Two Doting Dads with Matty J & Ash - #91 Lara Pitt's Three Boys Won't Sleep In Their Own Beds

Episode Date: September 8, 2024

Lara Pitt is a seasoned sports journalist at Fox Sports, covering the NRL, and a doting mum to three boys—Lachlan, Cooper, and Hamish. She never expected motherhood to mean sharing her bed with all three boys every night! In this episode, Lara opens up about her experience after giving birth for the first time, sharing the unexpected challenges she faced. Plus, she dropped a surprise halfway through our chat, leaving Matt bright red! Buy our book: https://www.penguin.com.au/books/two-doting-dads-9781761346552  Two Doting Dads Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/639833491568735/  YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TheTwoDotingDads  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/twodotingdads/  TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@twodotingdads See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Matt. Good day. You're probably wondering why we're here and I have a burning question for you, my guy. Are you still considering a third child? No. No. Maybe. Maybe I don't know, Ash. Depends, depends what time of day you ask me. Well, we're here today with a bonus episode. I can't say a boner. With a boner. With a bonus episode with Lara Pitt, who happens to have three children. Three little kiddlies. Maybe this will convince you either way, but I think one more child would kill us. Kill us all. You're overtaking. Lara Pitt, good friend of yours Ash.

Good good friend of mine. I was actually at the football, not with Lara, for the state of origin, I was with my brother-in-law and Lara Pitt walked into the aisle in front of me with a whole fair Beautiful family and she was there working notes. No, she was there enjoying she was there with Lachlan Cooper Hamish Yes, and her husband and The guy next to me who I did not know was pumped to see her. She was like, oh my god He's like told his kid. There's Lara Pitt. She's a fan favorite. She was like, Oh my god, this is like told he's kid. There's Lara Pitt. She's a fan favorite. She's a Fox journo and commentator and that's where people

would mostly know her from, but she's a pioneer in that space I would say for the female journalist amongst the big bonehead footballers. She's also been fortunate enough to be interviewed by the one and only Ash Wicks before. This is her second time being interviewed. This is the third time. Third time. Fourth time being interviewed actually by me. Gosh.

It's funny. She sat down. She's like, where are your notes? And I was like, notes? And she's like, I expected nothing less from you. I was like, fuck. Whoops. Also, a family friend of ours.

Her kid plays football with my sister's kid. Oh, it's just a small world. And my plays football with my dog, sister's cousin's best friend. I knew Lara's husband in a previous life back in the day. I know. And halfway through this chat. Don't give it away, Ash. We do stumble at how that came about and Matt's face is red again.

Let's get into it. Enjoy. Welcome back to Two Doting Dads and One Doting Mum. I'm Matty J. I'm Ash. And I'm Foxleague's Lara Pitt, more famous as Mama or Dahls at home. Dahls. Dahls.

I hate Dahls. Dahls. This is a podcast all about parenting. It is the good, it is the bad. And the relatable. And if you've come for any advice, Ash and I will never, ever deliver it. Never. Our guests seem to though. Good.

No pressure. No pressure at all. You don't have to give advice, but at the same time, if not for the listeners, for Ash and myself. Yeah, we could use some help. I'm going to hopefully be able to deliver some nuggets of gold today. We love nuggets. We do. Dino nuggets specifically. Thank you. Normally, whenever we see Lara the last few times, for me it was Vegas. Yeah.

We're dressed as dads, normally with like a drink in hand. You last saw Ash in Brisbane. I did. For the magic round. My bad. Can I only imagine what kind of state he was in? I was pretty good. Yes, you were pretty good.

Better than Vegas, I think. Oh, fuck. But it was only, yeah, I think Vegas was a longer stint. It was like seven nights. I was pretty gassed by the end of that. Like, I was actually had to do some work in Brisbane. I feel like in Vegas, we were just like, woo. Splitting it there, right?

You were splitting it in Vegas. You weren't at Magic Crown, so he had to do all the heavy lifting. I know, it must be strange to see us in the most professional environment so far. This is as professional as I can. And not in the sheds for Manly, singing the team song.

This guy. How on earth did that happen? We just had Charlie and, side note, Charlie and Matt Veach here on Wednesday, the Fox guys doing, we did like an intro for that segment. Okay. I did hear Manly have had a few like looks at their processes internally for security

off the back of- They blocked me. Yeah. No. They looked at the review, they were like, how the fuck did that guy- Me and Tony Cosello. In Vegas of all places, so amazing.

I was in the tunnel actually to start off with as they were all coming off the field. I saw the vision, a lot of high fives. It was a daily, the big high fives, the cuddles, like big cuddles after that game. Like guys, you beat them, you've opened the season with a win. We've done it. I'm here for you. Got to be the greatest day of my life. Sorry, babe. It started off with a few handshakes that went went to like a handshake pat on the back. As soon as I saw Lockie Croger, I was like, let's go!

So then like Ash is trying to French kiss the players as they're coming up the field. I was like, oh, fuck it. Someone's gotta do it. Someone's gotta do it. You almost, almost make me wanna like Manly, but everyone hates them. Really?

Maybe I could be their mascot. We love that everyone hates us. That's the joke. Do you know what? I used to hate them. But then when you start doing what I do and you get to interview the Trevoy Vitches and even Daley. Who are lovely. Yeah.

Lara, when you were a young girl, I'm talking like- Still so young, but yes, young girl. Young girl. Young girl. Young girl. I apologize. Primary school, let's say. Yeah.

What type of girl were you? I can't decide if you were someone who liked Barbie dolls and pink dresses, or if you were someone who was putting other boys in a headlock and like killing fish down the pond. I think I had a collection of Barbie dolls, definitely. I had two big brothers, so I was definitely capable of getting in a scrap if need be.

But I would say I was a tomboy going through my teenage years. I think as a little girl, Barbie dolls for sure did ballet because that's what you did when you were five or six. And that's what mom got me into. But then as I got through to my teenage years, I felt awkward being too feminine. So I used to borrow my brother's clothes. I'd wear my brother's clothes.

I'd wear like tracky dacks and like be real. And my girlfriends were just like, what? Why are you doing that? Is this to go out on a Friday night? Or is this like a... I did go through a stage where we'd go to the, remember Kappa? There was dance parties where you'd wear Kappa pants.

No. Remember them. Oh my God, you're too young. Anyway, but yeah. Is Kappa like... Are we going to Fashion Sense? I wasn't prepared for this part. Oh no, Kappa, it's like the football brand almost.

Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yes. K-A-P-P-A with ya. Terrible fashion sense as a teenager. And I had the two girls back to back. Yeah, and I had the pants, had the studs down. So I went through a stage, oh my, this is awful. Why am I talking about this? But anyway, it was-

Let's continue. This is actually gonna frame the whole show. There was an awkward part in the teenage years of going through those dance parties and having a good time and wearing like crop tops with tracky dacks and dancing badly. But thinking it was really good. My best friend and I would have a great time going to those. I'm going to ask for some photos, post-record if you can submit them. I just don't know if I have any, but yes. It's gonna sound really dumb, but on the weekends, if you're say 13, 14, and you guys can have free time, would your brothers go off and leave you alone?

Or were you under their wing? So I should probably say my brothers were nine and 10 years older than me. So it was not a mistake, I promise. It has been told to me many a time. You were surprised. I was the best surprise ever ever and I was a girl. So after two boys, my mom and dad, you know, they're happy to say that my brothers were

a handful compared to me. So nine and 10 years old are my memories of being 13 and 14. By then they'd left the nest. So I was almost like an early child. But when I was five or six and they were teenage boys, they, you know, they looked after me. You know, they've always looked after me. I'm like the little sister. I remember them picking me up from school

when they got their license. One of my brother, one of my brothers, well, both of them actually were quite cheeky. One of them had a motorbike, so I even got picked up in the motorbike. Oh, I can see your girlfriend's like, oh my God, this is so hard. I think my dad was like, absolutely not.

Why are you picking her up in that thing? But yeah, they were older, there were perks to that because, I don't know, they taught me everything. I think I learned things probably before my years that they were doing and they were getting up to. I was pretty good at dobbing on them because I was so little, my brother stole my parents' car once and the famous story is that-

Tomato house down there. All they needed to do was turn to me and go, who did it? And I went, Johnny did it. And my brother told that in my wedding speech that I was the sweet one and never meant to get him in trouble, but I was just being honest.

Yeah, doing the right thing. Yeah, so we were very close, but age a big factor. And we're still very close, very close family. Everyone's extremely close. Was your family like, were you, I mean, you work in, you know, in the sports industry now, were you a big sports family? Yes, so my dad is European, Hungarian, came here

fresh off the boat. We grew up hearing the story, came to Australia from Hungary with just a little satchel, no speaking to English. Just a packed lunch. And nothing, not even that. Wow. Just came here with nothing.

His mom stayed back in Hungary for a bit. And anyway, so. Do you know why did he come over? He wanted to escape, because it was a communist country. He'd had a terrible, like he would say a hard life growing up until 18 and his mom wanted him to have a better life.

And so yeah, he has an amazing story, my dad, his inspiration for all of us. He came here self-made, but yeah, the journey was hard. He had to learn English and get a degree and all of those things. But the reason I go back to that is he brought the soccer round ball influence into all of our lives. He met my mom, an Aussie country girl.

Don't know how that worked. Like could not be any more different to each other. Like just an Aussie girl meets this Hungarian man. Sometimes we find like Laura's dad, a similar scenario. He came from Italy, but he tried to remove the Italian heritage with your dad. Did he celebrate the Hungarian heritage? Yeah, I think he also wanted like he had no family. So I think for my dad, he's very proud of his heritage for sure.

But he was about making the proudest thing for dad. Now we have we had a beautiful photo actually only in March. And it's our whole family. And we look at it and he looks at it and he just goes, well, that's just so amazing. There's like about 15, 16, 17. Yeah, I'm getting goosebumps. Yeah, he's got great grandchildren now.

He came here and my mom had family, obviously being Australian, but she was the youngest and had older siblings. So similar story, the age gaps, but yeah, I think for dad always shared his story. Super proud of his heritage. Are there any like Hungarian traditions? What like you guys, what have you got?

Have you not had Hungarian food? No, not potatoes. Maybe accidentally. Goulash, have you not had goulash? Paprika chicken, knuckle-y, oh my gosh. Oh Have you not had goulash? Paprika chicken? Nockily? Oh my gosh. Oh my God. Did you bring any?

Oh, funny you say that. My beautiful grandma, who's no longer with us, but she was an amazing Hungarian cook. My mum tried to learn Hungarian when she met my father. Unfortunately, it's a really hard language, apparently one of the hardest to learn. So I think she would love to have learned so she could teach it as the primary caregiver

to me and my brothers. That didn't happen. I know swear words. Everyone knows the swear word. Can you give us a swear word? Give us a couple of swear words. Why don't you give us the swear word and we'll guess what it is.

I know there's one that I really don't want to say because it's so offensive. It's very offensive. We know which one that is straight away. Yeah. say because it's so offensive. Like, yeah, I just don't mean- We know which one that is straight away. Yeah. We would hate to offend a Hungarian listener. I think this one, I think from memory, Aztokutcsá Fáját.

That's fuck you. I think it might be- Let's put the fire out. It could be like, it could be like, oh my God. There's someone at the door. It could be like, oh my God, but like a worse version of that. But there's another one that I know if I ever said it back, it would get me into big trouble.

But I'm like, well, you're saying it. He used to say it, when he would get frustrated, he could swear in Hungarian. But you couldn't, you couldn't. No, I'd be like, okay, I know that's a bad one. I know that's a bad one. I feel like any swear word in any language is always like aggressive, more aggressive

than every other word. And they're quite like full on, the Hungarians. They're loud, right? They're really loud? Is that right? Yeah, my dad sneezes loud. That's a dad thing. Guilty.

No, no. The house is, ooh. No, no, he'll sneeze and people around the street will be like, holy moly, is that man okay? He's a real man. Yeah, it's almost annoying. Was it ever tough though, because he came from nothing. And so did he ever try and build resilience in you?

Yeah, 100%, that's where it comes from for me. My work ethic comes from mum and dad. And yeah, we sat down for his 80th and wrote a book, his book, he wrote his biography, which I think is really important for all of us to remember. Yeah. To have forever about just the jobs that he had to do when he got here. Yeah. Because he didn't have the qualifications, he didn't speak English,

but he's the complete example of someone who was never going to just sit on his hands. Like he, he had multiple jobs. He studied accounting at night, eventually was qualified. And then just in his, I think it wasn't until his thirties, did he find his calling in real estate and he was a salesman. Like he could talk to anyone and this man, you know, again, with an accent and just saw Australia

as a land of opportunity. Like he, if you want to hear someone talk about how amazing Australia is, you just talk to dad because he grew up in communist Hungary where life was hard, it was cold, it was poor, he didn't have food. Like, you know, grew up during the war and was very little. So if he asks you to mow the lawn and you're like,

oh, dad, I can't be bothered. He's like, let me fucking remind you about communism. It's true. But even now. Let's talk about struggle. Okay. But do you know what's accurate? Cause now when there are struggles in anyone's life,

he'll, he'll often say, it's not real struggle, you know? And sometimes I have to remind him, dad, I understand not everyone went through the trauma and the horrible stuff that you did, which we all need to appreciate, was really awful. Like he lost his dad in the war and all of that. But you go, it's made us all more resilient, understanding what real suffering

and what real hard times look like. Our version in Australia is... No hand. Such a drama. We were raining on the weekend. Yeah, it was raining on the weekend. That was a struggle. But even like COVID, he was like, oh, ridiculous.

