,040 me. It's not a true toy, like at 469 00:26:05,040 --> 00:26:07,120 all. And it shouldn't be like placed 470 00:26:07,120 --> 00:26:08,600 somewhere that your dog can think. 471 00:26:08,600 --> 00:26:11,600 It's a true toy, not only because of the dog, but also 472 00:26:11,600 --> 00:26:13,600 because your kids will lose their minds because nobody's 473 00:26:13,600 --> 00:26:16,360 supposed to touch them otherwise they lose their magic. 474 00:26:16,880 --> 00:26:20,520 So your kids will be upset and like nobody wants that. 475 00:26:20,520 --> 00:26:23,000 And the dogs going to be in the ER and you're going to be like, 476 00:26:23,000 --> 00:26:26,480 why did I do this to begin with? So it really is like this dumb 477 00:26:26,480 --> 00:26:29,240 tradition that I like kind of like started. 478 00:26:29,560 --> 00:26:33,400 I, you know, I don't, I don't. My mom thinks it's so cute. 479 00:26:33,400 --> 00:26:37,280 The kids really enjoy it, but I haven't like gone full throttle. 480 00:26:37,280 --> 00:26:40,960 I'm, I'm like a doer. I'm perfection, like 481 00:26:40,960 --> 00:26:43,000 perfectionist all the way. Like if I'm going to do 482 00:26:43,000 --> 00:26:45,760 something, I'm going in and I'm doing it to the best of my 483 00:26:45,760 --> 00:26:48,720 ability. I'm phoning this in because I 484 00:26:48,720 --> 00:26:54,520 don't want to like have to like one up myself every day coming 485 00:26:54,520 --> 00:26:57,160 up with ideas, right? And like it's already enough 486 00:26:57,160 --> 00:27:01,160 that my kids are getting a piece of candy every morning for a 487 00:27:01,160 --> 00:27:03,000 month. Like that's not necessarily 488 00:27:03,000 --> 00:27:05,720 great, but that's the advent calendar tradition. 489 00:27:06,000 --> 00:27:09,080 So I have to be super careful with what candy I put in there. 490 00:27:09,520 --> 00:27:14,320 And I have to be super careful about what candy my or what I 491 00:27:14,320 --> 00:27:18,960 used for the elf like mischief. And there's a lot of stuff. 492 00:27:18,960 --> 00:27:21,880 I mean, there's so there's somewhere I am going to do this 493 00:27:21,880 --> 00:27:27,040 one. There's one where you tape like 494 00:27:27,040 --> 00:27:32,800 your toilet seat and you put cereal in there and spoons and 495 00:27:32,800 --> 00:27:35,480 like the elf will just be having breakfast. 496 00:27:35,920 --> 00:27:38,080 The toilet, which it makes the kids laugh. 497 00:27:39,080 --> 00:27:41,840 But again, like it has to be done in a room in a bathroom 498 00:27:41,840 --> 00:27:45,480 where like none of my pets will access it and I'll close it and 499 00:27:45,480 --> 00:27:48,080 then they'll open it and be like, Oh my gosh, there's cereal 500 00:27:48,080 --> 00:27:49,960 on the toilet. I'll come in and clean it up 501 00:27:49,960 --> 00:27:52,040 immediately. So you have to be like on it. 502 00:27:52,280 --> 00:27:53,960 If you're going to do these things, you have to be on it. 503 00:27:53,960 --> 00:27:56,960 And obviously we don't eat any cereal with like xylitol in it. 504 00:27:57,800 --> 00:28:00,840 The cereal we would eat, it's like some healthy version of 505 00:28:00,840 --> 00:28:03,080 Cinnamon Toast Crunch. So it wouldn't be the end of the 506 00:28:03,080 --> 00:28:05,240 world if my dog or cat got into it. 507 00:28:05,240 --> 00:28:08,360 But like I'd be super careful to just clean it up before they got 508 00:28:09,160 --> 00:28:12,840 before they got it. Another one is like sprinkles, 509 00:28:13,040 --> 00:28:16,040 like holiday sprinkles in your sink. 510 00:28:16,880 --> 00:28:19,760 And like, you fill the sink with holiday sprinkles. 511 00:28:19,840 --> 00:28:21,720 I'm not doing that. Like, that's just a waste of 512 00:28:21,720 --> 00:28:22,760 money. I'm not doing that. 513 00:28:22,760 --> 00:28:24,640 Like, I'm not filling my dirty sink. 514 00:28:25,360 --> 00:28:28,280 I mean, I clean my sink every night, but still, like, I'm not 515 00:28:28,280 --> 00:28:33,560 filling my sink with sprinkles that I have to pay like $8 for 516 00:28:33,560 --> 00:28:35,160 at the grocery store. Yeah. 517 00:28:35,280 --> 00:28:37,320 You know, that's another thing like you are. 518 00:28:37,320 --> 00:28:41,840 Wasting some wasteful. I, I remember I was trying to 519 00:28:41,840 --> 00:28:49,320 look it up because the country singer Brad Paisley years ago, I 520 00:28:49,320 --> 00:28:52,760 don't think he, I don't know, he may not be very active on social 521 00:28:52,760 --> 00:28:54,760 media anymore, but he used to be. 522 00:28:55,120 --> 00:28:58,160 And they used to get really into Elf on the Shelf. 523 00:28:58,600 --> 00:29:03,560 And that's the thing that I think like a lot of adults get 524 00:29:03,560 --> 00:29:07,600 into it and then put elves in very adult situations. 525 00:29:12,920 --> 00:29:15,320 Like what happened to Vegas stays in Vegas kind of 526 00:29:15,320 --> 00:29:18,480 situations. Yeah, like I just, I went, I 527 00:29:18,480 --> 00:29:21,280 scrolled back far enough to where it was like, OK, his Elf 528 00:29:21,280 --> 00:29:27,720 on the Shelf is with like found in this like bed with wonder. 529 00:29:27,920 --> 00:29:29,520 Like it's, it's a whole thing. Yeah, yeah. 530 00:29:30,000 --> 00:29:31,440 Yeah. No, we're not doing that. 531 00:29:31,480 --> 00:29:34,880 We're not doing any of that. What is this one? 532 00:29:34,880 --> 00:29:35,920 I haven't gotten that this one I. 533 00:29:35,920 --> 00:29:39,480 Just I don't the, oh, the other day they were in the Mousetrap 534 00:29:39,480 --> 00:29:42,760 game, so they just like sat and played like a board game. 535 00:29:42,960 --> 00:29:44,320 So that was easy. Yeah. 536 00:29:45,080 --> 00:29:50,040 My my elders are pretty low key and I told I keep telling my 537 00:29:50,040 --> 00:29:51,720 kids like if they make a mess they're gone. 538 00:29:51,880 --> 00:29:53,800 Like I will throw them in the trash and my son said. 539 00:29:53,840 --> 00:29:56,360 I see. My son said, you know, I think 540 00:29:56,360 --> 00:29:57,800 they can come back in their magic. 541 00:29:57,800 --> 00:30:01,080 And I was like, yeah, well, I'll, I'll drive them somewhere 542 00:30:01,080 --> 00:30:03,520 else or I will flush them down the toilet. 543 00:30:03,520 --> 00:30:05,480 My, my son knows I'm not going to do that because he 544 00:30:05,560 --> 00:30:07,880 understands plumbing enough to understand why I wouldn't do 545 00:30:07,880 --> 00:30:09,600 that. But I was like, no, I'll put 546 00:30:09,600 --> 00:30:11,880 them in the mail and send, send them back to the North Pole. 547 00:30:12,000 --> 00:30:13,600 I don't want them making a huge mess. 548 00:30:13,600 --> 00:30:15,360 They're not allowed. And I keep talking about them 549 00:30:15,360 --> 00:30:18,560 like kind of like mainly like these dumb elves now. 550 00:30:18,720 --> 00:30:20,960 Like they're sitting here and now I can't move them and like 551 00:30:20,960 --> 00:30:22,360 they're in the way. And so it's. 552 00:30:22,720 --> 00:30:26,040 Not like I'm glorifying the elves, they're kind of annoying, 553 00:30:26,120 --> 00:30:30,840 but I am just it's like finding the fine line between this pet 554 00:30:30,840 --> 00:30:33,680 safety and having fun with the elves is has been really a 555 00:30:33,680 --> 00:30:36,640 challenge for me. Like tinsel and ribbon is a no 556 00:30:36,640 --> 00:30:38,280 go right? Like there's a ton of stuff that 557 00:30:38,320 --> 00:30:40,640 you can do with tinsel and ribbon, but you can't do that 558 00:30:40,640 --> 00:30:43,760 with your cat. Especially no gum and candy. 559 00:30:44,600 --> 00:30:49,000 When I tell you I went all over target looking for not sugar 560 00:30:49,000 --> 00:30:52,440 free gum like even juicy fruit now is really. 561 00:30:52,720 --> 00:30:54,760 Sugar. Free, yeah, like everything that 562 00:30:54,760 --> 00:30:58,280 we grew up with that was like $0.25 for the five pack, those 563 00:30:58,280 --> 00:31:00,840 all are now sugar free and have xylitol. 