Talkin' Toys

A star-shaped wand that holds your credit card and lets you tap to pay sounds like a joke until you realize it might be the perfect tool for anyone who loses their card every other day. We start with summer life in full swing, then unwrap the kind of gift that instantly becomes a household legend and a potential menace in any drive-thru line. 

From there, we do what we do best: chase curiosity wherever it goes. We taste-test a limited edition Oreo that somehow pulls off a true brown sugar pancake flavor, talk about why viral snacks and pop culture collaborations keep getting wilder, and then try to redeem ourselves with a quick reality check on the health benefits of tea, antioxidants, and that “maybe it cancels out the sugar” logic we all use. 

Things get even more surprising when we dig into unusual traditions like Japan’s Naki Sumo Crying Baby Fest and the rodeo phenomenon of mutton busting, then switch gears to practical modern life with the 10 commandments of group chat etiquette. Our main theme brings it home: toys and nostalgia. We revisit childhood classics, the charm of real toy stores, the most popular toys by generation, and the complicated feelings that come with decluttering your kids’ old favorites while trying to keep the memories. 

If you like funny parenting stories, nostalgia, toy talk, snack reviews, and the small social rules nobody teaches you, you’ll feel right at home. Subscribe, share this with a friend who still loves toys, and leave a review so more people can find us.

Mike Haggerty Buick GMC
Right on the corner, right on the price! Head down to 93rd & Cicero & tell them the Noras sent you!

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Transcript

Summer Chaos And Garden Parties

SPEAKER_02 0:07

Hi, thanks for joining us today. It's Nora. Dora. I said Dora. How did I say my own name wrong? I I think like my tongue got got in my mouth and then it forced like weird air out of my nose. So I was like, happens all the time. Let's take it from the top. Hi, thanks for joining us. Today it's Nora. And Nora. We're sure glad you're here today. We are. Oh. You worried for a minute that I was an imposter. I was like, I knew you didn't look like my co-host. Thank you for the iced tea. Oh, you're welcome. And for the cookie. That was a delight. No, that was delicious. Happy summer. Happy summer. I'm in it. Oh, I know. It is nice. I had a whole swarm of fifth and sixth grade boys in my house on a slip and slide today. So, but it's fun. And like I'm happy for them. Like it's good. It's like so I would rather them be out there getting muddy on a slip and slide than then they toddle waddled over to the baseball field and we're playing a game of baseball. It was all like old-fashioned fun. Yeah. That's good. Yeah, I'm happy for them. And then our teenagers are working hard. Yeah. Somebody's got to support their lifestyle. Right. Seriously. I need Aiden to make cash so he can give it to me, and then I just transfer money into his bank account. It's like we're laundering money. I never go to the ETM anymore. Oh, and they don't want the cash. No. They just want the car. They just want it on in their bank account to use to swipe. Pay or cyber or whatever. Who even swipes anymore? You tap? You tap, yeah. Hey, wait, guess what are making a comeback?

unknown 1:42

What?

SPEAKER_02 1:43

Well, I don't know if they were ever really in. Don't call it a comeback. I've never actually been invited to one. A garden party. Oh, it's very British. So last year, the return of the Jedi? Yes.

unknown 1:56

Sorry.

SPEAKER_02 1:57

Last year the return of the dinner party was all the rage. And this season now they're saying pick a theme, fill up a pitcher of tea, get your finger sandwiches ready. Oh. And take it out back. Nice. I know. I would love to go to a garden party. I would like to go to a garden party. Yeah. And not like a shower. Oh no. Right. Like, so it would be like a ladies kind of. Yeah, I'm picturing like sparkling rose and maybe some wicker. Yeah, and some floral tablecloths. Yes. Yeah. That sounds lovely. I know. So if you're out there and you have a garden in which you would like to host a party, we'll be there. Even better. I was thinking about hosting one, but sure, I'll go to one. Oh yeah. Yeah. I know I'd love to go. Okay. I'll be on the lookout.

