Made a decision. Oh pay Sonny sun On, I had vision so rich.
I love the name of Oh here we're going oy hiy. Allisons is
our new best friend. And uh, you're still doing the podcast Alison Rosen.
You're welcome. Thank you so much for coming. We've been looking forward
to this for a long time. Yeah. You know, I have to
say I learned something from Alison Rosen because you know, when we were doing
our podcast. I remember doing your podcast and when you interviewed me, and
you were so good at your interviews. I remember like when I would talk,
you would zip it. But but but because it's my nature to go
yeah, uh huh yeah huh. But so I learned to stop doing that
and just kind of nod instead, which in its place makes me feel like
I'm going right right instead of you know what I'm saying, Yeah, this
makes sense to Yeah, I learned that from you. Oh, thank you
so much. That's that's so nice to hear. And also I'm happy to
hear that I do that, because sometimes I hear myself or I think that
I'm going uh huh yeah a huh, and then I'm like, that's not
going to be a joy to listen to right. I'm glad that I don't
automatically do that. Yeah, I didn't learn that, and now I have
to see people's comments going stop saying right right all the time. I still
do say right, though, because you want to let the person know you're
with them, and yeah all that. Yeah, I think I still do
it a lot, but at least I catch myself like every now and then
like, okay, like just nod. All you have to do is just
nod. You know, that makes sense. I picked it up from you.
I was like, yeah, that makes sense that she doesn't do you
ever in real life though, Get this happens with Daniel. Sometimes I'll be
tired and I'll be listening, but I will feel like if I don't keep
going, I feel like if I don't do that, he'll think that I've
tuned out, and I don't want him to think I have. But it
gets very tiring. Right, but we need like some other thing, like
just to like, if my eyes are open, I'm listening, which is
not really true, I'm breathing. Do you ever listen to Daniel talk and
your brain you start thinking about something else by accident, and you're like,
what you need to get at the grocery store, and then you lose folk,
you lose what, and then you have no idea where you are in
the conversation. So and then you're busted and then they say like so yeah,
or do you agree? And then you have to go, I'm so
sorry I missed like the whole last thing you said, and you have no
excuse. It's not like a siren went by. It's just like your grain
marriage. He he'll say to me, so, what do you think about
that? I'm like, oh, God, he knows. He's trying to
he's trying to trip me up. Yeah, and I'll I will say,
I'll be like, I'm so sorry I missed everything I missed the last twenty
minutes. Yeah, it's hard to focus, especially because I have I don't
know, if you don't know, Stephanie and I. Stephanie and I spent
like a day together. We are new new best friends. You did my
show and then we did a Patreon episode of my show as well. It's
like a two hour Patreon I do No, I wasn't that long, but
it was like an hour. But I felt like we spent like the day
together. Oh, I think we're because We talked a bunch before we even
started. We did two dry in episodes, and exactly right, Stephanie's not
a big talker, No, not at all. I didn't really pull her
out of her show. Yeah wait, why did I start talking about that
though? Because of Daniel, because of trying to Oh, I know what
I'm saying. I don't remember if I got into the fact that I have
like a real phone addiction problem. I think everyone does right now, but
I feel like I do, especially so He'll be talking and it's I love
him, He's my husband. It's interesting, but like if you could see
what I'm seeing, It's like he's talking and then like he gets dimmer and
dimmer and dimmer and further, and then my phone is like getting brighter and
brighter and brighter and bigger, and all of a sudden, it's just like
I have to check to see if but here, like I'm in a fight
with someone on threads and I have to see if man I responding because I
know I'm going to be mad, and I'm pre mad already. I'm like,
uh huh uh huh uh huh right, bad, right, I do
that when I'm watching movies. I tune out, and people would hate watching
movies with me because I go, wait, what's just what's going on?
It's like, who is that? Yeah, and then you start going back.
I'll do this with podcasts and then I realize, oh, I haven't
heard the whole podcast because I was thinking about something else or looking at Facebook
at the same time. And then I go, I literally have to go
all the way back, like it'll be a dateline, so you kind of
need the right I'm like, and then I'll go back all the way to
the beginning and realize, oh, I really did miss a lot of stuff,
Like if I had just gone back thirty seconds, I would have had
no idea what was going on. I used to do that in school with
assigned reading, like I would you know, be in class I read it.
I mean in that my eyes went over the words, but I have
no idea what I didn't comprehend it. Some people would say that we have
ADHD. I'm not guessing, so I've wondered. My therapist says no,
oh really yeah, but I'm like, well, I don't know what that's
based on. And also who's right my therapist or things I've read on TikTok.
Things you've read on TikTok when you were supposed to be focused on something
else. When I was listening to my husband and it was on mute.
Yeah, have you ever been tested for ADHD? I read the book Driven
to Distraction when I was when I was young. I think I think it
was suspected about me when I was young, but I was never like put
on medication for it, and I wouldn't go. But a lot people have
commented that they think some of the things I complained about are like therapists have
messaged me and said, it sounds like you've ADHD, But what do they
know? Well, honestly, it's like, okay, but what am I
supposed to do besides on medication? And I don't want to go on medication
right. I feel like now this is now, this is going to sound
controversial. So I think ADHD medicine can be amazing for people that need it,
and especially I'm sure there are tons of kids. If if my kid
needed medication, I would put them on medication. For me personally, I
would be so scared that it would make me feel speedy because I was I
think maybe I was medicated for adhd. But back in the day when it
was only riddling' and I think it made me feel well. Lynette night.
Both we've tried the Dexa trim right now, I know you didn't. I
didn't try. I tried Dexaterra. I didn't like to be I don't want
to be speedy. Now. I was going to like murder a neighbor or
something. Dexam It was terrible. They don't make that anymore, do they.
