Ep 631 ｜ Allie's Dad On the Economy, Fatherhood & Raising Christian Kids ｜ Guest： Ron Simmons
Episode Stats
Length
1 hour and 1 minute
Words per Minute
180.82089
Summary
On this special Father's Day edition of Relatable, Allie sits down with her dad, Joe Biden, to talk about fatherhood and what it's like raising a strong-willed child. They talk about the challenges of raising a child with ADHD, inflation, gas prices, and more.
Transcript
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Hey guys, welcome to Relatable. Happy Thursday. This episode is brought to you by Good Ranchers.
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That's American meat delivered right to your front door. Go to goodranchers.com slash Allie.
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That's goodranchers.com slash Allie. Okay, welcome to our special Father's Day edition episode. I'm
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going to be talking to none other than my dad. We are going to be talking about fatherhood,
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what it was like raising me, because you guys told me on Instagram that you are curious about
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that. It is a sweet and even at times emotional conversation for both of us. We're going to be
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talking about what it's like to raise a strong-willed child and how relationships with your children can
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change over time, how the Lord can restore and repair relationships that may seem broken by his
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grace and through prayer and through a lot of work. But at the beginning of the conversation,
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I'm going to get him to break down some political and economic issues. It's basically going to be
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like you're listening into the conversations that we have on a weekly basis, because I am always
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picking up my phone and saying, okay, dad, Biden did this. What does this mean? Or why is this happening?
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Can you explain this to me? He's always so quick to be able to break it down in a way that we
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understand. And I thought that you guys would be able to benefit from that too. So we'll talk about
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inflation. We'll talk about gas prices. We'll also just hear his take on the state of the country and
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where he thinks this is all going and why he has hope for America. He is always much more optimistic
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than I am, which is another reason why I'm calling him as often as I am. So I don't spiral into this
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hole of cynicism and thinking that everything is just always going to go to hell in a handbasket.
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So he's very positive in that way. He's also very practical and helpful. He's going to give
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even some financial tips for you and your family as we're facing a lot of struggle when it comes to
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inflation and high prices and all of that. So we'll get into that conversation. Before we do,
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let me just show you, since I have it in front of me, some new merch items. I told you guys that we
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would be getting new merch items and here they are. So we've got, you guys already know, I've got
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t-shirts that say politics matter because policy matters because people matter. I've got razor
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respectful ruckus. I've also got millennials against low-rise jeans and I've got some other
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relatable t-shirts. And then we also have these awesome stickers. I've got the millennials against
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low-rise jeans if you are watching on YouTube. And then I've also got the be a salmon. That's
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something that we say. Swimming upstream, everyone is going one direction. We at Relatable
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believe going in the opposite direction of where mainstream culture is trying to take us. So I've
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got the cute be a salmon stickers. These are also like really good quality stickers. They're unique.
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Like the edge around them isn't completely straight. I know that might seem like it doesn't matter,
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but it does. They're super cute. Our design team here does a great job. But today I've got new stuff.
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I've got hats. So I've got the politics matter because policy matters because people matter.
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Hat, it's pink and white. There might be some different colors. If you're watching on YouTube,
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I'm trying this on for you. And then we've also got the Razor Respectful Ruckus. Cute. Oh,
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I like the navy. Navy and white. Very cute. And then we've also got, this is another one of my
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favorite. This is green. It's got just like the relatable R on it. Super cute. Love it. And then
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I've got the share the arrows. That's another thing that we say when someone stands up, uses courage
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to stand up for something that is unpopular rather than cowering in the corner and saying,
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oh, I'm glad that I'm not the one getting canceled or bullied. You share the arrows and
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you stand up with them. Now I've got hat hair. And then we've also got, this is my favorite color,
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this light blue hat that says relatable. So we've got a lot of cute options for you.
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We've got the link to our merchandise in the description of this episode, whether you are
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listening or whether you are watching on YouTube. So you can check it all out. This is like a really
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good present as well. If you know, your wife, your girlfriend, your sister, your friend, or yourself,
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you're wanting some of this merch, then this is just a really great way to treat them or to treat
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yourself. So make sure that you check all of that out. Dad, thank you so much for joining us. Round
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two for our Father's Day themed episode. I told people to submit some questions that weren't
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just fatherhood centered, because I said that you are really good at breaking things down in a way
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that we can understand. So first, can you explain, we already had Marco Rubio do this on Tuesday,
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but I want to hear you do it. Can you explain to us what inflation is? What causes inflation?
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Well, first of all, thanks for having me back. You know, I wasn't so sure after our last episode,
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whether or not I warranted a return trip, but I felt good about that. And also, not to contradict
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anything Senator Rubio said, which I'm sure he understands it very well. He's a very smart,
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smart man. But the way the reason things are so expensive right now, most of it,
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most of it is speculation. Let me tell you what I mean by that. Oil and gasoline consumption in 2019
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versus 2022, which, you know, pre-pandemic, post-pandemic, is virtually the same in the United
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States. So we're using the same amount of gasoline as we used in 2019. And we're producing in the United
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States about the same amount of oil and gas that we produced in 2019. So why in the world then are
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oil prices for a barrel of oil four times higher and gasoline is at least twice as high?
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We're producing? Sorry, I'm not supposed to interrupt, but we're producing about the same
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Yes. Yes. The United States is. That's exactly right.
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I thought that we were producing less. No, it's not that those are, that's not what the numbers
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indicate from the API, which is the American Petroleum Institute. Now, they did, President
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Biden did limit what we could lease from some of the federal lands and he limited the pipeline. All of
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that stuff did not have an immediate effect on our oil production. It will long term, but we're
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producing roughly the same amount. And the reason that the prices of a barrel of oil have quadrupled
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and gasoline has doubled is primarily because oil is bought and sold on the futures market. And what
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futures simply means is that what do I think is going to happen in the world? And if X happens,
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then what should the price of oil be? And if I think the world is going to hell in a handbasket
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market and there's going to be scarcity, then I am going to be willing to pay more for oil and gas in
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the future. But I've got to make that decision today. And so people's speculation on the war in
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Ukraine, people's speculation on what might happen post-pandemic with people's driving habits,
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all of those types of things have an effect on that. Unfortunately, what doesn't have as much of an
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effect as we want it to is what I just said is that, okay, if it's a true supply and demand market
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and the supply and demand is about the same as it was two years ago, then why isn't the price the same?