Like, can't see you. Like, it's so stupid. Like, no one's even got it, you know? And, you know, so everything is all right and amazing here. So the round ball. Yes, the round ball. So my memories of growing up his dad in the middle of the night, I could hear him listening to like,

you know, you wait for Champions League in the middle of the night or cheering on Liverpool or just watching soccer all my life. I could hear him. So then he became involved with soccer administration growing up. So back then it was called the NSL, the National Soccer League. And I have memories, really early memories

as a five or six year old going to ES Marksfield where that was played. And he would take me with him. He'd be in his suit because he was in the back office but he was watching. And I remember going in the sheds with him as a little girl and that smell and that, like, I was there for the hot chips, right? Like, I didn't know what I was going for.

I didn't really watch. But it's just a funny story because then ultimately, that's where I'm hanging out now. Around smelly footballers. So I think, you know, I always loved sport. I grew up playing sport, I always loved sport. I grew up playing sport. I didn't go to a sporty school.

I wasn't particularly gifted at sport, but loved the thrill, the drama, everything about sport. Real-time drama or sport is unmatched. Amazing. So your dad, do you think planted the seed for you? Dad planted it, yeah, for sure. And brothers as well, like I was dragged around to watch them play soccer, rugby league, rugby,

footy, I watched football with them on the weekends, on the TV. When did journalism come into play then? I honestly don't think it was really legitimately an idea until I finished my first degree. So I went to uni at 18, did commerce marketing, thought I'll go into event management, like, I don't know. And then it was only until I sort of sat back

when I'm not really happy doing this. What do I want to do? I loved writing. I always did well at school in writing and I was going to the footy all the time. I, you know, anyway, I just basically made a huge decision to change careers at about 22, 23. And I just finished a four year degree,

throw that out the window. That's a good hex. It's also like, you always hear that story, it's like, I started accounting and now I'm a car salesman. Like, there's always that, like, I studied something for so long to realise that I don't wanna do that. Of course, how good. And then I thought, great, my beautiful Hungarian dad

and mum are gonna really love that conversation. Like, I'm going back to study again. How did it go down? It was fine, I think, because I had a plan. I had to have it all laid out. I said, I'm gonna work in the day, I'm gonna do this via correspondence, I'm gonna get jobs everywhere I can, I'm gonna get my foot in the door. They're like, no worries, as long as you've got a path and you know what your end game is. And I think they saw in me that I was very determined.

And yeah, I think when you know what your dream is and you can set your sights on it, I think if I was airy-fairy about it, oh, I just wanna go back and study and not have a plan and live off you, they'd be like, absolutely not. Yeah, you have the determination. Was it always gonna be journalism within sport?

Yes, I always wanted to do sport. So I went and worked in every, I actually spent a year working at the footy show back in 2006. So that tells you how old I am now. How old were you back then? Oh, 12. Ah, no. Me too. Where are you?

I'm getting that. Yeah, let's not go there. But I was a production assistant back then with Maddie was on the show, Sterlo, Vatty and the chief. So it was the original group. Not the original, but the... Back then the show was enormous. Yeah.

Like it was massive. And it was just enormous. Yeah. Like it was massive. And it was just men. Yeah. So I did a year on that and the only female on the show was Lady Luck. Um, I don't know if you remember Lady Luck, cause again- Yeah, she would do the odds, wouldn't she? Yeah, just do the- and this week, it's the beautiful- it was Natalie Grisleski, I think. Or Natalie was on there.

Why do I not remember that? Cause you was probably four at the time. I was six. Yeah, exactly. There you go. I was just coming into pu you were probably four at the time. I was six. Yeah, exactly. There you go. I was just coming into puberty and I was like, wow. I was full transparency. I was 16.

OK. Well, so you probably weren't watching. It was the prime of my life. Yeah, you were having a good time. You probably weren't watching the footy show every Thursday. But my job there was to organize stuff for the skits and to get the food for Thursday show and then also get some archive vision,

which was the part I actually really enjoyed going into the wide world of sports archive. And like back then it was all on tapes. It's very different now. And I just loved rugby league. But what I probably realized then was, whilst I loved that year, it was so fun. I wanted to be a part of the conversation.

I wanted to talk footy. I wanted to, it just honed the fact that I wanted to be part of the sports broadcasting, not lady luck, like no disrespect, but there wasn't anyone other than lady luck in a female role. And then it was that year that Fox Sports News launched. So at that time I looked and tried to get a job there, but it was really like tricky. Everyone wanted to work there. And I got a job in Fox Sports in the logging

department, which is basically like watching sport and logging every moment. That sounds great. Yeah, I know. How good. Just watching sport for a living. That's what I had to do. Being, I mean, being a female trying to get your foot into such a, it's dominated by men. Like it's so obvious and like it's so great now, like that there's all these different women reporters and, you know, giving an analysis on the game, like trying to get in back then, give us an idea of what that was like. Yeah. I think into the newsroom, not such an issue because there were so many women already qualified and wanting to be in the sports newsroom.

Like a number of them now are still all over in sports roles like Jessica Yates was there, Sarah Jones in Melbourne AFL. So getting into sport, not such a big thing, but getting into rugby league, I guess initially, yes, not as many of us. Now it has changed a lot. Most of our hosts on Fox League are women.

Yeah. So that probably shows you how much it has changed in the 18 years that I've been at Fox Sports. Again, I started when I was 12, remember. Yeah. Child labor. But I've been there a very long time, but yeah, for sure.

At the beginning, of course, there's difficulty, but I don't think it's because, of course, it's a natural thing to say, oh, there wasn't a place for women. There would have been people, and I probably just didn't want to give them airtime in my own head, that thought, oh, what place does a woman have?

I had my sights set on doing it, and that was just gonna be me. I'm gonna try my hardest and prove my worth and show that I have the credentials. But I think if you focus on those people too much, you're not going to get there. But ultimately it had to change because if you want to reflect the fan base and reflect where society's at, it was just going to be a natural passage of time. And there was a lot of women already doing media coverage in the papers, in radio. They just hadn't conquered the TV.