It's called uh uh, what's it called? What's a called? No,
but Dexa Trim was something that was sold at the grocery store. You
could get it at the ground. I remember watching I don't know if you
guys went through the shoplifting phase around thirteen, of course. Yeah, oh
yeah, so I remember watching my friend I'm gonna call her Janine. She
we were at the grocery store and she like opened up a box of Dexa
Trim and then you know, it has like two blister packs in there.
She like slipped one up her Quicksilver sweatshirt sleeve and then we waltzed out.
It was very bold. Yeah, no, she didn't get busted. Did
you. Were you ever with somebody who got busted for shoplifting. No,
and I only dipped my toe in the kryptomaniac shoplifting kleptomaniac. Yeah, waters
want at Disneyland and it was such a rush. Oh my god, I
totally get it. And I feel like like it was like these like,
you know, very cheap little rings and things. I feel like they don't
even care. No. But then this one girl, very wealthy, got
busted for stealing a swim People that don't need the ships that are stealing it,
right the Winona Ryder, Yes, but I'm on. But she got
busted for stealing a swimsuit from like Nordstrums or something. I think I now,
I don't know if I'm mixing this with like a TV show I saw,
but I feel like she got, you know, restrained by mall cops
in the basement of the mall or something. I don't know. I want
to I want to hear just to switch gears, because Alison, you are
a mom now, yes I am. Last I saw you you weren't a
mom, and now you are, Like I want to hear out. Okay,
you's got like four kids. I have fifteen children and I'm pregnant with
no. Yeah, so I have two boys. They are they both have
birthdays in February, so they're going to be seven and five. They are
Elliott and Owen. And yeah, So when I last saw you, I
think I had started doing fertility stuff, but I wasn't doing IVF in earnest,
okay, but then I did so, and it was like a number
of rounds of I have endometriosists and I'd had surgery for that back in twenty
eleven. I guess that can the surgery that they were doing then can really
interfere with fertility, and I didn't know that. So it was hard to
get eggs. So I did, like a number of egg retrievals, ended
up with I forget how you know, a few embryos, transferred all of
them eventually and ended up with two babies, which is what I wanted.
So it was like really because the whole time I was doing IVF, I
was really trying to and it's a hard and you guys know, it's like
a hard place to be. But I was trying to tell myself, I'm,
you know, spending all my time, all my money doing this,
but I'm okay if it doesn't work, it might not work, and I'll
be okay, I'll get a lot of dogs. I'll be okay, and
so then so lucky. But yeah, I so I have two boys,
and can I ask a couple of questions about that though, because you and
Lynette both right, I did IVF two? Yeah? Did you try?
Like, did you already know that you weren't going to be able to get
pregnant? Yes, okay, so you just knew if I want to start
a family, like, I'm going to have to go this way first.
No. The way I knew was my gynecologist said to me, And she
said this a few years before I was trying. She said, this is
what I tell She said, this is what I tell women who are over
thirty five, try for six months and if it doesn't work, good or
fertility clinic. So that was in my head, and I think we tried
for maybe like five months, and then I was like, let's just get
a head start on this because I feel like I know where this is going.
And it actually was a surprise to me how much trouble I had,
Like I didn't know that endometriosis is famous for kind of messing with your foto.
I didn't know that, and people had mentioned freezing your eggs like that
was already happening, and I just thought that's, first of all, it's
expensive and I'm a whimp, and it sounds invasive. And I had it
in my head that freezing your eggs is something you do if you want to
bring a child into the world without a partner. And I didn't want to
give up on the idea, Like that's how I framed it. I didn't
want to give up on the idea that I'm going to find my person.
And it never I don't know why it didn't. I mean, I feel
like doctor Drew was even like, oh, yeah, for totality goes off
a cliff when you're blah blah blah, and I'm just like, no,
I'm not going to listen to that because I didn't want to be dating with
a sense of urgency. So I just it didn't occur to me. Yeah,
it didn't occur to me that it's a good idea to freeze your eggs
so that then when you're ready to have a child with a partner, even
you have a better shot at it. That just didn't occur to me.
So yeah, So then and I think people had even said, you know
what, just goes straight to IVF because you can do all the half measures
and it's just gonna waste time and money. And I was like, no,
I'm still going to do all the first Yeah, like I did.
Yes, I didn't do I did two rounds of IUI. I didn't do
that. I just we did the clone ed that the medication. Tried that
for a little while, and then doctor Drew was like, listen, cut
the crab, like if you want to get pregnant, go to the fertility
specialists. So like that's what we did, and then we did one round
of fertility and then it worked. IV Yeah, did you do you remember
did you do what's called a fresh transfer? I did? What is a
fresh So a fresh transfer is when they put the embryos in, like I
think, I want to say, a couple of weeks after or like pretty
close after. Maybe it's not even a couple of weeks, might even be
less after the retrieve after they like make them a frozen transfers. Then when
they take the embryos and they freeze them and then they kind of get you
ready, but there's a longer time in between. I did the fresh okay,
yeah, yeah, it wor that yeah, and then yeah, it
worked the first but I remember specifically saying, like I they only had three
embryos they were going to put in, and I was like, uh,
all three at the same time. And they were saying, because embryo A
has less than forty percent chance and embryo B has less than twenty percent chance.
At embryo C, that's what he told me, and embryo C had
less than eleven percent. And I was like, this sounds like shitty,
and he's like, well, that's why we're going to put all three in.
And then Sonny is embryo A and Italian's embryo B, and then you
know that, yeah, yeah, I know what they are. And then
then I had a third heartbeat for first like twelve weeks, but it was
always this like like kind of faint off to the side, said the two
streaking out. Yes, I was like, oh my god, I knew
this was gonna I got three babies going inside of me. And then at
the twelfth it just kind of got absorbed the third one. Oh, and
I was like, oh that's okay, well, okay, twins that I
can handle. So like I Actually that's how I got because I think if
I found out I had twins, I'd be freaked out. I had twins
initially, you do, so they so nowadays most clinics will transfer what they
call a blasticist, which is where they let the embryo grow for however many
days, and a blasticist is like more cells versus like a six to eight
cell thing. There's reasons why they'll do blasticists, and they can like do
genetic testing on that versus just whatever they call a like three to five day
embryo. For me, we did three to five day embryos and those also
have you know, they have fewer chances of blahlah blah. So they wanted
to do I think three at a time for me, and I was like,
that freaks me out. Let's just do I think I allowed them to
do two the first time, and it was twins at the beginning, and
I was freaking out. So I was like, I want two kids,
but not at the same time. And I remember and we lived in an
apartment that was up a flight of stairs, and I was like, how
am I gonna Okay, let's say Daniel's at work. I need to take
the babies somewhere. How am I going to get both kids down the stairs
and into the car, And like it was this mouth problem I couldn't solve.