The Magic Tap-To-Pay Wand

SPEAKER_02 2:46

Nora, my dad bought us something. Oh, he bought us a present. He did? He's the best. So what's the occasion? He saw it on an ad on Instagram. He's he's so with it. Okay. So thank you, Dad. Uh-oh, wait, hold on. He said they're a little fragile, but he's excited. You can pick, and then I'll explain. Put them behind your back and then I'll pick one. Oh, okay. Because that way. Like mix them up. I think I know which one you want. Do you want the pink one? Well, yeah, that yeah. I want this one. Oh, you do? Yeah. Oh, good. Okay. So there's a pink and a gold one. Fan. Fan. Okay. It's star-shaped. It's telescoping. What do you think? Wait, I want to guess what. Yeah, I'm gonna see if you can guess what it is. It's not a fly. It feels like it could no, it's not a fly spatter. Mm-hmm. Can you put paint? No. It's not like a cookie. It's like the opposite of a cookie. It almost looks like a a star-shaped like flipper. Yeah, like a spatula. Yep. No, it's not. It does something because it's a telescope. It's like uh it's like a umbrella. Is it a straw? Is it am I looking at the wrong way? No. Is I was gonna say kids like a flask with a straw? What is it? Okay, I'm gonna show you. So we gotta Oh man, I broke. Oh no, no, no, that's supposed to happen. So you take off the top, you put your credit card in there, speaking of tapping. And then money just comes flying out. And then you can pay you can tap the little register with your wand to pay for stuff. You know where this would be great? In a drive-thru.

unknown 4:27

Oh my gosh.

SPEAKER_01 4:29

So that you don't have to hang your face out the drive-thru.

SPEAKER_02 4:33

Oh my god. I'm using this. Oh, this is the greatest gift. So thank you, Stuart. Ryan, this is a slam dunk. Did he get one? He did not get one for himself. No. Has he tried it? He has not. So we really do. We have to go try. Oh my gosh. This is so your card fits in there in a little slat in the star part. Yeah, yeah. And then you you lock it together. Oh, I'm in. I am in. And then Ryan's gonna be like, where's if and then you I'll never have to ask Ryan, where's my card? It's in the wand. Well, that's what I said. I was like, Nora might like this because she loses her card all the time. Obsessed.

SPEAKER_01 5:12

You just pink. So everything's free. Everything just magically appears. I have to go to TJ Maxx next. So I'm gonna use it. How funny is this?

SPEAKER_02 5:22

And I'm gonna have Elle video me. Okay, yeah. Like skinny. We need to post this. Oh my god, I love this. Where did we see this? On an Instagram ad, which makes me wonder what his like algorithm algorithm is for like magical debit card ones. Wow. If he wants to provide his debit card for me to test it, I'll gladly take that too. I mean, I don't want to be greedy or anything.

SPEAKER_01 5:42

So thanks, Chad. Yeah, thank you.

Brown Sugar Pancake Oreo Taste Test

SPEAKER_01 5:45

And in the spirit of giving things, has Oreo lost its mind beat?

SPEAKER_02 5:53

Like, what is wait? Are they butter flavors? Because you know their song is butter, right? So I started to do a little investigating and then I got sidetracked. Brown sugar pancake, what? Sugar pancake. Yeah, so the flavor is brown sugar pancake, and obviously you can read it right there. Brown sugar pancake. Korean. How do you say that in Korean, Nora? Ing So Antoi. Oh, exactly. I looked it up. So it says straight from Seyo Street. What is it? Is it S-E-O-E? Yeah. Seul? Seoul, okay. Straight from Seoul Street Markets to Fans, a limited edition Oreo cookie inspired by Hadiok is what it looks like, but that's not what it says. Baby, are you okay? Are you okay? It's their favorite snack. BTS's favorite snack. Huh. So so they're so that must be Korean for brown sugar pancake. Cookie. Cookie flavor. Flavor. So at first it was like they've lost their mind. How do you even come up with brown sugar pancake? But look at the cookie. You're gonna love it. Is it really partful? But you're gonna love this part. Oh no. What smells like brown sugar, but take it. Look at what it says on the front. On the top of the cookie. Oh, okay. One side says Oreo, one says crush your finger. BTS loves Oreo. Oh no, that's not crush your finger. That's what the cool kids are doing for heart. Oh instead of like this, they just Oh, I see. You're using your thumbs. It's a little more subtle than this. Yeah. I thought that was like little clap, you know, like where you're like turp, like snaps. No, it's hearts. It smells like maple syrup. It does. Okay. Oh my god, it tastes like a pancake. Oh wow. Doesn't it? I've never had a brown sugar pancake. No, nor have I had hotyoke. Hariokes? Harioke. These are better than the popsicle ones for sure. Yeah, they really taste like a pancake. And they're not stingy on the cream. No, but why are they purple? Yeah, that's a little unsettling. I don't know. That's the best of both worlds. Red dye 40 and blue tan or whatever. Like, how do we incorporate all the food coloring? It's definitely it is a lighter color though. It's definitely a different experience than the homemade cookies from the bakery in town. I know. These are delicious, Nora. I like to eat. And you can take those home. Ooh, I don't like the picture of what it actually looks like. So the actual Korean snack looks like it's almost like a pancake pita pocket. Ooh, with like liquid brown sugar. I was thinking almost like pop tart. Mmm. I prefer it in Oreo form. Does it have like crunchies in it? It's it must have really what else did we eat that was an Oreo that had the little crystals in it? We had so many Oreos. I start making a list, our Oreo list. Yeah. And all this time I thought vanilla was crazy. Cropito ones. Those were good. Is that what they were? They had a little sugary in them. I like. And then there was like fireworksy ones that had little crystals. A couple of pop rocks.