564 00:31:02,280 --> 00:31:03,960 Chocolate. Can't do anything with chocolate 565 00:31:03,960 --> 00:31:06,600 because like, my cat won't probably eat it, but he might 566 00:31:06,600 --> 00:31:10,240 drop it. So no chocolate like cookies and 567 00:31:10,240 --> 00:31:12,040 stuff. Like my cat would he? 568 00:31:12,040 --> 00:31:13,280 He does. I mean, he doesn't have a sweet 569 00:31:13,280 --> 00:31:16,480 tooth because he doesn't taste sweet like any cat, but he likes 570 00:31:16,920 --> 00:31:19,680 to taste things. He likes to enjoy things. 571 00:31:19,680 --> 00:31:21,200 So I can't leave anything like that out. 572 00:31:21,200 --> 00:31:23,560 So I'd have to do that like very early in the morning. 573 00:31:24,600 --> 00:31:27,240 The sprinkles, they contain artificial colors and like, I 574 00:31:27,240 --> 00:31:30,200 don't even want my kids having that, let alone my pets. 575 00:31:31,520 --> 00:31:35,160 The raw potato itself, like I don't want my pets eating raw 576 00:31:35,520 --> 00:31:38,360 potato. That is not a healthy digestible 577 00:31:38,360 --> 00:31:40,520 meal. Like shaving cream. 578 00:31:40,520 --> 00:31:43,080 Like I said, raw dough. There's somewhere they're like, 579 00:31:43,080 --> 00:31:44,840 you know, baking bread or whatever. 580 00:31:44,840 --> 00:31:47,120 You don't want your pets eating raw dough because like they 581 00:31:47,120 --> 00:31:49,760 could get if they eat enough of it, and a lot of people don't 582 00:31:49,760 --> 00:31:52,080 know this, is that they could get alcohol poisoning from the 583 00:31:52,560 --> 00:31:54,720 yeast, like fermenting in their stomach. 584 00:31:55,240 --> 00:32:00,200 So you definitely don't want any dog or cat eating raw dough. 585 00:32:00,200 --> 00:32:02,920 So like if you're making bread or they're making, or you make 586 00:32:02,920 --> 00:32:06,480 your homemade play dough for these elves, put it away. 587 00:32:06,480 --> 00:32:11,560 And then the milk, like some of them have like milk and cookies 588 00:32:11,560 --> 00:32:13,560 and stuff. And like milk is fortified. 589 00:32:13,560 --> 00:32:16,920 So like most milk that people are buying is fortified. 590 00:32:16,920 --> 00:32:20,640 I don't want my kids or my pets eating that. 591 00:32:21,160 --> 00:32:23,400 I mean, I, my kids drink milk at school. 592 00:32:23,400 --> 00:32:27,360 Makes me crazy, absolutely crazy because we're supposed to be 593 00:32:27,360 --> 00:32:31,280 dairy free because of his sleep apnea, because dairy causes 594 00:32:31,280 --> 00:32:33,800 inflammation. So I'm definitely not buying 595 00:32:33,800 --> 00:32:35,760 that. But also, if I leave like a cup 596 00:32:35,760 --> 00:32:37,560 of milk out, you know my cat's going to be drinking. 597 00:32:37,560 --> 00:32:40,840 That. Oh yeah, yeah, I see one that's 598 00:32:40,840 --> 00:32:43,080 actually kind of cute. I have to share it. 599 00:32:43,320 --> 00:32:48,440 So one of the elves is on the Mantel with a slingshot and the 600 00:32:48,480 --> 00:32:50,360 other elf is stuck to the window. 601 00:32:50,360 --> 00:32:53,040 It's cute. OK, that's see those are 602 00:32:53,040 --> 00:32:55,440 harmless. Yeah, you could do that in the 603 00:32:55,560 --> 00:32:57,160 middle of the night and your dog doesn't. 604 00:32:57,160 --> 00:32:57,800 Yeah, you'd have. To mouth? 605 00:32:58,080 --> 00:32:59,680 Yeah, you'd have to. Really my? 606 00:32:59,680 --> 00:33:02,600 Dogs are not chewers. So I feel like that would be 607 00:33:02,600 --> 00:33:05,200 fine for me. But again, it's like this risk 608 00:33:05,200 --> 00:33:06,280 you take, right? Like you wait. 609 00:33:06,280 --> 00:33:08,520 You know how many times we've woken up in the middle? 610 00:33:08,600 --> 00:33:11,400 Like we've woken up and then like, Oh my God, the dog pooped 611 00:33:11,400 --> 00:33:13,400 inside. How did that even happen? 612 00:33:13,400 --> 00:33:15,640 You know what I mean? Like, when did we not let him 613 00:33:15,640 --> 00:33:16,800 out? Like when was the last time he 614 00:33:16,800 --> 00:33:18,240 peed? Did we let him out in the yard 615 00:33:18,240 --> 00:33:19,440 too early? Bah, Bah, Bah, Bah, Bah. 616 00:33:19,440 --> 00:33:20,680 And you're like figuring this out. 617 00:33:20,680 --> 00:33:24,560 You don't want to do this like every day during Christmas 618 00:33:24,560 --> 00:33:29,640 season because of this elf. So I came up with some ideas for 619 00:33:29,640 --> 00:33:34,160 like elves to do more, more pet friendly stuff. 620 00:33:34,960 --> 00:33:37,440 And so I have some recommendations for people. 621 00:33:39,040 --> 00:33:43,840 Well, first of all, have all the mayhem occur in one room. 622 00:33:43,840 --> 00:33:47,560 So like, maybe your elves can take over like the guest 623 00:33:47,560 --> 00:33:51,320 bathroom and they can go in there and see and like, the door 624 00:33:51,320 --> 00:33:55,320 remains closed and you teach your pets like, oh, you know, 625 00:33:55,320 --> 00:33:57,920 we've banished them in here or they've chosen to be in here 626 00:33:57,920 --> 00:33:59,800 because of the pets. And like, this is not safe for 627 00:33:59,800 --> 00:34:01,240 pets. So This is why they closed 628 00:34:01,240 --> 00:34:03,160 themselves in here and did this, blah, blah, blah. 629 00:34:03,480 --> 00:34:05,520 So you're also teaching at the same time. 630 00:34:05,520 --> 00:34:07,880 Like my kids know that chocolate's not safe because my 631 00:34:07,880 --> 00:34:10,800 daughter is such a mess, but they don't know that toothpaste 632 00:34:10,800 --> 00:34:12,199 is not safe. Like, you know what I mean? 633 00:34:12,199 --> 00:34:15,840 Like I've tried to explain it to them, but we try to buy stuff 634 00:34:15,840 --> 00:34:18,000 that doesn't. So it's not like everyone has. 635 00:34:18,000 --> 00:34:20,480 So they're little and they can't understand like, yes or no. 636 00:34:20,480 --> 00:34:22,199 But like, all chocolate is off limits. 637 00:34:22,480 --> 00:34:25,199 The other day Mila did drop a piece of chocolate on on the 638 00:34:25,199 --> 00:34:27,840 floor and it was so tiny, but it was like one of these Hershey's 639 00:34:27,840 --> 00:34:29,960 and I was like, there's hardly any actual chocolate in there, 640 00:34:29,960 --> 00:34:32,520 so I'm fine. And they were all like, no, it's 641 00:34:32,520 --> 00:34:35,159 super serious. And I'm like, actually in this 642 00:34:35,159 --> 00:34:37,000 case it's not. So I don't want to like confuse 643 00:34:37,000 --> 00:34:39,280 them. So I just say like just 644 00:34:40,120 --> 00:34:45,400 toothpaste is a no go period. And then also like having a an 645 00:34:45,400 --> 00:34:47,800 elf that's not so naughty. Maybe it could read books. 646 00:34:48,880 --> 00:34:52,800 Maybe it could walk your dog like you just like have the the 647 00:34:52,800 --> 00:34:56,440 elf sitting like by wherever you keep your leash and like be 648 00:34:56,440 --> 00:34:59,560 like, oh wow, like it walked the dog or whatever while we were 649 00:34:59,560 --> 00:35:02,200 sleeping or something like that where it's like, you know, 650 00:35:04,040 --> 00:35:05,360 harmless. You don't have to use 651 00:35:05,360 --> 00:35:07,080 ingredients for it. You already have it in your 652 00:35:07,080 --> 00:35:09,200 home. You have a leash and like the, 653 00:35:09,320 --> 00:35:11,960 you know, the elf like sitting there, you know, with maybe some 654 00:35:11,960 --> 00:35:15,320 poo bags, like open, I don't know, like something that's not 655 00:35:15,320 --> 00:35:18,120 like necessarily dangerous. Like I don't think my pets would 656 00:35:18,320 --> 00:35:21,560 get into a poo bag at all. Like a roll of poo bags. 657 00:35:21,560 --> 00:35:25,080 Like if it's all closed up, they wouldn't even look twice on it. 658 00:35:25,840 --> 00:35:29,520 Or keep your elf in your entryway, like have your elf get 659 00:35:29,520 --> 00:35:32,560 into trouble out there. It's a really good way to get 660 00:35:32,560 --> 00:35:35,520 your kids early up early and out of the house in the morning. 