I couldn't solve it either, And I have twins. Yeah, how
well, So anyway, around eight weeks, like one of them just the
heart, the doctor said to me, like, I think you're in the
process of miscarrying that one. And it was a weird it like was sad,
but I felt guilty because I wasn't as sad as I felt like I
was supposed to be because I was a little bit relieved. And how do
you get twins down a flight of stairs? I lived in a house with
stairs, and we lived up Lake Hollywood when I when they were toddlers,
and it was like I couldn't even take them for a walk because it's all
hills and I'm pushing a double stroller. But I, I mean, I
don't know how I did it, but we did it. And and Adam
wasn't around, like he was gone all the time, and I was by
myself a lot. And yeah, and that's what we were talking about on
the other show, like oh you had a nanny and blah blah, blah
blah blah. It's like, yeah, assholes, because we have nobody.
We had no grandparents, no aunts, no uncles, no help. So
yeah we had a nanny so but even her, like it was so.
I just remember wanting to take them for walks and I just couldn't in our
neighborhood because maybe when they were little little, but then once they started becoming
toddlers, then we got like two of them and I'm pushing them up the
hill. It's like it's out of breast too much. Yeah, I mean
one baby's hard and then you double that. Right for me, I already
had an older, you know, a three year old, and then I
have these twins and people would say like, you got you gotta live your
life, like go out to eat, and I was like, are you
high? No, Like I I did not ever want to a restaurant with
them until the twins were at least like three and LB was six, And
even then I was like, that's really that's not fun for me. No,
that's not I would it's much more relaxing to be at home. Yes,
there's more cleanup, but like it's terrible to be at a restaurant.
It's not you're constantly like, sit down, yeah, what do you What
are we gonna get him to eat? Like? You know, we went
to the grocery store. Have you guys been to Amazon Fresh? I have
never been there. I don't recommend it. I So I'm on this,
Uh, this is what I do with my time. Now, I'm on
a quest to find affordable groceries. Did we talked about this, right?
You're a trader Joe's person, right, yes, yes, Because it's just
it's just groceries are just too much. I don't want groceries to be my
splurge. And on some like mom board, people were talking about Amazon Fresh
it's so great. So we went there yesterday. It is not particularly affordable.
They'll have like a deal on grapes or something, which yay, But
I do not recommend it if you're trying to save money. But anyway,
we took the boys. Elliott, the older one is like a dream.
He is so well behaved. He's just a wonderful little man. Yeah.
And then Owen is crazy. I love him to death as well, but
he gets very just sounds like you don't love him. It sounds like you
only care about one of your children. I mean, how old are they?
They're right now, they're six and four, they're about to be seven.
I got, yeah, I know. It's it's insane to me because
when I look at Elliott, I can still see the little baby that he
was. He was in there, I had Maconium, he was in the
nicu, and there was a moment I remember looking at him in his little
like io ladder warmer or whatever, where I was just like, who is
this little person? And I still flash back to that moment all the time.
But so anyway, we're so Owen, who's crazy adorable and wonderful as
well, but very cute. Her kids are so cute. Thank you.
I did her podcast at her house. Oh my god, they're adorable,
so cute. Except Elliott's like new thing is when I introduced him to my
guests, he just stares at them. This is please please snap out of
this phase. So Owen gets really like overwhelmed in environments with a lot of
stimulation, and it took us a little while to put together what's happening.
I think because he gets so overwhelmed, his way to self soothe is just
to like start talking and kind of just like vocalizing, like in a loud
way. So I'm pushing he's in the cart, I'm pushing the cart,
and it's just like someone is yelling in my ear the whole time, and
it is and I'm like worried about him bothering other people, but he's not
that loud, but still it's just yeah, and it's like I felt like
Daniel and I had been through a war by the time I got back,
Like that was so unpleasant and we kind of only did it. Yes,
we had to get grocery, but it was also because like we haven't done
anything this weekend. We feel like bad parents. We've been indoors. Let's
just do something. Let's just get out of the house, right, why
why? Yeah, you're in the trenches, right, yeah, thank you.
That age, the age that your kids are is like that feeling of
oh my god, how are we going to entertain them? We have to
do this stuff. And if they don't have like Lynette and I have complained
about this a lot of a lot where if they don't have a birthday party
they're invited to, then there's nothing like then it's up to you, Like
I would love you know, you get off cheap, you go to a
kid's birthday party, you buy them a present, but like that's the entertainment
and somebody else is providing. Like the more birthday parties the better. And
of course we say divide and conquer, like one of us would have to
take them to the birthday party. But you're still at a non drop off
age, which is perfect because then you have something to do. You're like,
oh, between three and five on Sunday, there's a party, and
you're planning for it for like three weeks. In three weeks, we got
little Justin's birthday party coming up, so that's our weekend, you know.
But other than that, you're like, oh, God, just go to
work or a play place or do I Oh, I haven't been to one
of those since the Have I even been once since the pandemic? Yeah,
those could be. Those were where I would take them. Yeah, when
Elliott was like I think it was before Owen was born, and oh it
was little I used to go to one a lot and the whole time,
you guys know what pinworms are? Yes, yes, I never I made
it to my advanced stage without ever knowing what pinworms were until like, of
course I know about lice. I remember the concern about lice. Growing up,
somehow never knew about pinworms, and then who mentioned Someone mentioned it because
it had been like a plot on a TV show, And the second I
heard it, I was like, worms out of your butt what like?