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For oil and gas, because it's a commodity, it's the same way with food, by the way. We predict people
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that buy these large quantities of food, so they have to buy them on contracts that don't come to
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fruition until later. So a farmer needs to know that he can sell his crops in the future. And so
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somebody's willing to give him a contract today at a price in the future. That way, the farmer locks in
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the price. Sometimes it could be lower, sometimes higher. And the commodities person buying that
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believes that they'll be able to sell that at a higher price. And generally what happens is that
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these things run reasonably short cycles, all right? Obviously, the Great Depression was the
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longest cycle for something like this, but they run reasonably short cycles and it returns to what
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we would call normal, where it is a true supply and demand marketplace. And I believe that'll happen
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with oil and gas. It's not even healthy for the oil and gas industry for prices to be at $120 a barrel.
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That's not good because they know that makes everything else that they do and their employees
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do and the people they serve do go up. It's usually better, in my opinion, from people I've talked to,
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that oil and gas, a barrel of oil costs somewhere around $80, $85 would be a good price. And then the
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price of gasoline would be somewhere around probably $3. So that's kind of what's happening right now.
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I think you just have to wade your way through it. Don't panic. And it will settle out. There's no
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question about it. You have to have fossil fuels. You're not going to be able to live right now off
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of solar or wind or anything else. In fact, the thing that we should be doing is increasing the
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production of natural gas and exporting that as much as we can, because that's one of the cleanest fuels
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out there. Yeah. So I know you said that Biden's green energy policies aren't necessarily having an
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effect on the price of gas right now, but couldn't you say, or they're not having an effect on the
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supply, the production of gas right now, because we're producing the same as we were previously.
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But couldn't you say that some of those policies that he has putting in place, like, you know,
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refusing to renew some of those federal leases, that that could cause some of what you're talking
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about of these of looking to the future and saying, oh, you know, we're worried that there
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is going to be a scarcity. And so we're going to raise the prices now. Like, does that make sense?
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Does that play into it? Absolutely. Because see, the price now is based on what somebody speculating
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is going to happen in the future. All right. Just like, for example, if you ever go to a gas station
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and from one day to the next, the gas price has gone up. You ever done that? Yeah.
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Well, they didn't get a new load of gasoline that night, probably. But yet the gasoline in the ground
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that they paid X for, now they want to charge X plus. Well, they're charging X plus because they
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have already been told through the futures market, which controls oil and gas prices, that the price is
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going up. And so they're going to go ahead and get ahead of that. And they go up because of political
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decisions like what you talked about, what President Biden has done and is doing and what people fear
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they will do even more. I do think some of it will certainly slow down in November if Republicans
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take the House and or the Senate. And I think you'll see a lot less of that going on. I don't think he
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will operate as much by the pen as he, as his, as the President Obama did. I think what he'll want
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to begin thinking about is what's his legacy going to be. And listen, and I don't know President Biden
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personally, but I have watched his career over my lifetime. President Biden wants to get deals
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done. He is not a idealist, in my opinion. Now, he's got idealists running his office and maybe
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they're running his whole life. That's something that we don't know for sure. But I do think if the
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Republicans win in November, then I think you'll see a much different President Biden.
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Yeah, let's hope so. I mean, why do you think, though? OK, so he says that he is not renewing
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some of these leases. He's not for the expansion of the Keystone Pipeline. He's not for, you know,
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the energy independence that we enjoyed under President Trump. And yet he is going to Iran and
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Saudi Arabia and begging them for oil there. So I'm a little confused about that. One, if we have the
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same production as we previously did, why would we need to go to Saudi Arabia and beg? And then also,
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if it's really about trying to get away from oil, fossil fuels, why would we be asking other countries
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to produce more? What do you think about that? Well, he's not necessarily. Well, first of all, because
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I'm not sure that President Biden is making all those decisions. He cut a deal, in my opinion,
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he cut a deal right before South Carolina to say, OK, you give me the if you give me this South
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Carolina primary and you get behind me, I will allow all of these what you and I would call and
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what most normal people would call far left ideas to come into play. And that's what that's what he's
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doing with the green energy and all that type of stuff. He's not necessarily going to Saudi Arabia
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and Iran to have them sell oil to us. He's having he wants them to produce more oil and gas
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because oil and gas is a world market. And if there is a place that is suffering because they can't get
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Russian production, that will affect the price of oil and gas back here in Texas because the cost of the
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way that the futures contracts are purchased. So he's more interested in stabilizing the oil and gas market.
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And again, I haven't talked to him, but this is what he should be doing in Europe than he is here.
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He knows that we have enough to produce and consume what we need. We became the largest
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producer a few years ago, and we have the ability to continue to do that with the technology that we
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have of being able to extract this from the ground in a very environmentally safe way.
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Yeah, I do worry about the idealist that you talked about in his administration. I'm sure he
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doesn't fully agree with them. But like you said, I think that he cut a deal. He's probably
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controlled by them who have said openly that they don't want us using oil and gas. They want us on
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electric cars. There was this Democrat congresswoman the other day who just recently said,
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you know what? I don't have to worry about gas prices because I charged my car and I drove all the
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way from Michigan to D.C. No problem. OK, well, electric cars are fifty thousand dollars. If someone
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can't afford five dollars per gallon of gas, are they going to be able to afford an electric car
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that's fifty thousand dollars? Pete Buttigieg is saying the same thing. It does seem like this
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administration, Democrats increasingly, are totally out of touch. Like with what the normal average
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American can do, a lot of Americans are just worried. How am I going to get formula? How am I
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going to pay for gas? How am I going to drive to work? How am I going to drive to get formula? Because
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some people have to drive across the state to do that. How am I going to afford the formula? Because it's
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more expensive. So as we're waiting for, like, the political solutions for this, if there are,
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like, what do you recommend for the family who is working hard but struggling to make ends meet
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because of all of this? Well, there's no question that and what the Democrats also are unwilling to
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admit is an increase in oil and gasoline prices is a regressive tax, meaning that it hurts the people
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that have the lowest income the most. Maybe not as much in a New York City or Chicago where they can
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take mass transit and the transit fees are subsidized, but for the average American and flyover states and
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increasingly in other states that are closer to the coast, like an Ohio or Pennsylvania or Florida
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or a New Mexico or a Nevada, then this becomes a larger part of their budget. And what I recommend
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for families to do, I've gone through this and, you know, our mind and your mom's history and what
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have you, is first of all, you have to have a budget. And in your budget, you have to make sure
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that the essentials are covered first. That's the roof over your head. That's the power to keep your
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family warm or cool. That's the food that they eat. And that's the transportation to get you back
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and forth to work so that you can provide a living. Everything else, everything else, as much as you
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don't like it, maybe outside of what you give through your faith organization, everything else is
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optional. And a lot of it you might think is an optional, but it is optional. And those options
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have to be taken off the table when you're in a situation as a family that needs to cut back.
