The following is a presentation of Playfly Sports properties in Michigan State Sports Properties.
Good evening, it is Thursday, May eleventh, twenty twenty three. No,
you did not log into the wrong show today. I am your host,
Alicia Straehorn, and this is Sparta MSU. Little known fact. I
am actually the one in the family with a journalism degree from Michigan State.
Yet my husband Jason is the one with an eighteen year broadcasting career. I
guess that's proof of the long life versatility of an MSU degree. So if
you're a few first time viewer, normally the show hosts are three bona fide
football Spartan dogs. Obviously I am not those things. But tonight we are
bringing you a special Mother's Day edition of the show to honor some of our
Spartan athletes, moms and the guys. Let me host selfishly. I'm super
excited about this. I have some questions myself, so before we get into
it, I need everyone to close the live chat, hit like and subscribe
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do the same. Have an idea for a future episode, let us know
in the comment section below, and now back to the show. So I
wasn't actually interested in pledging a sorority in college, but the group of women
you are about to bring you are part of a special circle that I hope
to one day be able to be a part of. Please welcome Spartan Moms,
Doctor Peggy Carr, McMichael, Sherry Tatum, and Lisa Wells Harris re
Form. I just have to give you a little backstage about these ladies.
Already, Sherry Tan's on a track meet for her daughter because sports mom life
never ends. Doctor Peggy had a dance. Doctor Peggy was just at a
dance with her son. And Lisa Harris. I'm sure to have to do
something for Darien, even though it's not even a player anymore. Ladies,
welcome to the show. Thank you so much for having me I're excited to
have you here. If you want to each tell us just who you are
and who are the little people who call you mama Doctor Peggy. Would you
like to start? Yeah, I'll start. I'm Peggy. I have five
boys and a step daughter that goes in Michigan State. So I have one.
Oh my god, I can't believe you showing. My youngest is nine.
I have a sophomore at bill Him Jig, and I have a junior
at Bilbo High School Jerem Maya. And I have a senior at Belva High
School, Joshua. And then my oldest, Malik car is a junior at
Michigan State. So my stepdaughter's name is Kayla. She also attends in Michigan
State as well. Look at the little Southfield Falcon. We were Falcons for
a year in Jeremiah. Yeah, Joshua's going to Farris State next year to
play football. So wow, you're super excited. Yeah, Haggy, you're
running the whole gamut of all the seasons that we're going to get into about
the football mama life. Yeah, Lisa, can you tell us a little
bit about yourself? Sure? One of my children is walking across the table
at the moment, it's a it's driving me crazy, but human children,
the director of Player Relations and Programming, the atsman in the MSU program,
and former linebacker number forty five. And then I have a younger son,
Jordan, who is twenty five and a graduate of Yale University with a degree
in psychology, and he's my theater kid. So I had kids who were
sort of completely different and they kept me running between football games and the stage.
I can't wait to talk about that dichotomy of that. I'm super excited
about that. Sherry, Yes, yes, yes, I am Sherrie Tatum.
All these are my Babs, Raven, Dylan, and Cameron. And
Cameron is the youngest. We are at her track meet, and my daughter,
Raven is also the track coach here at WB as well. And my
son is Dylan Tatum, number swimming one can do some for me, girl,
Spartan squad. So Darren and I we're here at the track meet together.
We have raised these three wonderful children to become productive citizens in society.
Then y'all didn't just raise some productive citizens between the three of you. First
of all, you're being very humble. Let me just say this I've done
some research. So Miss Lisa's other son is the first black male valedictorian of
his high school. Yes, he didn't just go to any college and become
a theater major. Again, he's at Yale. Doctor Peggy has five children,
all of which seem that are going to go to college on some sort
of athletic scholarship. Not to mention she was an incredible athlete in her own
right in basketball, and Cherry has track stars. As you guys can see,
are doing their thing right now. So some people are just lucky if
they can get one out of the house. And y'all are set in the
world on fire. So as we were planning this episode, I realized tonight's
show number seventy five, And actually seventy five is special to me because it's
the jersey number of my oldest son, Kayden. Oh see, I didn't
know this other stuff was hastening. He first made me a football mom.
And as this is show seventy five, I feel a spirit here making me
a bit less nervous, even though I probably sound a little nervous still because
I know but I know he's here, so help me are get comfortable.
We are going to put off the show with special messages for each of you
from your kids, Peggy Evans, Peggy Carr, Mecmichael. I just wanted
to say Happy Mother's Day. Mom. You're the best mom in the world.
Will you, hey, Mom, because you're oldest son if you couldn't
tell, just want to wish you a very, very happy Mother's Day.