And it was just like, oh my god, I can't stop the I
can't stop being worried about this and so and the fact that like, oh
everyone gets them. It cuts across every so you know, there's no you
cannot mitigate against it. So I would just stare at the ball pit and
just think like, pinworm, mags, pinworm mags, pinworm mags. And
actually I like, don't lick any ball I know. But and I volunteer
at Elliott School one day a week and I love it. I love it
so much that I'm like, should I just leave everything behind and become a
teacher? And I don't. I'm sure I would stop loving it if I
did. But I got our friend Julie Kayson, who's one of my very
close friends. She her kids. She would volunteer at the school so much
that she was like, I'm going to be the I'm going to go and
be the yard monitor. She was like a yard monitor. And it's a
thankless volunteer. I'm so thankless. So she didn't like that because it was
really hard and having to just police the pe and the outside playground. But
now she she's an assistant teacher. Oh that's interesting. She loves it so
but now luckily her kids, she's yes, she loves it. She loves
it. Yeah, she's really happy. Yeah. I volunteered for this,
for the the outdoor recess monitor thing. And I showed up the first day
and sending in and Tali, You're like, what the what are you doing
here? And I go, I'm volunteering. I'm doing my job. You
got a volunteer. And they're like, volunteer for something else, like not
out our like not during our break time. We don't want you want I'm
like, really, we're smoking cigarettes. Now I'm out of here. Elliott's
still the age where he's very excited for me to be there. I know
that that won't last. But so anyway, I'm at the school and I'm
using the kids restroom because there's a line in the teacher's lounge which I've decided
I deserve to use. And the whole time, just like pinworms, this
is where pinworms happen. Oh god, I need to like I need I
need to talk to my therapist about that. Right, so far is good.
But if I ever see and it's owen, I ever see owen do
a little like scratch, I'm like, oh no, yeah, yeah,
I probably have. Did your kids ever get lice? No? Did I
ever tell you about the one time that we had a scare at preschool?
They they called me into the school to pick up Xander. They said he
had a lice. They found an in his hair, They found a they
found a lice. Oh God, like not the egg, but they found
a louse. Yeah, lause. And so then I had to take Sadie
also on spec because they're like, if Xander has it, Sadie has it.
So I had to go down to this place that's like a it's called
like lice fairies or something. I don't know where they go, and they
treat it for lice. And they went and they combed through the hair and
they're like, no, oh that's good, it doesn't have he does not
have lice. It was like, I mean, if you say there was
maybe there was just like a little bug in his hair, but there's no
They could find nothing. And they checked Sadie as well, and I paid
money for that and then like the school barely believed me. I to like
get a no. I I tried to bring them back to school and they
were like, no, too soon, guess. But I was like,
they don't have it. Yeah, yeah, it was annoying, soona they
never actually had it. So what are the you like going to the park
and stuff, because Stephanie and I used to hate. No, I don't
like it. I don't. I don't know. I do not like outdoor
activities with kids either. We wait, hold on, let's take a great
break. We're way overdue for a break. Park, you guys discuss the
park. I don't. I'm not an outdoorsy person, so I don't and
I'm not a park sand person. Yes, I hate it. No,
it's like I don't like sand. Yeah, it's just And also if it
were like I could just sit there and mess on around on my phone while
my kids have a grand time, then that would be one thing. But
it's not like that. I feel like there's a lot of me involved,
like Mommy put me on this and mom and also my kids are like Mommy
watched me, Like we got a Nintendo Swim which for Christmas, which really
is kind of an effort to get them off their tablets and onto like a
screen that's further away, because I think it's better for it is the kind
of parent I am. But actually it is like there's a lot of movement
and I think it's good. But anyway, you would think that that would
buy you some time. But Elliott is like, we watched me play.
We watch me play, and I kind of remember being a little kid and
how much more special it was if your parent was watching. Right, So
I try to but yeah, yeah, so no, I do not enjoy
the park. We used to joke about being at the park. How you
know you could just give them a thumbs up, like when they go watch
me and then there did you see me? And you go, yeah,
you know I saw you? And then do they feel maybe they feel seen
by that. I should cooked on the right, but it isn't. Yeah,
you can't just go to the park and just zone out. No.
Also, if you're like we are, probably I'm sure you're like this.
The playgrounds that they have these structures that are kind of high up. Yeah,
so I was always especially when the kids are even younger, but like
that three age, You're like, you can't just be walking around on a
platform. You're gonna fall off and kill yourself. Like, I can't believe
nobody. It's like when I it's like my driving anxiety when I'm on the
freeway and I'm like, how are these people just driving? Like how are
people not constantly crashing? I can't be at the park and not think that
my kid's gonna fall. You know where the pole is, you know,
there's like there's no nets, Like that's just so empty. Like you if
you go to slide down the pole and you miss, like that's it.
Yeah, how are people not getting hurt all the time all the time?
You know what? I makes my eyes get very wide? Young kids skiing,
Oh I know, isn't that weird when you like see you let your
tiny I mean and I'm sure it's fine. And so other people, yeah,
you know that don't care about their kids. It's the chair lift?
How how are you worried about? I mean all of it, but like
especially the chair I would I would, Yeah, it gives me the hebgs
just imagining being on a chair lift with my kids because I'd be so afraid,
Like, yeah, well, scormy oen No. I remember I we
took the kids skiing when they were like a bunch of people went like a
bunch of families for New Year's one year, decided that we were going to
rent some house like in Big Bear whatever, and there's like my friend Melissa,
her son is a year older than my kids, and another family had
kids one year older than my kids. So my kids were like four,
they were five, so they've already been on skis before, and I'm like,
I gotta get on a ski lift with my kids, like there's no
seat, but like, what the this is scary? I remember feeling like
that. And they're just going up on the skis and putting their kids on
skis and their kids are going down the thing and my kids are going nowhere
fast? You know. Did they do okay? Though? Did they like?
