Two Doting Dads with Matty J & Ash - Three Doting Dads feat. Larry Emdur

Episode Date: May 21, 2023

Larry Emdur.... COME ON DOWNNNNNN! Matty J and Ash have developed a full blown dad-crush post Larry Emdur chat. The man has it all - loving relationship with his wife, successful career and two fully grown offspring who treat him like a best mate. He also doesn't look a day over 40. We talk about how he juggled a new-born whilst hosting one of the biggest game shows in Australian TV history, what his tattoos (which are dedicated to his family) really mean, the difference in parenting to a son versus a daughter, and the one thing he wished he was better at as a dad. Big thanks to Larry for being so generous with his time.. Have we mentioned how much we love Larry? Follow @twodotingdads on Instagram here. Or slide into our DM's with any Doting Dads you'd like us to interview.     See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Welcome to Three Doting Dads. I am Matty J. I'm Ash. I'm Larry Emder with a sock on my microphone. This is a podcast all about parenting. It's the good, the bad. The relatable. And if you've come for any type of advice, I'm going to stop you right now.

Although today might be different. We have Larry and we've been pitching Learn From Larry all week at each other. Like, do you know what? Learn From Larry. That'd be great. People are going to be so confused. If you're coming for advice, sit down, pay attention, no distractions.

But, Larry, I'm going to pash your ego right now for a second, if I may. He's usually pashing mine. All right, let me tighten up my socks. Okay, go. Look, when we think about dads who are successful, you are at the top of that list. You've got a beautiful wife that you are still madly in love with, as far as I'm concerned.

You can see on social media. Instagram never lies. Never. Never. Exactly. You've got a very successful career right now. And more importantly. Sorry, when you say right now, what are you talking about?

Always. Always. Since the 80s, all right? It'll never end. It'll never end. And more importantly, you've got two beautiful children who not only are very successful, but it seems like you're still best friends with them right now.

What is the secret? Oh. Tell us everything. You know what? I don't know. And I get asked that a lot too, and I feel very blessed and very lucky. I think most dads would say that about their kids, but I don't know. I've just written a book recently where I tried to work that out,

and I couldn't work it out. There was nothing – you always want to be a great dad, you want to be a great parent, you want to be a role model, you want to be helpful for the kids, but there was nothing that I did. I didn't set off down a path of being, I want to be great mates with my kids. I'm going to be perfect and be your best friend. No, it's just worked out that way. And I feel very lucky because I know that's not everyone's story.

I know that. But I feel very lucky now that I'm still best mates with my son. I was with my daughter yesterday. They're older and they've got every reason to not want to hang out with the folks anymore. Yeah, because your kids are similar age to me, really. Yeah, right. I'm 32. I've had a vasectomy.

Apparently, that's young young but your son's 30 29 29 and how old your daughter 24 okay so your son's really close to my age and it's kind of like you're coming out the back end of what we're just really embarking on yeah yeah you've like crossed the finish line on this it's about pretty much to go into like grandparenthood at some stage in the next probably five to ten years. Right. And like for us, we've both got a four-year-old, a two-year-old really embarking on that entry level. Yeah, sucked in. Yeah.

I was going to invite you over to change some nappies. Let's start right back at the very beginning. Right. Before you have kids. Right. You're expecting kids. Sylvie is pregnant, and I want to talk about this almost like it's in the dark ages,

which I know it's not, but back then it was very different from where we're at right now. It's almost, I think, back to when Laura was pregnant and we had too much information. It was every other website, there's podcasts, we were inundated, and I'm going to blame that for the fact that I didn't read any book or I went to one birthing class. But what was it like for you when you were expecting kids and how did you prepare? Well, we had no electricity. So it was like you had

to light candles and no Netflix, there was no television. Look, they were very different times. We didn't have the resources. I think you're exactly right. The answers to all your questions are on Siri now and on the phone. Oh, yeah. And there wasn't that there. But, you know, we had a great – it wasn't that long ago. But we had a great support system, my mum and Sylvie's mum. And we lived actually in an apartment in Bondi on the top floor.