661 00:35:35,680 --> 00:35:37,520 You know what I mean? Because like they're, if they're 662 00:35:37,520 --> 00:35:39,720 going to go out to the entry, they're going to need to like 663 00:35:39,720 --> 00:35:42,720 get out of their PJS, get out of there, like and go put on their 664 00:35:42,720 --> 00:35:45,440 coats and stuff. So it might like motivate the 665 00:35:45,480 --> 00:35:47,720 pet, the kids to get up and like go out. 666 00:35:48,040 --> 00:35:51,040 Mine right now they're only in the living room, family room 667 00:35:51,040 --> 00:35:53,840 area, dining room, family room area. 668 00:35:54,680 --> 00:35:57,760 And again, I'm just limiting what ingredients I use. 669 00:35:57,760 --> 00:36:00,320 But if you really want to go all out, if you have pets, you 670 00:36:00,320 --> 00:36:05,520 really have to come up with tight like plan A&B&C, because 671 00:36:05,640 --> 00:36:11,880 doing that, like doing the Oreo stuff with, you know, yeah, 672 00:36:11,960 --> 00:36:15,400 toothpaste, white toothpaste is not, is not going to be safe at 673 00:36:15,400 --> 00:36:18,840 all in a pet home. Because even even if you're not, 674 00:36:18,840 --> 00:36:22,800 you don't have a counter surfer. The pet might be tempted to surf 675 00:36:22,800 --> 00:36:23,800 the counter. That yeah. 676 00:36:24,680 --> 00:36:28,000 Oh, yeah, absolutely. I was just thinking like I was 677 00:36:28,000 --> 00:36:30,880 trying to think of some other things that might be interesting 678 00:36:30,880 --> 00:36:33,840 or cute. But like, I guess it again, 679 00:36:33,840 --> 00:36:38,520 depends on if you. I think most people even with 680 00:36:38,520 --> 00:36:43,360 pets do decorate their trees but like have the elf decorating the 681 00:36:43,360 --> 00:36:46,960 tree so like every night there's like another row of ornaments or 682 00:36:46,960 --> 00:36:48,800 something and they go up the. Tree. 683 00:36:49,200 --> 00:36:51,480 I love that idea. That's a good one. 684 00:36:52,320 --> 00:36:54,440 I don't know. I was just because that that's 685 00:36:54,440 --> 00:36:58,600 pretty innocuous, but also could be part of the I don't know. 686 00:36:58,760 --> 00:37:00,040 I still don't want it in my house but. 687 00:37:00,440 --> 00:37:05,200 I my, again, mine served the purpose and bringing the candy 688 00:37:05,200 --> 00:37:08,440 and like what what I do with the candy advent calendar is 689 00:37:08,440 --> 00:37:11,480 actually I take the small candies from their Halloween 690 00:37:11,480 --> 00:37:15,760 bags right after Halloween and I use those. 691 00:37:15,760 --> 00:37:18,800 So really I'm not buying candy for this purpose. 692 00:37:18,800 --> 00:37:24,440 I did buy a bag of something recently and I put Rolo's in 693 00:37:24,440 --> 00:37:27,680 there because I had bought like a bag of Rolo's for something 694 00:37:27,680 --> 00:37:31,360 else or like a bag with like different candies for something 695 00:37:31,360 --> 00:37:34,080 else. And they were like, EW, the 696 00:37:34,080 --> 00:37:37,360 elves left these like these like a little and I was like, what? 697 00:37:38,000 --> 00:37:42,800 They threw them away and I was like, you could have asked me. 698 00:37:42,800 --> 00:37:46,080 I know I like rollers. Like I don't I, you probably 699 00:37:46,080 --> 00:37:49,760 won't catch me eating anything Hershey's because I don't I, it 700 00:37:49,760 --> 00:37:53,120 means I'm, I was born in Ecuador where we have like really good 701 00:37:53,120 --> 00:37:55,120 chocolate. Like, you know, in the Latin 702 00:37:55,120 --> 00:37:58,360 culture, we eat and drink very good chocolate. 703 00:37:58,720 --> 00:38:01,800 So for me, like Hershey's, chocolate is terrible. 704 00:38:02,120 --> 00:38:04,400 So anything Hershey's you're not going to find me eating. 705 00:38:04,440 --> 00:38:08,480 But I will definitely tell you Rolo's, I would eat a whole bag 706 00:38:08,480 --> 00:38:11,440 of those if you give it to me. So I was surprised that they 707 00:38:11,440 --> 00:38:13,080 didn't like it. But then if they come to me and 708 00:38:13,080 --> 00:38:16,760 they complain about the Rolo's, I'm like, take it up with the 709 00:38:16,760 --> 00:38:17,760 elves all. Right. 710 00:38:18,320 --> 00:38:23,800 I have nothing to do with that. And if they forget one day to 711 00:38:23,800 --> 00:38:30,200 fill that little box of chocolate or candy, I say you 712 00:38:30,200 --> 00:38:34,280 guys must have not, you know, must have not deserved them. 713 00:38:34,280 --> 00:38:36,880 What did you do that Like they didn't, they didn't put candy in 714 00:38:36,880 --> 00:38:44,520 there and they they will leave a note the next day being like 715 00:38:45,120 --> 00:38:47,360 open two boxes or whatever, you know what I mean? 716 00:38:47,360 --> 00:38:48,920 Last year they left a lot more notes. 717 00:38:48,920 --> 00:38:51,560 This year they're just kind of like being like subliminal. 718 00:38:53,240 --> 00:38:55,680 Yeah, it was while you were saying that it was like, I 719 00:38:55,680 --> 00:39:00,480 wonder if you could also use it to like, I don't know, get them 720 00:39:00,480 --> 00:39:05,920 to do things that are more creative and not on devices. 721 00:39:06,080 --> 00:39:09,760 So like you have to present the elf with like a drawing or 722 00:39:09,760 --> 00:39:12,360 something every day to be able to get your cans. 723 00:39:12,400 --> 00:39:15,720 I don't know. So that they're spending time 724 00:39:16,000 --> 00:39:19,040 actually doing something with their hands and being creative 725 00:39:19,040 --> 00:39:21,360 versus like being on their tablet or whatever. 726 00:39:21,360 --> 00:39:22,760 Exactly. No, I love that. 727 00:39:22,800 --> 00:39:25,400 And my daughter says that coloring is her hobby. 728 00:39:25,480 --> 00:39:27,040 So definitely she would love that. 729 00:39:27,400 --> 00:39:30,160 Yeah. You could even like get a like a 730 00:39:31,800 --> 00:39:35,160 a coloring book and have them do one page through Christmas and 731 00:39:35,360 --> 00:39:39,080 like every page that you do, you get, you know, a surprise from 732 00:39:39,080 --> 00:39:41,400 the elf or whatever. Yeah, the the whole like 733 00:39:41,640 --> 00:39:45,640 informing Santa, like I feel like that's isn't that the way 734 00:39:45,640 --> 00:39:48,160 it was originally intended or is that like something that it 735 00:39:48,160 --> 00:39:50,080 evolved into? Yeah, I know. 736 00:39:50,080 --> 00:39:53,320 I think that was kind of the original intent was like it. 737 00:39:54,720 --> 00:39:58,640 The elf is there as like Santa's helper. 738 00:39:58,880 --> 00:40:02,720 Santa's helper, like Big Brother looking over, like watching you 739 00:40:02,720 --> 00:40:05,400 at all times. Yeah, I don't love that concept 740 00:40:05,400 --> 00:40:07,200 and that's why I was never gonna do it. 741 00:40:07,200 --> 00:40:10,520 But. Molly concept of Santa anyway, 742 00:40:10,600 --> 00:40:11,360 right? Exactly. 743 00:40:11,920 --> 00:40:16,960 Well, I guess if you'd spin it that way, I we don't really talk 744 00:40:16,960 --> 00:40:19,520 about Santa a lot. And I'm gonna be honest, I feel 745 00:40:19,520 --> 00:40:21,680 bad lying to my kids about these things. 746 00:40:22,440 --> 00:40:25,320 I know it sounds really dumb. And our parents lied to us 747 00:40:25,320 --> 00:40:28,640 constantly when we were little. But I don't like lying to my 748 00:40:28,640 --> 00:40:30,760 kids about stuff. Yeah. 749 00:40:31,040 --> 00:40:36,560 Well, it's funny because as we were starting this talk today, I 750 00:40:36,600 --> 00:40:41,640 was thinking about back to when I was a kid and I've been doing 751 00:40:41,640 --> 00:40:44,880 a lot of that like thinking lately. 752 00:40:44,880 --> 00:40:50,440 I think that's because so obviously I have been, but also 753 00:40:50,440 --> 00:40:54,200 like, not only is Mercury in retrograde, but Mars just went 754 00:40:54,200 --> 00:40:56,480 in retrograde. And so there's a lot of that 755 00:40:56,520 --> 00:41:03,200 coming up for a lot of people. But I, I started thinking about 756 00:41:03,200 --> 00:41:06,960 it because I was, I was, I was the oldest. 757 00:41:07,400 --> 00:41:10,280 I had, we had two older step brothers, but they were like, 758 00:41:12,360 --> 00:41:15,720 they kind of did their own thing, you know, So as far as 759 00:41:15,720 --> 00:41:19,400 like me and my siblings, how we interacted with each other, I 760 00:41:19,400 --> 00:41:27,280 was the oldest and I, I was pretty young when I started 761 00:41:27,280 --> 00:41:30,000 realizing that all of these things weren't real, the Easter 762 00:41:30,000 --> 00:41:35,280 Bunny and Santa and all of that. And I got in a lot of trouble 763 00:41:36,240 --> 00:41:41,280 for trying to tell my younger siblings that it wasn't real, 764 00:41:41,280 --> 00:41:44,320 that it wasn't true. And I kind of look back and I'm 765 00:41:44,320 --> 00:41:47,840 like, but I don't think I was being malicious. 