They? They stood up on the thing and tried. I put them
in a little ski school to learn the and they were like done within an
hour. They didn't. They didn't, Yeah, they weren't. They didn't
like it. The other thing too, that I was like, you know,
old school Italian, like my parents never had a babysitter for me,
so like when we would go on trips, everybody would go like, oh,
we got a babysitter to watch the kids in the in the hotel room,
and I'd be like, oh, absolutely not, you know. But
then once you have kids and everybody else is doing it, it's like,
all right, how much is a babysitter for one night? Okay? You
know? Do you I have? We have never done that because we haven't
been on that many trips, right, and when we do, We've gone
to Hawaii a few times and my mother. We've taken my mother in law,
which is like ideal because it's like built in yeah, like built in
babysitter. But when I was little, we used to go to Las Vegas
all the time and it was not like I feel like it's pretty family friendly
at this point, but it was not back right, It's like we'd go
to the fashion show mall and we'd go to Circus Circus and the pool.
Other than that, it was like but whatever. It was just like I
grew up in Las Vegas, but my parents would always get hotel babysitters.
So I have been babysat by a number of hotel babysitters. Oh okay,
are they crazy? Expensive. I don't remember because we did it what I
only did it one time. I don't I don't remember, but I don't
think so it depends on where you're staying, I guess, and I think
it was when we were in Hawaii once. But but yeah, I don't
remember. I don't remember. Better though, to do that, then remember
that story we covered. We covered like we're journalists when we talked to you
in the field, Yeah, it's out in the field. No, remember
that that guy that that had a heart attack. Yes, in a restaurant.
He and his wife were at a I think he was he adjournalist.
I think he was a reporter or something. Anyway, they the ABC.
They left their baby, a six month old baby and a two year old
in the hotel by themselves. In they had a monitor this is this is
ringing a bell. And then they went to dinner with friends. And then
the husband had a heart attack and they had to go to the hospital and
they had and then the she called some friends and said to go to the
hotel to check on the kids. But like the hotel wasn't going to just
let some randoms, right, And and then they got in big trouble.
She got them. So she was like she died right. Yeah. I
remember thinking, oh, that's like she just lost her husband and now she's
going to jail or prisoner or whatever. I don't remember if she was convicted
of anything. She I'm sure she did. She really get that much trouble,
but she shoiuld. But like I just remember going like, wow,
I guess you don't expect that to happen, but how are you a fifteen
minute walk from No, that's in Manhattan, Like, yeah, that's crazy
leaving your six month old baby. No, I don't even like I remember
some friends remember sleep training such a horrendous time of life. Yeah, some
friends that we were in like a mommy and daddy in me group with talking
about how they have a guest house and so they're going to put their baby
in there to sleep train them. I had that reaction as well. What
how like so my studio is it's probably like the distance from our house that
this is from the main house, so it would be like maybe like five
feet further away. But I remember Daniel didn't even want us to be in
there with the kids in the house, and I felt like, I feel
like that's okay, Like with our monitor. Yeah, but even he felt
like that was even too far away. So the idea of like, so
he's more nervous than you, Yes, and yet one of the kids can
cry and I know it instantly and he is so oblivious. M M.
Yeah, default parent, You're a default, but it's always there's one default
parent. Yeah, I guess so lately John's been with the kids more than
I have. And now he's here, here's phantom like the kids crying,
somebody will be laughing or whatever, and he'll go, I feel like one
of the kids is crying and I'm like, no, that's just Sadie laughing.
He's like, no, I feel like I heard I heard somebody crying.
And I'm like, I don't. I don't think so. And it's
a lactate too. I hear default mommy, mommy, Yeah, mommy,
mommy, mommy, just right in my head. I need to complain about
my husband for a minute for you, you would do so. Owen is
very into the solar system and planet, and I don't. I tuned in,
like while this conversation is already happening, but I heard him saying something
about how the sun is going to explode and then they're like, the sun's
going to explode. And then he's like, I mean not for you know,
billions and billions, And I said, what are you doing? Because
why why put this in their heads? And even though he's trying to mitigate
against the fear of being like, no, it's going to billions of billions
of years, but it's like, but okay, so now you're explaining to
them that they're going to which is fine obviously, like, yes, we're
all going to die one day, but like, this is a big thing
for a kid to again, right, And I just feel like, what
compelled you to think this was a wonderful thing to tell your seven and five,
six and four year old? Because I think he's a guy, so
he's more logical, so he assumes that, like, well, logically,
that's not going to be something that's going to affect us, But we as
women feel that I think more emotionally to like but line is, I was
going, yeah, I could see myself doing that. I was just gonna
I know, it's kind of an honest it's an honest thing. He's like,
here's a fut my boys, don't don't think about how it's going to
affect them because yeah, because then so it kind of like went away.
And then last night Owen brought it up, brought it up like the Sun's
going to explode, but not for a long time. And then Daniel was
like, I mean by then we'll be on spaceships going to other planets.
And then it's like, so, now, Owen, his head's gonna explode.