There aren't enough thank yous in the entire world for me to show the gratitude
that I have to you and what you've done for of course me and Jordan,
but now being a BBT Naomi and mother in law to Olivia and pseudo
mom to all of my friends and just so many people. You embody what
it is and what it means to be a mom. And I love you
so much, Just incredibly grateful that you are my mother and for everything that
you've done for me and taught me over the years and what has you know
allowed me to, you know, now be a parent and passed those things
down in Naomi and then watching you be a grandmother every single day is as
meaningful as it gets and as important as it gets. And I know you
learned a lot from your mom and the sacrifices that she made to help you
and Dad take care of us, and you're doing the same for Naomi.
Now. You know, at the drop of a dime you fly out here.
You you are obviously the best babysitter that we could ever ask for.
And I just love you incredibly much. And I'm really looking forward to seeing
you soon and bringing Naomi home to Maryland to see everybody and see the fam.
So enjoy your day. For me, every day is Mother's Day,
but enjoy your special day. See you incredibly soon. Love you. Happy
Mother's Day out there all the mothers in the world. I want to give
a really special thanks to my mother, shay Tatam. I love you,
momcial like my number one rod up. We'll do anything together. And I
just appreciate you for everything you love for me and my sister so far.
You're great mother and my number one. Love you mom. Happy Mother's Day,
Mom. Thank you for being the woman every girl needs in my life.
I love you. Bye. Happy Mother's Day, Mom. Thank you
for going through all the good times at bad times with me. I love
you. What's up? Mom? I just wanted to wish you happy,
happy Mother's Day and thank you for all the sacrifices that you made for me
and Cody and Gabby, and let you know that we all love you and
appreciate you. I know you're a great You're a great role model, especially
for Gabriella, for her, I mean as a female. I mean a
lot of women look up to you and say they want to be a mom
like you, And I think that's just really powerful. And how you lead
us to God and everything. You know, thank you for being faith based
with us, because that's the key to life, is the Bible, and
thank you for installing that in us and making sure we're in private school and
all those things. And yeah, so I just want to wish your happy
Mother's Day. I know, I'm sorry I can't be there, and I
love you. I'll see you soon. Oh my god, I was just
most a surprise y'all now here we are all together. I think it was
all incredible goodness. The future looks bright, ladies, Yes, truly,
so, given how terrific your young men are, we are all excited to
talk to you a little bit deeper. So I'm just going to ask a
question. You can each have a chance to respond. I just want to
start from the beginning, at about what age and what occurred when you realized
your son was going to be a special athlete? Okay, sure, I
mean We're at a basketball game at the y m C A n. A
man came up to me. I was like, your son needs to play
football. It's like my son not playing football. He's a basketball player,
because you know I played basketball. I wanted my sons played basketball. And
his name was coach Muhammad. He became Elik's coach mentor and from that day
on like he's followed Malik and supported Malik, and he saw something in them
that I didn't see. And when they say it takes a village, it
really does take a village. Everybody has sown into my kids, from my
family to their teachers, to their coaches, to the programs that have been
in and so I think you can sometimes you don't notice, but other people
notice for you. And in this case with Malik, I think he noticed
what he was going to be. I want him to be a basketball player
even though he still played, but football is really his love. I love
it. Lisa, how about you? We had started Darien in soccer when
he was a little boy, and then at seven he said that he wanted
to try to join the local youth football program because he liked football a lot.
He also loved basketball, and side note, basketball is actually his favorite
sport. But he excelled at football, but not at seven because at seven
I took him out to sign him up. His dad was at work and
we got there and the whole situation was so overwhelming. He came running off
the field and was like, Okay, I don't want to do this,
and I was like, neither do I That's fine with me. He ran
home and then at age eleven, it all took off. It all took
off from there. I mean he had done you know, he had continued
to do soccer from like seven to eleven, karate, baseball, basketball,
but once he started football at eleven, that that was it and it stuck.
He fell in love with it, and we just knew that that was
going to be where he was going to go all the way through high school.
I love that share a yes. Yes, Dylan started playing soccer at
three and he was a beast. He always wanted to be out on the
field and I was Dylan had to wait to turn. Everybody has to get
a shot. And then we were we moved to a new city and we
were riding our bikes and we took our bikes through one of the neighborhoods and
when we went through the neighborhood, saw these kids playing football and Dylan was
like, I want to do that at the age of five, So we
signed him up for the youth league. He played flag football and took off
from there. He's been playing, was playing since he was five years old,
and he fell in love with it. Did all the other sports,
but football was his his love right there. So the common theme is all
these boys had a ball or something competitive in their hands and once it took
off, it never changed. Yes, So I was not an athlete growing
up. I think, you know, some moms are and some moms aren't.