It was 100 stairs. And Sylvie was seven months pregnant and broke her leg. Oh. How did she break her leg? Running away from me, I think. No, no, no. No, no, she fell over, broke her leg. There's different traumas and different challenges, right,

at every different stage. But everything we needed to know was there. Did I go to the classes? Maybe once or twice, but I was working very, very hard. Hosting the prices, right. I didn't have time to go and sit in a beanbag and watch those videos which i should well said i went to two of them that were eight hours long on a saturday the worst two saturdays of my life yeah i'll never get that back and i don't think i learned anything well that i can remember and like yeah like matt was saying there's a very big

technological difference between like when i was born we can talk about because similar age first our kids now where we just literally did a whole episode the other day on how youtube is the best parent because they yeah yeah they pretty much look after my kid if i'm just like here's my phone kid it's like back then i don't know i always it rattles me how you did it and how much patience you would have had to have back then. Was it something that came easily? It was okay. You know, it wasn't, but Jai was actually sick when he was born. He had his sort of an underdeveloped valve, and so it was indigestion, but major indigestion, every time he laid back even a little bit.

So he, for the first probably better part of a year of his life, he never slept for more than 40 or 50 minutes. Holy shit. That's where we were. Yeah, same, same with us. So it was full on and i was traveling i was in melbourne every second week for four days at a time doing prices right so poor sylvie here brokenly with a child who was not sleeping at all and so i'd come home from melbourne after four or five days and find this wreck you know not in

sylvie but just in this situation yeah it was horrible and i felt really bad i'd open the door and she hadn't slept for four days she'd throw jive me go right it's yours it's yours now yeah yeah it was interesting the challenge in that from a relationship perspective of course and a parenting perspective but you know like all things in that situation or most things in that situation it turned out okay yeah for sure i think at that time too you're kind of like well we've got we've got to get on with it because like there's not much we can do with the situation but also the pressure as well like the price is right was just huge it was one of the biggest shows in the history of tv in australia and what were you at the time when you were hosting it like late 20s yeah i was late 20s i mean it was nothing compared to what sylvie was going through at home.

I was going to work and play. No, no, hang on, Larry. No, don't say that. No, no, no. She's going to hear this probably. She will probably hear this. No, I was going to work and play in games. And from a new mother's perspective who wasn't sleeping, sitting at home,

I'm in Melbourne, I'm surrounded by girls in bikinis and lingerie. Come on down. You know, like it was interesting. You know, I felt for Sylvie during that time it was difficult to go like that with no sleep and be stressed and all the anxiety around that and then see hubby sort of down there playing games and having fun. Did she watch the show while you were down there or anything? I don't know.

She used to be like, bastard, I'm having so much fun. She says no, but I feel like she's hidden cameras around this place. She's Polish, so I think they like to keep an eye on things with the poles. So when it came to the prices, right, when you were given that contract, how did that conversation happen with Sylvie? Was it always a case of, I've finally been given what I've always wanted, I'm going to take this, no questions asked. Was there ever a case of maybe not doing the prices right no no there was never that because

my life was tv it's all i'd ever done i couldn't do anything else you know she said you want to go away and get a job closer to home as a surveyor or an engineer so there's nothing else in my life that i've ever done or i could do yeah so there's never a question of that but it's just i had to take the show because it was a huge show, as you said. It was an enormous opportunity. And for me to have a career in television or in entertainment and to say no to that opportunity would have made no sense at all.

And it was a good thing. The money was good. It gave us a good lifestyle. It gave us a nice house. It gave us all the good things. It gave you a real platform too. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It set us up for life, basically.

But at the time, you know, all of that whittles itself down to screaming sick kid at home, you know, but I couldn't leave the prices right. I don't think she would have wanted me to not work. Yeah. I don't think she would have wanted me sitting around the house. Yeah. But, yeah, there was never...

She'd have to take care of two kids then. Yeah, yeah, exactly. But there was never a question of, you know, that was the culmination of everything I'd done for years and years and years before. And how long did you do Price is Right for? Because your kids are, what, five years apart? Yeah.

So I did Price for, I think, four or five years in the first block. Then I had a break for a while and then went back and did it for another three or four years. Then I had a break for 10 years, went back and did it for another year or so. So it's been on and off. So people think it's been on for 20, I've been on it for 20 years because that run repeats. Like I'd finish. Gee, Larry looks really young.