He is really thinking that we're going to be on a spaceship like going
to another planet. And then I was trying to explain to him that's not
it's going to be for not many many like not in our lifetime, and
then hoping like that doesn't go to uncomfortable place and I know, yeah,
yeah, yeah, you're right, Like guys they don't think about that stuff
like that that moms do. I guess, you know, let's should we
take another break real quick? Yeah, let's take a break. So let's
talk a little bit about like what you're doing. Like your podcast is huge
now, it's huge, So how how long have you been doing Alison Rosen
is your new best friend? And did you start that when you were still
wait are we are we break? Have we broke back? Yeah? Okay,
yeah, so Alison Rosen Is Your Best Friend? I actually when I
was living before I was on Corolla. When I was living in New York,
I had a live streaming internet show called Alison Rosen Is Your Your Best
Friend? I did Wow. Yeah, it was on you Stream, which
I believe is maybe still around in some format. But anyway, I did
it for three hours every I can't remember it was Sunday or Wednesday. But
the weird thing is it's actually for people who are familiar with my podcast,
Like a lot of the things from the podcast started in some way on that
show, like some of the segments I do like just mirror everyone and various
other ones, the jingles and things like that. So then when I moved,
did you have listeners like viewers? Yeah, I mean it was a
stream. It was a small It wasn't like I didn't have a humongous audience
or anything. But I remember you Stream would sometimes feature me on the front
page and it was like me and Joe Rogan, who was also doing you
stream at that time. I was, Oh, that's interesting. Did you
make money? I mean I went out and like got a sponsor once,
so that and then I had I like sold merch and stuff like that,
but no, it was. It was not a money making venture like in
any way at that point. It was I was just kind of experimenting and
seeing what was happening and stuff. Moved out to Californy started doing the Croll
Show, and uh, I wanted to bring it back. I think the
time was not right. Uh, And then they approached me about doing I
think it was like a singles version of Parent Experiment or for Crying Out Loud.
I don't know which one was. Yeah, I think it was.
It was only fight Lyn and I have ever gotten into ever this was.
I feel like this predated you though probably yeah, yeah, maybe, and
so you and I host this show together. And then I forgot about that.
I'm sure that wasn't after we were for Crying Out Loud Singles Edition.
I think it. I think we had started it was was it a Psychic
Friends Hotline? No, this was this was way before that. This was
before this was like so it was this one. She was still doing it
with Teresa. No, because they came along after Teresa. So we've been
with Zan I think so, I'm not one hundred I'm not one hundred percent
sure because it was just like a pilot, like nothing ever happened with it,
because really quickly they were like, why don't you do your own show?
That's what happened. And so then I remember trying to call with the
name, and I remember you saying, I like Alice and Rosen's you your
best friend? Because I think that maybe during our little piloty thing, I
had like date done some of the segments that I was used to doing,
so you knew that I had like that stuff. So then it was not
like they said that and then it was like, now here's my show.
It was like there were some ups and downs, but but then I started
doing it. Yeah, So that was while I was still at Corolla,
and then I was no longer at Corolla, and I was like, oh
shit, I gotta like I'm gonna I'm gonna keep doing this and I'm gonna
go independent. And I one thing I am proud about is that I never
missed an episode. Like I was just like very I it kind of like
gave me a like lid a fire under my ass of like I've got to
do, you know, I've got to like find a place to record,
which was my dining room, and I got to you know, get my
ducks in a row and stuff. So yeah, I've been doing it since
then. So as soon as you found out you weren't going back to Corolla,
because that was quick, right Like when you found out then it was
just you were done. Oh yeah, it wasn't like it wasn't like another
month around. So you and you had been recording that at the studio,
yes, okay, So how did you did? You just go like,
I gotta get what were there casts back then? Like what? How did
you know what to get? So I had already purchased a Zoom recorder,
which remember you're like, oh, you used the old school one is what
I still use? Okay, it's weirdly sticky, like the rubber on it
is sticky, and I'm like, I think it's disintegrating, but it still
works. And so I bought and I purchased some microphones, and I think
I did that. I did that while I was still at Corolla. But
I think the idea was I wanted to be able to like do remote recordings
as well, so I had that stuff and then I think I quickly just
bought more of the stuff that I needed and like set it up in my
in my living dining room, which we didn't use to. Actually, we
had like one holiday meal there via people in front of the couch. Yeah,
so set it up and then just started recording there. Yeah, and
then you got you used to have some of the guests where like people like
from Corolla, Right, you are going there. Oh, I'm sorry,
I know. It's okay, we can, we can, we can.
I'm sure people are just curious. Every as I said to you, even
before we were recording these all these for crying out loud fans are like your
fans. Okay. Yeah, so I don't even know where she's going I
don't really honestly even know either. I'm just okay, I have to talk
about anything you don't want to know? We can. So yeah, Well,
so my Thursday show was it was Matt Fondelier, Laxamana Gary and Kaylin
am I leaving anyone out, No, that's who it was. And then
my friend Jenna usually Okay, So I emailed the guys and I was like,
hey, I'm fired. You know, I would love to continue doing
the show. I'll be recording at my house, but I completely understand if
you're not able to do it anymore, Like you know. I don't know
how I articulated it, but in essence, like whether you're not able to
or whether you don't want to make the drive anymore, because it was super
easy for them to do it before because they were already there, your right,
and they all wrote back like right away and we're like we wanted to
still do it. And I was like, oh my god, like that
that is so heartwarming, and they told me I'm hesitanting just I feel like
anytime I talk about this stuff, I worry that people are like, she's
not out right yet, you know, and so it's always like thorny for
me to talk about it. But you asked, so I will, okay.
So they told me that they asked Adam and that he said it was
okay. So we record an episode. The sound was terrible. It was
terrible because I didn't now I remember, I didn't remember. He didn't.
He wasn't doing you were there though, I was. I remember going over
to your place. Yeah, I wasn't doing the recording right. No,
it was Gary, but it wasn't his fault. We had omnidirectional microphones and
I didn't know how to use them, and that I had borrowed them,
so it was like really like echoe and washy I think, and then super
relatable. I used to have a yet the yetty Blue mic, and I
didn't understand there's so many yeah, and it was always sounded so tinny and
picked up anything from other yeah. Right, but if I did it directional
so that it didn't do that, it also didn't sound good. It was
just like a shitty micas yeah, I think the yeah, I don't think
the yetti blue is the best. So yeah. So then my emails went
unreturned for a little while. I don't think he was the main one though,
and I was like, Okay, something's up. And then I found
out that they were not allowed to do my show anymore. Oh but not
in any sort of direct way. That's that was the part I didn't enjoy,
was like the sort of whatever they were in a terrible situation. I
understand that. I want to say, I feel like of the of the
like, what the fuck that I feel towards those guys, I feel it.