When we realized our kids were going to be athletes, I asked Jason,
like, how do I support them? And he said, you need
to get them reading, writing, and running, and I said, well,
reading and writing, I've got covered running. At that point, I
was like, I thought I would die if I ran like too long,
Like I never even ran a mile straight. So I got into running and
they were obviously my biggest why So that was how I kind of contributed,
and I wanted to ask you whether you were athletes or not yourself, and
if you were or you were not, how did that impact your role as
their mom in supporting their athletic dreams. Okay, So I was an athlete
growing up. I came from a track family. But when I went to
country to day, we had to play three sports, so I did ind
or aldert t. I was like, what am I going to do for
my other sport? So my coach, a Country Day coach Orlando, said
why don't you try basketball? That didn't know anything about basketball, didn't know
none of the rules, tried basketball, fell in love with it. So
I was an athlete and my parents were very supportive, followed me everywhere,
went everywhere with me. So as a parent, I kind of used the
tools that I saw them used with me that worked, and then made some
adjustments for this new era of kids. So I tried to let my kids.
It was very hard for me to go to college so because my parents
went everywhere with me, so I was homesick and things like that. So
I said that with my kids, when they got old enough, I would
let them travel some by themselves or with their team. And then I would
go with them sometimes even if they traveled with their team, I would go
and meet them there, but just so they can get that time away from
me, so they wouldn't be real homesick when they leave home. So I
just used those two as my father always taught us, to work hard,
give one hundred and ten percent, and whatever you do. I try to
instill that in our kids, and I try to tell them whatever they start,
finish and finished strong. And I think those things have stuck with my
kids along the way. And athletics and I probably have embarrassed them some because
I'm wild at some games, but I've learned as I gotten older to quiet
down a little. But I think overall I made some adjustments based on how
my parents raised me and being in sports. Love that. How about you,
Lisa. I most decidedly was not an athlete at all. Hated pe,
didn't like money, none of none of that. This was not good
at it. Uh. My sister and I grew up. Our thing was
was music, so we both played violin and piano, so that was sort
of what my mother was running behind the two of us with taking us to
orchestra rehearsals and private lessons and music camp and all that sort of thing.
So we there was there was pretty much no no athletics in my family,
my mother, my sister, and me. So this was new. This
was brand new. And Darien's dad played football at Virginia Tech, so he
of course had the whole background to bring uh to help support Darien. And
I viewed my role as sort of like watching, learning, listening and anything
my boys wanted to do that was a passion for them, Just getting behind
them and seeing where I could help. So being you know, a team
parent and providing refreshments and signing people up for different things, or being the
communication parent and providing information, you know, sort of about where we're supposed
to be when and all of that sort of thing. So and then learning
the game because I really, you know, I sort of liked football on
the fringes, you could say, because you know, I had like aunts
and uncles and not my mom, but aunts and uncles who were big Washington
the big fans of the Washington team, and you know, Thanksgiving we'd be
watching the game. So you know, I kind of liked football from afar
but didn't really understand it. So I just made it my business to really
sort of understand it, and then it became my thing to if it was
required that I needed to stand in the rain. There was a lot of
standing in the rain watching the high school games or the youth games before he
got to high school, running from here to there. He was playing basketball
too, so just you know, pretty much just running behind them and trying
to support them as an involved parent, which went all the way through through
college because I was the co lead of the Spartan Football Parents Association will while
he was playing. So whatever I had to do to get behind them on
behalf of moms everywhere who receives communications from moms like you, We sure appreciate
you your integral to the planning process, Sherry, how about you? Who
I come from a very athletic family. My brothers played football, my sister
played basketball, my dad played football, my mom played basketball, and I
ran track myself in some cross country, but more the speed stirt. So
always been a part of sports. Love it and we and our family art.
Our family were competitive. We'll even find out a way too, who
has the most bags coming from the car, Who wins that Every little thing
is a competition. Darren Darren wants to be the first one to get in
in the bed. I don't under saying that they always run into I'm like,
okay, so it's always a competition. Your house sounds yet it's like
ridiculous. So you know, when we were on I just want to share
this story when we were on lockdown for those two years, well that that
whole ninety days. I'll just say that we had to come up with that
family night. Each of one of us had to come up with the something
per night. So Raven had the paint idea, Cameron had the yoga,
and Darren had picture night, and I had something. It was like a
talent show. And Dylan was like everybody has to do his workout. No
one wanted to fool with him. It was ridiculous. He was coming up
with some things that we're like, what is this? What do you what?