766 00:41:47,880 --> 00:41:51,840 I don't think I was trying to like burst their bubble. 767 00:41:52,280 --> 00:41:55,520 Bother being good, there ain't no big guy with a bag. 768 00:41:56,080 --> 00:41:58,280 Of toys. No, like I think it's, I think 769 00:41:58,280 --> 00:42:00,840 it was more than that. I think it's like, I've I found 770 00:42:00,840 --> 00:42:03,200 this out. I don't, I'm not lying to you, 771 00:42:03,200 --> 00:42:05,800 by the way, Like I don't, I don't like you. 772 00:42:06,280 --> 00:42:11,240 I don't like and you didn't. Want to, I don't want yes, and 773 00:42:11,320 --> 00:42:15,400 but I got in a lot of trouble because I I wouldn't just say 774 00:42:15,400 --> 00:42:18,720 like, Oh, I don't believe like I would actually pretend I was 775 00:42:18,720 --> 00:42:21,240 asleep and wake up and then catch my mom putting stuff out 776 00:42:21,240 --> 00:42:23,120 or it's like this. I'm like, see, I told like I 777 00:42:23,120 --> 00:42:26,120 remember one time I was like, see, I told you, I told you the 778 00:42:26,120 --> 00:42:28,040 Easter Bunny isn't real because you're putting the stuff. 779 00:42:28,040 --> 00:42:30,000 So like, I was that kind of child. 780 00:42:32,760 --> 00:42:34,960 You sound like Noah. Noah would totally do that. 781 00:42:36,480 --> 00:42:40,000 But I do think it was just a but also I'm a Libra, right? 782 00:42:40,000 --> 00:42:45,120 So I do think it's this like this like sense of. 783 00:42:45,480 --> 00:42:47,440 What's right? Justice and equality. 784 00:42:47,440 --> 00:42:50,760 Yes, yes. And like, I know what's right 785 00:42:50,760 --> 00:42:53,600 and I know what's wrong, and I'm not going to let my siblings 786 00:42:53,600 --> 00:42:54,160 vote. You know what? 787 00:42:54,160 --> 00:42:55,880 Like I think that's what it was. Correct. 788 00:42:56,080 --> 00:42:58,400 Yeah, No, it's true. What's funny is when I was 789 00:42:58,400 --> 00:43:01,280 growing up in Ecuador, I was born in Ecuador. 790 00:43:01,560 --> 00:43:04,160 I moved to the US when I was four or three, almost four. 791 00:43:04,600 --> 00:43:08,200 And apparently I don't remember this at all, but like when I was 792 00:43:08,200 --> 00:43:11,200 very little in Ecuador, it wasn't Santa that brought 793 00:43:11,200 --> 00:43:13,080 presents. It was El Nino Dios. 794 00:43:13,080 --> 00:43:18,160 Baby Jesus brought you presents. OK, I can't speak to all of the 795 00:43:18,160 --> 00:43:20,680 Latin culture on that. I can't speak to all of Ecuador 796 00:43:20,680 --> 00:43:23,680 on that. But in my family, it was a Nino 797 00:43:23,720 --> 00:43:27,160 Dios who brought presents. And apparently my sister had 798 00:43:27,160 --> 00:43:30,080 been a jerk at some point. I was like two or three. 799 00:43:30,760 --> 00:43:34,720 My sister must is 2 and a bit older than me, two years, two 800 00:43:34,720 --> 00:43:37,160 months older than me. And she had been a jerk at some 801 00:43:37,160 --> 00:43:39,480 point. And my my uncle had had a 802 00:43:39,480 --> 00:43:41,680 birthday and she, like wanted his gift. 803 00:43:41,680 --> 00:43:45,280 And it was his birthdays this week, actually, next week, 804 00:43:45,280 --> 00:43:48,400 actually. So she had like got in a fight 805 00:43:48,400 --> 00:43:50,200 with him over his birthday present. 806 00:43:50,200 --> 00:43:52,800 I think she had broken something because she couldn't have it. 807 00:43:53,160 --> 00:43:57,200 And my mom was like, El Nino. Dios is watching in Spanish, 808 00:43:57,200 --> 00:43:57,920 obviously. Yeah. 809 00:43:58,280 --> 00:44:02,240 And watch it. Be careful you're not going to 810 00:44:02,240 --> 00:44:06,360 get any presents at Christmas. And somehow my mom was young and 811 00:44:06,400 --> 00:44:10,400 my mom's hilarious. My mom was young and was at the 812 00:44:10,400 --> 00:44:13,200 market in Ecuador and apparently they had because it was 813 00:44:13,200 --> 00:44:18,240 Christmas like fake poops that this is where the story is 814 00:44:18,240 --> 00:44:19,160 going. OK. 815 00:44:20,160 --> 00:44:23,000 Because like we would get, we never did, but we were like 816 00:44:23,000 --> 00:44:24,960 threatened with coal in our stock, correct. 817 00:44:24,960 --> 00:44:28,760 So kind of a similar. I guess so like, I guess it was 818 00:44:28,760 --> 00:44:31,400 like a gag gift so people could like wrap up. 819 00:44:31,400 --> 00:44:34,040 It was like a poop. And I do remember this because I 820 00:44:34,040 --> 00:44:37,320 saw it later in life, like when we were living there, like, you 821 00:44:37,320 --> 00:44:41,240 know, like you store stuff away and like it came out and I 822 00:44:41,240 --> 00:44:44,160 remember seeing it and it was like a poop, like a plastic poop 823 00:44:44,440 --> 00:44:47,800 that was kind of like think of like soft serve ice cream shape. 824 00:44:48,160 --> 00:44:49,760 And it had there were two of them. 825 00:44:49,760 --> 00:44:53,200 One of them had corn in it and the other one had lentils in it. 826 00:44:53,200 --> 00:44:56,560 It was really gross, but kind of hilarious because it's obviously 827 00:44:56,560 --> 00:45:00,440 plastic. And so my mom after this 828 00:45:00,440 --> 00:45:04,520 conversation, which is really traumatizing now, I would never 829 00:45:04,520 --> 00:45:07,160 do that to my kids. Now I think it's hilarious that 830 00:45:07,160 --> 00:45:08,400 she did this, but we didn't know. 831 00:45:09,520 --> 00:45:14,160 So she put those under the tree, one for me and one for my sister 832 00:45:14,800 --> 00:45:17,760 instead of any presents on whatever. 833 00:45:18,360 --> 00:45:21,520 It's always Christmas Day. That's so in the Latin culture, 834 00:45:21,520 --> 00:45:24,720 we celebrate Christmas Eve with our gifts exchange. 835 00:45:24,840 --> 00:45:27,240 It's Christmas Eve with your family and then the only thing 836 00:45:27,240 --> 00:45:30,960 you open on the on the 25th is whatever Santa or baby Jesus 837 00:45:30,960 --> 00:45:33,200 brought you. So we, you know, we had gone to 838 00:45:33,200 --> 00:45:35,800 bed late. Everybody's happy, you know, 839 00:45:35,800 --> 00:45:38,080 Hope can't wait to see what Santa brings. 840 00:45:38,080 --> 00:45:41,520 And my sister wakes up early, runs down and then what the 841 00:45:41,520 --> 00:45:46,400 story that I've been told is she comes to to me at like 2 years 842 00:45:46,400 --> 00:45:51,400 old and says you have to see what baby Jesus left for us. 843 00:45:51,400 --> 00:45:54,440 Like, she's mean. She was like getting me all 844 00:45:54,440 --> 00:45:56,960 worked up so that I could go see the poops under. 845 00:45:56,960 --> 00:45:59,680 And I apparently I was the only one who cried about it. 846 00:45:59,680 --> 00:46:00,800 My sister thought it was hilarious. 847 00:46:01,040 --> 00:46:04,680 She was a devious 5 year old. So she thought it was hilarious 848 00:46:04,680 --> 00:46:06,480 that she got a poop. And she thought the poop was 849 00:46:06,480 --> 00:46:08,000 great. She thought it was the best gift 850 00:46:08,160 --> 00:46:10,040 that baby Jesus could have given her. 851 00:46:10,040 --> 00:46:12,160 But I cried because obviously I was like, I'm getting a poop 852 00:46:12,160 --> 00:46:14,120 instead of like Barbies or whatever it is that I wanted at 853 00:46:14,120 --> 00:46:16,720 the time. So yeah, these things are kind 854 00:46:16,720 --> 00:46:20,440 of gross. We would never do that to our 855 00:46:20,440 --> 00:46:22,000 pets. Instead for our pets, we're 856 00:46:22,000 --> 00:46:25,880 like, I'm going to buy some like amazing thing for my pet. 857 00:46:25,880 --> 00:46:28,920 Like I was just looking at bears bites. 