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And I know that's difficult. And maybe sometimes you get a second job and, you know, you do some
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extra. There's certainly plenty of jobs out there. We have more jobs available today than we've ever had
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in the history of America. And so that's what I would do. And that's what I recommend. And that's what
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Lisa and I've done in the past. Tell me why. And I know we've talked about this. It's a little bit
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of a mystery, but tell us the analysis about why there are so many jobs out there available. And I
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mean, we've got a lot of people here. And every time we go to a restaurant or any kind of service
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place, service industry place, it seems like things are understaffed. They can't offer the same things
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they have before. Or they say, you know, bear with us. We're in the midst of hiring. We can't give you
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things as quickly as we would like. What the heck is causing that?
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Well, I think it's three things. I think, first of all, I talked to an economist that used to work
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for the Federal Reserve for 20-something years. Now he's in private, works for a private company. And
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he said that in the period from when, let's say, COVID started in early 20 until the time we got
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to where we could, you know, at least function at the, you know, towards the end of 21 or the middle
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of 21. Normally, you would have about 1.4 million baby boomers leave the workforce during that period
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of time through retirement or whatever. That would be normal. That's what they expected.
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Three million baby boomers left the workforce during that period of time and just decided not
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to come back. Now, with the downturn and the stock market and what have you, maybe that'll change and
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they'll come back to the workforce. Invariably, that always does happen. But that's one thing.
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The second thing is that I believe there is a segment of the population, Allie, that said,
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we will do more with less. Once I realized what it was maybe like to stay at home with my kids,
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or maybe I went and started my own small business or something like that, I'm just not coming back.
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I'm not either not entering the workforce or I'm not entering the labor force in a way that is
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measured. Okay. A lot of these self-employment things are not measured as well as, you know,
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if you and I get a W-2 and what have you. And the third thing is, I think there were many,
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many blue states, Democrat states that allowed the extra unemployment and all of those benefits
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to continue well beyond when they needed to. And in fact, some of them still continue to this day.
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And I think that's keeping people out of the workforce. And again, I do believe that that's
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one of the big, big reasons that we need to solve this immigration issue, meaning that we need to have
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an immigration policy that first of all, protects Americans, but also allows people from other
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countries to come in and work here, not necessarily get a, become a citizen unless they follow the
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correct path, but to legally be able to come and work here. Because if we don't, if we don't do this,
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then those people are going to go to another country and work and build the goods that you and I are going
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to have to buy. And we're going to be right back in the same shape we were before during COVID when
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China and other countries controlled almost all the supply chains for U.S. products. We need those
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people to be able to work here. We need our own people to be able to work here. And that's why we
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need better vocational type training so that we can build and manufacture products here as opposed to
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It's a little bit of a conundrum for me because of course I want to say, look, we should have the
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number of people here already who should be able to fill these jobs. I would rather Americans be
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taking the jobs that immigrants coming in and be doing the jobs. Not that I'm against that, but if we
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have a list of priorities, I want Americans doing those jobs first. And yet it does seem like
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Americans aren't taking those jobs in some cases.
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We don't have enough Americans, you don't think?
00:21:04.180
Well, you know, my mom had 12 brothers and sisters. Your grandmother had 13 kids in her family,
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okay? And her and my dad had four, okay? We have three.
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And it's just the generations, except there's always anomalies to that, but the generations,
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we aren't reproducing ourselves like we did in the past. And that's just the way that some segments
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of the population are, certainly the Hispanic population. And part of that goes with their
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faith belief in Catholicism, what Catholicism teaches and what have you. But part of it is that
00:21:40.140
Yeah, that is a problem. And I think that comes down to a lot of different things. It comes down to
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just like what we think about life, what we think about family, what we think about
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priorities as far as pursuing a career or starting a family. I think women are doing that later and
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later. Some people are opting not to get married and have kids because they think it's just a burden
00:22:00.420
and responsibility that they don't want to carry. It does seem like the idea of starting a family has
00:22:07.940
kind of been demonized. And yet you and mom did that. You started very young and you had a lot
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stacked against you and probably a lot more stacked against you than a lot of young people do today
00:22:21.360
who are trying to decide whether or not to start a family. So take us back. I know you've already
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kind of talked about it in the previous episode, but take us back to 1980 and tell us what it was like
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then. What was the state of the country like then? What were your thoughts about the political state
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then? Were you even thinking about it? And then what was it like starting a family and what odds
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were against you? Well, it's interesting that you asked that. And I haven't looked at it in a long
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time, but a lot of your people will not relate to this. But back when I was younger and in high
00:22:55.020
school, we had what we called an annual, which was kind of a picture book of the school year and what
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happened. And each class had pictures taken and the sports teams and the music teams and the drama
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teams and all that. And then you would go around and you'd have your, especially if you're a senior,
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get ready to graduate, have your friends write in your book, you know, about, Hey, you know,
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it's great knowing you best of luck, whatever. But I remember I wrote a deal in my own book and I don't
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even know why I did this because I was 17, but I wrote a scenario worried about the economy at the
00:23:33.800
time. Gas prices had gone up, not anything like they are now, but relatively speaking, quite a bit.
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The Dow had, the Dow Jones Industrial Average stock market had taken a hit.
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Yeah, this was 78. So it was right in the middle of Jimmy Carter. So I must have had some awareness of
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that, even though my mom and dad certainly weren't political or anything like that. And so, but I will
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tell you that it all worked out perfectly for me because 1980 was the first year I could vote in a
00:24:04.560
presidential election. And that's when President Reagan or then candidate Reagan gave his, you know,
00:24:12.180
speeches that were so well received by someone like me. Cause I wasn't only looking for, as you know,
00:24:18.800
my family stories and my, you know, my mom and dad divorced and that was a very tough family time
00:24:24.620
for us then because they had just divorced when I was like 16 or 17. And not only was I looking as
00:24:33.660
all young men are, whether they admit it or not, are looking for mentors and guidance and, you know,
00:24:39.940
where do I go from here? And I never met Ronald Reagan in my life, but I will tell you the things
00:24:46.500
that he stood for and the speeches that he gave really spoke and inspired me at a time in my life,
00:24:52.840
which was absolutely critical as the next 10 years would prove. Yeah. Yeah. And so it was a good,
00:25:01.540
it was a, it was a period, you know, I was born in Louisiana, raised in Arkansas. People always ask me,
00:25:07.160
why did you get married so young? And I said, well, in Arkansas, if you don't marry your fourth cousins
00:25:14.140
really quick, then you get down to the first cousins and there's issues with kids after that.