What's his secret? Gee, those double-breasted suits, are they still in? So there was this sort of perception that I was doing it for ever and ever and ever, which was fine by me as well. I mean, I'm very happy to be known as that guy. When you look back at those first few years, being very, very difficult, was it always on the cards to have two or did you guys come out of that? No, no.

In fact, no. You jumped in so quickly then. No, no, no, no, no, no. Sylvie was a flight attendant and we were travelling all over the place very cheaply or for free. And we were having this great lifestyle, right? And then we decided that's so bloody selfish. And we got to a point where I think all our friends who had had kids were having other kids.

And we thought, of course, you know, we've got to try for another one. Another one. And we got a perfect little, you know, perfect little daughter. Yeah. And did you find when you decided to have a second child and you did have your second child, what was your work life and family life then, like different to the first child, do you think? So I think we were probably better set up.

Like we were in a comfortable... So when Jai was born, we were in an apartment on the top floor with no lift. With 700 stairs. 700 stairs. And before Woolworths or Coles were delivered to your door yes right so I'm away

so we've got the baby and the shopping and the this and the that do you think you know there's that thing where it's like you've got to carry every grocery bag

the one trip yes we like that we like 700 steps I'm going to take all 16 of these grocery bags

you leave one bag down there like next time it's the frozen stuff too so i think the next time we had a house we were more comfortable financially we're in a better place career-wise i was in a better place and i think all those things play into you know a comfortable i don't want to say happier house but just a more settled house yeah cool that time

around do you think yeah and we we spoke about this the other day as well that you sort of subconsciously with your second child remember things and how to do things and all of a sudden you're way better at them than you were with your first child without even really thinking about it and i think like we set out to have two at one stage then we had one and i'm like i'm not doing that again no fucking way and then i had a second but so thankful had the second because i had a girl second as well and it was like well she's my favorite yeah right you know he's just like but it's also down to that i'm much more patient and much more calm why it's like i definitely don't get upset with her as much as i would have

with my son because the first one you just you're learning how to do it as you go yeah yeah so after the first one where you said I'm never doing that again was it because it was just so hard for you yeah we were similar yeah so hard for me to bear but no it was sort of like our story sort of similar with Joe Oscar had silent reflux and 40 minutes around the clocks yeah and really took a toll on my wife, which was the hardest thing to watch that happen. And I think I was just traumatised from that. I've never really spoken a whole heap about it with Matt and Keish, but it was sort of like, yeah, watching a shell of a person that was my wife because of how hard that time was made me think, I can't do that again.

Not for me, but I can't watch this happen again to her. She was adamant she wanted the second one and then obviously so glad that we did in the end. Also, I think for yourself, Larry, one of the hardest things, I'm assuming it was hard, is the fact that you're a new family, your wife is doing her very best, but there's also that added pressure of the fact that, you know, this notoriety right now is building.

You're becoming such a familiar face. Yeah. How did you guys juggle that? Was it something that you guys found quite difficult? Well, I mean, there was nothing that we ever had to really focus on. Like, I think Sylvia came into my life where I'd been hosting TV for a while, so we were getting a bit of that anyway. So it was all right, too.

And we lived at Bondi and we'd walk up and down Bondi. On the front of Who magazine. Yeah, I know your situation, you know, that happens in a short space of time, right? You go bang and all of a sudden you're this famous guy. But for me back then it was this slow crawl up and then you're kind of getting used to it. Social media wasn't around, so it was really just that face-to-face walking of getting used to it. Social media wasn't around.

So it was really just that face-to-face walking along Bondi Beach and people saying nice things to you. How did the kids react when they were a little bit older? And, you know, if you guys would go out. Because I remember seeing you when I was younger at Perisher and I remember thinking to myself, holy shit, it's Larry. And I was like, do I go up? Do I say anything?