SPEAKER_00 9:24

Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_02 9:25

But I've eaten a lot of sugar. But on the flip side, something we do that's very, very healthy. I read an article that was saying how healthy black tea is for you and our iced tea. Cheers to that. What did it say? That's that it's good for digestion. It's good for your gut. It's very like certain like uh antioxidants are in it, and it's very, very good for you. I love that. I hadn't a regular iced tea today, and now I have our an herbal iced tea. This one is this is ribbon in conversation, I know. Um this one is caffeine-free. Oh, very nice. Which is why I went with that. Yeah. But yeah, powerful antioxidants, theraflavins, and flavonoids. Ah, flavonoids. It fights inflammation, supports heart health, and promotes sustained focus. I have tea black tea for breakfast, black tea in the afternoon. I'm all over, all over it. It's canceling out my Oreos. I saw that. That's a strong aftertaste. It is a strong aftertaste. I feel like I ate a stack of pancakes. I feel like my tongue is furry. Like I've got like a coating on my mouth. There's like a film. There is a definite film from that. I wouldn't say furry, I'd say film. Hey, I don't know about your furry tongue. Wow. I don't know, right? Yeah. I feel like I smell like it. I too. I feel like I have it on my mouth. It lingers. It does. I couldn't imagine eating more than one of those. Mm-mm. Wow.

Crying Baby Fest And Other Oddities

SPEAKER_02 11:00

Have you heard about this though? The Crying Baby Fest? Stop. What? The Naki Sumo. That's what it's called. It's in late May each year, so sadly we missed it. But sumo wrestlers take babies into the ring, and the first one to cry wins. Oh, so you want the baby to cry. You want the baby to cry, and if they both cry, the louder one wins. Wow. It's some sort of Japanese thing. Japanese folklore that states how loud, strong crying signifies a healthy baby. And they think it's how many babies compete in this, I wonder. I don't know, but they believe it wards off evil spirits and it's a 400-year long tradition going strong. It's kind of cool. But what if your baby doesn't cry in the rain? Then you have a weak baby who's sick. Then you go straight to the gym or straight to the hospital with your baby. And full of evil spirits. Oh no. Yeah. You go, which baby? Oh God. Maybe they pinch them. They make goofy faces and like rattle them. Oh. So now they have shaken babies in there. Good news is your baby cried. The bad news is we've rattled them. Oh man. Wow. I love hearing about stuff like that. Interesting. It's very interesting because when we lived in Texas, I was shocked to see the children's sport of mutton busting. You heard of this? No. It's a rodeo thing, and it's very it's an honor for your child to be chosen to do mutton busting. They put them on sheep, small children, and they see how long they can hold on to these sheep for. And the sheep are like all over the place. All rode and around. Yeah. And they have uh helmets on, and then these kids are just getting flung off sheep left and right. And Al and I were like, this can't be good for anybody. No. And they were like, oh, it's it's very, you know, it's an honor to be chosen. Like, you're gonna be killed. It's for the really rowdy kids, dude. So I'm like, this is like, oh, detention's full. It's really an honor, Mr. and Mrs. Taylor. Right? Oh, but those kind of things make me laugh. Same. And then I found something else. Why?