00:25:19.740
So just FYI, my parents are not actually fourth cousins, everyone. Just to correct the record,
00:25:27.040
they're not related at all. That can't be said for a lot of people. I've been married 42 years now and
00:25:32.780
it's been, it's been, uh, nothing without difficulty, but been, uh, a blessing. And one of the reasons it was
00:25:39.420
is because, um, obviously our faith, but also because we were willing to put action in those
00:25:47.240
steps, not just wait for something to be delivered. And I think that's where most young people make a
00:25:52.420
mistake because they're looking for the perfect situation or they're looking for something to
00:25:56.560
just be handed down to them. And, you know, one of my, you know, I've got a, I've got a book that I'm
00:26:01.980
working on, hopefully going to come out sometime. And it's going to be titled, I believe,
00:26:07.120
life lessons from the little red wagon. And it's really just about the basics of life.
00:26:12.520
And sometimes you're going to be a puller. Sometimes you're going to be a pusher. And
00:26:17.100
sometimes you're just going to be the cargo and somebody helping you along. And so I think
00:26:22.760
that's really important for dads and moms and everybody to learn. But when you're getting started,
00:26:28.980
I don't care what age it is. You got to be willing to take the next uncomfortable step.
00:26:34.220
And if you're waiting for everything to be comfortable, then you're probably not going
00:26:39.120
to accomplish very much. And not just talking about money, I'm talking about when you look
00:26:45.200
But speaking of money, you and mom did face a lot of financial hardship or just challenges
00:26:51.720
in the beginning because you were young, you didn't have any money, and it may not have been
00:26:55.620
the same economic scenario that people are dealing with today. And yet it basically comes down to the
00:27:01.220
same thing. As you said, starting a budget and being disciplined in what you spend. But if you
00:27:06.640
could look back at that time before you were really making any money, what are maybe some
00:27:12.280
mistakes that you guys made, not just as far as how you spent money, but how both of you dealt with
00:27:18.060
money, talked about money? And what are some things that you're thankful that you did before you
00:27:24.960
Yeah. Well, first of all, one of the things I'm the most thankful for, and I really don't know why
00:27:32.660
it ended up like this, but we never lived beyond our means. In other words, we never found ourself
00:27:41.240
in a situation to where, oh my gosh, I cannot, you know, I'm going to get foreclosed on, or I'm going
00:27:49.120
to get a note called, or they're going to come pick up my car or anything like that. And again,
00:27:52.780
you're right. I mean, when we, when we started, uh, when I, when mom and I got married, I think I
00:27:58.000
made $700 a month. And even if you inflated that up to today, you'll still find when you do that,
00:28:04.240
it was pretty disappointing. Um, so, so one of the things that we did, and I would say it's the very
00:28:09.780
most important thing is what we're talking about, live within your means, uh, make a list of things
00:28:17.000
that before you go to the store so that you don't, you know, buy things that you shouldn't have. Uh,
00:28:24.880
you have to make sure you have to understand that just because somebody else has it, doesn't mean
00:28:31.840
that you get it. And that's very difficult. Mom and I've made mistakes in that area before we had
00:28:37.320
friends that were about our age or, well, I would say they were a little older than us. Uh, but they,
00:28:44.000
they, you know, they made more money than us. And so they could have some things that
00:28:48.740
we didn't have. And sometimes mom and I would go buy some things that we couldn't afford and we
00:28:52.980
shouldn't have done it. Uh, and we always, you know, paid for them and took care of it, but it
00:28:57.600
probably set us back on our ability to accumulate assets when in our early years. And this is, this is
00:29:05.940
a point that people need to understand at every stage of your adult life, you need to be accumulating
00:29:12.440
assets either through your 401k plan or your private savings, preferably both. Okay. Or you
00:29:20.920
need to, you know, have, uh, real estate, those types of things. And I'm not just talking about
00:29:25.340
your home. I'm talking about other things. What mom and I did probably for the first, I don't know,
00:29:31.940
maybe seven, eight years of our marriage probably is every time something would happen good financially
00:29:37.580
for us. We would just increase our lifestyle up, up to that point. And you should not, that was a
00:29:44.140
mistake because it put us behind the eight ball in accumulating assets. Now things worked out really
00:29:50.640
well. And certainly the Lord blessed us as our, as we started a company and it grew and all that type
00:29:55.720
of stuff. But as I'll, and, and, and you, you know, Ali, we, we, everyone doesn't matter if you're Ali
00:30:01.740
or whomever it is who listened to this, you all have family members that did just what Lisa and I do
00:30:06.460
did. And you've got family members that are still doing that today. They may be in their sixties. I
00:30:11.300
certainly do. And, uh, it's very disappointing. So I'm just encouraging you certainly do what
00:30:16.740
that, that I have family members that, that to this day, you know, are living on the edge financially
00:30:24.320
because they never spent any time accumulating and you have to accumulate and you have to do that at
00:30:31.900
every stage of your career. Do not increase your lifestyle such that it consumes everything that
00:30:38.860
you have. And if that's happening right now, um, I would encourage you as fast as you can to cut back
00:30:44.260
on that and begin accumulating assets. Because when you go through a period that we're going through now,
00:30:50.000
you'll be a lot less stressed about it. You'll understand it's a cycle that happens.
00:30:54.160
They always happen. And that on the other side, it will be better. In fact, there may be some great
00:30:59.160
opportunities for you to be able to make an investment, uh, at the right time when, uh, when,
00:31:07.060
when things are, don't appear to be going well, they're out in the world financially.
00:31:11.320
I always appreciated growing up that you and mom, even though I'm, you know, very thankful for
00:31:16.400
the life that we had, I never had to need for anything or really want for anything, which was
00:31:21.800
different than how you guys grew up. But one thing I did appreciate in the midst of that is that you
00:31:26.740
guys didn't put a lot of value on fleeting material things like brand names. Mom is especially good at
00:31:34.260
this. She didn't, you know, she didn't pressure me to wear, you know, certain brands or really care
00:31:40.060
about that at all. If I did care about it, it was because someone at school was wearing it. And of
00:31:44.840
course, uh, you know, yeah, that, that kind of just happens. That comparison trap happens, but mom
00:31:50.980
really never emphasized that. I think that makes a really big difference. That makes a big difference
00:31:56.540
for your children. If when they are looking to you to kind of set an example, they're not seeing
00:32:02.880
people that are constantly trying to keep up with the Joneses because that's a mentality that I think,
00:32:07.840
um, can very much be inherited. So mom, I mean, she's a very prudent person. I know you credit mom
00:32:13.440
with a lot of the good things that we have in our lives, a lot of good things that we have,
00:32:17.340
um, as a family. When y'all first started dating 18 years old and then you got married at 19 and 20,
00:32:25.300
I know you couldn't have foreseen what a great life partner she would be, but what was it? What
00:32:30.380
were some characteristics in her that made you realize, yep, like this is the person that I want
00:32:37.380
to be by me forever? Well, I think Allie, um, instinctively, and I don't know how, okay. So
00:32:45.300
it had to be instinct. I didn't, I don't think I had any training in this. I knew that I needed
00:32:51.120
a partner that was going to compliment me, not compound me. And if I had, and she needed the same
00:33:02.160
thing is where I was weak, she was strong and vice versa. And I sensed that I really did sense that
00:33:09.900
in Lisa, uh, just early on, it was just one of those things where when it, you know, when it,
00:33:16.700
when it's right, it's right. We never had to really, we never had to really push it. I don't think.