858 00:46:28,920 --> 00:46:32,880 Does Chris like holiday meals where she like freeze dries, 859 00:46:32,880 --> 00:46:35,960 green beans and shrimp and steak and. 860 00:46:36,600 --> 00:46:39,160 Because. All this stuff and for the pets 861 00:46:39,160 --> 00:46:42,720 and here we are like putting poops under the tree or coal in 862 00:46:42,720 --> 00:46:45,080 a stocking for kids who don't behave well. 863 00:46:45,320 --> 00:46:47,160 And we all know kids want to behave well. 864 00:46:47,160 --> 00:46:50,640 So like I have a kid who's very difficult and like we're having 865 00:46:50,640 --> 00:46:52,880 him evaluate it for a bunch of stuff just because he's he's 866 00:46:53,000 --> 00:46:56,720 very disruptive in class. And like, I know even though 867 00:46:56,720 --> 00:47:01,720 he's my kid and I know like, he pushes everybody's buttons very 868 00:47:01,720 --> 00:47:05,200 effectively, like I know he deep down really wants to do really 869 00:47:05,200 --> 00:47:07,720 well. And so, like, I hate the idea of 870 00:47:07,720 --> 00:47:11,440 like Santa's, you know, you didn't get this, you know, you 871 00:47:11,440 --> 00:47:13,760 got in trouble at school, so Santa's not coming or you're 872 00:47:13,760 --> 00:47:16,720 getting in a coal or whatever. And I feel so bad for kids 873 00:47:16,720 --> 00:47:22,200 because I do think that children like dogs, like cats, they 874 00:47:22,200 --> 00:47:24,280 really want to do the right thing, right? 875 00:47:24,320 --> 00:47:27,120 And like they don't always have the tools to do the right thing. 876 00:47:27,800 --> 00:47:30,480 And as they get older, right, like most of our pets are what 877 00:47:30,480 --> 00:47:33,520 like the the mental age of like a 2 year old, right? 878 00:47:33,520 --> 00:47:35,600 They have the cognitive ability of like a 2 year old. 879 00:47:36,800 --> 00:47:40,040 Even when they get to seven years old, they still like don't 880 00:47:40,040 --> 00:47:42,880 have the cognitive ability of a 44 year old, right? 881 00:47:42,880 --> 00:47:46,120 And like we expect them to be like grown-ups after a certain 882 00:47:46,120 --> 00:47:49,080 age with our pets, we have a little more grace. 883 00:47:49,080 --> 00:47:50,120 I can passion. Give them. 884 00:47:50,600 --> 00:47:51,720 A little. Well, the good ones are less. 885 00:47:51,800 --> 00:47:54,440 The good pet parents give our pets more compassion and more 886 00:47:54,440 --> 00:47:58,280 grace. But like our kids get all these 887 00:47:58,280 --> 00:48:01,520 like threats around the holidays and like, like you, I don't, I 888 00:48:01,520 --> 00:48:04,840 just don't like it. I feel like it's I gotta go with 889 00:48:04,840 --> 00:48:08,840 it because you're not. I have friends who like don't do 890 00:48:08,840 --> 00:48:11,960 Halloween, like they're very Christian and they refuse to do 891 00:48:11,960 --> 00:48:14,400 Halloween and I'm nothing but the utmost respect for them. 892 00:48:14,400 --> 00:48:16,600 I love Halloween. I don't take it that seriously. 893 00:48:17,440 --> 00:48:18,960 I love a ghost story. It's it. 894 00:48:19,120 --> 00:48:23,160 I mean mine with me putting a tree in your home and decorating 895 00:48:23,160 --> 00:48:25,160 it as a Pagan tradition, but exactly, exactly. 896 00:48:26,520 --> 00:48:30,000 Well, and a lot of these friends may not even do Christmas trees. 897 00:48:30,000 --> 00:48:33,760 They may just do like, you know, Jesus, right, celebrating the 898 00:48:33,760 --> 00:48:35,920 birth of Jesus or whatever. I don't know what their 899 00:48:35,920 --> 00:48:37,880 Christmas traditions are, but I know that they don't do 900 00:48:37,880 --> 00:48:41,040 Halloween and I've nothing but respect for them for, you know, 901 00:48:41,040 --> 00:48:44,880 like having that conviction to be like, we don't celebrate that 902 00:48:44,880 --> 00:48:47,920 holiday because we don't like the idea of putting like dead 903 00:48:47,920 --> 00:48:50,400 bodies on our porch to be like happy Halloween. 904 00:48:50,400 --> 00:48:53,640 And I get it, like it's dark, but I love it so. 905 00:48:53,800 --> 00:48:58,480 But I kind of like, I haven't found that like one thing that 906 00:48:58,480 --> 00:49:01,040 I'm like adamant about. Like I'm not doing that with my 907 00:49:01,040 --> 00:49:02,880 kids. Like, look, I literally have 908 00:49:02,880 --> 00:49:06,440 like the night before Christmas, like a little Garland behind me 909 00:49:06,440 --> 00:49:10,240 for the night before Christmas in my office because I I love 910 00:49:10,240 --> 00:49:12,240 everything Christmas related. I love the elves. 911 00:49:12,240 --> 00:49:15,800 I think they're adorable. Like, I definitely don't use 912 00:49:15,800 --> 00:49:18,800 them to their full potential like a lot of parents do. 913 00:49:18,800 --> 00:49:22,160 And I think it's so fun when those parents go all out and do 914 00:49:22,160 --> 00:49:24,360 fun things. And those kids will have awesome 915 00:49:24,360 --> 00:49:25,520 memories. Yeah. 916 00:49:25,920 --> 00:49:29,920 Of that time the elf like filled, filled the toilet with 917 00:49:29,920 --> 00:49:32,840 cereal, right? Like, yeah, they will think that 918 00:49:32,840 --> 00:49:34,960 that's so funny and they'll go tell their friends. 919 00:49:34,960 --> 00:49:38,800 And like, you know, I also do worry about the kids who don't 920 00:49:38,800 --> 00:49:42,600 have this happening at home and they feel like left out right? 921 00:49:42,600 --> 00:49:44,920 Cuz like with every trend. Especially. 922 00:49:44,920 --> 00:49:46,560 There's always something who's not following. 923 00:49:46,560 --> 00:49:48,120 It. Yeah, if they're making such a 924 00:49:48,120 --> 00:49:51,400 big deal out of it at school, like school is hard enough for 925 00:49:51,440 --> 00:49:54,400 kids, right? And then to feel left out about 926 00:49:54,400 --> 00:49:56,280 one other thing. Yeah, that's pretty. 927 00:49:57,040 --> 00:50:00,240 Sucks and like it's the same thing with like Santa bringing 928 00:50:00,240 --> 00:50:04,040 like really expensive gifts. Like in my house, Santa does not 929 00:50:04,040 --> 00:50:07,560 bring technology. Santa does not buy iPads. 930 00:50:08,160 --> 00:50:11,480 Neither does mom. In my house, you get whatever 931 00:50:11,480 --> 00:50:13,680 old phone somebody's no longer using. 932 00:50:13,680 --> 00:50:16,680 That's what you get at my house. And you don't get to call it 933 00:50:16,680 --> 00:50:18,000 your own. It's still mine. 934 00:50:18,160 --> 00:50:19,840 It's my old phone. It's not yours. 935 00:50:20,400 --> 00:50:23,640 But a lot of stuff that happens around the Christmas holiday 936 00:50:23,640 --> 00:50:30,480 really does like stress us out first and foremost, takes us 937 00:50:30,480 --> 00:50:34,120 away from like what we really want to be doing. 938 00:50:34,120 --> 00:50:37,480 Because like I guarantee you last night when I had to go move 939 00:50:37,480 --> 00:50:39,960 those damn elves, like I would just wanted to stay in bed. 940 00:50:40,520 --> 00:50:43,240 I just wanted to stay in bed. I didn't want to go get those 941 00:50:43,240 --> 00:50:45,360 elves and move them somewhere else. 942 00:50:45,800 --> 00:50:47,840 And then I couldn't delegate to my husband because he was in 943 00:50:47,840 --> 00:50:50,680 Philly. So I had to just get up and do 944 00:50:50,680 --> 00:50:52,160 it. And like, there's a lot of stuff 945 00:50:52,160 --> 00:50:54,680 that we could be doing that we're like focusing on these 946 00:50:54,680 --> 00:50:58,600 dumb things decorating our front porch. 947 00:50:58,600 --> 00:51:03,440 Like, I yesterday I put out my Christmas lights and my home 948 00:51:03,440 --> 00:51:06,480 feels cluttered with all the Christmas decor and like, like 949 00:51:06,480 --> 00:51:09,840 you, I feel like, what's the, what am I doing? 950 00:51:09,840 --> 00:51:12,840 But I, I, I get why you don't want to do it. 951 00:51:12,840 --> 00:51:14,840 Like you're just like, it's not your priority right now. 952 00:51:14,840 --> 00:51:18,240 I have like little kids. So like, I feel obligated to do 953 00:51:18,240 --> 00:51:21,280 it, you know? But like, I do wonder if I 954 00:51:21,280 --> 00:51:23,360 didn't have kids, if I'd just be like. 955 00:51:24,800 --> 00:51:27,520 Yeah. I don't, I know, like I might 956 00:51:27,520 --> 00:51:33,480 just have a tree. I there were like two things 957 00:51:33,480 --> 00:51:36,920 that I wanted to say off of what you said that we're just letting 958 00:51:36,920 --> 00:51:38,880 you know. I'm trying to remember one of 959 00:51:38,880 --> 00:51:42,720 them. I do remember about baby Jesus 960 00:51:42,720 --> 00:51:47,160 because Talladega Nights is like one of my favorite movies and 961 00:51:47,240 --> 00:51:50,160 all I kept thinking every time you kept saying was baby Jesus 962 00:51:50,160 --> 00:51:54,480 was like that. That's the Jesus I want to pray 963 00:51:54,480 --> 00:51:58,080 to is little baby Jesus. Thank you, little baby Jesus. 