Leg Warmers & Lawn Ornaments: A Very Gen X Holiday

0:00 I'm Megan Bennett, I'm Lesley Meier and this is Gen X Women Are Sick of this Hi, Lesley. Hi, Megan How are ya? I'm great, I'm glad, I'm good. I like your sweatshirt. Thank you, it's a social distortion sweatshirt. I just noticed that. It's very cool, thank you. Where did you get that social distortion sweatshirt? I got it at a concert this summer, nice. It was like 100 degrees when I bought it and I was like I'm never going to wear that and then I was like oh shit, it's December, I'm going to wear it all the time. It's like a future present. It was.

0:43 I bought it for myself and I was very happy when I did, because it's big, big, warm like fuzzy fuzzy. Yeah, it's good. I love Social D. Me too. Reminds me of high school and Mike Ness was gone for a while for surgery. He had like focal cord issues. Oh shit. So, this was him back on tour. And he sounded fantastic, fantastic. That's really good. Oh, that's gotta feel good. We're here today to do a podcast episode are you from minnesota? Yep, just now, hello I'm from minnesota just today. It is sunday. It is it's a sunday in december and it is a wet one. It is not a snowy one.

1:23 I'm okay with that. Mixed blessings rained like crazy. I know you hate the cold I don't like it and the snow I do my rule for the snow is, if we're gonna have snow, it has to be so much snow that it shuts everything down and nobody can leave the lake has to erase all obligations I'm cool with that as long as the next day it's 84 degrees, right immediately, all gone. That's the problem. Is that, like you get the like melty gray oh, the black snow and everybody's living their lives, but it's cold, and miserable and it freezes every night, yeah, yeah so that is the downside right well, and I don't have um all weather tires on my car yet I didn't do that, yet so I've got my summer tires on.

2:07 I'm like please don't have all weather tires on my car yet. I didn't do that yet, so I've got my summer tires on, I'm like, please don't get cold, like cold, cold, because I can't drive my car. Then, oh no, yeah, I'll slide everywhere. It's not a good thing. So I was able to get here because it was warm enough. Oh, nice, that's good. So when it gets cold sorry, I'll just have to phone it in Fuck it. Megan's stuck, can't do shit. Lesley will be doing the podcast all by herself. No podcast kids. No, we'll get on. We'll do it on Riverside. Yeah, we could do it. If it gets super snowy we could do a little video thing sure. Yeah, it'll be at least a novelty. That'd be fun. Today's episode is because it's going to take a minute before we get to it is: a Very Gen X Holiday.

2:47 Very Gen X Holiday. That is the topic slash theme. But before we get into that we have some of our regular shit that we need to talk about. Yep, today's bullshit and hot goss, ma'am Well we were talking about fashion. Yes, I think there. The 2024 return of 80s fashion 80s fashion, as if it is something new. Right, because what's old is new again, absolutely, and like things that are out there in the world that we were like why is this back? Yep. Like why are? Why are stirrup pants back? Oh my God, like they were not good then.

3:29 No, they should not be back. And functionally like stirrup pants, solved a problem right that just doesn't exist anymore, Like holding the kind of black stretchy pants down because there was not athleisure as we know it now. Right right, you didn't have the cuff thing right. So, there was like spandex, jane found a workout clothes, yeah, and then this was sort of a move into casual. Right. But it was like, oh good, golly, how do we get these to stay down? What are we going to do about it? And it was kind of like also a ballet kind of crossover. Okay, yeah, of like also a ballet kind of crossover okay, which was insanely popular in the 80s because then you could put your to take ballet at school.

4:10 Oh, that's cool for, but there was like this, like because the shoes and the tights and the whole thing, like that's what it reminded me of, and you could wear your your um your leg warmers over them absolutely yes, which I guess was another reason for stirrup pants. But look at that, so I okay, so here's the thing about stirrup pants. What was our point? This is what bothers me about them. Yes, I don't mind them if you're wearing boots, sure there we go picture four shows, yeah, so we've got an old um stirrup pants ad pulled up. Okay. So if you're going to wear them with boots and you don't see the dumb stirrup part, absolutely Fine, but the fact that you could always see the dumb stirrup part and people would wear socks and then the stirrups over them, yes, there we go.

5:02 Yep, picture what the fuck, and then the stirrups over them. Yes, there we go. Yep, picture what Bowl, what the fuck Bear, it's just ugly Over the shoes. Oh, no, no, no, no. So was this also like a horse girl thing, where they like oh look, we can make stirrups. Well, because equestrian stuff? was hot Sure. Like all that and those equestrian boots like the really tall flat boots. Yep, absolutely, to make you look like you were going to leave high school and go hop on your horse and ride an English style, which everybody did. Fucking yeah, of course. Gotta go drive my horse, but functionally. there's no reason for them today, like your pants stay down. I'm not sure there was reason back then.

5:42 Like they just look dumb dumb but yeah so why are they back? Um, that's a great question, and are people going to wear them over the shoe like that? I think so or with flats hot ballet flat, which everybody had to have. It does make me think of, though, like. What was it like for? Like my grandmother to, because there was this obsession, do you remember? And maybe like grade school, elementary school, like for halloween you would wear like poodle skirts, or they would do sock hops at school and everybody would dress up like it was the 50s, right, but it was only have saddle shoes 30 years later. All right so at least I mean this is, I guess, the same thing, kind Kind of yeah.

6:26 And she would just be like why are you wearing all of that? It's so old I just want to smack the stirrup pants off of people. Those are just not that shouldn't have to come back. We're sorry. We're sorry they ever existed. Dear Gen Z, we're sorry. I apologize. The other big one is shoulder pads. Yeah, and functionally, if you're wearing, like a really nice jacket, a little shoulder pad Need a little structure in there Right Structure, structure. Not, you know, Carrington style dynasty giant ass shoulder pads. We have shelves Right. They're like Unnecessary. It's so you're intimidating, it's so.

7:07 your shoulders are like this big Made your waist look way skinnier. Truth, there we go. Wow, that's not exactly Uh-huh, that is a kind of shoulder. Producer Tim pulled up, like I don't know, a motorcycle shoulder. There. Look at that. Alexis Carrington jacket. There you go, damn son, and they do. I mean this is a total. You're right that triangle shape like women were. Yeah, you were very triangular. Yeah, made your waist look really, really skinny. That's the truth. The bigger the shoulders, the smaller your waist, I guess. There we go, amazing. So those are back and hot and I have not a single one.

7:48 I've thrown them all away and I can't imagine ever putting one on. I just can't. I haven't bought anything like work style clothes in so long, like everything I own is sort of slouchy sweaters and whatever. So no, no, but I did see them. I had to go to Macy's for some reason and there was tons of jackets that had giant shoulder pads This- fall is all about the 80s suit, the power suit, only if they come with a giant fluffy tie. Because women couldn't wear like ties, so they made the giant bows. Those Peter Pan collars and the big bows and all that stuff.

8:30 Yeah, not great, there we go. So that's some. It's coming back y'all. Buckle up For sure. I did see parachute pants at a TJ Maxx oh, no shit, no shit, like on the rack and even labeled parachute pants and the material is different. It's not the same and they didn't have the zippers. Because you remember, like all the parachute pants had all the michael jackson type zippers on all of them, and if they were high-end, they had pockets, and if they weren't, like mine, they just had zippers. They were, they look like they had pockets and they were just sort of sewn. But they weren't open like real pockets. Yes, yeah, the parachute pant material is different than what it used to be, which is probably good because Swish swish, swish swish Right.