But on your boys and- The husband. Can we go back to how you met your husband? Have you had any research on this? Maybe, maybe not you tell us. We've been speaking to Anthony during the week. He's given us a lot of information. Can I introduce Anthony with something?

Oh, oh. So I wouldn't be a journalist if I didn't bring something. You are prepared. Just for those listening. Do you remember what I said to you when we met you in Vegas? Oh shit. Do you know who that is? Can you recognize that?

For people on the podcast, Lara has just revealed a beautiful modeling image. This is Matthew Johnson. No T. Matthew Johnson. You can take it out. There's actually a second one that I think is a little even. Oh my. It's the same photo, but it's just a whole panel of- What's happening with my hair?

What? I've got a comb. So just to explain, this is my husband's business, the Academy brand. I've got a comb over. And back in the day, when the business first started, Maddie was one of the very first models. And when you approached me in Vegas, I was like, Maddie, the model. And Maddie wasn't that impressed. I forgot about that whole conversation.

I'll have to burn this. Was that when we were interviewing you? You conversation. I'll have to burn this. Was that when we were interviewing you? You were about to interview me at the K-Lodge. I went, Maddie, you probably don't know me or remember me, but you were one of my husband's very first models for his clothing business, the Academy brand. Look, you've got a little Reese Mastin about you.

The long hair. Into the ruins. That was the name of the catalogue. The campaign, into the ruins. I'm just like, is there something you can do with that? Maddie's cringing. Where are you? Very good.

We will put this. I love that you've written that. Yeah, I had to bring something to get you on because it's not all about me. It's about you guys too. Thank you. Sorry. We will put.

We'll make sure this is on socials. Thank you for that. Oh, yeah. I've got some old photos of Madi J that I've got stored away that I've done some deep diving on to embarrass him into. And you've just added to it. Thank you, add to that. Your husband.

Yeah, so, Avin, I think you'd call us childhood sweethearts. We met after school, but it's a long time ago, so I feel like we're almost childhood sweethearts. But we have a great story. We tell the kids that, of course, he liked me. I didn't like him. He wore a brown leather jacket when I first met him. Therefore, he was... Am I wearing a brown leather jacket in that? You look like you're wearing a scarf.

And a scarf. And yeah, he looked like a creep, so I didn't like him. And the kids like that. You know, that's the story. You know, mum liked dad. Dad, no, dad liked mum. Mum didn't like dad. And the kids liked that. You know, that's the story. You know, mum liked dad, dad. No, dad liked mum, mum didn't like dad. Is that true though? It is true. I liked, there was a spark there for sure. He was funny, is funny.

What was holding you back? Fashion sense. Definitely. Seriously, seriously. And now he has a clothing label. That's amazing. He will laugh at this. He was super, he is super confident.

He wore clothes like no one else would wear them. He was very fashion forward and- He was a trailblazer. He was. Wow. Also like the most avid, easygoing, confident guy. And I think purely he was interested in me, made me not interested in him because I'm so young

and he kept asking me for coffee. And I was like, coffee, you me not interested in him because I'm so young and he kept asking me for coffee and I was like coffee, you're 19. Let's get lit. Let's get shitfaced instead. Give me a goon bag and I'll be there. Goon of fortune. Ultimately a year later he stopped being interested and went on a trip to Greece with his mates and I went oh, come back. That's not fair. And he did come back and he looked hot because he was brown and amazing. And suddenly I liked him. And I think I sent a really awkward text message,

but reading through the lines, he was like, okay, she likes me and Dan. What did you say? I don't wanna say it. Come on, yeah, yeah. Let's go. We're here now. We're in it.

No, it was just a terrible like. For anyone who's single and going, how can I get that guy's attention? This is how you do it. Just write this message. I just, no, I don't want to say. Come on. I think it's not a big deal.

It's not a big deal. I think I just said something like, my other tables have turned. Oh! See, this is the oversharing. I did not want to do. Anyway, but that was all. And then I turned my phone on. See, this is the oversharing I did not want to do anyway. But that was all and then I turned my phone off.

I did, I turned it off for like a day. I was on a shift at, I used to work at a bar and I sent it and went on shift, turned it off. And I was so frightened because I just put it all out there. Like that's all I said. But that was it. And then my tables have turned. My that's all I said. But that was it. And then- My tables have turned. My other tables have turned.

I love that. Oh, I didn't, yeah. I'm gonna use it. That's so bad. Anyway, it worked. Obviously it worked. That was it. So yeah, that-

100% success rate, I would say. 100% success rate. And it was pretty like straight up serious from then on. Like I went traveling after uni and we were apart for that time, but pretty much after that we've been together since we were really young. Wow.

And yeah, got married. I did make him wait for everything though. Like I was not ready to get married and we got married. Then I wasn't ready to have kids. You know, I was happy with, you know, I wanted a career or was very career driven and. So was Anthony pushing kids initially? I was too, like I wanted, always wanted a family,

but it got to the point where he's like, okay, what's happening with that? And also I've involved Hungarian father, what's happening with that? Yeah. Love you dad. But I think mostly when people then pushed me in one direction, I would always go the other way. So I think I was like, well, it's about when I'm not your dad, but I think mostly when people then pushed me in one direction, I would always go the other way.

So I think I was like, well, it's about when I'm ready. It's not about when everyone else is ready. So. So then when do you figure out when the right time is then with your career? Yeah, I think there wasn't probably ever going to be a right time. You just needed to be ready to take a break. And also, if you can time it in the off season, which, which worked well with the first two.

The third, it was by then I was like, whatever happens, happens. So we had Lockie, he's nine now, and then Cooper, he was two years, just under two years later. And then Hamish was a COVID baby. And yeah, he's the best. I mean, they're all the best, but you know, the third's always the big one. Are you gonna do the third?

And absolutely no regrets. He's a firecracker and hilarious and completes the family. How old's Hamish now? Four. Four, okay. Yeah. So you've got nine. Seven.

Seven. Four. And four. Yeah. Three. How long? Three boys. I think I asked this question and think about Laura, who was someone who really struggles to stop working

every second of the day, whether it be during the day, evening, weekends, it's no different, she's always working. And I imagine that you're cut from the same cloth. So when you're having to take time off to have the baby, how did you deal with that? I found it hard. I didn't want to have like a year off.