00:33:21.180
And what I also learned about mom is that mom is not, you know, I'm, I'm a little bit someone
00:33:29.920
that if you, uh, dare me or push me or something like that, I'm going to, that's, that's going to
00:33:38.580
get under my skin and mom. And that's not right necessarily, by the way, but, uh, but mom never,
00:33:47.720
never, ever, she just not like that. You know, that she is, she, she is one that, uh, wants
00:33:54.580
resolution through discussion, compromise, those types of things. The other thing about mom,
00:34:01.020
you know, mom's not a financial person. That's not her, that's not her deal. But, and listen to
00:34:05.100
this closely, she is a terrific money manager. And here's what I mean by that. Mom somehow has an
00:34:13.320
instinct for knowing what she should prioritize her funds on. I have, she, Lisa hasn't had, uh,
00:34:26.180
any budget for me and probably, I don't know, 25 years. Right. But I never have to worry about her
00:34:34.820
overspending. She just is not that way. And I know so many, uh, people have one spouse or the other
00:34:41.600
that it's a constant conflict. Now, mom and I would, would have conflicts over finances when we
00:34:48.200
early on, we didn't have the money. I'd want to go play a softball with an out of town team. And
00:34:53.240
at the time that might cost me 30 bucks a weekend to do. And we probably didn't have an extra 30 bucks
00:34:58.300
or, or mom wanted to maybe do something else. And, you know, each of us saw those things that we
00:35:03.560
wanted to do as equally important. Now I will confess to you that usually what mom wanted to do was to,
00:35:09.880
you know, add something that would benefit our family, not just her. And I was a lot less like
00:35:16.580
that. And, uh, I regret that and embarrassed by that, but it, but it's the truth. And if I had
00:35:21.900
advice to give it would to dads, it would be, you know, when, when you, when you put the ring on the
00:35:28.040
finger of your spouse, then you then become third in that relationship. First should be God. Second should
00:35:37.640
be your wife. And then you come after that. And that's something that, um, for a lot of people
00:35:45.160
and certainly was for me, um, hard to do, but I will tell you once we figured that out, both of us,
00:35:51.560
actually, although mom didn't have the challenges I did, uh, it, it just made things just take a big,
00:36:12.040
Well, certainly one of the greatest gifts that I was given and still, I mean, it pays off to this
00:36:17.360
day is having parents who are together and not just together as roommates, but parents who have
00:36:23.600
loved each other and who still love one another. I think that we don't think about as adults,
00:36:29.260
how much that benefits you, but you as someone who had parents that got a divorce, I'm sure in
00:36:34.120
some ways, maybe that still affects you to this day. And on the other hand, having parents who are
00:36:38.960
together, who compliment one another in more than one way, um, it really does make a really big
00:36:45.360
difference. So that should, that alone should be encouragement to people out there is that marriage
00:36:50.240
isn't always easy. The things you go through aren't always easy. Sometimes it is more work than
00:36:56.440
ease, but the foundation that you are giving your children through a unified marriage, it just can't
00:37:02.440
be underscored enough. No, that's no, there's, I don't think there's any question that, and we know
00:37:10.360
this through all of society. One of the biggest challenges that we have in America is the fatherless
00:37:17.540
homes. And part of what causes that is the way our government assistance program works and that
00:37:23.840
they, they actually incentivize, maybe not on purpose, but incentivize, uh, moms to be single
00:37:29.300
moms. Cause if the dad comes in the home, they're going to lose a lot of their benefits. And so these
00:37:32.720
boys grow up and girls, but think about boys for a minute. Uh, they grow up without it, without that
00:37:38.840
type of figure that's in there every day. And it's not that they, not even that the dad is doing
00:37:42.900
anything spectacular every day. He's just in there every day. And I think one of the things that
00:37:49.120
certainly you knew about me, I traveled a lot less when you were little than I did with the other boys
00:37:53.500
is that, is that I was going to be there that, you know, it, it, if it was important and, uh,
00:38:00.740
most of the times, even if it wasn't, I was going to be there and your mom was too. And I can't tell
00:38:06.840
you how important that is. I know in my own life, when I was in high school, uh, you know, my, my
00:38:13.980
family is really a family of musicians, primarily my younger brother and I are more sports minded
00:38:20.440
people. And I'd say that we were average to maybe slightly above average athletes. And, but sports was
00:38:27.780
really important to me in high school. And that's where I put a bunch of my energy. Well, that's also
00:38:32.920
the time that my mom and dad were having lots of challenges. They were obviously on their way to
00:38:38.380
divorcing. And I can't tell you how many things that my dad didn't come to, you know, uh, just
00:38:47.160
because of what they were going through. And it still makes me sad to this day because not only does
00:38:53.660
it make me sad for me, cause that still is there after all this time. And it makes me sad for him too,
00:38:59.900
because I see the joy that a dad has when he's able to participate in his children's lives. I mean,
00:39:08.580
Justin and I, your oldest brother just played in a member guest kind of father, son type golf
00:39:14.740
tournament. And, you know, I don't care if we win, lose, draw, whatever this spending three,
00:39:21.900
three days with him, just doing stuff that you enjoy and making those memories is more important
00:39:30.980
than anything else. And that's why it's so important for moms and dads to stay together.