964 00:51:59,480 --> 00:52:03,760 It's like he's my favorite. Like, I want a little baby Jesus 965 00:52:03,760 --> 00:52:05,120 he has to think of. I love that movie. 966 00:52:05,120 --> 00:52:07,080 I have to watch. I have to watch that. 967 00:52:07,080 --> 00:52:09,320 And Anchorman. There's so many I wanna watch, 968 00:52:09,720 --> 00:52:10,920 like rewatch. But yeah. 969 00:52:11,640 --> 00:52:12,800 Remember what the other thing was? 970 00:52:12,800 --> 00:52:18,040 But it doesn't matter. Yeah, I just, I think we do put 971 00:52:18,040 --> 00:52:21,640 so much pressure on ourselves and I don't wanna do that this 972 00:52:21,680 --> 00:52:25,360 year for the first year ever, by the way, like ever. 973 00:52:25,400 --> 00:52:28,040 In your whole life. Well, and I also think that like 974 00:52:28,080 --> 00:52:30,800 the reason I wanted to talk about this topic is because I 975 00:52:30,800 --> 00:52:34,280 feel like, you know, I would hate to see somebody trying to 976 00:52:34,280 --> 00:52:39,840 do so well by their family and their kids and like come up with 977 00:52:39,840 --> 00:52:44,960 this amazing fun elf, you know, antic only to end up at the 978 00:52:44,960 --> 00:52:48,240 emergency vet and maybe not even know why, right? 979 00:52:48,240 --> 00:52:51,760 Like you may not even know that xylitol is dangerous. 980 00:52:51,760 --> 00:52:55,000 You may not even realize that the peanut butter you picked up 981 00:52:55,000 --> 00:52:59,920 for this elf has xylitol in it. So the only, if there's one 982 00:52:59,920 --> 00:53:04,080 thing I can say to any parent that's participating in Elf on 983 00:53:04,080 --> 00:53:09,760 the Shelf is please be aware of the ingredients, materials you 984 00:53:10,120 --> 00:53:14,080 use for the ELF antics. Please, I beg you. 985 00:53:14,680 --> 00:53:19,160 Because the last thing anybody wants this holiday season is to 986 00:53:19,160 --> 00:53:23,280 end up at the emergency vet or worse with saying, having to say 987 00:53:23,280 --> 00:53:27,160 goodbye to a pet because it got an intestinal obstruction. 988 00:53:27,160 --> 00:53:32,800 It got poisoned because of xylitol, it choked on some kind 989 00:53:32,800 --> 00:53:35,680 of toy or thing. And like, what would be more 990 00:53:35,680 --> 00:53:39,920 traumatizing for your child than their beloved pet being killed 991 00:53:39,920 --> 00:53:41,280 by an elf? Yeah. 992 00:53:41,560 --> 00:53:47,080 Well, and I think that kind of brings up just in for me, I, you 993 00:53:47,080 --> 00:53:50,520 know, it's easy for me to sit back and say this, not having 994 00:53:50,520 --> 00:53:55,200 kids because I have definitely like preached in the past about 995 00:53:55,200 --> 00:54:02,400 like if you are gifting anything that is edible, don't wrap it 996 00:54:02,400 --> 00:54:04,520 and put it under the tree. And you know, there, there are 997 00:54:04,520 --> 00:54:09,400 lots of because your, your dog can smell so much better than we 998 00:54:09,400 --> 00:54:11,200 can. They're going to smell it. 999 00:54:11,320 --> 00:54:13,520 They're going to get into it. Very possible like that. 1000 00:54:13,520 --> 00:54:16,200 Yes, there are some good dogs that are not going to get into 1001 00:54:16,240 --> 00:54:18,160 it, But do you want to take that chance? 1002 00:54:18,480 --> 00:54:24,480 But I think just in general it can be very overwhelming for a 1003 00:54:24,480 --> 00:54:31,320 parent to just be a parent, and often times how something would 1004 00:54:31,320 --> 00:54:34,120 affect their pet is not a thought. 1005 00:54:34,360 --> 00:54:37,320 Like it's just exactly. It's it's too much, it's too 1006 00:54:37,320 --> 00:54:39,920 much mental load and it's not thought about enough. 1007 00:54:40,440 --> 00:54:44,880 And so there are like, it was one of the things that bothered 1008 00:54:44,880 --> 00:54:50,480 me the most about being a dog trainer is that people don't 1009 00:54:50,480 --> 00:54:54,240 take their pets into consideration with a lot of the 1010 00:54:54,240 --> 00:54:57,120 things they do. They just want their pet to not 1011 00:54:57,120 --> 00:55:03,880 do XYZ, to stop doing XYZ. Like, I mean, just one example 1012 00:55:03,880 --> 00:55:07,880 is like you leave your shoes at the door and your dog shoes 1013 00:55:07,880 --> 00:55:13,240 like, OK, the simplest solution here is to not leave your shoes 1014 00:55:13,240 --> 00:55:15,160 at the door. And I get that. 1015 00:55:15,160 --> 00:55:18,440 Like if you have small children, they're not, they're not going 1016 00:55:18,440 --> 00:55:20,320 to. I don't understand that at all. 1017 00:55:20,480 --> 00:55:22,960 You know what I mean? Like I get that, but also like. 1018 00:55:23,240 --> 00:55:25,960 No, my kids have been, but at least my kids have been putting 1019 00:55:25,960 --> 00:55:27,880 their. That's literally the only thing 1020 00:55:27,880 --> 00:55:29,920 that they really do is put their shoes away. 1021 00:55:30,880 --> 00:55:34,400 They put them it also my house is kind of set up in a way that 1022 00:55:34,400 --> 00:55:37,720 makes that easy because I have a den right on this and like you 1023 00:55:37,720 --> 00:55:39,320 walk into my house, there's a den. 1024 00:55:39,600 --> 00:55:41,440 That room is like a catch all room. 1025 00:55:41,440 --> 00:55:43,640 We have shoes in there. We have a litter box in there. 1026 00:55:43,640 --> 00:55:46,840 We have some storage in there. So like it's like it's set up 1027 00:55:46,840 --> 00:55:48,800 nicely. We have like ATV if we want to 1028 00:55:48,800 --> 00:55:51,160 work out, that's where we have our like free weights and 1029 00:55:51,160 --> 00:55:53,680 things. So it's like a catch all room, 1030 00:55:53,680 --> 00:55:56,120 but it's easy for my kids to open the door, put their shoes 1031 00:55:56,120 --> 00:55:58,800 away and close the door. Again, since we got the cat, we 1032 00:55:58,800 --> 00:56:04,000 actually have like a little, a little kind of latch that only 1033 00:56:04,000 --> 00:56:06,560 allows the cat and cats don't choose shoes for the most part. 1034 00:56:06,560 --> 00:56:08,640 So not a big deal. But the reason the latch is 1035 00:56:08,640 --> 00:56:10,840 there is because the dog would go into the litter box. 1036 00:56:11,080 --> 00:56:14,640 So you do like management is so important when you're adding a, 1037 00:56:14,920 --> 00:56:17,680 a pet. Like two years ago, like before 1038 00:56:17,680 --> 00:56:21,360 Van Gogh came, I wouldn't have had to worry as much about a lot 1039 00:56:21,360 --> 00:56:23,880 of things because he's a cat. He can jump on a counter. 1040 00:56:24,560 --> 00:56:27,640 You have a little Yorkie. Like, I'm not so worried about 1041 00:56:27,640 --> 00:56:32,200 the, you know, the, the, the setup of like the cookies with 1042 00:56:32,200 --> 00:56:37,520 the xylitol toothpaste, right? Because, like, your Yorkie's 1043 00:56:37,520 --> 00:56:39,120 probably not getting on the counter. 1044 00:56:39,320 --> 00:56:41,520 Probably. But you have a big dog. 1045 00:56:41,920 --> 00:56:44,040 Yeah. Those Oreos that are there are 1046 00:56:44,040 --> 00:56:46,040 going to call the dog's attention. 1047 00:56:46,400 --> 00:56:49,240 So you have to kind of figure out what you have and what would 1048 00:56:49,240 --> 00:56:54,400 work for your family. And honestly, like, most people 1049 00:56:54,400 --> 00:56:57,240 have no idea. My mom is the one who sent me 1050 00:56:57,440 --> 00:56:59,880 the videos of, like, these ideas for Elf on the Chef. 1051 00:56:59,880 --> 00:57:01,880 But they're trending. They're all over the place. 