The Unwritten Rules Of Group Chats

SPEAKER_02 13:19

So this article had the 10 commandments of a group chat. Do not respond thank you to the entire group chat. Is that one? Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you. What would made me laugh is because group chats are so long and probably too many responses. You did not need 10 commandments for the channel. You might, because some people in group chats are really dumb. Okay. I won't go through them too slowly, but don't change the group chat without consent of the person who started it. Like don't go in and add people, I guess, or change the name of it or the picture. Don't lurk, which I'm guilty of. Like be on the group chat, but don't participate. Oh, I'm yeah, I've silenced my yeah. Don't leave without notifying. I kind of love when that happens. When you just see like, like Jill Ryan has left the group chat.

SPEAKER_01 14:15

You're like, oh, Jill's out.

SPEAKER_02 14:20

Oh, keep gossip a secret. But most of the group chats we're on are like grade level group chats. So there's not a lot of goss. Use reactions to acknowledge something. And I was surprised though, but it didn't say in moderation or you and I have said this. Only respond if you were the one who has asked the question. Yes, agree. 100%. If it's more than 20 messages that you've missed, you're allowed to just skim it, not read the whole thing. And then the next one is don't resuscitate a planning group chat. We're like, oh, okay, we're gonna do Garth Brooks concert. And then, you know, six months from now, don't be like, hey, hey, about the back end like for something else. Like once the event is over, it's over. Oh, you can't don't use that chat for something else. Mm-hmm. Like when that event is over, so share it all your photos. Just that's done. Cross it off the list. I didn't know that. I wonder if I ever do that. I don't, I don't know. Well, it's because it Yeah, I don't know if I have. But I've gone back into chats to like reference stuff sometimes. Same, yep. It said side chats, okay, but be careful. I always send side. Well, I never send side texts, but if I were to send a side text, I would preface it with side text other. I love and use the siren. I like it. Hypothetically speaking, I would imagine you would send it with a siren. And I like you like where I'm going with that? Hypothetical, you would do that. Yeah, I hypothetically would definitely always send the siren. This one I don't know if you're gonna Oh, you don't do voice memos, you do voice text. It's use voice memos sparingly. Oh, that would be so annoying. That would be to get a voice memo in there. Well, the tricky thing with voice memos too is once you listen to it, it's gone. Oh, it is? Yeah. Oh, that's dumb. Yeah. And then it says number 10, don't get worked up about a group chat. It should be fun. What if people say really dingy stuff in it? They didn't mention that. Or you or use it like for use it to ask questions that are clearly stated in things like weekly emails from teachers or principal. Or by just asking your child. Or asking your child, yes. That maybe that'll be in the next week. Okay. You

Sponsor Break And Back Again

SPEAKER_02 16:45

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Childhood Toys And Nostalgia Hits

SPEAKER_02 17:52

Our topic today, toys. Toys, toys. Toys can be so nostalgic. When I was getting ready for this podcast, I started thinking about toys from when I was a kid. Yeah. And I didn't play with a ton of dolls. I had this Killer Super Bowl collection. Ooh. Sticker collection. Oh, I had a sticker ball. You did. Oh yes. Which actually, if you think about it, it's kind of dumb. Because if you then ruined your stickers, then that's it. Yeah, you can't do anything with them. But I feel like that's also very like an 80s thing. It's like, here's your nice thing you can use once and now it's done. But it's not like you could trade stickers in your collection because they were already adhered to the page. That's it. It was a commitment. It was a commitment. I remember a couple, I was like, oh, I shouldn't have put it on that page. Well, too bad. Too bad, so sad. I think I used an old photo album as a sticker album. I had like a it was like coded. Yeah. I loved color forms. Did you have those? Yes. My mom loved color forms. I mean color. Because they were clean and tidy and you could put them away and they didn't take up a lot of space. I loved color forms. And I was not a huge board game fan, but there were a few, my friend Jane Mittendorf, who we have to have to have other show once. Only if we can have Stephanie. That would be fun. I know. But Jane loved to play Stratego. Oh she was so good. She went one every single time. I don't think you've ever played that game. I think she just liked to play because she always won.