9:16 Okay. Well, and I remember I wanted parachute pants. So bad those the nylon ones on eBay. That eBay picture, Do you see that? Yeah, the nylon ones on eBay. That eBay picture. Do you see that? Yep, Our far right. Yep, oh yeah, all the way to the black ones. Yep, that's exactly, those are the parachute pants. With the zippers 80s men's vintage. Yep, that was totally it, absolutely. I wanted those. And the break dancing. So bad, mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. And I had, I ended up having two pairs. I had a pair of black ones and I had a pair of gray ones. Oh, man and. I it was. It was a hard road to get my parents and my grandma to buy me a pair of parachute pants. What did you have to do? I just, I just begged for them forever and finally got them.

9:58 They were the hottest thing I've ever had on my body. It was like not hot like, but physically warm, yes, like sweating in them immediately, sure, and of course, wearing them in the summertime, because it doesn't matter. It doesn't matter because your season is irrelevant to fashion. And then I rode them on while riding my. I wore them while riding my bike and I fell off my bike and tore them and, if you like, the slightest little scuff to those and they're toast Like there's no way to patch them Right. Sure, because they're basically plastic. So I ruined. I think it was the gray pair. Anyway, that's a tragedy Very sad, I know I'm sorry. Rip parachute pants RIP parachute pants.

10:41 So yeah, the material's not the same. They don't seem to have all the the the snazzy pockets that they used to have do you think this was the precursor to cargo pants? probably looking at your little pocket. Oh, I am wearing cargo pants today, which probably the greatest 90s invention ever, because you didn't have to have a purse. No, pockets are important, they are women love pockets carry all of our shit. You could just toss your id in there and go out and there was no need for anything else well, and the the recurrence now of big wide leg pants makes me so happy. Like I'm a short girl, I shouldn't wear them I just look like yeah, tree trunk when I wear them, but I don't care, I them.

11:22 They were wide ass jeans and those parachute like those uh cargo pants so cool. It was hard to let them go out of the nineties, like when millennials started pushing skinny jeans. I was just like those look so fucking dumb. And so it took like a decade for me to get used to seeing them. And then I finally bought some and I'm like oh, these are fine. And then, within like three years, they switched. Yeah, now it's those again and I it's so weird how fashion changes and your brain is like oh, that looks weird, but literally you wore it for 10 years. I just I. I had a couple pairs of those big wide leg pants and I kept them and would wear them. You know, fly that in the face of fashion.

12:02 You know, fuck you, you can't tell me what to do. I'm wearing these pants and so I would absolutely wear them, but you couldn't find new pairs, they just didn't make them. So now I'm just excited that they're back again, so I can hoard them like a squirrel until they go out of fashion and wear them again. Ooh, and low waist is back, which is normal waist on a short person like me high waist right can't do high waist, titties and every freaking pair of jeans is high-waisted. Yes, what is that shit about? I can take a mid-waist, I could take a low rise and that's about it. High waist stuff, don't understand it no like who are you? people with mile-long torsos that have all the room for high-waisted anything, yeah, pretty jealous of that it's bizarre.

12:49 So other pictures on here there's some Hammer Time pants that keep popping up too. For sure. Look at those. Wow, those pants were literally a parachute, like you could just jump from a plane. Yes, mc. Hammers and pants. Harem pants Didn't really have a crotch, literally a parachute, like you could just jump from a plane. Mc hammers and pants harem pants didn't really have a crotch no, I mean, anything could be in there water bottles snacks bacon it does hide, you know, whether or not he was super well endowed, we'll never know. Unlike yep, you know, unlike kill gerard we're going to talk about in a minute, oh yay, no hiding that shit. Perfect time for a transition.

13:29 Let me just wake up my computer again. So funny, oh, on Hot Goss and BS, we also talk about who died this week. Who died this week, and this week we learned about the death of tom christopher. So tom christopher was born in 1940, died in 2024, just on december 5th. Um, if that name doesn't ring a bell because it didn't to us right away, right um that don't be surprised. He wasn't. He wasn't a huge, prolific actor, but he was a soap actor in one life to live for a while yeah, started in 1968 played a bad guy, but his oh, I was gonna say award-winning award-winning what he's famous to us right but I don't think it was award-winning he was he played hawk man in buck rogers.

14:22 Yes buck rogers in the 25th century, which started in 1979. So I was six and it was in the space genre. Yes. Also right before Star Wars came out. It was around the Battlestar Galactica era. Absolutely so. Post-original Star Wars and Battlestar Galactica came your weekly hit of space, space sexiness, space sexiness. The half an hour of Buck Rogers, who was time warped into the 25th century from the 20th century with twiggy the robot take five centuries to get to the fashion that's in this show.

15:12 There's some good fashion in this show and lots of satin, and the chest hair was going to be exactly the same and he played hawk, hawk I think it's tom. Yeah, tom. Christopher played hawk man, which I think he must have had like another name, like I'm sure the character had a name. When it popped up it just said hawk. Right there. He was in 11 episodes and you said he was like a nemesis yeah, he started out as a nem. This is. This is just my memory dive, tell me all, so I'm trying really hard to remember this, but I first of had a little crush as a kid. I was eight. He was kind of foxy Eight. I was nine. Eight. When it came out he was foxy. Yeah, I kind of thought he was hot.

15:53 You were into feathers. I don't know why I was into feathers. But yeah, he started out as a bad guy and they were against each other. And then something happened and I can't remember what that was, but some turn of events happened and he became a hawk man and buck rogers became buddies, oh, and I don't know where, in the 25th century, in the 25th, where there were bird men like that. Look at that isn't that intense look, moss person behind him. Look at the chest plate happening there. That's what well, they had to carve it that way, so all the muscles could fit. Otherwise, in the 25th century, I'm going to need this to be more like my your muscles can't fit in your clothes More like my chest it does have.

16:38 Oh gosh, what was that movie that had the word hawk in it, lady? Oh gosh, what was that movie that had the word hawk in it? Lady, hawk, lady. It has lady hawk vibes, just the like head gear and the like shoulder. Okay, kind of stole thing okay, I like that. We could talk about lady hawk anytime you want. That movie is so good oh we can't go down that road. I was like what about crawl? We should talk about Krull. Oh no, we're going to talk about all that stuff later. We've got to have a whole other episode about that Stop. Be still Brain, OK fine. Anyway, so yes, so, tom Christopher, like I said, if you don't remember him, you're Go find Buck Rogers. Go find Buck Rogers and have a couple looks, looks at um I think it's on tubi actually, I think you can like stream old buck rogers episodes fashion is fucking epic oh, and buck rogers, so good the costumes are so good and erin gray was so pretty she is wilma.

17:34 What the fuck they gave her the name wilma. Well, they wanted to like sex her down a little bit like wilma's, not a hot name. And then you have aaron gray and wilma. They were like what's gonna be a hot name in 2025? Well, or 20? it was hot in the fun stance. Whatever it was, why won't it be hot in the 25th century, 25th century, 500s? what's old is new, again, I guess, like fucking stirrup pants stirrup pants. Yeah, right, here we go. And wilma, the clothes are pretty incredible, um it definitely has a star trek vibe, even though producer producer tim is probably staring at me in a very angry, anger manner.

18:20 Angrily, manner, angrily. But with a 70s twist Right. Yes, it was like right, but the chest hair is about the same. But Buck Rogers definitely was channeling his inner William Shatner. I think there was like a chest off A sucking in chest off photo contest. That happened there. Hot, hot captains we should do a side by side comparisonside comparison and analysis of liam shatner yes, and gil deride, I like it. I don't know we can keep going on this, but maybe we should switch. So, uh, one segment that is the favorite for both you and I is what shit are we sick of today?

19:03 sick. That was sick shit that we are sick of golly I'll tell you what. We stayed up too late last night we didn't know it. I'm the next to both of us. We were separately up late doing ridiculous things uh, so what we are sick of um. I think we were going to talk what we're going to talk about, leslie. We're going to talk about, like the, just generally the holiday stress. Yes holidays, holiday obligations versus holiday traditions and what's kind of the line between, like a tradition and an obligation how do you know when that changes? And then navigating the holidays throughout different ages, like we were kind of talking about memories of holidays as kids, where everything seems like super fun and you're just sort of like lugged around and things just happen to you and then as you get older, like what do you?