We had to do? It's just like every how you turn around,
it's like who cares, No one cares. You gotta work harder, and
you would always say that be better. So it was a constant It's constant
competition in our house. It's sports all around all. I love it.
I love it. So life is never just a perfect trajectory climbing straight up
right, especially as a mom of an athlete. In the life of an
athlete, there tends to be a lot of ups and downs. That's just
how life is. Right, And when they're home and feel discouraged, you
can cook them their favorite meal and wrap your arms around them and mama can
fix it. One of my son's favorite comfort foods is pean cakes. So
shout out to show partner. I hop We're going to pivot to a commercial,
but when we come back, I would like to discuss how do you
support your sons from afar now that they're not always under your roof and they're
at school. So viewers, please drop your pancakes in the chat, hit
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hungry. So, ladies, once your babies go off to college, how
do you support your sons when they're discouraged or they're experiencing obstacles and you're not
there. I think one thing I do for Malak, he's the only one
that's gone on my house right now. Every day we talk, but on
those days that he's discouraged, just giving him either a scripture or an encouraging
quote to say, basically say, I know what you're going through, but
this not gonna last long. It's just like I call him growing pains.
So I tell him it's just a growing pain. We're gonna get through this
together. If he needs me, we'll talk. Sometimes he wants to talk,
sometimes he doesn't, and that's okay, And I kind of try to
support him either way to keep them positive and know that you know he's special
and no matter what you're going through, you know at the end of the
day, you're still on the LEAE card. You're a great person, you're
a good athlete, and everything will be okay and work itself out at the
end. Great advice, Lisa, how about you when Darien was playing,
so when he was a student, trying just trying to keep an ear out
for when he seemed to need more than than usual. Darien usually stays pretty
even keel, which means that I could tell when something was really bothering him
or when he needed to talk. So I would just kind of prod him
and say, seems like something's up, you know, you want to talk
about it, And usually I was right and then and and he would want
to talk about it. He would also be very clear if he thought he
could handle whatever it is, and then I would just sort of sit back
and let him handle it, but let him know that that if he needed
me, we could we could talk about it. We spoke primarily by texts
and still do. That's kind of just a fun way that we we stay
in touch. And actually with with both my sons, I communicate a lot
with hearts up greenheart for Darien obviously because of ms U and and blue hearts
for Jordan for Yale. So just you know, just sort of those constant
little messages each day to keep them kind of lifted and and just trying to
keep an ear and a heart out two sense, you know, when they
might need something. Love that, Sherry. Yes, when Dylan would get
discouraged and in any way, we would talk. We love to laugh.
He and I love to laugh. We love to crack jokes, and so
we always just would connect and I'd be like, okay, Dylan, you
know, let you I would allow him to talk to me and then we
would just talk, and then we would just okay, let's move on,
let's find something else. We'll we'll talking and laugh and we want all We
might even go go out and get some ice cream. He loves ice cream,
so you know, And when he comes back, I'd be like,
let's go, let's go get some ice cream. But as he's away,
I always try to send him a message and encouraging him every day to just
space start and be better. Few his own words back in, just be
better, whatever you know, whatever you need to do to just calm your
nurse. And we would just the laughing part is what we would do the
most, just laugh. We love to laugh. I love that. Yeah.
So raising kids can feel all consuming at times, and their world becomes
your world on top of your world. Look at Sherry, she's out of
tracking right now. Right. So the practices and games and extra training and
scrubbing the uniforms and all the things. They say, you're going to miss
this, You're going to want this back right when they go off to college.
I feel like you're probably, I mean, you feel pretty disconnected from
that. How did that feel and how did you deal with it? I
didn't get a break because although Malik was gone, I still have four more
here. But I remember when we first took Malik off to school, when
we came back to the house, it was just like walking in the house.
Something was different, because Malik's like the light, the life of our
house, the loud one, the one that cracks the jokes, the one
that gets everybody to play in the family games and things like that. So
you could feel something was missing. But I get my fixes with him with
that. When I go up there, I'll wash his clothes. When I
go to Michigs State, I'll watch his clothes, take him out to dinner,
or you know, do the things that we miss. He might just
sit around his apartment and watch a TV show to make sure I'm still staying
connected with him. But in my case, it was just like a little
relief at home. But then you miss it from from time to time,
but Malik, being the communicator that he is, he keeps in touch with
me every day, so I enjoyed that piece as well. That's sweet.
Lisa. Well, first of all, I hate it being that far away.
I still do. He's way too far away. Agreed, We're going
to need to make some adjustments. Yeah, how do I get to you
or you know? And I couldn't get to every game either, you know,
whereas with high school obviously I could, and that's what we were used
to like, if your your son had something to do, you were there.