I probably feel it the least towards Kailin. Yeah. Yeah, that
was pretty soon. I think that was pretty soon after I started there.
I mean, I don't think I was there for very long while you were
still there, So I was still just like running around. I didn't know
what I was doing either. We were still calling him Brandon. Yeah.
Yeah, he didn't even know what he looked, Yeah, because he looks
like a Brandon to us. You do. We couldn't remember mckaylan, Kleb
Caleb something. I wonder if so was Gary still our producer? I think
he was Maybee maybe yeah, I think so. Wait? Why did why
did Gary become untethered from for crying out loud? I think he moved on
to somebody else. I was doing it with Gary for pretty much as soon
as I started working there, Gary was and I was kind of sitting behind
Gary doing all the show notes. And then I think he just got a
bunch of other work, and since I was there anyway, he was like,
well, why don't you just do this show? So he kind of
just handed it off to me. That's yeah kind of how that happened.
Gary took you under under his wing early. Yeah, he loved you,
and he was like, I'm going to train this kid and blah blah blah.
Okay, so then all these guys are not responding to so what did
you do? So then I'm like, well, fuck, I got to
get new people really fast. So I did, and I actually had he's
controversial, but Shane, do you know Shane Dawson, he was not.
I don't think he was as controversial then Okay, he's like a really very
big YouTuber. Okay, and he came on the first episode along with my
friend. I just had different friends coming on and still Jenna Kim Jones,
who was a comedian who had been a constant on the Thursday Show before,
and she was actually someone who had been on the New York version of the
Internet streaming show. So yeah, she moved to LA and so when I
started doing the group show with those guys, I was like, Jenna was
great, I gotta get her on. So yeah, I just sort of
I would have different people on and experimented, and then we kind of solidified
into a regular group, which was great. Those were like some people feel
like that was like the you know, like the golden era of the show
for because there were these you know, personalities that they knew, and I
forget how long it was the same people, But then people's lives moved and
Jenna and her husband moved to, uh where do they go to? Georgia?
She still comes on sometimes, but still like we lost them. And
then Greg Heller, who used to come on all the time, was just
like he was in Venice and he's like, I cannot do this drive anymore.
But they still come on sometimes, but now it's more of a rotating
group. Okay, is everybody always in studio or do you do zoom?
So during the pandemic I did zoom, right, but now we're back to
in studio. Yeah, so Thursday I have the group and then Monday I
do a one on one interview, right, So okay, so you still
do a group, yes, yeah, yeah, but do you find it
challenging to always figure out who's going to be part of that group? Like
what if you can't find people? If I can't, It's honestly never happened,
and there's been stuff I'm sure you guys have this happened too, where
like someone will let me know the morning of they can't do it, and
then my other guest will drop out, and then I'm like, Okay,
I feel like my body's on fire and I'm just like I've got to go.
But it's always worked out. But if it weren't to work out someday,
it would be fine because Daniel, my husband, is usually on it
and in the audience loves him. And then Tony, my producer, you
know, is also like really good on Mike. So it's fine. We
could still do it. But it just hasn't happened that I haven't been able
to get anyone, and you're doing so many other things, like so you
have sub stack you were talking about, yeah, and we never got to
your story. Can you tell us a little bit about what you have?
A big story? Oh yeah, writing out on your substack. Tell us
about that. So some people might know a little bit because I had talked
about it here and there. I didn't know I was Jewish until after I
graduated college because my dad said we weren't. And even though it didn't,
it increased as I got older. Didn't make sense to me, like there
was a lot of cognitive dissonance. I just but why did your dad even
have to say you weren't? Had you asked him? Because my last name
is Rosen, so people assumed I was Jewish always. And I grew up
in Orange County, California, and in like a pretty non in like a
very arian area, very blond and blue eyed and beechy and athletic, and
so people just and my dad's a doctor. And the part that they didn't
know but that also but that I knew, was that my mom's mom came
over from Vienna and the rest of her family died in camps. So it's
like, how are we not Jewish? I don't understand, you know,
but yeah, So people were constantly assuming I was, and then I would
say I'm not because my dad said we weren't, and I just believed that
he would never lie to me. And then we were walking around Babbo Island,
which is this cute little area down in Orange County after I graduated college,
and I said to my mom, Mom, I know you've told me
before, but can you tell me again, how is it that our last
name is Rosen and you're you have relatives that died in the Holocaust and we
look Jewish and we're not. And instead of saying any of the things that
I'd heard before, she said, you'll have to ask your father. And
I was like, and it was like this combination for years, like suddenly
it like, you know, moved and I was like, oh my god,
so yeah, this is this thing that I have. You know,
it's been part of my identity, but it hasn't really made sense to me.
I've never whatever to feel Jewish, whatever that means. Never. I
never felt that I'm not a religious person. But it was just like something
like, well, I know the truth as I am. But I also
bought the book Judaism for Dummies because I want to know what holidays people think
I'm celebrating, because people are like wish there were saying, you know,
saying things to me, and I don't know how to respond. And so
it was really like nothing that ever meant anything. It meant anything to me.
And then October seventh happened, which I had a pretty profound reaction to,
like I believe I take I took it. I was just like,
oh shit, it's uh wow, you know. And so I've never written
about not knowing I was Jewish and then finding out and all the pieces of
that story. So did you ask your father? Yeah, well so that's
actually yes. And let me say this. Eventually we got to the point
where we could talk about being Jewish and why he lied, and it got
there eventually, But it did not happen right away, Like that was a
process because when I asked him right away, he was like, like,
you know, I'm not religious, doesn't we're not Jewish? Or what did
he say? He said, oh yeah, like no, he said I've
never been religious, like we're not Jewish. And then I said, well,
but were you Jewish and you're a kid, and he claimed he lied
long story short, like he claimed that he had never encountered this idea that
Rosen is a Jewish name until he moved to California, which is like not
true. And then he actually he started crying and he said that his childhood
was so awful, which it was he had like a very abusive childhood that
he said that his childhood was so awful that he can't remember he can't remember
any details, which and I was just like, well he just that's a
checkmate, Like I don't know what to do with that. And it was
really like, my my friend has this one woman show right now about finding
out. It's called How to Get a Second Husband Jackie Johnson. She's hilarious.