19:55 Did anybody ever say, hey, what do you want the holidays to be like? no, versus this is what the holidays as a kid. No, you didn't get up, you didn't get to weigh in no and did it occur? to anybody that you could do things differently no, I don't think so. I think there was just tradition and you just did. This is what we do and then sometimes you had to do things because you know, in the case of like divorce, for example, oh yeah, you like you know, in the case of like divorce, for example, you, like, you know, you sort of were thrust into a new way of doing things. Multiple households, multiple grandparent households, but it's stressful, I mean. I think it's like a source of emotional distress for people.

20:40 There's a lot of like kind of guilt or frustration, feeling unappreciated and like why am I doing these things when it seems like we're just doing them to do them and we're going through the motions and nobody's really like excited about it, and so how do you have that conversation or decide? conversation or decide. The facebook group is full of posts right now. So for those of you who are, who are listening, who are not a member of our facebook group, we have a big facebook group with 450 000 gen x women all across the world, people um and the. We see a lot of the posts that come. We see all the posts that come through and there's a lot of conversation happening right now because it's right around the holidays of people who are feeling that exact feeling like why my kids are out of the house, they're already gone.

21:34 Why am I taking all of this time and energy to decorate like I'm not happy with, like I'm it's, I'm not in the christmas spirit, I'm not feeling it. Why do I do all this stuff? And it's like you feel guilty, I guess if you don't put the tree up, you know you feel like you have to and that's kind of I mean, that's a bummer if you feel that way, because it just adds that pressure to like now I have to be in the christmas spirit. God damn it. We're gonna force your feelings right. Well, and I think it's an interesting like phenomenon, because during the holidays more than maybe any other time of the year, depending on whether your holidays are, like, faith-based or just tradition-based or whatever the family hierarchy suddenly comes back into play more than ever.

22:27 So if you happen to have grandparents or great-grandparents, your parents are still living like you are put in the position of child, even though you're in your fucking 50s right yeah, or your late 40s, and you are not a child anymore, you are an adult no, but you still have to do all the things. Yeah, you know and that's that's a conversation that I have with lots of people as a therapist, but it's also a conversation that we've just had. I'm like we're grown like we don't have to do this and our families are retired like our parents are retired. We love them all. They have much more flexible lives than we do to us and that's. I have that conversation with lots of people, especially when they like have kids, like younger families, and they have kids and they're like, oh, we're driving everywhere and I'm like, why?

23:13 yeah, you have to pack out the whole house right it is okay to have an intentional conversation about changing the way that things are and you might. There's probably going to be resistance, right? If your mom has always been. I'm always the one who decorates, I'm always the one who cooks Christmas, you know, dinner or whatever, I'm always the. Your Christmas stocking is here. So, by God, you need to bring it's here, so it's not there. You have to come here to get your Christmas stocking, you know, or whatever that looks like. Yeah, but you may have some pushback. Yeah. People who are like God damn it. This is my tradition, this is what we do and it's really upsetting.

23:54 And you also might find out that your family members are doing things out of what they believe is an emotional obligation to you because they want to keep things the same for you and the practically just nobody's having the conversation, absolutely, because everyone makes assumptions and believes things and they don't talk about it on purpose. So it's like, cool, let's just sit down and what do we want this to look like? Right, it's okay to have that conversation. I think that's super important because you know it could be fun. It could be fun, it could be you could make it better. Yeah, if you have all of that stuff. And then I think the other side of that coin is folks who don't have much family are kind of isolated, maybe don't feel like they have a lot of people that they could spend time with and it's this obligation that way, like where they're seeing a lot of things happen.

24:46 It feels like you should be, you would like to maybe be more connected and in community and it's really sad that you're not, so it's all hard. Yeah, it is. And this, this we all know I mean, we've all seen the stats this time of year is hard on people for so many reasons. Yeah, you, you know you look back, you've got stronger memories of people that have passed. Yeah, for sure you know, if like you lost your mom or dad this last year. Like this holiday is going to be hard, like you need to take time for yourself and be good to yourself and you know and ask for help if you need it yeah, for sure.

25:26 And you don't have to put up a single damn decoration. You don't have to. You can sit around and watch, go to the movies oh my god, we used to go like we used to go to the movies on christmas day yeah, because it was like the nobody was there and you could go watch like back to back to back movies if you want to do. Yeah. Take yourself to the movies, take yourself on vacation. Yes. You know, do something completely different and new if you want to. Change it up. Yep, it's important to feel supported in that, I think. Yeah, it's hard. So I guess, in summary, the thing that we're sick of is just like the obligation obligational part, yeah, and being able to kind of suss out the difference between like traditions, that sort of bring you joy, and traditions that you feel like you have to do.

26:17 And you're just doing them to do them without having an intentional conversation about it. Yeah, I don't feel I haven haven't. I think I mentioned to you earlier I had, I can't remember the last year that I felt like I was truly in just full on the christmas spirit. You know, and I'm using use quotation fingers right, because I'm not sure what being in the christmas spirit really means but I think it's like looking forward to the whole experience, sure, and like that little childlike joy I guess that we used to have as kids when like, oh, christmas is coming, yes, you know, so I can't remember yeah, I can't remember the last time, probably when my daughter was still living at home and you know younger and did all the shopping for her and did all the Santa stuff.

27:04 Yeah. That might have have, you know, probably back then okay it's just, I don't know. So then what? I'm doing it, create that vibe for you as an adult, like what things in your life bring you like anticipatory joy. Uh well, vacations, absolutely do that for me so and I think, the fact that my daughter will be home this year, so I'm looking forward to seeing her. Um, you know, there's there's elements of it that I like, but I just I guess maybe I'm a little nostalgic and I miss that feeling of you know, oh, it's christmas, yep I love christmas you know that kind of thing, yeah, yeah. The hardest thing I had to do was just like not break into my christmas presents right like for two weeks, yeah, which I got really good at with like a little razor blade and some scotch tape.

27:48 Were you a sneaker like that? Oh yeah, were you really? absolutely wow it was under the tree. It was fair game, game on buddy. Damn, I'm gonna figure out what that hated, not knowing. I don't really like surprises, okay, so mostly because I just don't have any poker face and I will disappoint you if I don't like it oh socks fucking and I, you. just it's best to like have the intentional conversation and then I feel bad because I have no poker face. I can't fix that for you, nor can I fix it for me. So if I know there was some measure of like being able to like prepare myself Leslie, you're an actress.

28:35 You could act like you were really excited about something. Yeah, so I could prep a little bit and I kind of knew and I could like turn myself emotionally around. This comes from two very direct experiences. Okay, tell me, I know exactly where this came from. When I was young I was, my brother was not born yet, so I had to be under four, okay, and it was my birthday. It might've been Christmas, one of those two exciting times where I could not contain my excitement and I would like beg, beg, beg, beg, beg to get a Christmas present, or a present in advance. Okay, and so my parents sent me on like a scavenger hunt through our house.

29:16 We used to live like kind of over in Nora. We had like a little two bedroom bungalow north of Indianapolisapolis and I went on and the scavenger hunt was so fun and I was so excited. I was so fucking hyped to like get this present like it was gonna be the best present ever. It was soft and I opened this present and theoretically it was a wonderful gift. My folks did not account for the fact that I was like a four-year-old child. Okay, yeah, who, yes, loved something. There's a particular theme here, mm-hmm, but I probably should have been given a toy.

29:57 Oh, yeah, so they bought me and had framed this wonderful print of Bert and Ernie and Cookie Monster Do you remember this Because I've gifted this to one of my son's friends, because I've had it for 47 years, 46 years. So I find this thing. It was hidden under my bed the whole time it was wrapped. I pull it out, I tear the wrapping paper off, I am like, so excited, within seconds sobbing inconsolable my parents are so disappointed there was no fixing it like it was.