SPEAKER_00 19:31

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 19:32

Um so we play that. And I was I was a good guest because I'd always play. Oh. And then I would love to play Scategories with my friend Whitney. I like Scategories. And I still have I still like to play Scategories. That's one of the very few things I liked. I loved boggle.

SPEAKER_01 19:45

Oh, boggle when you shake it on up.

SPEAKER_02 19:47

Mm-hmm. That's yeah, you gotta do that. You gotta do a little dance with it. But we mostly took adventures when we were kids, like on our bikes, like out in the wild. Yeah. I liked to like set things up, like a store, or like I did have a lot of dolls and Barbies and things like that. So I did play a lot with that and like just like set up. Yeah, a lot of like. And then I would make up a lot of dances and things like that. Play store, play bank. We played library. We played travel agency. Oh, that's funny. That was a big one. Yeah. Trying to think of what it was called. My brother had really fun toys. Oh, you had a name for your travel agency? Yeah, what was it called? It'll come to me. But Jane had a giant switchboard that didn't work. Oh, that's so we could like press the button. Oh, so you could and you had switchboard. No wonder you were such a good switchboard operator later in life. Yes. And we made we would do a lot of prank calling. We'd make a my friend Aaron and I. We would say that we were from the Girl Scout troop and we were taking a Mexican survey. And then we'd ask, like, what your favorite Mexican foods were. Taco or burrito. Do you know burritos come from burrows? Do you like to eat burrows? Like we're stuff. Weird kids. Oh, I would have loved to have gotten one of those. But it was great because you could just do that and then laugh and hang up. Yeah, it's like it was like harmless. It was just wasting like two minutes of someone's day. Yeah. And if now, if I got a prank call from kids, I would probably think it was funny. You can probably prank call on the tin can. On my tin can. Well, no, you can't, because the number doesn't come through unless it's an approved number. Oh, a number comes through on the tin can? Yeah. So you can call people can call us, but they have to be an approved number. How is the tin can, honey? Not the tin can. It's really fun because Rose would be like, can I call Grace? Can I call like my pals? I'm like, sure, go ahead. And then I will say nine times out of ten, no one answers. Because people are just busy. Nobody's home. They need an answering machine. Oh, tin can answering machine would be amazing. But my I loved the toys my kids had. They had like fun like blocks, Aiden's toys that we got. In London, had a British accent. Oh, they're so great. I know. I can't get rid of those. I cleaned the basement last week and I'm like, I can't get rid of any toys that have a British accent. That was like Fireman Sam. That show. Fireman Sam had a British accent. But I you would have been proud of me. I made a lot of tough cuts. Yeah, we don't have a ton of toys left. We still have Legos. Yeah. I like Legos. I know you. I know like my Lego flowers. I had to put one together last night because we had a little situation at our house.

SPEAKER_01 22:29

I was like, oh, this is fun.

SPEAKER_02 22:31

It's very I think I like it the same reason I like laundry. It's because like this was a pile and now it's done. It's very satisfying, I think, to me to be like, this needed to be fixed or done. And now I can physically see my work and my efforts. Do you like to do purler beads? Because I like those. I like purler beads. I but I I like doing it more than I like having them. Like I would do it and then just throw it away. Not in real life. You wouldn't iron them first. I mean, I would iron it and then it'd be like, oh, I did it.