That was just how I was. I probably think back on it now and I probably would say that I should have had more of a break. We always do that to ourselves, though. And also knowing who he is now, I think he probably could have done with me being a hundred percent committed to being home 24 seven My husband will hate that I'm blaming myself for anything and I'm not but I just think you know You always think as a parent how you could do things differently But I wasn't I wasn't gone seven days or anything when I had him in January

I think the season started in March obviously and I was Initially only doing like one and a half days a week. So, you know, that's not, I don't think a lot. I may have mentally been checked out more than if I was at home full time. Then with Cooper, he was born in November, so I had from November to March off, still doesn't sound like a long time. Like my wife had both 12 months stints off for both of our kids. And like that's fairly common, like six to 12 months, but to go back after, if you break that down into weeks,

it's not that much. Like your, I mean, my sister went back to work 10 weeks after, because she's a business owner. So, and I could see how disheveled she was, how it didn't benefit her. Or so I can imagine it's you wanted to go back to work, then it must have been really hard thinking, is this the right or the wrong decision?

Yeah, I also think you go, there's got to be a part of you that goes, well, I don't want to lose where I was. And that's not through no pressure from work, because Fox have been absolutely amazing and supportive. It's it's just internal where you go, of course, I want to through no pressure from work, because Fox have been absolutely amazing and supportive. It's just internal, where you go, of course I wanna keep doing what I was doing, and if I'm out of sight, I'm out of mind,

and maybe I won't come back to the same job. And again, that's all self-inflicted. And you don't wanna, you think, oh, I don't wanna miss an opportunity as well. Like you never know, things can happen, things can change all the time, and you think, okay, if I'm not there, then someone else is gonna get that opportunity.

And I know that, of course, the baby stage and the newborn stage, you should absolutely be there for every single moment if you can. But I actually will say it gets harder. Like the older they get, the more they need you. I know that a newborn needs you 100%. But right now, like just pure logistics, the three of them right now, like just pure logistics,

the three of them right now, and the emotional stuff, it continues, and other challenges as they get older. Yeah, if I'm with babies, you're like, okay, needs to be fed, needs to be changed, needs to sleep. We need to get that into a routine, but as they get older, it's like they need to be fed. We need to put them to bed, need to have them bath. We need to make sure that they're emotionally okay,

physically okay, they're learning, they're behaving, there's so much more to it. It does get harder. I can't imagine nine and seven, I'm like, oh fuck. Yeah. Right? I'm exhausted now. Definitely, yeah, just different challenges though.

I think every time we go, I mean, I have my, I have a number of mum friends and my two closest girlfriends who will often have conversations and it's like, what's the latest stuff? Like after school drop off, there's something to talk about nearly every day about what's happened that morning. That's pretty much our podcast. Yeah. There's always something to talk about. It's like, what happened to you today?

Yeah, exactly. What was the biggest meltdown in your house? So then how do you manage that with Anthony? I think it's always the biggest unknown with couples going into having kids is how you share the responsibility. Some men are great. Others require a bit more work. I initially was a bit shit and I thought you'd dance around it. Some need a little bit more work. Some are fucking hopeless. Yeah that's better. It depends what your dynamic is though right? Like some. So how was your dynamic with Anthony pre-kids and then having kids?

I think he knew that he was gonna. What he was in for? Well yeah I think he knew he was gonna be hands-on that was who he was that's who I fell in love with I think a very family oriented person who loved children. And also he knew I had a job and work, so it was gonna be a juggle. I don't think we completely knew at all how it was gonna feel or look, but I often joke that he's the better half of our half.

Don't know how you sit on your relationship, but he's like the funny guy, the outgoing guy, can handle everything. I'm like the frazzled person, lot going on. I think Ash and I will agree with you. Probably our wives will disagree. Are you the better half of your half? Oh, absolutely.

Yeah. I'm happy to give him a wrap. He is the better half of our half. Yeah, no, he's a really hands-on dad. I feel like this is my moment to give him credit because he doesn't get it often enough at home. He is very invested. And the reason why I doesn't get enough credit

is because I feel that he should be. And he's married someone that wants that and wants that for the children and for him to be hands-on. I think the part that is still a huge struggle, I don't know if it's the same for your partners, but the women in my mind still carry a lot of the mental load. So, Avani's hugely hands-on, like in every physical aspect

with the boys connected in and gets them everywhere. But in terms of logistics and needing to know where they're going, what uniform, what permission slip, whose birthday, who's getting the present, whose social diary is doing what, like that's still a part that in my opinion, the mom usually is across all those extra details. Yeah, that's exactly like my dynamic. April, I wouldn't know where we're going tomorrow, but she does, I'll just get us there. Yeah, of course. Yeah, so like Saturday or this week,

any weekend I'm usually on the road for footy. So I'll still, we'll still have to have those conversations about the logistics and what's happening, where we got, you know, and I'll, you know, and that's totally fine, but there's that, like that, the mouse on the wheel, like constantly thinking about what's the next thing. I think a lot of mums listening will probably want to know, how do they get their husband

to be more like Anthony? Did you have to train him to be like that? What's that program look like? Can you share the details? Maybe I should give a shout out to my mother-in-law. Or was it, that's just the way that he was? Yeah, I think so. That's the, I think that's the way he was.

Dynamic. So few of us. There are, there is so few of us. He wants to be hands-on, he wants to be involved. But you know, like there's always a bit of training. When we first moved in together, he needed a few kicks up the butt. Pick up your towel, please.

I'm not gonna pick up your wet towel. Wet towel on the bed is really good. Take the garbage out, that's your job, I'm not doing that. I'll do a lot of the jobs. He still doesn't, you know what, I've painted him to be perfect, he's not perfect. He doesn't know how to do- I was feeling bad about myself but now I'm not.

He doesn't know how to do the washing, he doesn't, do you do loads of washing and drying and hanging out and stuff? That's one thing he still doesn't do. So sorry, he's not perfect. There's plenty I can, you want me to do some dirt, I got some dirt. We do because there's a lot of petty stories

that come out of it like, I'll wash my stuff and not April's if she's annoyed with me. Or Matt hung out, Matt, was it you hung out your stuff only? Like little things like that. We definitely both do laundry. April does- Laundry is easy. Yeah, laundry does, April-

Okay, you need to come and chat to him because that's part that we still haven't conquered. He finds that too hard. No one's perfect. Laundry is within your control, I find, and if it's within your control, you can manage it. I would rather do laundry than feed a toddler. Yeah.

No, he does all the cooking. He's good with that cooking and feeding and all of that sort of stuff. But it's Hague that's good with the bad. That's fine. You gotta pick your battles. Like some of the things I'm like, okay, that's in my lane, but recycling, garbage, all that.