30:39 I remember even as I tell the story I can feel it my chest but it was like a thing I had to like. So like, literally, I gifted it to one of my son's friends, probably three years ago, to Jackson. He loved it. He took it home. I don't know if it's still in his room, I don't care what happens to it after that but he loved it and he was like yeah, I, yeah, I fucking want that. I was like great, it is yours and it's so sweet and it was so thoughtful, but for, like a tiny child, it was yeah for a four-year-old you better, it better be fisher price, something or other, and it was so hyped right like yeah scavenger hunt and you're getting warmer and you're getting colder and I'm like internally building all this excitement it's probably a big parental mistake.

31:30 I can't even imagine the conversations that they had like oh my god, we ruined our christmas really, and they were young parents, yeah, like we broke our baby situation, but I think that that is the origin of me. Like no, I'll just pick out what I want. It's cool. Like I don't want surprises. Oh my god, to this day, it is a whole to this day. It is a thing of uh. I tried recently to give her a surprise gift uh-huh and it turned out beautifully. It did. It was such a beautiful, thoughtful gift for our 10-year anniversary. However, when I first told her about it, because I had to, because of finances and blah, blah, blah.

32:15 Right. And she goes. Why would you do that? Why would you do that Well? it can't be this, this, this, this, this and I'm like well, that's everything she's like I I can't act like like if I don't. I said you have to brace yourself for me not loving this thing that you put so much thought into oh, my god and I will understand that it was very thoughtful and I had some like hope because I knew who had recommended the jeweler. One of our good friends recommended the jeweler and I was like okay, she kind of knows my vibe, like it might be fine and I even like wavered on this is a side quest side quest and I wavered on you even taking it.

32:59 We went away for a weekend yeah and I was like don't bring it don't bring it on the weekend because I don't, I don't want that, I it. Don't bring it on the weekend because I don't. I don't want that. I don't want it to ruin our weekend because I don't want you to feel bad and so it's a big thing you ended up like giving it to me beforehand. Yeah, in some very like boring subtle way, and it was beautiful, ultimately, I it was super hip, I think I found. That's how you prefer to handle these situations. You don't want to build up Nope. Just hand it to me and be like here I got this for you, I'll be like oh great, that's good that is amazing, Wesley. And it was a big deal and it was a wonderful gift. So at some point we'll have to have a conversation about how you proposed to her, because, oh no.

33:42 There was no proposal this was a very nuts and bolts practical conversation it was brokered peace uh, treaties were signed there was no no, it would have been messed. We're gonna come back from this side quest right now though, yes, okay, All right. Because what we're talking about is Christmas and-. Oh, but that's good. Christmas traditions and oh God, had we segued. I can't fully find my way back on this path. What prompted the beginning of this story. Let's take a breather here real quick, and then we can jump back in on-.

34:22 And then we'll start with our like gen x holiday. Hey megan, hey leslie, it's the holiday season, ma'am, and we here at gen x women are sick. Of this shit happen to have a shop. We have an etsy shop. Absolutely, we do. We have an etsy shop with merch, some of which you are wearing right now adorable things and we are doing something special this season. We are because the world is the world. Now we decided that we were going to play our part, do what we can to help support women, and we are donating $1 for every a minimum of $1 for every item sold to the Center for Reproductive Freedom.

35:07 Yep and that will go through the end of the month or yeah, we'll do that through the end of December and then we'll probably pick another non-profit for. January Yep, and so that'll be a minimum donation of $50. We think it will be more than that that we'll be making to the center for reproductive freedom, yep. So if you are looking for a gift for yourself or for a another gen x woman, check out our etsy store and know that we are doing our part to lift up women as much as we can in these trying times I should remember the end of what we like, the last thing that we said but I don't.

35:48 And here we are, but I do know what we're talking about. Next, we are talking about our gen x christmas memories right, very gen x christmas and we have some themes that we were going to kind of touch on. We'll see what comes out of this, but our holiday favorites, just like kind of gift giving getting any holiday events, holiday traditions, what were things that happened all the time? okay, uh, potentially like recipes I we had. At least we had four generations at one point, so there was that multi-generational vibe, at least on my mom's side of the family. So recipes that maybe only come out during the holidays foods just during, like the christmas holidays.

36:31 Right, we did all the other ones um gifts and gift giving. Just what was that process like, because I know you have some stories oh my gosh um cards, holiday cards because there's been a massive evolution in holiday cards right from are they back? these to the I don't like because it was like. Nobody does them anymore, right I don't. Maybe this is just where I pick up I'll say this last thing, though. Okay, we're also going to talk about decorating okay, like holiday decorating through the years, right kind of what things look like perfect. Where do we want? to Well, let's start with cards. Cards. Yeah, because that's sort of the signal of the beginning of the season Like. Here it comes, because you started getting mail. Yes, you got along with all the cool catalogs that you used to get.

37:15 Absolutely so you could mark up all the toys you wanted in your catalog and cards that would come in the mail Right. And for my grandmother, my great-grandmother expectation they sent cards and received cards by the dozens. Yes, For sure, my mom for sure, my grandmother absolutely. When she lived with us there was always a Christmas card. Yes, and my mom would always try really hard to find, like just the, the funniest cards. You know there was never like that. I love that yeah never like the super traditional, like may the spirit of the holiday blub, none of that no it was like the edward gory, like oh yeah, the edward gory fruitcake card is like my favorite of all time so anyway, but but fun cards and they were just like cards, like they just folded there were no photos.

38:10 Maybe you would include, like your kid's school pictures, if it was a close family member you'd tuck those in. But then there was like an evolution of cards that happened yeah, they almost became um like a family newsletter. Oh yeah, things right, that happened, a multi-page with the invention of the dot matrix printer. Tear off those little edges. We all became the recipient of the family newsletter. You got yourself a family newsletter. Those things are awful, did you? guys do this. No, ever Did you get them from other people. Occasionally, yeah, occasionally, we would get them from other people. Uh, occasionally, yeah, occasionally, we would get them. Um, my sister has been a family newsletter person. Yeah, she's done that, and I for a while.

38:53 They did them. I feel like they did them multiple times a year oh wow, like, maybe, like, yeah, like a quarterly update and then I think it went down to just like the the Well, that was old in Facebook. Yeah, right, right, exactly, we should just go back to that. I was going to bash family newsletters, but perhaps we should destroy Facebook and just reintroduce the family newsletter let's just blow it up. And then we'll put all of our money back into the mail service and it'll all be fine. Yes, I like that. I think that's great photo card. Oh gosh, yes, the portrait, the posed portrait card yeah, shiny on one side and you get the postcard, or you'd get it like a postcard in an envelope.

39:42 Yes, right of like, here's your, your family photo yeah, you go out in the middle of nowhere during october and get your picture taken all together sweaters, right and your kids holding cute pumpkins, or you do the fake holiday setup out in the woods also With a tree. Yeah Right, here's our future Christmas tree. We know what these look like, yeah, and it seems like that was kind of like the beginning of the end, like we don't get Christmas cards. We have not ever sent them. We get one from our financial advisor. We've gotten one this year from our insurance from our, from our financial advisor and his is a family christmas like photo card.

40:23 It was really cool. It was like in a. It was like a self-contained kind of envelope thing, so it folded and then a sticker and like you'd open it and it was all printed in there in one not even stuffing, no, it's just like print that shit off and set it away, pop it in the mail yeah, yeah, I don't. I always wanted so desperately to be a christmas card person oh, yeah, I want yeah, I want to be able to buy a really cool box of cards. Yes, I love stationery. Have the ability to write everybody's addresses down and maintain that and keep it.