1052 00:57:01,880 --> 00:57:06,480 People are getting like, it's like that kind of like gang 1053 00:57:06,480 --> 00:57:08,800 mentality. Like you're almost like forced 1054 00:57:08,840 --> 00:57:12,000 to like do this or you're not a good parent. 1055 00:57:12,040 --> 00:57:14,760 And so my mom is like sending me look how cute these are and like 1056 00:57:14,760 --> 00:57:16,320 she's like she's been a pet parent. 1057 00:57:16,840 --> 00:57:19,360 I guarantee. You she never even look like 1058 00:57:19,440 --> 00:57:22,960 thought about how these ingredients or these things 1059 00:57:22,960 --> 00:57:24,440 could be dangerous for pets. I can. 1060 00:57:25,000 --> 00:57:32,760 Imagine that social media is what catapulted off on the 1061 00:57:32,760 --> 00:57:34,800 shelf. Oh, for sure, because all these 1062 00:57:34,800 --> 00:57:40,120 videos. It is so much about look, look 1063 00:57:40,120 --> 00:57:44,800 what I did and I've got to top this Last Post that I saw. 1064 00:57:44,840 --> 00:57:47,880 And so I can definitely see where. 1065 00:57:49,200 --> 00:57:53,120 And I mean, more power to you. As long as you're being 1066 00:57:53,120 --> 00:57:55,120 responsible. Yeah, more power to you. 1067 00:57:55,720 --> 00:57:58,880 Well, I have a friend in Miami. Her name's Terry, and her kids 1068 00:57:58,880 --> 00:58:00,840 are grown now. I think they know that Elf on 1069 00:58:00,840 --> 00:58:05,840 the Shelf is manufactured by their parents, but they're super 1070 00:58:05,840 --> 00:58:09,000 festive. They have like a whole, their 1071 00:58:09,000 --> 00:58:11,760 dining room table, their dining room becomes like a whole 1072 00:58:11,760 --> 00:58:14,920 Christmas village with all these like things like they're over 1073 00:58:14,920 --> 00:58:18,120 the top Christmas and like they always went over the top for 1074 00:58:18,120 --> 00:58:19,120 their kids when they were little. 1075 00:58:19,120 --> 00:58:22,600 And they still to this day, the elves still get into antics, 1076 00:58:22,600 --> 00:58:24,240 right? And like the kids are older and 1077 00:58:24,240 --> 00:58:26,800 the kids still love it and it's part of their tradition. 1078 00:58:27,160 --> 00:58:29,280 But I just feel like it doesn't have to be part of everybody's 1079 00:58:29,280 --> 00:58:31,760 tradition. They also have like one dog. 1080 00:58:31,760 --> 00:58:35,160 I, I know she had a, she had a Great Dane for a long time and 1081 00:58:35,160 --> 00:58:39,080 maybe the dog was super chill. A lot of great Danes are like 1082 00:58:39,080 --> 00:58:40,840 super chill. Like maybe the dog didn't even 1083 00:58:40,840 --> 00:58:43,400 look twice at the hell. But like, you got a lab. 1084 00:58:43,600 --> 00:58:45,840 You can't do all that she does. You probably can't even put up 1085 00:58:45,840 --> 00:58:49,400 the Christmas village with a lab because the labs eat inedible 1086 00:58:49,400 --> 00:58:51,760 things, you know what I mean? So you really have to know who 1087 00:58:51,760 --> 00:58:54,560 you have and what you're doing. And like, one of the biggest 1088 00:58:54,560 --> 00:58:59,000 things is obviously knowing how these new ingredients, these new 1089 00:58:59,000 --> 00:59:03,720 products could put your pet at risk because they're only tested 1090 00:59:03,720 --> 00:59:06,560 for safety in the most minimal level. 1091 00:59:06,560 --> 00:59:09,480 When I say safety for human consumption, right? 1092 00:59:09,480 --> 00:59:12,600 Like, do we even really know that's all safe for us when it's 1093 00:59:12,600 --> 00:59:13,800 killing dogs? I don't know. 1094 00:59:13,840 --> 00:59:18,760 Like I'm not convinced. Yeah, I think, I think there's 1095 00:59:18,760 --> 00:59:21,520 definitely problems with it for sure. 1096 00:59:21,520 --> 00:59:27,000 I know that dentists have been sold on it for dental health, 1097 00:59:27,000 --> 00:59:30,440 but yeah, I'm not I'm not so sure either. 1098 00:59:30,480 --> 00:59:32,920 There's. Helps one part of the body 1099 00:59:32,920 --> 00:59:35,880 doesn't mean we can like fry the other part you know what I mean 1100 00:59:35,880 --> 00:59:39,320 like we've done that already with fluoride, right like we 1101 00:59:39,320 --> 00:59:42,400 can't just be like, oh, this helps prevent cavities, but it 1102 00:59:42,400 --> 00:59:45,760 like burns our brain or like it like causes blind. 1103 00:59:45,760 --> 00:59:48,640 I'm just I'm giving an example. This is not what fluoride does 1104 00:59:48,640 --> 00:59:52,880 but like let's say that like xylitol causes blindness to 80 1105 00:59:52,880 --> 00:59:54,960 years down the road. Do we really care about our 1106 00:59:54,960 --> 00:59:57,880 teeth more than our eyes? No, so we don't know yet, but I 1107 00:59:57,880 --> 01:00:00,600 I'm not convinced that it's super safe and I just want 1108 01:00:00,600 --> 01:00:04,000 people to have a happy. Holiday season without, you 1109 01:00:04,000 --> 01:00:07,440 know, emergency vet visits because those will happen 1110 01:00:07,840 --> 01:00:11,360 inevitably, right? We talked about food last year. 1111 01:00:11,360 --> 01:00:15,200 So if you want to go back to the feed the pet parenting reset, 1112 01:00:15,200 --> 01:00:18,960 she's shared all of our lives. So they're there from last year. 1113 01:00:18,960 --> 01:00:22,520 We talked about like dangers of like feeding people food and 1114 01:00:22,520 --> 01:00:26,840 like cooked bones and other things that could be very, very 1115 01:00:26,840 --> 01:00:29,440 toxic to our pets or very dangerous to our pets this time 1116 01:00:29,440 --> 01:00:31,280 of year. And we're just going to add Elf 1117 01:00:31,280 --> 01:00:32,880 on the Shelf antics to that list. 1118 01:00:33,680 --> 01:00:37,880 So Jess knows you don't want to end up at the at the ER, at the 1119 01:00:37,880 --> 01:00:39,520 vet. Nobody needs that kind of 1120 01:00:39,520 --> 01:00:41,960 expense. Everybody's tied on cash these 1121 01:00:41,960 --> 01:00:43,840 days. Nobody needs that. 1122 01:00:44,240 --> 01:00:45,520 And the vets don't want you there. 1123 01:00:45,840 --> 01:00:51,200 No, it's, it's so difficult to get into a vet on a good day. 1124 01:00:52,600 --> 01:00:56,840 I I yeah, please, please, please just the extra, extra cautious 1125 01:00:56,840 --> 01:00:59,440 and. We're such a silly thing, I. 1126 01:00:59,480 --> 01:01:02,560 Mean so. Sad to see any time get hurt 1127 01:01:02,560 --> 01:01:06,200 because of something so silly. So anyway, we're going to come 1128 01:01:06,200 --> 01:01:09,520 back on Monday and and I don't know what we're going to be 1129 01:01:09,520 --> 01:01:11,400 talking about. One more this month. 1130 01:01:11,840 --> 01:01:14,760 Is that what we're? I mean, I'm good for whenever, 1131 01:01:14,760 --> 01:01:16,360 but good? For whenever I'm not traveling. 1132 01:01:16,360 --> 01:01:18,960 So yeah, the 16th. And then, yeah, we're not going 1133 01:01:18,960 --> 01:01:21,920 to do the 23rd or the 30th just because you know what I'm doing. 1134 01:01:22,360 --> 01:01:27,080 I Speaking of my children ad nauseam, I am moving my kids 1135 01:01:27,080 --> 01:01:30,160 into their own rooms because they keep fighting. 1136 01:01:30,160 --> 01:01:32,120 Now they're in the age where it's four and seven. 1137 01:01:32,120 --> 01:01:34,160 And like, that's my toy. No, that's my toy because we 1138 01:01:34,160 --> 01:01:36,840 have a playroom. And now I feel like I need to 1139 01:01:36,880 --> 01:01:39,640 first of all, get rid of half of the toys in the playroom. 1140 01:01:39,840 --> 01:01:43,320 Give them each their own room with their toys in the room so 1141 01:01:43,320 --> 01:01:45,520 that everybody knows what is theirs, what is rightfully 1142 01:01:45,520 --> 01:01:49,200 theirs, and everybody can Start learning how to make their beds 1143 01:01:49,200 --> 01:01:52,040 and how to take care of their things and stuff. 1144 01:01:52,360 --> 01:01:54,440 They do that kind of, but not enough. 1145 01:01:54,720 --> 01:01:58,920 I wonder if Elf on the Shelf can take a bunch of their toys back 1146 01:01:58,920 --> 01:02:03,160 to the North Pole to give to other boys and girls that need 1147 01:02:03,160 --> 01:02:07,160 them. Elf on the Shelf going to have 1148 01:02:07,200 --> 01:02:11,480 to get over my try it my sons colds and hands. 