unknown 23:02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 23:03

But I didn't really want to hang on to them. Would you ever go to the toy store as a kid? Yes. I miss that. I know. I wish we had one in town. I know. I would like I so when I first moved to New York, there was still the big giant Toys of Us in Times Square. Oh, there was. Did you ever see that? It had a Ferris wheel inside it. This thing was massive. It was huge. I would go there sometimes on my break. Like if I was just kind of like, because I was when I was like 23 and like living by myself in New York City. And sometimes if you get a little sad, you're like, I just kind of want to walk around a toy store. I would say families. And it was incredible. I mean, it was gigantic. It was like three stories. But yeah, even like I would bring my kids. Target is fine. They have toys, but it's not the same thing. Yeah, Downer's Grove and like walking down the aisles. Scottsdale. So great. Is it still there? No. No. And then the Toys R Us, we had two, but that's not there anymore. No. We had an old-fashioned toy store in Beverly. Okay. That we could walk down to. Well, there used to be Anderson's bookshop that had great. I loved Anderson's bookshop. Anderson's. Is there still one in the neighborhood? But it's a real miss. Like I miss having that. I do too. I like the feel and the charm. I'm just even like looking at stuff, being like, oh, this looks like a cute toy. I would love to open a bookshop and I would also love to open a bike shop. Bike shop. Can you do could it be both books and bikes? Mm-hmm. Probably not. No? Maybe. I mean, anything's possible. Yeah. We have a lot of space to rent in town. I think that it's available. Unfortunately, I think the overhead and the rent for my ideas doesn't really balance out. Sorry. But it's still a my dad was wondering if he wanted some of his books for your little library.

SPEAKER_01 24:54

Oh, after the theft.

SPEAKER_02 24:56

Yeah. But I wasn't sure because his are definitely not B treats. That's okay. That's okay.

SPEAKER_01 25:01

We'll take a couple. Okay.

SPEAKER_02 25:02

Sure.

unknown 25:02

All right.

SPEAKER_02 25:03

It was really thoughtful. So Dad, if you're listening, Nora will take some of your books. Yeah. I mean, I don't need a whole box. Right. Yeah, a few. A couple two tree. Two trees, yeah. How do you feel about Toy Story? I really don't know much about it. I know there's seen it? Well, I know there's like 17 of them. Fine. There's a fifth one coming. But then they also have little mini Toy Story shorts. I mean, of course. Of course I know the characters. Right. And I'm sure I saw the first one. Yeah. But I heard Taylor Swift's new song. It's so cute, isn't it? We've been listening to it like crazy in our house. It's happy. It's so happy. And it's sweet. And I was kind of meh on the movie because I was like, Oh, the movie's already out? It comes out June 19th. Not a sponsor, but still, you know, go see it. Yeah. It comes out on the 19th. And I was at the fourth Toy Story ended so beautifully that I was a little bit like, come on, what are you doing? Do we really need another one? But I think this one's gonna be very focused on Jesse. Those toys are just so cute. And that's why there's that song. Yeah, I think it's a kind of like a Jesse sense. Was what was one of them? Did they end up in like an antique shop? That was the Toy Story 4. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. Big Abby and like that whole thing. Yeah, I vaguely. But yeah, I I found actually a Woody doll cleaning out my task man. Yeah, and I was like, oh yeah, I think.

Best Toys By Generation

SPEAKER_02 26:23

I stumbled upon an article that highlighted the best toys or the most popular toys from each era.

SPEAKER_01 26:29

Oh, that's did you see this?

unknown 26:31

No.

SPEAKER_02 26:32

Okay, so and I won't go through the whole thing, but like the baby boomer era was the Barbie, the hula hoop, and Legos. Yeah. That's a slam dunk. That's a good one. Those are still I mean, those are still tried and true. Yes. And then Gen X was Star Wars figures, which I think we have some avid collectors still, right? I still have. I didn't throw those out. The Rubik's Cube. That's still a thing. We have several of those in our house. A cabbage patch kid, which I mean I don't think kids can play with anymore. And the My Little Ponies. Oh yeah. And then the Millennials were talking about. Who love My Little Ponies? Rose? Alexander Taylor. He did? What the heck? Did his girl cousins play with them or something? We had one girl cousin. No, he really liked them. I don't know why. It's really cute. Did he have them? Probably. I think he had whatever he wanted. So I think if he wanted him, we had a listening. Yeah. Because he was nothing. The millennials were loving Tamagotchis. No. Which yes. Beanie babies. Yes. The Furby I remember my sister having. I don't remember having the Furby. No. And then Super Nintendo. Oh yeah. Yes. Of course. And then Gen Z, Bratz dolls.

SPEAKER_00 27:48

Ugh. I don't care for those.

SPEAKER_02 27:49

And we never had those. Uh Webkins. What's that? I don't know. Monster High. Yeah. And then Nintendo DS. But no like Octonots, no Wildcrats, no. No handy manny? Handy Manny?

unknown 28:05

Come on.