So suddenly there were times that that I couldn't be there and that that
was hard when he when he first went off to school, Jordan was still
here. Jordan was in eighth grade, so sort of similar to what peg
Peggy was saying, there was still things to do around here. But I
will say, like it really hit me. I was kind of fine when
we when we left him there. It was I think it was like July
third, twenty eleven. I pretty much remember the date we left him there,
and I was pretty okay coming home. But then a couple of days
later I went grocery shopping and realized that I did not need to go down
this one particular aisle. It's the isle that has ovaltine, which is one
of his favorite things to drink, like several times a day, and especially
right before bed. And I was like, I went, I went down
the aisle and then was like, oh my god, you don't need to
go down this aisle because you don't need this because he's not here. I'm
in the middle of giant grocery store and literally burst. I was like,
I don't think I like this very at all. I was not ready to
be an empty nester. And that's that's what my blog was supposed to be
about, Like I was not ready, very reluctant. So we're going to
talk about that blog a little bit later. Sherry, Yes, it hasn't
really, because still it seemed like he's home all the time. I mean,
no, I don't want I'm not that paint. I want them all
to be around all the time. But it's just the one time though.
At the when he left early the early enrolled and everybody had gone to see
him, and he said to me, like every weekend somebody was going up
there. Somebody had seen him, And he said, Mom, do you
realize you haven't been up here yet, it had been like six weeks.
But I would see I would still see him, but I hadn't been up
to seek. I hadn't been to his place, to his his his thorn,
his daughter, and that that kind of bothered him. And I was
like, you know, I was just trying to step back. It's like,
I don't need you to do that. Yeah. So I was trying
because because my husband said, if you showed them when Raven left, this
is what he said with Raven. He said, if you show her that
you don't want her to leave, she's not going to see So I had
to kind of just kind of step back. And when the same thing with
Dylan, and so that's why I was trying to be like, let me
just be cool. I'll just go into their rules when I feel it.
When i'm I need to see them, and that's what I was trying to
do. But when he said that, that told me it's okay, here,
go ahead, because you see yourself, it's okay, he still needs
you. Yeah, yeah, okay, I can do this. It's always
like it's your job to launch them, and you want to know they can
launch, but secretly you don't always want them to launch not at all at
all. So people have a lot of questions about how to raise kids,
right, But on the flip side of raising kids is how the kids actually
impact our lives as moms and evolving women. And I'm curious, how has
raising athletes made you a better woman? Well, that's a tough one.
I think raising athletes have has made me a better woman because they my kids
always keep me on my toes there it's with my job, working out,
whatever I'm doing. They always keep me on my toes and kind of keep
me forced forced me to be organized with the schedule and what I have to
do to get everything done. Because certain things that they want, you know,
my cook My kids like a home cooked meal. When I don't cook,
you know, they think something's wrong. So just making sure I can
provide them the things that they want and they they that they need as athletes.
But I think it kind of keeps it keeps you humble as to when
you see your kids growing up. It keeps you humble as as a as
an athletic mom. It keeps you humble, and you kind of learn as
you as you get older. I can say like when I was younger,
I probably was more aggressive in the stands and things like that, and as
they get older, they just kind of teach you to kind of chill out
and just enjoy the moment. And that's what I'm trying to do a maleak
right now. Sometimes I get allowed in the stands, but I try to
just enjoy the moment, enjoy their time, and like live and live what
they're living for them because I've already done it myself, so just seeing them
do it brings me joy inside myself. Love that Lisa share. You decide
who wants to go first, next I can, I can jump in.
I think one thing is it helped make me more organized, because you have
to be. There's so much to stay on top of and keep track of.
So that's that's one thing. But the other is I feel like not
not just daring, like it's it's been the same with theater with Jordan,
because they both picked. They both sort of picked these areas that you have
to be out like they have to be out there and they're seen and people
have stuff to say, and you know, you can get like you can
you can like not make it or it might take longer to make it,
or you know, all that sort of thing. And what they've taught me
is that when you care about your passion and when you really really want it,
you are willing to just take on things and let them sort of roll
off you, which is not anything that I'm good at. Like I feel
everything, I absorb everything, I take everything in. I'm like, yeah,
I worry, I stress and all of that. But watching them sort
of deal with these really sort of high profile kinds of like very exposed kinds
of passions that they have, it's been eye opening for me. And so
I feel like they've they've been teaching me, which has made me I think
a better mom. How about you sharing I was I'm glad to hear that
they said they're organized, Lisa and Thanky. I don't see how you can
do it. I'm not organized. I feel like I'm all over the place
all the time. But what what my kids have taught me is that I
need to listen. I listened to them, and they talked to me,
and I hear what they're saying and we have our conversation. So and if
I'm not listening to them, it hurts them. So it just has taught
me to be cognizant. Of what it is that they need their in being
athletic, Like like, okay, two years ago, when when Cam couldn't
run and I had to listen to her, I had to say, Okay,
you know I really want her to run. Okay, I need to
sit back. When Dylan got hurt in the game and the Vikings go Vikings
Viking, mom shout out real quickly. But when he was playing and they
heard his tip in the game, I had to sit back. You said,
Mom, I have to sit down, and I was like, okay.