I don't care if it's overflowing. That is your job. How is it for you then as a mum speaking to other mums where your dynamic is quite different to the norm? Do you have that internalised mum guilt? About the dynamic of Anthony and I or working mum? I guess if you're comparing kind of war stories as a parent and your stories are a bit different because you weren't running to the football on the weekend

for your boys, you were working on the weekend. Yeah, well, I think there's a balance, right? So I've also got my work down pat where part of the weekend I'm available. So I make sure that I'm not completely missing because that would be the worst. That's when the mum guilt would 100% take over. So Sundays I'm available. So I make sure that I'm not completely missing because that would be the worst. That's when the mom guilt would a hundred percent take over. So Sundays I'm off.

I've made sure that that's a day that I can be there for. That's when they play rugby league. So it's quite a good day to have off. But yeah, I think all my mom friends have a different dynamic at home. Some of them are working moms. Some of them are full time stay at home moms. But we've all got issues going on and we all relate on that. Everyone has got stuff on their plate trying to navigate problems with the kids

or dramas or school issues, social, so it doesn't matter what your dynamic is. Yeah, I don't feel like it's any different. I think, you know, of course, like, my work takes me away from stuff. So how do you deal with those situations where there is an event, where there'd be like daycare or at school? Yeah, like Saturday, all the moms caught up for lunch. I miss the mom's lunch.

You know, like just a bit of social time with the moms. Yeah, I find that, you know, just gonna miss out on things. But that's pretty much the way it is from February to October. And then, you know, my summers are pretty good and I can hopefully squish in as much quality time as possible. Kids are like, mom enough, I'm stuck, get away. Who are you? I mean, when they're teenagers, they'll probably be a bit more like that.

But now, I mean, especially with boys, like I have one boy, he is mummy's little boy. Yes. I can imagine having three mummy's little boy. Yes. I can imagine having three mummy's little boys. April is the default parent, as we joke. It's a lot, three boys. And they must hang off you as well when you're around. So is your boy, like, how would you describe his demeanor? Is he alpha, is he?

He's scared of his own shadow. Mm. Yeah, but he, you know, he can be quite strong-willed, but a lot of the time he's... He's shy, but at the same time he is... Were you trying to kidnap him? Long story. It's a long story. Fine, because you are clearly enamoured with him.

I was trying to bro down with him, and by bro-ing down I tried to drag him into a room... A hotel room. On a boat. And it didn't go down well. But he is, I'd say he him into a room. A hotel room. On a boat. And it didn't go down well. But he is, I'd say he is a... Introvert. He plays like, the way that he plays, he'll like, I feel like he would, in the pool, for example,

he'd be trying to flip in the pool and he loves that rough play. Yeah, he does, but he's quite timid as well. So come to my house and see how it goes, seriously. Like every day is just like pick your own adventure. This morning husband got up, Anthony went to play golf this morning actually so whether you want to give that a tick or a cross I don't know. That's a cross. We don't allow golf. We don't condone golf. So the mother's out there. Yeah it's a long hobby to have. Yeah I feel like that's why dads have that hobby. Yeah I know. Anyway, the point is he went to golf.

So I got up at 6.30, jumped in the shower. The three of them were in my room. I was like, hey, your clothes are there. Go start getting ready. All I hear is, can you smell my, you know, and I'm like, oh, fuck. And then there's just, you know, someone's ends up punching someone

because they've just started rumbling and it's physical. And it only stops when someone gets hurt. Yes. It's just such a cliche. It was fun. And we know how to wind ourselves back down again. No, we're just winding ourselves up for the day. So yeah.

Have you had many trips to the emergency room? Do you know what? We've been super lucky. Absolutely, remarkably lucky. I don't know how we've avoided it, but every day is like flirting with that for sure. I'm not joking. Every toy can be a weapon.

Every door can become a finger, foot, toe issue. You know, my son's- Do you have stairs in your house? Yeah, stairs. Yeah, tonight, yeah. Falling down stairs. They're bouncy and they... The kids are or the stairs?

The kids. We fell down. Like imagine when you see them falling over, I'm like, oh my God, I'd be, my back would be out. If I fell down the stairs, I'd be out for a month. Yes. You would have snapped something. They just bounce back.

We haven't had a lot of, we haven't got any dramatic trips that... Touch wood? Yeah, touch wood. But yeah they just bounce back. We haven't had a lot of, we haven't got any dramatic trips that, that, uh, Touchwood? Yeah, Touchwood. But yeah, just constant battle. Like in the morning, they get out of the car and I'm like, how did, like, so salted my senses for the hour that they were after they woke up. But yeah, I think talking about boys, initially you have them in his baby

and they're like, you know, but then they become these little crazy people. And that's when I had to start reading and sort of getting informed about why they're so different to girls. And I know that that sounds ridiculous. I feel silly even saying it. But we get a lot of people who ask that question, like, how do you parent boys and girls differently? Yeah. Yeah. So do you know Maggie Dent?

Have you heard of Maggie Dent? She's a not read her work. I you heard of Maggie Dent? She's a... I've not read her work. I know the name. Mothering... Ah, she's a big fan of her work. Yeah. Well, I've got the book.

Look how confused they look. I brought the book so you can read. Did you? Yeah. I've got it in my bag. You just brought all this stuff. I know. I love bringing things.

You're the first guest that's brought stuff. Mothering Our Boys. It just explains the dynamic and how different boys are to girls. Yeah. What are they? So there's Rooster Boy or a Lamb Boy, right? I'm so confused. So a Rooster Boy is very alpha, very like in your face.

That's why I asked you, your son might be a mix of both. A lamb is traditionally like a sort of, I wouldn't say soft in a negative way, but like a calmer, maybe would be found doing puzzles, reading books, being calm. And then my boys are like three roosters. So the dynamic of understanding, they need, they have energy, they need X, Y and Z, have a ball in the boot all the time, take them to the park to kick if they're off the charts. It's usually an emotional reason for that. If they're not listening to you, it's not because they're being rude,

it's often because they can't hear you. And you're like, what? Like, girls don't do that. It's a trait. Yeah, Macy, my daughter's just a chiller. And they listen and they're emotionally connected differently, girls to boys. And I don't want boys to feel different,

but I think they have different needs at a younger age to girls. Boys can come across as being naughty or needing to be toughened up, whereas you would never say that to a girl tough enough. Yeah, you're right. So anyway, her book's fascinating. She has a chapter called, I think, Food Fun and Farts. Like boys-

They love farts. You got my attention. They love toilet humor. You got my attention. They love toilet humor. You said farts about nowhere. Yeah, no, but seriously, like clearly you still feel that way. I love it. Boys like that and little boys like that.

Like if there's an opportunity to break the craziness with some humor or silliness or silly songs or yeah, toilet humor, anything like that. That's what they love. So when you- Whoopi cushions, like- When you found out you were having a third boy. I didn't know I was having each time, was a surprise.