SPEAKER_02 28:06

I know. Hop up. Jump in. That's all mostly girl-centered voice. And then the Jen Alpha is Legos, Shopkins, and Beekeepers? I'm trying to read Keepers. That's what it is. Trying to read your handwriting upside down. I think it's like buzz blades or something. We have it, whatever it is. It's like in this container. And then they like kind of zoom around and fight-ish. Oh. Beyblades? Is that what they're called? We had robots that fought each other. And then we also had those like hexabugs. They're like little Oh, would they hex around? They would hex. Yeah. Did you have to build them? No. I think that was why they didn't last. Like they weren't that into it. Like the boys especially wanted to like do something with it. So I think if like I think they, if you just turned it on and it went, it was kind of like the ever, like the best toys ever. Mm-hmm. The Rubik's Cube, the Barbie, and Hot Wheels. There you go. Still around. I liked Hot Wheels and all the little tracks and stuff. And I liked Tinker toys. We never had Tinker Toys. They came in like a container that and oatmeal comes in, like that circular cylinder. And they were wooden. I mean, toys have been around for centuries. Archaeologists are digging them up all the time. And I mean, you think about it, like people always had to keep their kids quiet and focused. And I would imagine back in caveman days it was safety. Don't cry, we will be eaten. The sumo wrestlers. Except for in Japan, like cry or else you're ready. Right. They were hopped up on goofballs, as your mom would say, shaking babies to make them cry. Right. Because I you know the answer to this, but I do get nostalgic about some of their toys.

Keeping Memories While Decluttering

SPEAKER_02 29:59

And it's hard for me to give them away. But this past weekend I was like, this is silly. Like it the one that I was proud of myself. So Rose was like a pacifier addict. Well, she was. She called them babas, and she would have like one in each hand. And like she loved a baba. And we were at Yorktown at Bonmauer, and she wanted this Melissa. And I mean, this is how old she was that we could I could reason with her. She wanted this Melissa and Doug like vanity scent, wooden vanity. I was like, all right, if you want this, you have to give away your babas. And she was like, okay.

SPEAKER_01 30:39

Is that how you stop the pacifier?

SPEAKER_02 30:42

I have it. So we got home, she gave me all her babas, and I put them in a zip black bag, and but I didn't throw them away yet because I was like, this is gonna be a disaster. And she cried like once, and like every once in a while, she'd be like, I miss my babas. And I was like, but you got this. But we finally throw away the vanity. Do you still have the babas? Every once in a while we'll find one. Oh you like in like a no like one of her like little purses or something. We'll find it. Oh my gosh. But it was like like markers got all over it. And it, I mean, it's time to go. It's five years old. Yeah. But it was a little bit like, oh. Yeah, I loved floor puzzle sparkles. Same. And we still have the United States one that's a little bit. Yes. That one in the skeleton one. We had like a foam piece, like full size. Creepy. I was gonna throw it away, and Aiden's like, you can't get rid of that. It's iconic. And I was like, all right, it's yours. There you go. One bin cricket stuff. I have one bin of toys. Do you have toys for you? Like, do you have anything? Like I have my cricket. Like, I feel like that's my toy. And my bike I still have from college. Oh, there you go. That's not really a toy. That's like a mode of transportation. I like a cricket. I like c calligraphy books. Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 32:01

My uncle. He knows how to take calligraphy. He's taking a class. He is at College of DuPay. What? Yes. Okay. My Aunt Maureen told me this last night. I was like, I have to tell Martin. Stop. He's enrolled. Yes. Maybe he could tutor me and then I'd have to go to the class.

SPEAKER_02 32:16

Because you know, the class is classes. How do I learn it without going to a class? Yeah, I just want to learn. Yeah. But I was like, oh my God, why have we not looked at community colleges? Because that's a big commitment. But I did take a photography class when I was extremely pregnant through the park district. Ooh. Sorry. That's the last time I've taken a class. Oh I love taking classes. But I was excited. I can't believe I'm going to go. Oh my gosh. All right. Shall