So it has fought me to listen in order to be just hear them
out and see something different. So that's what I can said. You guys
are great so keeping one child on track through high school and school and other
hobbies, like one kid is enough, but you all have multiple who are
all multiple high achievers. Like how did you balance each of the kids hobbies
and gifts and make sure that they all felt supportive, supported? And how
did you make sure everyone felt what they needed and got what they needed.
For me, I think it's we have a really I have a really good
support system with my family, sisters, my brothers, but especially our extended
family, like their coaches the programs they're in, like the Falcons and Salmi.
Somebody has poured so much into my kids, all the at at Belleville
at Oak Park when when Malik was there, like all the coaches kind of
and and all the support people kind of poured in to my kids. But
what I do is make sure that I recognize that they all are different,
they all need something different, and try to provide that. So Malik was
my outgoing kid, so I didn't have to help him with the social piece.
He had that down pad, so he needed more support, you know,
reminded him of how important academics is, and now he has that,
like he understands that piece. And then I have some kids that are more
shy, and I need to I want to show them like you need to
have some social social skills like go out with your friends, do this and
that. So just recognizing their deficiencies and what they what they're good at,
and then what they need to improve on and try to help them that way.
But to be honest, like the village when they say it takes the
village, I didn't know what that meant growing up, but it really takes
a village. Like it's been many nights and days that I've called their coaches
or their teachers, support steth that that poured into my kids because sometimes they
get tired of hear them from their parents. They need to hear a different
voice. And I thank god that we had some good people in our lives
and still do that are pouring into our kids and saying the same things that
we would say. And so that was important to me to surround them around
people that would say the same thing that I would say, but give them
a different voice and somebody else to talk to. I love that, Lisa.
I think also I agree with Peggy about honoring what your children, you
know, want to do and what interests them. That was sort of the
big thing for us. You know, it was clear early on that Darien
was gonna was going to want to be deeply involved in some manner of athletics.
That was that was very clear. Jordan started out doing some you know,
like I think he did, like baseball and soccer. They both did
karate for quite a while, but it was also very clear early on that
Jordan was going to tend more toward the arts and wanted to focus there,
and they both also did music for a while. As well. Darian played
saxophone actually all the way through high school, and then Jordan played. Jordan
tried three different instruments, I think, but theater was really what stuck with
him and Karate for a little while. It was really a matter of in
terms of making sure they got what they needed, listening to what they had
to say. So when they were you know, when one of them would
say, I really don't like this, even if I wanted them, like
I really wanted Jordan to keep playing violin, and Jordan didn't want to keep
playing violin, so you know, to let that go, so you know,
and they were both in Scouts, and they both decided at some point
they were done with Scouts. They didn't want to do that anymore. And
so, you know, I just I think sometimes, you know, especially
I think my generation, we sort of come from the generation of you know,
you should really be directing your children, and you should be making sure
that they get this thing, this thing, this thing, and this thing.
And for me, it really was a matter of what is it that
you love, what is it that you care about, and whatever it is,
we will get in the car, we will go, we will buy
the equipment, we will get the lessons, we will sign you up for
the theater program, whatever it is. And we also needed the village.
My mother was was front and center, Alan their father, his parents,
and aunt were His mom and aunt were front and center. And then we
had neighbors who were into once Darien started playing at Michigan State, because if
we had to travel and Jordan needed to stay home and couldn't go, you
know, we had really really good friends. Who would take who would keep
Jordan because he was only in eighth grade when when Darien first came to MSU,
so I sort of echo the same things that Peggy was talking about with
the village, but also especially just the listening, and that matters so much
because when you see your children in their element, that's all. That's all
I've ever needed. When Jordan is on a stage, it's just like when
Darien, like I think it was, I'm trying to remember which game it
was, I can't remember, but I have this video of him coming out
leading the linebackers out and he just was like you could see he was in
the zone. He was just bouncing down the sideline as they were getting ready
to do their warm ups, and you know, same thing I just there's
nothing better than that. There really isn't so true about yes, the same
thing. Uh, as far as the village is concerned, we had this.