00:39:36.200
Cause when you're, even when you're divorced and you have a good relationship, and I know a lot of
00:39:39.680
people listen to this, have that, that statistics tell us that, that, that 50%, you know, people are
00:39:44.320
divorced. It doesn't work the same. I guarantee you, if you ask your kids, unless the father or the
00:39:50.160
mother was abusive, they want the mom and dad to be together in the home. And dads, we have a
00:39:55.360
commitment to do that. That ring, the reason that ring circled is for a reason. It's not just to fit
00:40:01.080
on the finger. It means that there's no beginning and there's no end to your relationship with your
00:40:08.160
wife. You know, some people are listening, they've got their, a parent of a teenager and they're
00:40:14.220
thinking, well, me and my teenager, we're not close right now. And they're afraid that, you know,
00:40:18.840
they're not going to have a close relationship, or maybe they feel like they haven't been a great
00:40:22.460
parent. They haven't done enough to disciple their kid or, you know, make sure that their kid got a
00:40:28.760
Christian education, whatever it is, parents of older kids can maybe have regrets. Um, and of
00:40:33.680
course, people listening to this podcast want to hear what it was like raising me. And of course we
00:40:37.700
could spend a long time talking about that, but if you could take us from, of course, love the story
00:40:44.040
of what you guys didn't know that I was going to be a girl, I've got two older brothers.
00:40:48.380
Take us to the beginning point when you, when I was born and you found out that I was a girl,
00:40:53.900
what that was like, and then how our relationship has kind of transformed over the years. Of course,
00:40:58.860
just an overview of all of that, but take us to the first point to now.
00:41:03.380
Well, you know, the interesting thing was, is that, uh, and this was 1992 when you were born.
00:41:10.000
Yes. Okay. But, uh, I'm not supposed to say that. No, no, that's fine. I just wanted to see if you
00:41:15.880
could remember what year I was born. No, no, no. I was thinking about when we saw the sonogram
00:41:19.260
because back then sonograms were pretty early stage. And so we did have a sonogram done.
00:41:23.840
In 91. Yeah. In 91. And we were with some good friends of ours, Neil and Deanna, you know them.
00:41:28.900
And we were looking on the deal, trying to determine, right. And, and mom and I would kind of look
00:41:35.300
halfway because it's a lot of ways we didn't want to know, right. We still want to be surprised and all
00:41:39.500
that. But then she was probably what, maybe five months pregnant at the time somewhere to get the
00:41:44.580
sonogram. Uh, but from that point on the doctor absolutely knew, absolutely. And at least had
00:41:52.740
been going to the same doctor for a while. So knew him. And when you were born, uh, the day that you
00:42:00.560
were born, first of all, we thought, you know, you were the third, but you were seven years after our
00:42:06.160
last one. And we thought we remembered how that went. Uh, but we went to the hospital pretty late
00:42:12.540
at night. It was 10, 10 30. We had to have some friends come over and help stay with the, with the
00:42:17.460
kids. And, and, uh, you were born early the next morning. I mean, you're almost born on, you know,
00:42:24.240
the day before early the next morning. I'll never forget though, when, when, um, we were, when the
00:42:30.280
doctor was there and he said, it's a girl, um, how mom and dad, how we were just so excited.
00:42:40.600
And the, and the funny thing was, is that the, the nurses and the doctor were so excited because
00:42:48.040
they'd known it, you know, for four months. And so it, it was a journey that, uh, we were started
00:42:55.280
down the road again, came home, um, uh, and, um, you know, started our life. Uh, there's some funny
00:43:03.020
things that happened along the way. Uh, you know, when you, when you're, uh, uh, when the, when you get,
00:43:08.160
when you've been away from having kids waking up during the middle of the night and all that type
00:43:12.180
of stuff, you're like, Oh my gosh, what did we sign up for again? Um, and you know, we, the boys
00:43:19.380
were active. Justin was in sports, Daniel, you know, by that time we knew that, uh, he had autism.
00:43:25.220
So we were working with him on all of that stuff. And, and, and that was difficult, but mom just
00:43:30.800
packed you up and took you wherever we went. Uh, except for almost we didn't. Yeah. Almost. So we're
00:43:38.080
headed on a family vacation with my mom, who Allie, uh, called grandma Dot and grandma and,
00:43:46.340
um, two boys. We had a big old suburban and, you know, we get everything packed up. It's
00:43:52.380
going to be a cross country trip. And so we get in the car, get ready to go. Lisa and I
00:43:57.660
look at each other saying, did you get Allie? Did you get Allie? So we go back in there and
00:44:02.660
Allie's in her room, in her crib, you know, not crying or anything, just what are we, what's
00:44:07.440
going on? So anyway, it all, uh, it all worked out, but I can't believe we drove that far
00:44:12.440
with a young baby. I think it was when we went to DC maybe. I can't imagine that from
00:44:16.200
Texas to DC with a, with an infant. You know, another, what I would consider a funny story
00:44:32.600
along the way is, and I can remember Allie, Beth, you probably don't remember this, but I
00:44:36.500
remember exactly what car we had at the time and exactly where we were. And you, and you
00:44:42.520
were five years old, five years old. Now think about five years old. And we were arguing about
00:44:51.340
something, which might not be that of a surprise.
00:44:55.340
Was arguing normal for us at that point when I was five?
00:44:58.840
Well, I think by the time you were five, it was me trying to set your boundaries, probably
00:45:09.000
inappropriately, you know, on how you could conduct yourself with mom and I, right? Now
00:45:17.980
In the sense that I thought that I was in charge and you were telling me that I'm not.
00:45:21.460
And if things didn't go your way, that just, that just, we must not be that bright. If you
00:45:26.600
didn't see it your way, you know, you didn't say that, but anyway, we argued over something.
00:45:31.580
We argued over something. And, and I, I think as I look back on it now, I absolutely believe
00:45:38.660
I was making a mountain out of a molehill, which I had done more than one time. And there
00:45:44.280
wasn't really an answer to what I was upset about. And this is how, this is one, the day
00:45:50.160
I knew how smart you were is that you said, well, dad, what do you want me to do? And it
00:45:58.180
was like five years old. I'm like, first of all, I don't want you to ask that question.
00:46:01.380
That's what I'm thinking in my mind. And, uh, I mean, I dropped it right then, but I knew
00:46:06.000
then I said, this is one very intelligent, very insightful purpose. You had figured out in
00:46:12.700
your five-year-old mind that we had gotten to a point that wasn't logical. And you may
00:46:18.680
not have processed it like that, but that's what had happened. And you just said, what
00:46:23.420
do you want me to do? You know, in a very strong tone. So it's kind of funny along the
00:46:27.780
way, but anyway, uh, so it was, you know, I think me, Justin and Daniel were not strong
00:46:35.900
willed kids. Okay. They were much more get along, go along, um, type people. They're a lot
00:46:41.880
like mom. It was pretty clear early on that you had a very strong willed mind and that
00:46:47.760
you felt that you, just like I did when I was your age, you felt like you understood
00:46:54.480
the world better than most people around you. And probably was true. Although I think you
00:47:01.180
and I would both admit that we couldn't process things maturely at the time. Okay. We didn't,
00:47:07.320
we didn't understand how we don't understand how a mature thought process. We could, we could
00:47:10.420
be very intelligent and figure stuff out through deductive reasoning or logic or whatever,
00:47:15.860
but we weren't putting the rest of it through our brain that makes wisdom and good decisions.