But obviously so many people will come up to you and speak to you. Your kid's like, what's going on? Who was that? Sometimes. Sometimes it's okay and then sometimes it's less okay. When is it not okay? If you're having sort of a private-ish moment, it's not okay. You know, like if you're trying to put the kid in the back of the car and they're kicking

and screaming. There's that. They're sitting down at a nice restaurant with Sylvie that might not be okay. But now with social media, everyone just wants you all the time. You know, wants a bit of that all of the time. There's no boundaries now, I find. Then you get the strange people coming up,

hiding their phone, going, you know, like trying to do a sneaky photo. I'm like, dude hi just say hi yeah it's a very strange world and i think like a lot of people can't pick up on like you were saying like you know a personal moment a lot of people can't pick up on that personal moment that you're having with your family to wait to go okay well now they're walking back down you know bondi beach maybe now i can say hi larry yeah yeah loved you yeah. Loved you on The Price is Right. Are you still doing it? Or come on down, you dickhead.

Come on down. So I was sitting yesterday in a coffee shop in Crown Street in Sydney with my daughter, and it was a lovely day. We chose to sit outside. She had time for a coffee on a work break. And we sat there and three, four people stopped and said stuff. I mean, I shouldn't have sat on the street, you know, for that. I wanted that time with her.

It's funny because one person stops and then if someone's stopping to take a selfie, you know, and then the next person goes, oh, what's happening over there? Oh, and it starts this thing. You've created a buzz. So maybe, you know, I should have gone sit with Tia for 20 minutes, half an hour. Maybe we don't sit on the street on a nice day.

I know you. And most people are nice because the shows I've been involved in, Price is Right and Chase and Morning Show, they're nice shows. They're nice shows. So they're not a villain. So people are just saying nice things. A guy the other day walked past and he goes, oh, you're a pisser, Carl.

And I'm like, okay. Thank you, I think. Is that a compliment? No, no, I'm Eddie. I'm not carl i'm eddie i'm koshi okay did you ever have to have the conversation with your kids and you know so yeah there's been things yes i'm a fucking big deal maddie's just gearing up because he's gonna have to have that it's it's a thing no you know it's been part of their lives forever too. And it's okay. Like, it's not bad and it's got me a place and a car.

Hey, it's got you right here on Two Doting Dads. Here I am. Here I am. So, you know, we live with it. And it's nice. An old TV executive once said to me, if you're on TV and people aren't recognising you, that's when you've got a problem.

Not when they are recognising you, when they aren't. So, okay, that's good. When you think back now, all those years being a dad what do you think is the hardest part stumped him got him no i i think i think it's in yourself i think it's in yourself thinking am i doing this right yeah and it'santly challenging. It's also like, what is right? Yeah, that's right. Is that thought process one that's just reoccurring every single year? Or like, you know, are you now at the point where you're like,

do you know what? I'm done. I can honestly say I've done a good job. I can tell you both happily. It just goes from one chapter to the next. So Tia's now engaged. We're totally consumed with the wedding. Jai's well on his career path.

So we're talking about that all the time.'s on well on his career path so we're talking about that all the time we've got our family dinner tonight which i love and it's all about hearing from them but but hearing them articulate things and face their challenges and get better at things that's you know it's a beautiful thing as well but they're going through they have issues as well yeah all the time still but luckily and we sylvia and i feel very grateful for this they still come to us for that. They lean on us. We're still a close family.

And do you have a family dinner every week? No, no, no. This is the first one in about a year. You should have really played on that. No, no, we do when we can. We actually do when we can. I saw Tia yesterday. I'll walk or train with Jai a couple of times a week.

So we're close. Yeah, for sure. What's the secret to having that closeness? I always think, is it just a case of the fact that the door is always open? If they came to me with a problem, I would never get angry. We know what happens when your doors are open at night. I'm going to say that I think it was easier to form these sorts of relationships before phones and laptops, tablets.

Well, we're stuffed, aren't we? No, but you know when you see these families every night at a restaurant or even down at the beach and dad's on the phone and mum's on the phone. Scrubbing my phone. So we didn't have that. You know, Jo and I would go for a surf. Yeah, for sure. And Tia and I would go for a drive and she loves antique shopping.