Oh, you surprise every time. So what was your reaction, do you remember, when you, Hamish, Hamish was your third? Hamish was my third. When he came out. I was just like, I knew it. Like I just knew it. Really?

Yeah, knew it. I just, yeah. Wow. Was it good in that you understood how boys Really? Yeah, I knew it. Wow. Yeah, I don't know. Was it good in that you understood how boys operate, so you were in a good position? Yeah, probably. Yeah, I would love to have known what it would be like to have a daughter.

The dynamic would be different in the house, for sure. I mean, who knows, I could have had a really dominant alpha girl as well, but I think we have a niece who comes over a lot who's the same age as my eldest, and I call her the calming goat. Like she can come over whenever she wants. Is that a Maggie Dent phrase?

No, I just came up with that. I'm like, can the calming goat please come over and sleep because she's just, she walks in and she's chill and the boys come to her level. Wow. And when she's not there, I'm like, ugh. Come back, come back. She just relaxes them and they get mesmerized by her.

Out of the three, who's the naughtiest? Oh, so hard. It depends what day it is. Does everyone like change the baton depending on the day of the week? Do you reckon that we'll get together in the morning and like, you're up. Today is you, we want a good performance out of you.

I want to see mum lose her shit because of you today. They've got like a point system. She swears 10 points. Yeah. I'm like, don't swear. And I've got like a, I've tried some, all sorts of things to stop them from being naughty and then they're like, but you're doing it. And I'm like.

Oh shit. Yeah. Got you on a technicality there. But yeah, we all lose out. What's the naughtiest thing that they've done? Oh my gosh. What's the naughtiest thing? What springs to mind?

Oh my gosh. I mean, they got into a rock fight with the neighbours once. Oh, tell us about that. And the neighbours kid threw a rock and it smashed the pool fence completely. That was awesome. I was at a game and get the call from Anthony. That was awesome. Oh, the neighbours just smashed get the call from Anthony. That was awesome.

Oh, the neighbors just smashed the... And you know, I'm like, who started it? He's like, I don't know. Just started... Like who thinks it's a good idea to start throwing rocks like this size over the fence at each other? These type of stories that I always thought I wanted boys and I hear that and I'm like, thank goodness I've got two girls. Yeah. I do want to know though, because we always have myself and Laura, the talk of. The third.

The third. Be honest. Yeah. Be honest with me here. Do you regret having Hamish? I will not be the person that comes on your podcast and says don't have three children, Maddie. I will say go for it. I will also tell you. I will tell you that a lot of people did say don't

before we had three, like people are quite happy to tell you that have three. Don't do it. Yeah. And how many have they got though? They've got three and they're going, you're outnumbered and they're, they would further down the track. So I should have probably taken on board, but again, you tell me to do something. I usually do the opposite.

So what was the hardest phase now? Or when, when? Probably now. Yeah. Baby stage. What was the hardest phase? Now or when? Probably now. Yeah, baby stage. He was the best blessing. Like we had him in COVID. The world was horrible. We were, you know, we weren't even stuck inside here

in Sydney like everyone in Melbourne, but he brought a, like there was very stressful business. So, you know, Anthony's business, a lot of stress around that. So to have him at home was such a happy time. He just brought so much light and happiness and he was adorable and the boys adored him from the, like the first two don't always adore each other.

They fight a lot because there's a sibling rivalry there, but he brought this, oh my God, there's a baby that needs mom. They kind of accepted that. They don't accept it around each other, but him, it's okay, because he's the baby. So yeah, I would say do it. Just know that it's a lot that you are outnumbered

and when you're doing things, like simple things are not simple. I don't know if this will make sense, but I'll ask this question. When I had Lola, you know, the biggest change was that all of a sudden, my time was split between two kids. You know, it was so easy to give Marley so much attention when it was just her in the picture.

My worry is that with three kids, all of a sudden, your time is diluted again. Is that the case? Do you ever think, I wish I had, you know, I'm not giving each one enough. There's all these like posts on Instagram, like make sure you spend 10 minutes of quality time with each child a day. Is that all? No, no, just you two though.

Like I don't have that time. Oh, I was like, I'm just grouping them all together and make it one 10 minutes. No, no, you can't though. It's supposed to meet their needs. Like it's so hard. Like there'll be these beautiful dads that say, I take my each child on a walk,

like every day I choose a different child to spend that time with. And I'm like, it's unrealistic. I don't have that time. You wish you had time to have one on one time. I don't. You don't, they do, I should say. They want that one on time with you.

I think it is really challenging, the spreading your time amongst the three. And they do feel it. Of course they feel it. And half their poor behavior is because they're furious that they haven't got you to themselves. And that's what you forget. Like you get cranky at them and you're like,

oh, why are you being so annoying? And it's like, cause they want to tell you about their day and this is the other ones are like, ne ne ne ne ne and they don't get their airtime. So yeah, that part is definitely hard. TV pun, by the way, with that one, the airtime you said. Airtime, yeah. Their airtime.

Very good, very good. Totally. I want to go back just a little bit, so, and we did skip over something there. Motherhood early on, you had some health struggles. Do you mind telling us a little bit about that? Sure, so, I loved being pregnant. Most women hate being pregnant.

So I'm one of those annoying people who really loved it. Yeah, I felt really well. Yeah, I was really lucky. Felt really well, enjoyed it. Like just didn't feel uncomfortable, lucky, very lucky. Did you have any particular cravings just quickly? Little L burgers. Little L?

You know the chicken burgers? Chicken, this is not sponsored by Little L. I hate to think how many I ate. Like it would be awful. That's all right. Yeah, I ate a lot of chicken burgers. Yeah, she loved parsley. Yeah, well that's a weird.

But the Little L burgers, they are delicious. I know, we have a Little L in Mona Vale. Yeah, well that's a weird. But the little Elle burgers, they are delicious. I know, we have a little Elle in Mona Vale. Ah, yeah. Anyway, sorry. That's a lot of chicken burgers. Let's get that for lunch, actually. Yeah, I know, she's kicked out. I might have one too.

Yeah, so all three pregnancies were great, but afterwards didn't feel great. So, you know, very fatigued, like beyond fatigue, like walking up the stairs, like, felt like breathless. And then I just was like, am I being hypochondriac? Because I can be hypochondriac sometimes. And went to the GP and he's like, Larry, you've gone back to work quite quickly. It's a bit run down. You're tied. You've got a baby. And that's fine. That's a bit run down. Yeah, it's not. You might be just a bit run down. You're tied. You've got a baby. Yeah.