41:04 Yes, and know that like oh, this is my aunt's address and I am terrible, absolutely horrible at it. There's nothing more hopeful and despairing for a person with ADHD than like a fresh, blank notebook or a box of cards I want to do something with that and because it's so exciting yeah. Like, yes, these are great. Everybody's going to love them. I'm going to be so fucking organized. Yes. And no, it doesn't happen. So I've accepted reality. I don't even send it's a real bubber, like it's a super letdown for yourself when you're all excited about it and then it's like yeah so I don't torture myself that way anymore. We get a couple here and there, but I don't. This year has been nothing. But it's also kind of an anti-holiday holiday year because thanksgiving was so late and christmas.

41:48 Yeah, it did happen very quickly okay, I'd be curious about others' holiday card experiences, if this is like a real trend, an ADHD trend, right, or do other people in an alternate universe? send cards, oh my God. And if you are one of those people who do the cards and every year, just like clockwork, you have your list and you sit down and you do it. Oh my God, my hat's off to you, absolutely, and please chime in and let us know, because, yes, I want to celebrate you. You're a magical person. You are a magical person. So there are cards and catalogs, and then the. We would start the decorating and decorating in the 70s and early 80s was very different than the things of today.

42:33 We I don't know what it was like for you, but we definitely had a lot of like hard molded plastic outdoor decorations that were probably vintage, would be very vintage right, so they're probably 60s 60s yeah, yeah, we didn't have the outdoor stuff um like really ever okay, thinking about it now, um no outdoor stuff, the indoor stuff for sure, um lots of tinsel oh yeah, that was before we knew that would kill our cats right, my grandmother loved the and they I think she called them icicles yes, right, yes, yes, and it was just and you'd get them.

43:13 They came in a big long box. Favorite thing with uh, it was like wrapped in plastic big long box and you'd open that up and then you could take them by the yes, there's a picture that's exactly. You take them by the fistful and then sprinkle them over the tree, absolutely and like so fun over the tree and they were everywhere and I'm going to tell you something gross. Do you want to hear something? Of course, because you mentioned cats yes my poor cat, oh no, um. So one year, one year. My cat was walking through the house. After all, the tinsel had been put up and we saw something shiny hanging out of her butt, oh no.

43:57 Oh, yes, I know where this is going and we grabbed it and we pulled it. It kept coming and coming, and coming and coming and thankfully she was fine, right. But I know that's not how you're supposed to handle that, probably not. Not at all. But I would not have done that as a young person. But I didn't know that at the time Hell. No, so, yeah. So if the tinsel is something that you still use and it's icicles all over your tree, do not pull the thread out of your cat's behind and hopefully you know if you have cats you don't. We stopped doing that because of cats, but it does make for a super magical tree. That's a great question. I don't know. I don't know if they make it anymore.

44:37 I haven't looked for it. The other thing we used to use like crazy were garlands, just like that. Like silver floofy. I haven't put a garland on a tree, I don't know. In decades. No, these two decades, no, I had like a felty, one kind of that I bought, but I like the loop-de-loop with the garland where, like you know, started and went down and back up and back down and like yeah, that is how you draw a christmas tree when you're like five years old. Right, we used to do the my mom would do different trees. so for when I was really little she had a white Christmas tree and it was bright white and she bought red ornaments.

45:17 Oh lovely. So it had red lights and red ornaments Well hello. It was very, it was avant-garde. Did you grow up in a bordello? I know it seemed very bordello-like. It's very sexy. This is a sexy tree Wow that kid got a christmas haul so producer tim is showing us some photos of the uh 70s yes christmas 70s photos, and they're pretty fun those are so great. I do remember that. And then lights were different, like our outdoor lights were like pretty heavy duty glass balls, right like fragile right, big and and kind of egg-shaped almost right like a little um, yeah, I loved those those are.

46:02 Those were fun, and then you could use those on your tree inside too absolutely yeah and did you when you were young? did you have real trees or fake trees? We had fake trees. It wasn't until I met my husband and we were dating and living together that I had my first like real tree, and that was we would go out when my daughter was little. We would go out the day after Thanksgiving and go hunt our Christmas tree at a. Christmas tree farm. That's cute. And do that. And then the Christmas tree farm went out of business and we had to, like, just go to a landscape place and get it. But yes, but yeah, that was that was tradition was to go cut down our tree when my daughter was little, but but the plastic tree, when, when I was a kid.

46:47 Yeah, how about you? We had when I was little. We always did a real tree and that was for all of the Christmases up until like probably 11, 10 or 11. We did not go to a Christmas tree farm, we would go to Frank's Nursery and Crafts. Okay. In Indianapolis, indiana, yep. And it was always fucking freezing. And we would like walk through the rows outside and shop for the. It was a big thing, and the worst part about that was that you had to bring it home and cut the bottom and put it in a bucket of water overnight so that it would be like Supposedly suck up the water again. There you go Somehow, so we would get it and then inevitably very anticlimactic as a child because it doesn't go up till the next day and dad has to like trim the bottom branches and cut the top and all of that oh that's a lot of work, yeah, uh.

47:39 And then when my grandmother was staying with us more, when my mom was sick, we had to go to a fake tree because she was allergic to christmas trees like pine trees. They would just like activate her allergies. So we eventually switched to a synthetic yeah, which we currently have in our homestead. Yeah, but occasionally we will get a real one. Well, one year we got a real one and put it in here, and it's really cute when it's decorated in here. We did not do that this year. It was adorable. We yeah, we have a. We had a small tree when we moved. It was fairly small and I want to say, it was like three days before Christmas or something and I was looking at that tree and I'm like this is too small for this room.

48:19 And so I got online and went to Target, like targetcom, and it literally delivered me a tree. You were like, yes, like this is a better tree we're gonna switch everything over. Did you have and do you still have, like your traditional ornaments for your tree? no, oh no. Everything is a story of tragedy, do you? want to hear them all. Oh my gosh, it's all tragic. So we did when my mom was alive. We had like tons of like vintage ornaments, like things that she had saved, and then all of our stuff that we made as kids like our tree was piled full of ornaments, but after my mom died, and then a year, a couple years later, my dad remarried, she threw all that shit away.

49:05 Oh yeah, oh yes, what? oh yes oh yes, there was no bullshit, absolute bullshit. There was no conversation, so a lot of things were lost. That would be just really cool to have, uh, but that all just got summarily pitched and then that next christmas it was her christmas tree with all her shit on it oh no, fuck that. No, do you remember the satin ball ornaments. Yes, I loved those, yes. And then you know, over time they would fray, they would get like really frayed, you would have to get new ones. Yeah, the satin ball and then the blown glass. I saw some of them earlier. They were just like kind of had like, yeah, those are glass ornaments yeah, those were beautiful and they came in like a bunch of different shapes, so they would be the round ones like that.

49:57 And then the ones that look like they were kind of bulbs on one end and they would go out to a point yes, I loved that shape yeah but they're super fragile. Yep, absolutely. And when you drop them, they just pop. Yeah, there's no rescuing them. Oh, they just pop, there's no rescuing them. Oh, they're gorgeous and. I see a couple of pictures of the clay ornament trend. Do you remember when this happened? Oh, to make your own. It was 80s and definitely in the 90s where you could have these kind of clay ornaments made with your names? My mom made the salt dough. Oh yes, made she the salt dough. Oh so you would make like your own salt dough and then use food coloring, and so she would make and bake ornaments all the time.

50:40 So there were, and some of them were adorable, like, really, really cool. I have to get her recipe on salt, though. Oh, that's great, so so fun, and um, yeah, she made tons of them that way and would give them away. Like that would be like a fun, like I love. You know a little christmas gift to give away but they. So there was a whole swath of those that came on to christmas trees. Yep, that would be like an 80s thing those are yeah like satin balls. The satin balls were really cool. They are great yeah, that old they still make those old, super shiny, really fragile glass ornaments I remember from my grand, my great-grandmother's tree um yeah for sure, and I don't know like we had a ton of them and I think when my mom and my grandmother moved to hawaii, my grandmother I may mention this before that garage sale yep, heartbreak, um, so many things, but I I'm pretty sure a lot of the ornaments and stuff went that way.