So we'd do this stuff and we're not on the phones. So I think these relationships were formed in a different time. But you see the families now where everyone's on a different device doing different things. There's no conversation. There's no engagement. There's no interaction. I'm like, how are you going to get from there to wanting to go

and spend an hour or two with your kids just having a chat? And Jai and I can do that. Any day of the week we'll go for like an hour long walk or whatever and just talk the whole time and tira and i will do the same go for a drive or go for coffee and without devices so i think it was you know the seeds were planted at a different time for that i think thinking back to my relationship with my dad during the same time and like we didn't have that technology for most of it so we used to surf every day we used to do that like that was our thing and then i think as we both got older and technology came

into it we are actually more distant than we ever have been yeah and i have an older sister myself and they have a different relationship but i've got one boy and one girl as you do yeah both very much into their early adulthood do you feel you raise them any differently? Do you think, oh, there is obvious things, but... Yeah, I think I did, and I haven't really thought about this much, but just hearing you say, I think I did, and I think inherently you do. They're different relationships. Which one's your favourite?

That was going to be my next question. They're both my favourite, but for completely different reasons. Yes. And this is the thing, that they both have these enormous strengths and fantastic personalities, but they're completely different, obviously. So Jai, our relationship was, you know, surfing and walking on the beach together and doing all the fun, that sort of fun stuff. And then Tia and I had a completely different relationship

where she's really, really smart, very philosophical, you know, very philosophical, reads lots and stuff. So our conversations are completely different. And she's a great debater. So I'm really loathe to get into a heavy conversation with her because she'll smack me down. How was that with disciplining? So classic, classic family.

Sylvie, very good at disciplining. You're the fun guy. Sylvie, very good at disciplining. Not disciplining, sorry. You're the fun guy. Sylvie, tough, tough on her. As per her upbringing, she's Polish and she was brought up in Poland and I think parenting changes greatly around the world and the way she was brought up was very, very different to the way I was brought up.

And I was brought up in this sort of happy, kind of carefree, surfy family and whenever there was any sort of friction, we'd just go for a surf. Just bury it. Yeah. You left school at 15. Yeah, 16. Right?

Yeah. And were your parents like, yeah, that's fine? Well, back in the day, that was kind of fine too. Because you go off and do an apprenticeship. So it wasn't what it is today. It was like you can leave school at 16 if you've got an apprenticeship, which I didn't have. I was going to be a garbo because it was the best surfing shift. Yeah, for sure.

I made the garbo. Get in early. It started at 4 o'clock, finish at 8.30 and go surfing all day. I'm like, I want to be a garbo. So the situation with Jai was very different to the one with Tia. And from when it's your daughter involved, you move into this really protective kind of standover, hover. Is everything okay?

Are you okay? Are your friends okay? You know, it was a very different relationship to that. Yeah, I feel that really early on with my daughter. I think I definitely parent her differently. I'm very aware of it, mainly because, yeah, you put this protective front on, but I don't have that same protective front with Oscar,

like my eldest. It's more, he'll be right. Yeah, you're sending him out to work and he's not even for you yeah he's just making shoes in a factory well everyone always says to me with marley and lola as well like oh when she starts dating that's going to be tough and i kind of laugh it off because for me that just feels like an absolute lifetime away is that a really tough time in their life? Yes.

Oh, great. No, it's not a tough time in their life. It's a tough time in the parents' life, I think. Because you want them to be safe and you want them to be happy. And make sensible decisions. Even though you probably didn't make sensible decisions. That's right. That's right.

And, of course, when I was talking to the kids about school, because I was kicked out of school when I was 16, I'm like, go to school and focus on your work. I'm like, Dad. Shut up. Come on. Aren't you meant to practice what you preach? Yeah.

Back in the stupid corner, Dad. I know. But, yeah, the dating thing for Tia, and she'd acknowledge this now, that I was, yeah, I was normal dad in that situation. Thank goodness there wasn't, I mean, social media was around. It was early. It's not what it is now. So I think that's a whole new ballgame for you guys.

It's scary now. It's scary. It scares the shit out of me. And Macy's only one and a half. Imagine what it's going to be like when she's dating. Maybe it'll finish by then. Maybe it'll be over. It's just a fad.

Yeah, yeah. It's just a fad. You mentioned she's engaged now. Is it on par with looking at when she first started dating versus when her boyfriend is coming to you to ask to marry her? Is one easier than the other? Easier because we knew him at this point, right? So we knew him and we loved him.