And that's fine. That's a fair call. Yeah, fair call. And I don't blame him. I still love him. He's my GP and everything. It's fine. But it took a while, but I think it was about eight months after I had the first, we did

more comprehensive blood tests and we found that my thyroid wasn't functioning properly. So essentially what it was was postpartum thyroiditis, which is like a post-baby reaction in my thyroid where the hormones that it's supposed to produce are not on the right levels. And it can make you either feel, if it's underactive, it can make you feel really depressed and slow. If it's overactive, it makes you feel like you're on speed. And I was, I think at the time I was overactive.

So I was like, my heart rate was always really jittery. And yeah, so. How long were you dealing with it before you got diagnosed? Yeah, so I probably had it straight, like pretty much after I had him. So eight months postpartum before we figured it out. That's a long time.

Yeah. You also don't know what you don't know. So you're like, okay, I've had, this is my first baby. I don't know what my body is supposed to be like after that. And like we do heavily rely on professionals to give us that. And also when they do more extensive surgeries, because you're just not feeling right. Do you remember any other, like,

so you were saying you're breathless, remember any other symptoms that you thought? Yeah, I felt like anxious, like really anxious. And then I lost all the baby weight really quickly, right? And most people were like, oh my God, how amazing. You're so lucky. I know, but you're like, I know that sounds nice, but I felt unwell.

So I was like, anyway, short story is that all those symptoms, like losing the weight, all of that super quickly is basically telling you that your thyroid's not working. It leveled itself out. I had Cooper, it was worse after Cooper. It went really bad. So how do you medicate that?

Well, so you couldn't, they can't, so when you're over, you're creating too much of the hormones, so there's nothing really they can do other than give you something to calm the jittery. If you're underactive, so you're not producing enough, they can give you thyroxine. So I think with Cooper, I eventually ended up being underactive, so I took some of that for a while,

but it normalised. And then I had Hamish, and I didn't have anything. So it was, yeah, so with him, it didn't happen. That's why you like him so much. He just made me happy. To be fair, I probably should have known. I love my mum to death, but when I mentioned my throw, she goes, oh yeah, I've had some of those.

Oh, that's a fun one. Really nice to know. You know, like just a typical, like that's just a typical of mum. She just wouldn't have thought to mention it. And the doctor's like, yeah, it's genetic. Oh, perfect. Thanks, mum. Perfect. We could have got to the bottom of it a little bit sooner,

but all good, all good. Before we recorded, you mentioned that your family, you've not slept in the right bed since COVID or what's I tried to think about the date. I reckon I could count on one hand that we've all slept in the right bed. For the last five years. Five years? Yeah. How does it normally work? Yeah, give us a... So okay, I had perfect babies. They all slept well. I had them on a strict routine, I had perfect babies, they all slept well. I had them on a strict routine, four hourly sleeps, bed sleep, bed sleep. Then my eldest got to three or four and started to get night terrors. And just as he's gotten older, he's become more scared at night,

which is just what we're dealing with with him. He's the nine, the seven year old's a chiller, like he could, he'll sleep anywhere, but I think he's just following him now. And now the last six months or so, Hamish has started, well, I'm getting up like if everyone else is getting up in the middle of the night. So we all go to bed in the right spot. The night starts off fine. But then you hear, you know, which one is it? Yeah, and it's usually the eldest first,

and he comes in like a thunderbolt of lightning because he's had a dream. So you hear him like, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, and then he just jumps in your bed and you're like fast asleep. You're like, fuck, okay, just get into bed. Like we used to get up, we used to try and, we've been going on a journey with him,

but we've gotten to the point where like, sleep's more important. We want him to not be so worried about it. It's not a big deal. He'll grow out of it. It's not forever. You don't want to be like 35 years old and you're knocking on the door. He might be 15 and still doing it. We'll kick him out then. But also Marley's similar. Like, it's kind of nice. It's OK if there's one, but not freaking three. We have a king-size bed. Usually, then the next one will come in.

We've got a mattress on the wall. And the mattress is there for, like, I don't know, just in case. Whoever comes last. Do you ever end up in the kids' bed? Yes, I end up in this, like, last night. No, Anthony was in the spare room last night. He ended up in there. Because I can't say, I ended up in this, like, last night. No, Anthony was in the spare room last night. He ended up in there because you know, I can't say, I've got someone's knees are in my back.

I'm like, pushing someone away. And you both, you both looking waiting for one to get up and leave. And you know, we take turns. I won't get up every night and leave the room. But yeah, ultimately we're in a patch. Five year patch. A long patch of lack of sleep.

Yeah, like I don't know what uninterrupted sleep is unless I'm on the road. Like magic rounds, uninterrupted sleep. There'd be so many parents listening right now going, oh my God, this is my life. Oh yeah. Yeah, last night. I'm not alone.

Last night, I was like 11.30 and I'm not usually up that late. I just couldn't sleep. And then I hear the door open, because they share a room. And they've got white noise still for my younger. So I hear the door open and the white noise go. Here comes someone. And then it goes. And then I hear the tch t get into bed with mama and I'll just go straight to his

room. Yeah. Because you want to have a good night's sleep, right? Yeah. It's cute for a minute cuddling. It's cute for a minute until he starts elbowing me. Yeah. Lara, I feel like we could talk to you for a long time, but you have places to be.

You do? Whoa. You do. Holy shit. Last question before you go. I would like to know when your boys are all grown up, they're no longer at home, they're no longer kicking you in the back in bed.

What is the one thing you would like them to remember about the house that they grew up in? I hope that they think of it as a loving, warm and open home. I think that they'll remember it as a crazy house where mum and dad lost their marbles. They will. The legit of it is the funny stuff will be, you know, how crazy they sent us. Like it will be. But I want them to always know that they can come home, be with us. They love family. Their best memories are being as a family. So I

want them to be resilient people. I want them to be happy. That's like the most important thing for me is that they're happy and confident when they grow up, that they had a loving and warm home. I love that. Well said. Except maybe, yeah, less screaming. I hope they don't remember all the screaming. Okay, remember all of it, but it will be hard to forget. But yes.

But thank you so much for jumping on. Pleasure. See you in Vegas again next year. Let's hope so. Who knows when you'll bump into us next? You'll see us. Yeah. Have we seen behind you the footy going, fuck the Rooster?

Malley Brisbane Grand Final maybe? I doubt it. I highly doubt that. At least we're not Dragon supporters. Oh, that is a nasty way to end the podcast. And thank you very much, we'll see you later. Bye. See you guys.

Bye. Music Music Music To Doting Dad's podcast acknowledges the traditional custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respects to their elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today. This episode was recorded on Gadigal land.