1149 01:02:11,800 --> 01:02:17,000 I'll tell you that right now, my kid, so I every single weekend I 1150 01:02:17,000 --> 01:02:20,920 get a box and I donate stuff, donate or throw away. 1151 01:02:20,960 --> 01:02:23,920 Like my trash can for the past two weeks has been full of just 1152 01:02:23,920 --> 01:02:28,520 stuff that's like not worthy of donating and it's just trash now 1153 01:02:28,520 --> 01:02:30,360 and I can't have it and nobody else needs it. 1154 01:02:30,360 --> 01:02:34,200 So throwing away or donating and every single day that I, every 1155 01:02:34,200 --> 01:02:36,480 Saturday or Sunday, when I do that with my stuff and my 1156 01:02:36,480 --> 01:02:38,680 husband does it, we do it with household things. 1157 01:02:39,480 --> 01:02:42,360 We asked our kids to do it. And Noah the other day came 1158 01:02:42,360 --> 01:02:43,680 down. No, it was Mila. 1159 01:02:43,680 --> 01:02:45,400 It came down with a toy this big. 1160 01:02:45,400 --> 01:02:46,840 I can't remember what it was and I was. 1161 01:02:46,840 --> 01:02:49,960 Like a Polly Pocket. It's no, it wasn't even a doll. 1162 01:02:49,960 --> 01:02:52,800 It was like an accessory to a toy. 1163 01:02:52,800 --> 01:02:54,320 And I was like, this is ridiculous. 1164 01:02:54,840 --> 01:02:57,320 You guys need to do better. And every week I asked them and 1165 01:02:57,320 --> 01:03:01,920 hopefully I'm hoping that they will understand it as they get 1166 01:03:01,960 --> 01:03:04,000 older. We are on the border with 1167 01:03:04,040 --> 01:03:06,480 Mexico. They do know that there are the 1168 01:03:06,480 --> 01:03:08,040 life is very different in Mexico. 1169 01:03:08,040 --> 01:03:10,520 They see it literally. We drive and you can see like 1170 01:03:10,520 --> 01:03:12,320 what the houses look like in Mexico. 1171 01:03:12,320 --> 01:03:14,920 And it's not what they're used to seeing here. 1172 01:03:14,920 --> 01:03:18,520 But my kids, you know, because of the cost living, of living 1173 01:03:18,520 --> 01:03:21,080 being so low here, we can do so much for them. 1174 01:03:22,960 --> 01:03:25,360 We are probably too generous with them. 1175 01:03:25,360 --> 01:03:28,560 And my in laws are too generous and my mom's too generous and 1176 01:03:28,560 --> 01:03:31,240 Santa's too generous. And I've come to the conclusion 1177 01:03:31,240 --> 01:03:33,720 that we need to start being very careful with that. 1178 01:03:33,720 --> 01:03:39,600 Like where now I feel like they're going to start realizing 1179 01:03:40,440 --> 01:03:44,000 before and I feel like even Mila doesn't notice. 1180 01:03:44,000 --> 01:03:46,600 She has so many, she's begotten so many hand me downs that I 1181 01:03:46,600 --> 01:03:48,080 don't feel like Mila's the issue. 1182 01:03:48,760 --> 01:03:50,640 She loves everything that's a hand me down. 1183 01:03:50,640 --> 01:03:53,040 Like she loves it if her friend Ava gave it to her. 1184 01:03:53,040 --> 01:03:54,320 She thinks it's the coolest thing. 1185 01:03:54,320 --> 01:03:58,080 So like Mila, I'm not too worried about Noah is more like 1186 01:03:58,080 --> 01:04:01,960 money focused and like thinks that we have so much and I'm 1187 01:04:01,960 --> 01:04:03,480 like, whoa, whoa. The only reason we have what we 1188 01:04:03,480 --> 01:04:06,160 have is because we choose to live in a place where it's very, 1189 01:04:06,200 --> 01:04:09,520 very affordable. If we lived with the same 1190 01:04:09,520 --> 01:04:12,400 salaries in DC, we would be strapped. 1191 01:04:12,520 --> 01:04:14,240 So just know, you know what I mean? 1192 01:04:14,240 --> 01:04:16,360 Like we would definitely not have a house like this and we 1193 01:04:16,360 --> 01:04:18,480 would not do all these things. And he's 7. 1194 01:04:18,600 --> 01:04:21,560 So now he's starting to learn. So we're, I'm hoping that with 1195 01:04:21,560 --> 01:04:24,960 little nudges, maybe not like, you know, Elf on the Shelf 1196 01:04:24,960 --> 01:04:28,320 robbing and entering, you know, breaking and entering into our 1197 01:04:28,400 --> 01:04:33,240 playroom, but at some point, yeah, I would hope that they are 1198 01:04:33,240 --> 01:04:36,040 ready to part with things. I do think that moving them into 1199 01:04:36,040 --> 01:04:39,000 their own rooms where they see that there's finite space and 1200 01:04:39,000 --> 01:04:40,440 it's not going to be comfortable. 1201 01:04:40,440 --> 01:04:42,360 Hopefully we'll encourage that too. 1202 01:04:42,680 --> 01:04:45,720 Hopefully I can teach them practicality and generosity all 1203 01:04:45,720 --> 01:04:48,160 at once. So for the 16th, if you guys 1204 01:04:48,160 --> 01:04:54,200 have any recommendations for a chat, whatever you want, pet 1205 01:04:54,200 --> 01:04:58,440 related or not, we can talk about anything. 1206 01:04:59,120 --> 01:05:01,520 Just let us know. Think about it for sure. 1207 01:05:01,520 --> 01:05:05,160 And yeah, please, like leave, leave some suggestions in our 1208 01:05:05,160 --> 01:05:08,520 DMS and we'll go through them and thank you very, very much. 1209 01:05:09,160 --> 01:05:13,480 And I'm just don't invite Faye into your home is all I notice. 1210 01:05:15,000 --> 01:05:17,440 That too late. Man, too late. 1211 01:05:17,440 --> 01:05:21,320 No, I get it, I get it. But thank you, Isabel, for 1212 01:05:21,320 --> 01:05:24,200 bringing so much incredible information this week. 1213 01:05:24,200 --> 01:05:26,120 I appreciate it. Thank you. 1214 01:05:26,280 --> 01:05:29,960 Thank you for bringing crazy information over here with Ben. 1215 01:05:30,080 --> 01:05:34,160 Hey, and like mischief and like unknowing. 1216 01:05:34,560 --> 01:05:37,000 Or what is it? I thought I had to. 1217 01:05:37,120 --> 01:05:41,400 I I just, I thought I needed to bring something knowing that I 1218 01:05:41,400 --> 01:05:45,120 don't have Elf on the Shelf or kids to participate in Elf on 1219 01:05:45,120 --> 01:05:47,560 the Shelf, but. You have, you have so many kids 1220 01:05:47,560 --> 01:05:50,000 in your life that. Yeah, but like, that was super 1221 01:05:50,000 --> 01:05:51,200 cool. Like info. 1222 01:05:51,200 --> 01:05:54,440 I really do appreciate it. I think you're so odd because 1223 01:05:54,440 --> 01:05:56,480 you're so fascinated by all these things. 1224 01:05:56,480 --> 01:05:57,840 I love you. Obviously. 1225 01:05:57,840 --> 01:06:01,240 You're one of my besties, but I think it's so funny that that's 1226 01:06:01,240 --> 01:06:03,760 what you led with. It would not expect anything 1227 01:06:03,760 --> 01:06:06,480 less from you because you are into all that stuff. 1228 01:06:06,520 --> 01:06:08,760 And I love that you open my eyes to all that stuff too. 1229 01:06:08,760 --> 01:06:14,360 Like I'm like, like you said, I, I don't, I don't deny the 1230 01:06:14,360 --> 01:06:16,200 existence of UFOs in New Jersey right now. 1231 01:06:16,440 --> 01:06:21,320 Yeah, it's a it's a thing. Apparently the government is 1232 01:06:21,320 --> 01:06:24,480 like not not even going to shoot them. 1233 01:06:24,480 --> 01:06:26,040 Damn. Like, I don't know, I guess 1234 01:06:26,040 --> 01:06:28,280 you'd have to be scared. That's the that's my thinking. 1235 01:06:28,280 --> 01:06:30,880 Like I would be scared. I guess I'm not. 1236 01:06:31,320 --> 01:06:33,480 Before shooting them down, either I I say just yeah. 1237 01:06:34,080 --> 01:06:36,480 Like if. They like. 1238 01:06:36,800 --> 01:06:39,320 Find out what it is. Apparently they're like SUV 1239 01:06:39,320 --> 01:06:43,000 size, so they're not just like some dude at Costco and bought a 1240 01:06:43,000 --> 01:06:44,480 drone, you know what I mean? Like. 1241 01:06:46,400 --> 01:06:48,760 OK, that's a whole other conversation for a whole other 1242 01:06:48,760 --> 01:06:51,160 day. I'm going to go do some good. 1243 01:06:51,360 --> 01:06:53,800 Wait, send me a podcast I can learn about this from. 1244 01:06:55,320 --> 01:06:56,640 I'm just. I'm going to go walk my dogs. 1245 01:06:56,920 --> 01:06:58,800 I need to. I need to hear about these UFOs. 1246 01:07:01,520 --> 01:07:01,880 All. Right. 1247 01:07:02,320 --> 01:07:05,320 Thank you guys for joining us. We'll see you next week. 1248 01:07:06,640 --> 01:07:06,880 Bye.