We love him and he's fantastic. And how he treats her and how he adds to her life equally. They do it equally, but you can see as a couple they're fantastic. That's as opposed to meeting some young kid from school who goes yeah how's this gonna work out can i marry your daughter yeah yeah but he roel is is a lovely lovely guy and to see them in a relationship you go okay that's meant you know they're balanced they're beautiful together so that was different and when he you know he asked me downstairs here we're standing outside you wouldn't let him up no did you know it was coming no no no we'd been out for dinner and we were walking them downstairs and that we were just

getting something out of the garage so rose said to tia just to go up to the car and i'll help dad your dad get something and then he asked me and i'm like it's funny because all of my life i had all these questions for the guy that would ask me this, like, what are your intentions with me? Show me your bank balance. What sort of car do you drive? What happened? Did you? And I cried.

No! Did you? No, just straight away. Wow. Like a blubbering mess straight away. And it was a beautiful moment because, you know, when you see your daughter that happy and, you know, they'd lived in Bali for a year so the relationship had been well and truly tested and it was a beautiful moment yeah nice yeah and it

he's going is that a yes oh yeah yeah she's picked this guy oh god yeah yeah but that that was very very special and now we look forward to the next thing whatever you know maybe that's grandchildren you know whatever we got the wedding and then that so it just goes forward to the next thing. You know, maybe that's grandchildren, you know, whatever. We've got the wedding and then that. So it just goes from one, the parenting thing just goes from one chapter to the next. It's never ending. But now there's Google. Hey, Siri, how will I be a good granddad? How do you feel about being a granddad?

Is that something you're really excited for? Well, yeah, I don't want to preempt it. Not that I don't think that's happening anytime soon. But I feel like I'm too young to be a granddad but i also feel like i'll be a really cool granddad oh yeah 100 they'll come around we'll play price is right games oh yeah but also you're a granddad with tats as well i know yeah we wanted to ask you about your tat so you've got matching tat with your with jai yes so john and these are little things, you know, they're just funny little things that over your life you pick up and you run with. And we were at a rowing carnival for Jai.

He was a rower back at school. We were walking along the pathway along the river. There was another race going. And there was a team coming forth and their coach was riding next to them on the path next to us, yelling out over the megaphone come on boys if not now when and then they pulled up and they won the race so jai and i just adopted this if not now when thing that's what we would always say to each other whether we're out surfing

or whether he's going for a job interview or whether i'm going for a job interview or any time so we went and got matching tattoos if not now now, when? That's amazing. Yeah. And it's very special to us. And then when Tia... Tia's like, not for me. Not for me. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm okay. So Tia was always like, what tattoo are you going to get for me?

What are you going to get for me? I'm like, well, we don't have any of those sayings. So we came up with her star sign that goes over Jai's tattoo. So it's the waves of Aquarius going over the if not now, when? So I've got both my kids on my heart yeah stop it shut up have you got your kids tailored on you yet uh i've got i've got one of them i've got marley may's birthday which is just on my tricep and i had every intention to get lola's birthday but i've been very busy i haven't done. Yeah. But you gave Macy prime spot on your chest. I gave Macy prime spot.

Oh, that's a riddle. Yeah. And then Oscar got my arm. But he always points them out. Yeah. He says, which one's me? I'm like, sorry, mate, you're down here. We can do your other one now.

We can do a prison tat now. We can do that. Sylvie's got her sewing kit. I've got some ink. We can just do it. I didn't expect to be getting tattoos and Larry's. Surprise. But here we are. But then you've also got the love heart with the three arrows. Yes, yes, yes. Sylvie's got a sewing kit I've got some ink we can just beautiful I didn't expect to be getting tattoos and Larry's surprise but here we are

but then you've also got the love heart with the three arrows yes yes yes so the love heart here with the three arrows and when did you get that well I had the heart for a while and then I got the three arrows

a year or so ago in Bali and then on this arm I've got like a a decorative S for Sylvie and then a sort of a T and a J inside that