We have a tight knit group with the starting with the Vikings crew,
the guys and their wives. Just the crew has been a big part of
rearing our kids, all three of them. Even though Dylan was the one,
the football player, they reared all of our kids with us. And
we also celebrated. We celebrate everything, and my family we celebrate everything,
and we make sure we celebrate. We make sure that we celebrate whatever it
is that our kids are doing, we're celebrating it. And just so one
doesn't feel slighted over the other, just so it could be the smallest thing
and your tooth came out, we're gonna celebrate it. We're gonna celebrate it.
And when we had dare friend's mom and his grandma and his aunt blessed
their their souls they're no longer here. They made sure they celebrated our kids
as well, and it was just always a celebration. And then acknowledging is
this what you want to do, and making sure this is what you want
to do, and listening to them so each of them had their own they
I don't think they can tell you right now that we never let them slide
on anything and slight it to let them or slighted them on anything. I'm
sorry. Yeah, So that's how we made sure everybody was intact. I
love it. I love it adjusting the football life from afar like from high
school to college. You all have navigated that, Lisa has actually navigated the
next season that you'll all and people in the chat and niece day we'll all
have to cross And just saying it out loud is probably make me tear up
again. But when football life is done, it's such an integral part of
your family experience. But when the cleats are hung up and you get to
the other side, do you have any hindsight advice to help us adjust to
that things that worked for you, things that didn't, things that you think
we should try to adjust to, sort of like the parent life post football.
Yes, it is. It is a big It's a big change because
suddenly, like you're you know, for a hot minute, we thought was
sort of going to continue in the same way for a little bit because he
went to Cincinnati, like in the preseason and then didn't make the fifty three
man roster. So you know, for a while we were like, Okay,
well we're still in the middle of this, and then we were like,
okay, we're not really in the middle of this anymore. And it
is it's it's a jolt, but I think recognizing that that it is a
huge difference for your son is sort of the bigger thing to to adjust to
whatever it is. Whatever the transition is, whether they're they're in the NFL
or whether they're beginning a career or whatever. It's different. It's not like
the same as being an ms U spartan on campus in college. So I
think sort of being ready for that transition and be so that you can,
you know, support your son however and whatever they might need in making that
transition, because they've been on this trajectory from like youth, you know,
most kids like from five to six seven, you know, all the way
to to now. And it's a big difference afterward. For me as a
football mom, I think really just sort of staying connected, to staying connected
to other families, maintaining friendships that you made along the way, remaining a
Spartan fan. I mean, I spart your Spartan mom for life like that,
just that just is I'm the games are on, I am right front
and center. I will come up for games. And I mean obviously Darien
is on staff, but I mean I would still could be coming up,
I think for games even if he had a job somewhere else. And in
fact I did before he before he was on staff, I was up there
for games. It's just it's such a community. It is such a family,
and it spans the generations. And so I just think staying staying connected
and tapped in and acknowledging that you are part of the family, like it's
not it's not over, it's not over afterwards, and then just that being
that support and being aware that it is a big change I think for our
sons. Yeah, I agree, And as that now you know that we
have this resource here, so we hope that all Spartan moms will forever stay
in our show, watching the chat and connecting here with other Spartan fans.
So you're always welcome here. Yes, your Spartan mom's for life for sure.
So I want to shift to some fun stuff, if that's okay with
y'all, because I think we've gotten very emotional and it's time to lighten it
up a little bit. I'm going to take a cue from Chu Chu.
And we always ask the players. One of the things he loves to ask
is game day, what's in your playlist? And we always talk about like
football is a family experience. Game day at our house is exciting. Everybody
walks a little taller, Mom's a little bit more happy. Right, So,
game day, ladies, what are you listening to in the car or
in the house to get high? It's okay, go ahead, tell us
in mine. Honestly, I'm listening to the fight song. I am obsessed
with the with the MSU Martin band, like absolutely obsessed, and every time
they come out there from the very beginning with the you know, the the
drum major coming out of it and doing the little back bend, the whole
thing. So I'm I'm like, seriously, I'm listening to the Spartan to
the MSU Fight Song and trying to do the little routine that I will that
I still need to get Olivia to teach me. He was a captain of
the cheerleading spot. So yeah, I don't think I have a favorite song.
It's whatever. Like my kids kind of play whatever when we're on the
way to the Leak's game, and I just kind of listen to their songs.