51:41 I still have a few of the old ornaments not very many and I really I don't put them on the tree because I'm a little afraid, sure you know. so just a lot of those just sit in boxes, and I think my mom still has a number of the old ornaments too. Aw, I love that stuff? Do you remember bubble lights? Yes, you guys ever do bubble lights. I was just thinking about those. I didn't. I did not know about those until like the 90s, when I got married. The first time yeah. It was like a conversation I the 90s, when I got married the first time. Oh, okay, yeah, it was like a conversation. I was like I don't know what you're talking about, and then we found some and I was like, oh, those are great, they're super cute. Yeah, they get really freaking hot, but yeah, they're really cool. They were on the tree or you can get like a little plug in. Now I like try to.

52:37 I just buy an ornament for every place I go. Oh, that's very cool, because if it doesn't exist in real life, I will absolutely forget you and your coffee mugs and your ornaments yeah, and I have so many coffee mugs. The ornaments are a nice substitute you could hang the coffee mugs on the tree I'd need a really sturdy tree. I could, and then I would remember all my stuff. Was there anything that went under the tree? traditionally, that was always under the tree like a skirt like either, a skirt like a specific skirt or like uh, like a nativity, like some people have nativity scenes, some people have like yeah, like there was a brass, what was it?

53:17 I want to say it was brass, maybe, um, santa and sleigh and reindeers, that was under the tree, probably at my grandma, great grandma's house right on anyway. Um, but it was always there and that that would be the one thing when you went to visit, that you'd pull out of the tree and like play with you know, yes, even though it was a decoration, it was also a toy yes, and it was just there for you, not not at our house, but I always wanted to be one of those like tv movie families that had the train oh, yeah, around and around and around the tree? we were not that jeff's uh, jeff's mom and dad had a train for many years, did they like, yeah, and they went around the tree. I don't know if they still do it or not, but yeah that's cool, yeah, so cards decorations did you guys do?

54:07 Did you do mantles like christmas mantles and stockings and the whole? shebang. We did have stockings for sure, and we do stockings today, and we kind of decorate with like. Do you have? The same sock that you had from. No, mine was like the standard kind of red and white with your glitter name on the white part. Okay, that had been purchased in the 70s from some place. Yep, I don't know if we went and did. It could have been at lazarus where we went to the christmas fiesta yeah and my name was that, but it was something that I had when I was really young and those lasted as long as they could and I think at some point, like it was probably given to me, but it was really old yeah and then tried to repeat the same thing kind of in the 90s, but then we finally have replaced with, like initial stockings, okay, okay yeah, we had, um, do you remember the kits?

55:04 maybe you don't, but the there were. There were these really fun kits that you could get. They were like it was felt. So there were two felt pieces and, um, like all of these like sequins and little decorations and stuff, and you had to hand sew your stocking and some of them had like rudolph on them or santa on them or whatever but they were these, like they came in a sewing kit. My grandmother would make those and so she made. I remember having one for me. I remember my sister having one. Um, I think mine had a reindeer on it and hers had santa on it. Okay, or a snowman anyway um super cool kits, but that was like so uber 70s like very much a 70s thing and then when, when our I that's stocking, unfortunately, is sure is long gone, but um, when my husband and I got together we got two all sequined stockings.

56:05 They're very flashy, super flashy. And then, when gillian was born, when our daughter was born, we were like well, we have to have a stock for her. I need one that. And then when Gillian was born, when our daughter was born, we were like, well shit, we have to have a sock for her. I need one that has glitter all over it or like the sequins all over it. Couldn't find it, Like couldn't find one, so I found one of those sewing kits and my mother-in-law and I worked on it together, and it has lots of sequins. There are some positive. Oh, look at all the bubble lights. My heavens, we can just get a string of bubble lights. What do you know? They're very cool. I need to add some things we try to still do. I still decorate because it makes my living room tolerable for the dark times We've talked about that and I think we put up one strand of lights on the front of our house.

57:00 This year it's lit yeah, it's, yeah, there's things out there we did we did a couple, I do two. I'm so anal, retentive, I what. Nothing makes me crazier than like when you drive down the street and people have different colors of different lights on different things. So like this bush is. Like this bush has blue lights and it's, and then this one has white ones. Right. And it's like no fucking stick with the color. Match Like match everything. Figure out your color scheme. Symmetry is important. Look at the joy Judgment. No, I'm terrible, but I'm like oh no, you're fun, you did that all wrong. It's terrible, so I do.

57:40 I have two bushes in the front that both have white and they're, you know, ones on one side, ones on the other and then I've got multicolored lights in the middle oh but. I can't, I couldn't do it any other way. They're just couched. It's either all white or all colored, or it has to be balanced somehow. So what were like decorating? Did you travel I guess this is sort of the holiday tradition thing Did you travel to different places as a child and were there decorating kind of things? You mentioned grandparents house and like the gold santa under the tree yeah, yeah, we, um, yes, so the for tradition, tradition wise.

58:29 We we did christmas morning at my mom's house. It was all different and weird after the divorce. So everything gets all mucked up there, but Christmas was always done at my house. Christmas morning was, and then I would do Christmas night at my dad's. I think it's hard to remember, um, but yeah, we would go to my grandma and grandpa's house. Okay, as a kid we also um my grandfather's sister, uh, so my great aunt, um, and great uncle and everybody would go to my great aunt's house as well um and that would be like.

59:12 I want to say that would be like the night before Christmas or something. Anyway, some big family get together and that was always really, really fun. Oh, that's cool. Not very far away. It was just a quick car ride away, so not a big deal, but yeah, that would be like one of the little family traditions. And did those feel like where? Because we talked earlier about like, the difference between like obligation and tradition and did that feel fun to you as a kid or did you have a sense of like? No, I think it was fun. I think it was fun. I think it was like just it was. It was kind of one of those, well, we have to do this but also it was just you know, it wasn't it was a good time.

59:53 Yeah, it wasn't a good, it was a pretty good time. So all of my family was like out of town. I had family kentucky and family in fort wayne so I think my parents did, is they? they would switch holidays, so we would either go to one place for thanksgiving, the other for christmas, or like gotcha yeah so it was a mixed bag of like memories in terms of I just remember that the fort wayne holiday all the furniture was covered in plastic, okay, so it was sort of like, yeah, 50s kind of furniture, but it was all like had plastic casing around it and it had like a white couch and white carpet. And then the christmas tree would be like kind of perfectly in the front window, and then the presents were all there.

1:00:35 Oh, we were going to talk about this gifts and gift giving oh, yeah, and the presents were there, and then my grandpa would hand out gifts one at a time. Okay, yep, and everybody was there. So he was playing Santa. And all of my cousins and all of their spouses, and, and it was, and we were all dressed. We had to dress in a particular way. Wow, I would all go into the front room and he would call the names off of the gifts and we would have to watch each individual open their single gift. It was torturous as a child.

1:01:16 So, yes, I've set you up because I know you have stories. Okay, so my family? That is absolutely the way you do it. That was like my dad's, so there's one side of the family, so my in my, my growing up, my mom, my grandmother and, uh, my sister and I, uh-huh, there's only four of us right at the at christmas yes and there would be the tree and there would be the most ridiculous comedy of riches you've ever seen, as far as as far as presents, yes, there were four of us. There were so many presents underneath the tree, like and I and I say this like, say this out of utter and complete embarrassment now, because it really was truly an embarrassment of riches, um, but tons and tons of of gifts, and at least in my that's my memory right.