so they're all over they're all over there's no escaping us cool granddad with all the taps and you're gonna get all your grandkids on you they might have heaps of kids and you're just covered in different names well i've got to start back in the gym because sylvie's saying they looked all right but now they're just all getting a bit sad don't let her change you larry when you look back at your years as a parent maybe there's no answer to this question it's going to be very self-critical do you ever think i really wish i was better at this is there one part of parenting where you think i wish i had done something yeah lots i mean

you know lots i wish i was smarter so i could have helped at school it's funny that i was i was a dumbo at school and I couldn't read all right I couldn't add up so the kids outgrew me in the smarts very quickly you know they were coming to me with with homework at 12 years old that I couldn't answer you know so I wish I was smarter for them I wish I had more intellectual input in what they were doing but I think I've been around a lot and I'm happy for that my work has been you know it's either on or off but even with the morning show now for 16 years I've been home for the school pickup it's not an early start it's not the sunrise start so I'm around a lot and then there's been periods of three months six months where I've been unemployed so I've been present yeah Sylvie would argue if I contributed anything

during those those days but i was you know what i was here i was here and i was very much part of you know their lives being present for sure yeah i think so i got made to travel the world all the time and you know they'll see their kids every second wednesday and before they get on another flight or or other mates who go to work at six in the morning come home at eight at night buggered have the dinner and a beer and go to bed got nothing left i think it's changed so much of that too. Yeah. For me, I had Oscar and COVID was before COVID

and then COVID hit and all of a sudden I was home every day and spent so much time with him in that that I think we, you know, bonded so much over that. And now because the world is different, because of all that, I'm at home most of the time working and, you know, Macy's there one day or Oscar's there another day and it's like my dad would have left to go to work, come home, had dinner and I would be in bed, you know.

So it's definitely changed so much. That's why being president's huge, yeah. Yeah, so by hook or by crook, I mean, some of that presence was because I'd been axed and I didn't have a job. But it was a good time at home. Yeah, for sure. I don't regret that time. And I think that's – I was lucky like that.

If I could do anything again, I wish I was smarter. That's a good answer. I could have helped with that stuff. But I think the life lessons or the street smarts or the – even being the fun dad I think has its place. Oh, for sure. Absolutely. Good answer.

I mean, I left school too when I was 15, 16, and I can tell already that my kids will outgrow my smarts very quickly. And I'll be proud of that. But, yeah, you've been able to provide street smarts and other things that maybe that really smart book dad couldn't have provided. Maybe. Well, you know, we'd get to a point where Sylvia would go, can you help Jai with his homework?

And I'm like, no, but I can order the pizza. I can do that. I'll hunt and gather. Can't we get a tutor or something? The issue about interviewing Larry as our first guest is that the bar has been set too bloody high. Whoever comes in next will be like, it's just not quite as good as Larry was. You've got to put a spread on.

Yeah. Also, can we just say, Ash messaged you on social media and we weren't quite sure if you were going to reply or not. Just a stab in the dark, to be honest. We shot our shot and we didn't think you were going to invite us to your place because we said, hey, can we come to your apartment?

And you've invited us in. Two strangers into your house. Three we know each other this is the most beautiful spread also so i just want to say larry thank you so much thank you so much for having us and like we wanted to learn from larry today i've learned so much well hopefully the next house that you go to is the house of a real dickhead and i stay fingers favorite guy. Fingers crossed he's a real dickhead. We're just going to come back for Larry once a month. What else can we learn from you? Update, yeah, yeah, for sure.

So, yeah, thank you so much for having us. No, absolute pleasure, guys. And your book, Happy as Larry, is still out now? Still out now. Where can you pick it up? Probably in a $2 clearance bin, I imagine. No. Is that the signed copy or the unsigned copy?

It's been an absolute pleasure. Thanks, guys. Thank you so much. If you're listening right now and you thought, hey, I quite enjoyed that episode. And for the first time, I got some advice that I can actually use for my own situation. Sorry about that.

We would love it if you gave us a review, five stars, maybe a few comments on Apple Podcasts and give us a follow. And as well, if you would like us to interview any other doting dads in the country please we would love to hear your suggestions and we'll do our best to come to their apartment and get them to put on a cheese board for thank you for listening appreciate it and larry thank you so much for welcoming us into your house and pleasure guys putting on a spread Two Doting Dads 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.