Uh, and she finds out that her husband has been cheating and she
confronts him and he faints twice, like faking it, you know, And
that was kind of I was always very connected to my dad, and he
passed away in July, but in his emotions and whenever, if he would
ever like tear up, I would tear up instantly. But in that moment,
I just was like, this is so fake, Like I know,
this is this is not real. So wow, that's really interesting. And
so you're writing about this, Yeah, about sort of like in installments,
I've been doing that, and so there's a free version and a paid version,
and the the installments that move the story forward are free, and then
in between I do one that gives sort of extra context and pictures and things
like that. Initially I was intending to put pictures in the main one,
but it just, I don't know, I felt like too vulnerable to be
doing all these like old family photos and things like that, so I put
those in the paid version. Wow. Yeah, So it's been it's been
really interesting to write about it, and to find out also that hiding decided
like the response to the Holocaust being I'm going to hide it is not you
know, like so many people sent me. Alanis Morisset was just on finding
your roots she didn't know she was Jewish. She found out when she was
in her twenties. So the thing I always feel like is my if my
dad wanted to do that, he just should have changed our name right,
because he didn't like I changed it from rosen Stein to Roses, like he
didn't know you should have changed it to brown yea or right like Gurbels or
something. You know, he just didn't go far enough because all it did.
What like, the only person that believed we weren't Jewish was me.
No one that I told actually believed it. So it just made me kind
of foolish. I think, yeah, wow, so you're doing a lot
of stuff your podcast you do childish, Yes, you do. Uh.
Alison and Todd After Hours, which is a Patreon podcast. So Todd,
Perry and I did this podcast for Upworthy weekly where we would talk about feel
good news stories. Uh, and then now we are doing it on Patreon.
It's it's we call it after Hours because like when we were doing it
for Upworthy, it had to be pretty like clean, and so this is
just it's a little you know, we don't have to be positive all the
time, but it's still if you enjoyed upwarthly weekly. You'll enjoy Alison and
Todd after hours. It's fun. We talk about news and quizzes and fun
stuff. And then also, and you made a book. Maybe not everybody
knows that Allison has a book called Topical Attire Encouraged and other phrases that scare
me. I love that, and you have it a fifth anniversary edition,
so they where's my camera? Camera? Yeah, they are five new essays?
Tell us about that. So it initially came out in twenty eighteen,
and then for the five year anniversary, the publisher got in touch and said
we want to re release it, and so I said awesome, And I
did five new essays, including like an annotated eulogy for my dad. And
I had already started writing the essays when he died. So what a gift?
Really, I'm just kid. Yeah, I know, I got a
new religion and a new yeah looking out for me. No, actually I
had. He was always a really big fan of my writing, and I
had written a couple of them. Because when I sat down to write the
new material, I was like, I am very out of practice and how
am I going to do this? And it did not flow initially, so
when I, you know, worked and worked on the first couple of the
new ones, I was proud of them, and I was excited to send
them to him, but I just hadn't yet. And that is like it's
I feel pretty good, like I don't have any big regrets. But that's
just like a little bit of like ah, man, I was going to
send those to him and then for it to turn out that, like the
last one I did was the annotated eulogy, But anyway, my husband did
illustrations for each one. Yeah, and so he illustrated the new ones too.
Wow, you guys are just a ball of talent. Kids are going
to be off the charts having their own sub stag I'm just opening this randomly,
and the one I came up to was how I feel about your bathroom
scale. Whenever I walk into someone's guest bathroom for the first time and see
a scale sitting out in case guests should want awaigh themselves during a dinner party,
one assumes I reflect on the way I would never ever casually step on
anyway, it goes on super relatable, like immediately reatable. I have I
do always throw reaction to seeing somebody's scale I'm like, oh my god,
how am I going to not weigh myself? Like because I don't have a
scale at my house. Oh okay, so I don't want to weigh myself.
Yeah, are you able to avoid it? Yes? But it's like
it's like a It's like it's like finding like paint pills in someone's bathroom,
like when I liked pain pills. But you know what I'm saying, it's
like something that's very tempting that then I have to talk myself out of doing
it. I am just always like and I think I talked about it that
in They're like, who are the people who just casually hop on like one?
You know, Like, no, it's a whole. It's a there's
a meditation and a practice and a discipline that goes with it. You have
to strip completely naked, take off your earring. It's like you have to
be in the right in the zone. It should be first thing in the
mornings. I need to be in their bathroom first thing in the morning,
before I've eaten any meal. You know, there's a lot that would go
into it. You gotta then I have to be like, oh, this
isn't regulated properly. This is it's always off. Yeah, i'd have to
just I'm assuming they're five pounds over. You should probably bring weights with you
to make sure it's calibrated. That's hilarious. Yes, well, I love
Thank you so much Alison for coming sure you've been wanting you to come in
for a while. And mazel to your success and the kids. I'm so
happy that you got your little boy. Me too. Yeah, thank you
so much. Nice being a boy mom, right, yeah, yeah,
it is. I with both of them, I was like, I can't
believe I'm not having a girl, because I was so sure that I was
going to have a daughter. And I was like, all the things that
I feel like my mom could have done better, I'm gonna do perfectly with
my daughter. And then I was like, well what, yeah, but
I do. I never I never wish they were something else. Yeah yeah,
yeah, well well lucky they're really cute, you know. I think
that's one of the more important Yes, I would not have I wouldn't have
stood for anything else. Yeah, exactly. Okay, Well, thank you
and thank you Elan, and thank you to all of our listeners. And
you're a parent, now, don't f it up. It's good letting,