1:02:13 My memory right like maybe it wasn't that bad. I'd have to talk to my sister and my mom about it wasn't really that bad, but we would take forever to open things okay, and it was partly because that was like that was tradition, right you? okay you got your pile of presents, uh-huh. So my sister and I would separate things out for everybody and you'd have your place to sit. That was your chair and that was it, and around your chair your presence would be piled up and you would have your pile and we would go around the room and open a gift and there would be a lot of talking about it and a lot of like showing it and a lot of explanation about why we bought that particular gift for you and the whole like reason for everything oh, it's really kind of fun.

1:03:03 I mean it's super fun because it's thoughtful oh yeah, lots of discussion, and then you keep going around and there'd be the occasional well, nobody could start anything until after breakfast. That was another rule. No. You could do your socks. Oh yeah, yeah, Table stockings OK cool, but you couldn't open presents until after you ate, so it was very structured. We're going to stretch this day out. We're stretched. Oh my God it would go until literally 3. Oh my God, I spent a lot of damn money on those presents it would go until literally 3.30 in the afternoon. No shit, I am dead serious, it was a whole thing. Oh my God, no way we are off and done in an hour and back in bed.

1:03:43 Oh no, it's like we're sleeping. Oh no, this was structure Big time. I love that so much. And then once you went around the room, you know, and you could start to see the end of your pile, then you had to count and you'd be like, oh, leslie, you've got five presents. Oh no, megan has four presents. Or Megan has three presents, you've got to go twice. Because it has to be fair, so then it has to be even. And then you would go back around until you were done two small ones so that it wouldn't be bigger. you had to be careful, like you had to know what was in each package because maybe something went with something else and you would ruin that one if you didn't open them in the right order nothing more disappointing if you got the batteries before right before the atari, you know, and then what sucks?

1:04:29 yeah, amazing so anyway, that was, that was our christmas, it was ridiculous, but very structured and so when, when we got married and my daughter came along, I brought that tradition to to my family, and so it was. You had to have breakfast. You could do your socks at breakfast, okay, um, but then it had to be very structured. This is where you sit. This is so my daughter, I know, has this in her head too. Meanwhile. Yes, ma'am, then I went after getting married go to my in-law's house, and it was. I listened to this it's bedlam, oh it's bedlam like my, my father-in-law gets up and he grabs a package and he brings it over to somebody and you hold it and like it.

1:05:17 Everybody gets one. Everybody just starts tearing into shit and you have no idea if what you got somebody is something that they wanted, or if they even opened it like because you've got too many things happening at once, it was. It's crazy, it's absolutely crazy. But I think that's kind of awesome in a way, because then it like relieves you of the pressure of having to either placate some, like act happy about a gift or be disappointed, I guess. I guess, but I want to know that, like I want to watch, you open something and you can't actually see anything happening. That's true? Oh, it's just crazy. So you're like both of us.

1:05:58 So ask me if I'm looking forward to going, because I'm not. It's crazy, it's the worst, it's too much, it's just so fast, it's just yeah. There's probably somewhere in between, and it's done like that it's just done. Oh, it's like over really quick, like we're not there until 3 30 in the afternoon no, I mean you really should have to work for all of the money that you've put into those gifts. Yes, those fucking ornaments, those things are cute, like the little, like stuff or the little they were like sewing and the date and all the things were on them. These were ceramics. Oh yeah, little ceramic guys. Man, I could go down another rabbit hole on my brain. I will say like my first time having Christmas with the kids was alarming why?

1:06:53 Why? Well, because we sort of are in between those two. We aren't super structured, but we're not total chaos. We're not super chaos because the kids self-regulate and like yeah, they are interested in what each other is getting, so they're like what'd you get part of it? The part of it is the time thing yeah, oh because, well, yes uh, our, our, our son does not or? at least in the past younger. You cannot, you can barely contain him. Okay, leading up to christmas is all that there is in the world, and then the best and then like so. Like it's my first year, we've only been married two months yes um and we stayed up late wrapping all the presents way too late.

1:07:40 Everything was done, probably like two or three by the time it's all done no, it was two and I know it was two because of what happened, because at 3 30 he's awake and he's a little body. He's like it's christmas, it's time to get home that was the earliest one ever. That's good, and that was the earliest, earliest ever and it was never that early again, but it was the first year, was extra exciting, but, like I was like you gotta go to bed, dude, and he just all I hear is welling up and it's like, nope, nope, we're getting up, we're getting up, everybody's getting up, we did.

1:08:21 I mean he went got stuff, everybody got up, got his sister up. We were up and we did christmas from like 3 30 to 4 30. I think we're all back asleep by five yeah we literally did three days in one. That day it felt like, yeah, because we're all back asleep by five. Yeah, we literally did three days in one. That day it felt like, yeah, because we're, because we got up to do that for him and like did all the christmas stuff and yes and then we all went back to sleep comatose and then we got up again, had breakfast. Uh, their dad came and got them to take them to family christmas. We went back to sleep again and then got up and finally, like at 11, yeah, we got up at 11 and then we just yeah, it was it's just so different in every family. If you celebrate christmas not all families do it does have a very like.

1:09:05 You're a christian, obviously, of course. Yeah, uh, kind of vibe. Some people celebrate the solstice, some people have celebrated Hanukkah like. Some people don't do holidays at all, um, but man does it. It's very specific. It is very did you from family to family when? you were a kiddo, did. Did you have? Did Santa wrap gifts? Well? Was there a Santa? Yes, and did Santa wrap gifts? Or did Santa leave gifts unwrapped under the tree? Santa wrap gifts, well. Was there a Santa? Yes, and did Santa wrap gifts? Or did Santa leave gifts unwrapped under the tree? Santa wrapped gifts. Okay. There was a Santa Okay, santa wrapped gifts and they were under the tree. They were like added to, there were presents from parents, okay, and then the next morning there would be magical gifts from Santa that were wrapped, that were there, interesting, okay.

1:09:51 That was my experience, yeah, as a child okay, so mine was. There was family gifts wrapped under the tree, but santa gifts were unwrapped and under the tree. So like santa shows up and like just leave stuff unwrapped, saves you so many hours. Well, and also like what happens if kids see the same wrapping paper. Oh, oh, oh, no, we bought separate. OK. Always separate wrapping paper. But if you found like the extra roll in it, you'd be like okay. I'd throw that shit away. OK. I was super stealthy, ok, but as a kid, like you had, I have no memories of noticing that Okay At all.

1:10:34 Yeah, like if that was true for me. I have no memories of like figuring that out, yeah, but I do remember pretty much figuring out that, like Santa wasn't a real thing and I feel like because I kind of put all the clues together, Wait what. I know, baby, I'm sorry. I put all the clues together. Wait what? I know, baby, I'm sorry. Um, I put all the clues together. I think I realized that my parents were putting stuff up in the attic and there was like a pull down in our garage and I was able to like kind of confirm it oh, I was like sweet. So then I would like do the checking of the packages to see what was under the tray versus, so I could figure out what might be from Santa, so that I would know that I was getting the things that I really wanted was a whole big thing, wow.

1:11:19 But for my kids we did because Christmas is expensive, yeah, and I was like I don't want them to think that like there's a magic person that brings them everything, no matter what the price. Okay so we sort of scaled Santa gifts down to like one or two presents that came from Santa Gotcha. Everything else was from us Gotcha, because that's just unreasonable financially. Right, because then you're answering questions, well, like, why not? It's Santa, it just comes from the North Pole, right, like all this stuff. And I was like, nope, santa has a budget, santa brings you like two gifts or three gifts or whatever, and that is all that happened, because I didn't, you know, I wanted it to be fun for as long as possible, and it was just fun, Like I don't.