Highs, Lows, Fundraiser Mall Date

SPEAKER_02 32:44

we high and low? Yeah, let's go for it. Okay. I miss Super Garbage Day. That's the worst low I've ever. How did you miss it? I mean, like, I didn't forget about it, but I didn't get my basement clean in time. How did you miss it? Because I ended up helping my kids study for finals, and then other stuff happened, and I just never got down to the basement. I put two things out there. I put like our whole house out there. And then the next day, so like Saturday afternoon, after they had already got everything, I had four bags of garbage that Al had to bring somewhere else. Everything went for us. Even the Ottoman. And then today, Catherine, well, last night, Catherine Grace had seen an Ottoman while she was biking. Or an Ottoman. God was like, wait, you lost one and gained? No, Catherine Grace of Vanity while she was biking around and the lady was putting out, and she's like, it's in perfect condition. We just don't need it anymore. So Catherine Grace called me last night and I said, no, we ordered one. We're waiting for it to arrive. Yeah. And then today when we were coming back from the Orthodonis, she's like, it's down that street. And we turned and it was still there. And we picked it up, put it in the car in three different pieces, put it in their room, and I canceled the other one. Great.

SPEAKER_01 34:01

Oh my god.

SPEAKER_02 34:02

The girls are so happy. Oh, that's awesome. Ours, I think, was a little bit higher end. The girls are just so happy to have it. So yeah. Oh, never mind that one of them has their own bathroom and the other one has her own side of a bathroom. Like, we don't need a vanity. But whatever. Uh Kevin called me the other day. He was like, Mom, there's a flat screen TV out here. Can you come and pick it up? I was like, Where would this go? Right. Where is he like in my room? And I was like, absolutely not. You should tell him wait for the garage sale. Yeah, I know. So I do have things that I saved for the garage sale because I miss super garbage. Yeah. Oh, that's fast. This is nice. Like these are like nicer things that I think. We should go to the $10 sale.

unknown 34:43

I know.

SPEAKER_02 34:45

We'll be here. Be away. Okay. I know. This is our last episode. Before you. Because next week, listeners, I'm going to be on a boat. Somewhere on a boat. Somewhere on a boat. Lecture low. My low is that I forgot soccer practice.

unknown 35:00

Oh.

SPEAKER_02 35:00

You were here. I was here. But you made it. I made it with five minutes to spare. That's incredible. Yeah. Well done. That was a terrible. I don't like that feeling though, that like, ugh. Ugh. Yeah. But you do you just have to tell yourself we're going to be late. We're going to be late. Yeah. We're going to be late. And it's the world will keep on turning. I was really jumbled. But my high was our St. John and the Cross School community and parish community coming together, though. That was for a friend of ours who has a son undergoing some medical things. It was so nice to see friends and faculty and staff and peers and class community. Yeah, it just it warmed my heart. It was it was a really beautiful way to start the week. Just like wow. I know. It's good. So it's really nice. I should have gone. I was gonna say my basement, but now I feel like you've gotten fast. Well, we both that can be a joint. It was, yeah, I was also there. You know what else was?

SPEAKER_01 35:59

You know what else is really fun on our high school date. Let's use that as your high.

SPEAKER_02 36:03

Nora, so for our friend whose son was having these medical treatments, we collected money and we went to the mall. But not just any old mall this week. We went to Orland Square Mall, to the Lego store and to Sephora. Sephora was so fun. So we went to the mall and hung out and got lit some Legos and some Sephora stuff. And then on the way home, we stopped for a drink. We did. We each had one beer. We had one beer and some pizza. And then I dropped you off at your house. We sat in the driveway for a little bit to decide what we were doing next. And then we hung out at your house and watched a basketball game. Oh it was really nice. And thank you for doing all the wrapping for that. Oh, Rose helped me. Oh, she did. Yes. And it all worked out. And our I think everything is going as well as it can for us friends and her son. So I'm grateful for that. Same. Um, but I will miss you while I'm on my trip. I will miss doing a podcast. I know. Listen to you. Maybe I should bring my magic wand on the trip. Oh, get a new one. Oh, I don't know. Maybe. Right? What if I wear this one out? I'm on vacation. Just boom, boom, boom. Oh, I think I could get a Disney one. Oh, I could cricket something in a personal. I've been bringing it. I just I do you think I should stop by your parents and see if your dad has anything that I could fill this with? I was like, is there a gift card? No, I don't I don't want a gift card. I want his money. Oh no. All right. All right. Well Disney. We gotta go shop. All right. Bye. Okay, bye.