But since I'm over the since me and my husband are over the Spartan
Football Parent Association, you know, we get excited for meeting the parents there
and then we have music playing there and so just we like that part of
it, getting to know different parents, have another parents come and to be
honest, Malik is a transfer to Michigan State and the parents that we have
in Michigan State compared to where he came from, even though it was COVID
then, like our parents at Michigan State is something different. And I'm just
being honest, Like they're supportive, they come out, we're like a family,
and that's what we like. The home games, the Spartan Football tailgates,
all the food and drinks and everything, all the families that come out
and just everybody having a good time with their family before we go out to
the field, sharing what are the tatums listening to. We listened to listen
to some blues. My husband loves blues, but we listened to house music.
House music gets this hype. But if I must say one song when
I listen when I'm by myself and I'm getting ready for any of my kids,
I love Ludacris, move yes loudly, and then I'll see them,
and then I'll act like I never even love it. The other thing that
we always ask is where the where the guys like to hang out if they're
gonna go, you know, have a pop or a little you know,
just relax at And let's face it, parents deserve to have fun too.
So when you guys are any slancing, if somebody's looking to find you,
where are you hanging out at? Tell us the pizza house. I can
answer that one real quick. We're at We're at the pizza house. We
don't i'mna be honest. We're at the games. We don't really have and
go as much as this the tailgate and then after the game we're usually with
Malik at his apartment with his friends or whatever. But it's a place that
a Spartan I can't remember the name of a place, but the restaurant where
it's a former uh, it's a Spartan football player owns it. A social
place. We like to go there, though I can't remember the name of
it though, Cherry, where the Tatum's at. You're all you are at
the barbecue. We're healthy yet, Yeah, we are still learning places.
Yeah we uh h to be loser. She knew it, Cherry, you
knew it. She joined it there up she went back. Somebody is messing
with me. I don't know that. I'm not doing it. Okay,
all right, we're still learning. But we have gone back to the tailca
area after the game and hold out and that's been fun. And then we'll
head on back to Farmington Hills. I got you, Peggy. I think
the spot you're thinking about is Gregory's, which is always an outstanding spot for
soul food and music. So shout out to Gregory's and our friends the Chat
who hang out there. Each of you. Really, I can sit here
and talk to you forever. I thank you so much for your time,
for being honest with us and being open. And I'm getting a notification that
it's time for me to get off the air, so I'm going to turn
the show over to the actual professionals. Jason, Otis and ju They would
like to wish you a happy Mother's Day and see you all. Thank you.
This is Yes, it was a lot of fun. Thank you so
much. Happy Mother's Day. Hey, that was the phenomenal show, ladies.
I mean you guys carry you that very very good. You know,
me and Cody listening to those show, I'm out doing you know, the
football dad duties, but I'm outstanding content. I'm gonna have to go back
and listen to a lot of those tips that you guys brought us because that's
gonna help us all. I mean that that was great. I appreciate all
of you doing what you did. And you know, happy Mother's Day,
have a special special week. But every day, like I like what Darien
said, every day is Mother's Day. It really is. But God bless
you all. Thank you, and we love you. Thank you, thank
you, thank you so much. Yes, it's a lot of fun.
Got a problem, all right, Well you know at this time, I
guess we'll we will let you guys go and uh you enjoy that track meet
bring them home, bring home that championship, all right, we will all
right, right, all right, Well, great job at Lisha. That
that was. That was outstanding. You know, I was we were supposed
to hold those last those those Happy Mother's Day from your kids like till now.
But it all came out. It almost messed you up. But I'm
proud of you because you got through it. That was you weren't expecting that
at all. Little heads up would have been nice. It was about surprising
you, That's what it was, because that's what mothers need, a little
bit of that excitement in their life. You know, with all the things
that you do as a mother. Thank you so much for everything you did.
That was a Hey, I gotta watch myself here. You're gonna end
up taking my job from me. I'll handle something else, you know,
the other duties not quite as well as you do. Thank you so much.
Watching you over the years has helped me out. So I appreciate you.
Are we closing out or we is just you know what? Look I
think jay you look oldest is on assignment right now in Detroit. Jay you
maybe somewhere in east Land scene crawling out of a bar. He is an
a to do it. I'll make sure those guys, you know, do
their Mother's Day things next week. I know there's a very special something that
Jayu has in store for everybody on Tuesday, and we can go down a
lot of a laundry list of things happening in Michigan State football and athletics.
But until then, you know for Alisha Strayhorn. I'm Jason Strayhorn. This
is part of MSU. Everybody, have a good night, God bless and
go green. This is part of MSU as a combined presentation of Playfly Sports
properties in Michigan State sports properties. The show is produced by Pete Manez with
additional support from Tony Costella Operations and Social media support is provided by Alicia Strayhorn
with support from Cecily Max Brown on location. Technical support is provided by a
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as always, go green.