00:47:22.020
And so, you know, through the years, obviously you and I had a lot of conflict about that.
00:47:27.740
And when I, you know, compared to what other families go through in conflict, I probably am
00:47:32.860
maybe overstating it, but, but I, I do think it was, it had the potential to ruin our relationship
00:47:40.100
long-term and it, it, without your mom, it might very well could have. Yeah. And it was just,
00:47:50.240
yeah, just so people know, it was just, we argued a lot when I was in high school, me thinking that I
00:47:56.340
knew more than I did. Maybe you sometimes making a mountain out of a molehill, but both of us probably
00:48:01.420
testing boundaries, trying to understand what those boundaries should look like me wanting to
00:48:05.620
be unconditionally trusted. You realize, and I couldn't be unconditionally trusted, but maybe
00:48:10.140
you should have trusted me more. So there's a lot of back and forth. And yes, mom was a mediator,
00:48:15.220
which probably was an unfair place to, to put her in. And yet, because she is a peacemaker,
00:48:20.480
she did that. And through, I think probably a lot of her prayer, you and I, our relationship
00:48:26.820
improved so greatly when I was a senior in high school, but also when I went off to college,
00:48:32.120
I think it was prayer, the grace of God. I think both of us probably changed. I definitely grew up and
00:48:37.600
matured a lot from that independence, but both of us, I think kind of softened during that time
00:48:44.880
in our relationship really grew in college when I was in college and is still very strong. So I just
00:48:51.200
want to encourage parents. Like if you've got a kid, strong-willed kid, whatever, the relationship
00:48:56.080
seems divided or strained. And you're like, wow, this rebellious 16 year old, there's no way
00:49:00.780
that I'm ever going to be friends with them. You never, you do not know what the Lord can do and
00:49:06.240
what time and space and growth can do to relationship, right? Yeah, no, I agree. And I think one of the
00:49:11.820
things that, that, um, I think I did some of the time, but I didn't do as much as I should have
00:49:16.580
is when you're, when you're having a disagreement with your 16 year old or 15 year old or set,
00:49:23.760
whatever it is, uh, and you want to make a point because listen, parents, you're in the dominant
00:49:30.600
position. Okay. We get all that. Um, and you can, you can make a point in a way that will obviously
00:49:38.320
get your point across. But what I want you to do is think about whether or not that point,
00:49:46.580
is going to be something that the way you did it, not what you said, but the way it was done
00:49:52.340
10 years from then. So when she's, or he's 26 or 27, is he, is that the way in which you made that
00:50:02.160
point still going to be eating on him or her? And that can have hugely negative long-term
00:50:11.120
relationship issues that are very, very hard to overcome. In fact, mainly impossible. You know,
00:50:19.340
I think, Ali, you're right. When you went off to college that my, I was in a different position in
00:50:25.140
my life at the time. Um, I had just gotten to the point where, um, I, uh, could have a little bit
00:50:33.100
more flexibility and the pressure of building the business and whatever I had other, I had partners
00:50:38.740
that were helping me with that. Uh, mom and I obviously were in a really good spot. We, we felt
00:50:44.180
pretty good about Daniel and where he was kind of going as well. Uh, Justin had, uh, uh, you know,
00:50:50.300
had gone off and, uh, had gotten married at the time. And so things were moving forward for us pretty
00:50:56.880
nicely. And then, and that's, but that was just part of it. The counseling we had gone through in high
00:51:03.240
school had helped a lot for me, helped me a lot. And then when you got to college and you decided
00:51:11.380
on your own, okay, as an independent woman, and listen, as people know that read your book,
00:51:17.580
you made some mistakes. Okay. We all make mistakes, but the core of your faith and your belief,
00:51:25.520
not only in what mom and dad did, but who we served, you know, and how you had that to fall
00:51:35.500
back on. You had the core faith to fall back on, even when we strayed from that. And then you got
00:51:42.420
involved in some really good things at college too, that who knows if we didn't know that you were
00:51:47.980
going to do that, or you didn't know it either when you went there, you know, uh, whether it's helping
00:51:52.080
out with the special needs, or you had a, you know, a group of girls that you did some Bible study
00:51:56.560
stuff with, um, and found a church that you liked and all that our relationship. Yeah. It's been one
00:52:04.020
of the big, big joys of my life. It really, and I still marvel at you today because you definitely
00:52:12.020
quickly got the wisdom part down and you kept the other strong willed part, but also, uh, have a heart
00:52:20.480
that, that, uh, reminds me of your mom. Wow. Thank you. And yes, that is, I mean, I'll take that as a
00:52:29.380
compliment because we both know how soft hearted mom is and I'm a lot, I'm a lot like you. Everyone
00:52:35.440
knows I'm a lot like my dad and I'm thankful for that. I'm thankful for the different components of
00:52:39.540
my mom and dad that I got. And there's just no better foundation than parents who love you. And just
00:52:45.980
to encourage parents out there that does not mean there's no such thing as a perfect parent. There's
00:52:51.380
no such thing as a perfect mom or dad. That is not what your child needs to succeed. Yes. Lay the
00:52:57.240
firm foundation that you can parents that love each other, but understand that even if up to this point,
00:53:02.200
you feel like you haven't been as present as you want to be as a parent, or you haven't sought out
00:53:06.900
a relationship as much with your kid. Like it's never too late. Your kid is 16, 17. They're still
00:53:12.160
under your roof. You don't know the redemption and the reconciliation, the restoration that can come
00:53:17.700
from dedicating right now to spending that time with your child and giving that relationship to
00:53:23.260
the Lord. So I'm just, I'm very thankful for that. Can you close us out? A lot of people are very
00:53:30.420
discouraged about the state of the world right now when we really think America is just like going down
00:53:36.720
the tubes, but you are very optimistic. You're, I always call you when I feel like, oh, things are
00:53:41.600
just falling apart. Things are never going to get better. Give us some, give us some optimism. Give
00:53:47.520
us some hope for the state of the country. What we as families, as parents, moms, and dads can be doing
00:53:52.920
and look forward to as everything seems to be chaos and falling apart around us. Well, the first thing I
00:54:01.360
would encourage everybody to do is when they get home or wherever they listen to this, go and read
00:54:08.360
Daniel 2, 21 and 22, and write that down and put it on your refrigerator. Because at the end of the day,
00:54:15.960
that's what gives us hope. However, it doesn't happen without the work that comes along that we're
00:54:24.080
supposed to do. And I believe at the core, at the core of most people, you know, Ali, you know,
00:54:33.460
in our business, I had, we had clients in all 50 states. I mean, I grew up in a very protected,
00:54:39.920
you know, below the Mason Dixon line, basically between Louisiana and Arkansas, and as a young
00:54:44.980
adult to Texas. And so I had a very closed view of whatever that world produces. But what I learned
00:54:52.200
in my 20s, when I began traveling all over the country in our business is there were good people
00:54:58.620
everywhere. And I still believe in the goodness of people. I certainly believe in the goodness of
00:55:04.020
America. We do go through these cycles where things go up and things go down some last longer than we
00:55:09.440
want them to be. Or if we happen to be the one that's impacted by it, it certainly feels a lot worse.
00:55:14.320
And I understand that. And the last big downturn in 2008, which actually worked out to be a really
00:55:21.480
good thing long term, I had to terminate and lay some people off from our company. And that was
00:55:26.400
hard to do. These people had families that, you know, they, you know, they needed the job. But it was
00:55:34.600
just the decision that had to be made at the time. And ultimately, you know, I'm firmly convinced it was
00:55:41.680
the right decision, not only for us, but for them as well. I've kept up with most of them over the years.
00:55:46.000
And they've, they've done really, really well. And we helped them where we could as far as getting
00:55:50.740
other employment and stuff like that. But I think what you have to understand is that this is not
00:55:56.040
normal. First of all, there's nothing new under the sun. And second of all, there's nothing new
00:55:59.880
that's going on right now that we haven't already been through in America. The if you go back and read
00:56:05.580
the newspapers and everything that were going on back in the early formation of the country and beyond,
00:56:11.520
there's always something that is pushing against the norm. Now, what's happened for a lot of years,
00:56:19.300
and this is something that we have to stop, because I believe the Lord will allow it to continue to
00:56:23.980
happen if his people aren't willing to stand up and stop it, is we have to be more vocal about stopping
00:56:29.700
things that aren't right. Doesn't mean we have to do it in a way that's hateful or mean or violent or
00:56:35.840
anything. But we cannot allow what happened in our school system over the last 50 years to happen
00:56:41.820
again. You know, the reason that the things went on in the school system like they did, yeah,
00:56:47.940
people that don't think like us and don't believe like us, you know, did the actions to maybe put
00:56:55.720
those books in the library or teaching some of the things they thought. But the reason it happened is
00:57:01.380
because we allowed it to happen. Because we as conservatives and quote unquote good Americans
00:57:06.860
dropped our kids off at the local public school and never, never spent any time there other than on
00:57:13.100
the sports field or maybe watching a play. Well, I believe that that one thing that COVID's done is
00:57:19.360
put a stop to that. And I am so excited about moms and dads all over America getting involved in where
00:57:26.620
their kids spend the majority of their time during their learning years. And there's where we have to
00:57:33.820
go. That's what can stop it. That's why I have hope is because I see a turning point in middle of
00:57:41.500
America that says enough is enough. Now, will we still have social issues and problems? Yes, we will.
00:57:47.560
And but I'll tell you what, as strong as the people that want to march for pro-abortion,
00:57:52.820
we need to be marching for life. We cannot let them have the stage that they are gaining. We have
00:58:02.640
to push back as hard and harder than we ever have before. Because in this issue, these issues that
00:58:10.900
we're talking about today, we are absolutely right. Yep. Yeah, I think that there are a lot more people
00:58:17.400
that are riled up than ever have been. There are people raising a respectful ruckus, as we like to
00:58:22.740
say. And I agree. People think, well, that's not doing anything. Talking about the issues isn't doing
00:58:27.080
anything. It does. It does. For just one example, and I know we have to go, but like the Biden
00:58:32.880
administration creating this disinformation board, which basically was just going to try to censor,
00:58:38.600
you know, dissent opinions that they don't like. I mean, that was very dystopian and very scary.
00:58:44.800
Well, guess what stopped that from happening, at least for now? People talking about it. We
00:58:49.140
exposed it. People blew a lid off of it. They didn't like that. Sunlight is a great disinfectant.
00:58:54.620
So actually, the parents going to school boards and saying, this is what is in the book. This is
00:58:59.100
what's in the curriculum. That makes a difference. Talking about it actually does make a difference.
00:59:06.140
Can I say one last thing? You know, we talked about this is coming out sometime around Father's
00:59:10.800
day, I would guess. Yeah. Thursday. And we talked about what responsibilities dads have,
00:59:16.240
and it's a huge one. But I also want your audience to know that sometimes we think because the dad
00:59:25.160
goes off to work, does his job, you know, maybe he's good at his job, probably is good at his job,
00:59:32.320
that he gets all that encouragement and fulfillment out there, and he doesn't need it when he gets home.
00:59:37.960
And there couldn't be anything further from the truth. You know, I've been able to do a lot of
00:59:43.920
things that made me feel good. But I'll tell you, there's nothing, nothing that makes you feel
00:59:52.000
better as a dad than your kids believing in you and affirming that and your spouse believing in you
01:00:00.500
and affirming that. And the lack of that happening to dads and husbands is just really, really pathetic.
01:00:12.220
You know, every commercial, every TV show makes fun of the dad. You never see much encouragement going
01:00:19.080
towards the dad. And yeah, the dad's got huge responsibilities and he needs to live up to those.
01:00:23.740
But you know what? His emotions are the same as everybody's. He wants to be loved and he wants
01:00:31.100
that love to be shown by the people that he cares about the most. Because I knew that if I had Lisa
01:00:38.480
on my side, that no matter what, no matter what happened, it didn't matter. We were moving down
01:00:43.880
the road. And she was always very, very good about that. So I just encourage you moms and kids to be
01:00:52.900
encouraging to your dad and your husband. That's very, very important.
01:00:57.620
You're on the same team. I know sometimes when, especially when the babies are little,
01:01:02.860
things are chaos and the baby's waking up multiple times a night, you're tired. It's easy to think that
01:01:08.520
you're on competing teams. It's easy to say, well, I did this or I did this, or I'm doing more than
01:01:14.160
you. But I try to remember myself because I remember someone told me this and I try to tell
01:01:19.100
other people, you're on the same team. You've got the same goal. The ball should be going the same
01:01:23.900
direction, which means that you are encouraging one another, not competing with one another.
01:01:29.520
So thank you for that. Thank you so much. Thanks for taking the time to come on. And when your book
01:01:35.600
comes out, which it will soon, then we'll have you back on in the studio and we'll talk about that
01:01:39.960
more. All right. Thanks. See you later. Thanks. Bye.