1:12:04 I don't think my kids were ever brokenhearted. They figured it out pretty quickly, I would imagine in elementary school. We had, we, we definitely as a kid, we santa brought a lot of stuff underneath the tree, okay, and my mom actually, when I was really little, my mom tells this fun story of I got a santa brought me a kitchen, like a play kitchen. Heck yeah, like a big like made out of like I don't know, pressed wood, kind of whatever for sure, but it had to be assembled. Yes. And they put me to bed and some good friends of theirs lived like three houses down Uh-huh and my dad went over there to assemble the kitchen and, apparently, like, drank an awful lot while assembling the kitchen and got himself good and schnockered so that christmas morning was rough I think he went to bed at like five.

1:13:04 Santa arrived at 5 15. I woke up at six so that was a little rough, but but those kind of fun stories I think of, like having to, you know, assemble the things yes, santa, underneath the tree, kind of stuff so that kind of transitions nicely into like is there a favorite gift memory from like the 70s or 80s, like things that were sort of uniquely of the decade, that were special to receive? Yeah, so my, I think, my favorite present as a kid, and it wasn't. It truly wasn't like anything about the eighties, seventies or eighties, really, cause it could happen today Okay. But I remember there was a, I think it was.

1:13:46 I want to say it was Lazarus, it might've been Ayers, anyway, one of the the shopping, big shopping locations, macy's, whatever, um, I walked past this display for months with my grandmother and they had these big, huge stuffed animal foxes, oh, and one was like red and white and another one was like an arctic fox. That was white and I want to say they were, like you know, I don't know, three feet long, probably with the tail and the whole bit yeah um, and I loved them and I walked past them.

1:14:27 You know, every single time we were at the mall and I was like I want, want those, I want those, I want those. And that Christmas I got this big giant box and in my head I'm like the foxes are in there. I know the foxes are in there and my grandmother, being smart, put bricks in the bottom of it so that it was much heavier than it would be if it were just two stuffed animals and I still knew that the foxes were in there. I was like the foxes are in there, I know they are they are and they were oh yeah, they were so. In fact, I am 99 sure I still have them in a tub probably in the garage somewhere. But she thought she's gonna outsmart.

1:15:08 She tried that was wise did your, did your parents ever do the? Um? The here's something that you really want. I'm gonna wrap it into multiple boxes. My parents, did not, I did I do that I still torture my adult children with that, like when I can. We would like tiny things in, like giant, giant boxes, yeah my favorite thing to do. It's so good the world yeah, how about you? favorite, favorite, toy favorite? gift. I think that things. Hmm, the thing that I remember was the year that we went to fort wayne christmas and me and all of my cousins, we all got cabbage patch kids oh yeah, but not the like ones that came from the cabbage patch place that were all soft bodies, was when they were mass produced and they had plastic heads, gotcha, uh, not the hand-painted ones.

1:15:58 And my grandma worked at sears and so she like used her discount and must have like seen them when they first came in and got them because there were a lot of us little girls. There were four more, like six of us, I think, so we all got them so. I do remember that and that was a very special memory. And then, speaking of 80s fashion, the Christmas that I got parachute pants yeah, you did, I opened a box and it was probably the first year that like fashion was meaningful or like things were kind of trendy. The 12, 13, 14-ish. Yeah, it was like 11. Okay, yeah. That Christmas and we got I got parachute pants and like a neon yellow sweatshirt and those like mesh fabric belts, Nice yeah, like a black mesh, yes, and then fingerless, like lace madonna gloves and some bracelets that were like with the studs stretchy.

1:16:59 No, these were like neon. There's a pink one and a green one. They were kind of springs but they were super stretchy. And then also the like rubber madonna bracelets, the black ones okay, yeah, that you could lace together. You can like. Yep, do that all of the jelly bracelets. Yeah, that's what it? was yes, so I do. I remember those getting those clothes, yeah, and like that was like a big deal. I was like, oh yeah, my mom knows that I like these things and she got them, so that was pretty cool that whole neon stuff like the, the off the shoulder like mesh heck yeah shirts that you would wear with a tank top underneath and yes I had the those leather bracelets that had the big metal studs on them. Heck yeah, I had a bunch of underneath. And, yes, I had the those leather bracelets that had the big metal studs on them.

1:17:39 Heck yeah, I had a bunch of those. And then I had a belt. My favorite belt was like hell. Yeah, it was probably an inch and a half, maybe, maybe an inch maybe wide and super long. I'm gonna wrap around me like three times. I love that so much that. I'm 100 sure that was a christmas present too. Yes, I totally remember those bracelets okay. So there's like gifty things. In terms of gen x holiday. Um, we talked about food like recipes. Is there like a christmas recipe or something specific kind of related to food, or even just like memories that were kind of special? yeah, nothing, that nothing. Food wise for christmas?

1:18:20 I mean, we were like yeah, nothing really comes to mind, although christmas morning was sort of the cinnamon roll. Okay, that was always the traditional breakfast and still I mean still to this day with my daughter, like growing up it was always we got cinnamon rolls. That's fascinating yeah, that was like christmas. You get cinnamon rolls every every year and it was partly because it was easy, right like if you got them in the tube. I did try to make. So I I actually did make cinnamon rolls one year and had to like do the dough and all the stuff the night before. I was like fuck, I'm not doing that again I was just like they were delicious, but holy crap, that was a lot, that was a whole bunch of work.

1:19:03 Yeah, did you guys have food that? Uh, you're a traditional, the thing that I remember that was sort of special around the holiday season and I think it was a time there was a lot of like, making of gifts between some of like, like my dad and his siblings, and then my mom would make stuff and it must have been just much more cost effective, but we which probably would not be the same now but we would make candy oh yeah, cookies and all, and that was like like tons of different kinds probably 10 different kinds of candy, and like it would all be boxed up and everybody would anticipate it and we would spend like a couple of weeks doing that and that was really special.

1:19:46 I can't imagine that that would be cost effective. We did. My grandmother would do cookies, my mom and grandmother would do cookies and they would um, oh, the peanut butter ones with the, with the Hershey kiss in the middle and she would do, like there's these bears, that that they would make that my sister now still makes Um, but they looked like like bears like in hand formed like the little arms and the legs of them and everything, and then they would have like a little cinnamon candy heart. Oh how cute. Yeah, super, super cute. So those are. That's an old memory too. I love those. I remember like press cookies.

1:20:27 I love those that you would just make with like a cookie press. Yeah, those were pretty freaking delicious. Oh, those are tasty. When you were little. Do you have any memories of like making gifts at school, like the legit, like? this is very gen x, like ashtrays, oh my gosh. Yeah, there was always something that you would make, yeah, that you would take home. Or did you ever have christmas markets like in kindergarten? We? did yes and you would go and buy like some stupid little dumb candle that you would well, you would be given like a five dollar bill yes, your shopping money yeah, and then you could go and do the christmas market and you'd buy like a crappy candle or something for somebody.

1:21:09 Yeah, and it's all very. I mean, we're in the midwest, so it's all quite like midwestern. Everybody's assuming that every child there is participates in Christmas. Right Of course. And has the financial resources to do such a thing Right there was no like thoughtfulness about the emotional impact on children. No, no, like what happens if you don't get the $5 bill Right, right, or children that don't celebrate Christmas. Right. No thought to that kind of stuff. No, the classroom gift exchanges. nobody asked, nobody, just good luck bring a thing and right, it's fight to the right. Yeah, and you don't see that anymore. Nope, like which, which is good for the better? absolutely, it can just be a winter experience right, right, and there's people who get their nose out of joint about it.

1:21:54 But but just be inclusive it's fine. Yeah, it costs us nothing. Right to let everybody agree at the table agreed. Shoo-wee, that's a lot of good stuff. It was good. It's not a good holiday. We went down some like little brain, I don't know, does it, does it? make you nostalgic for the old holidays, or do you? Are you good with things now? some of the stuff like little little. I think the hardest part, just emotionally, was the break, because my mom died when I was young yeah and so there was no kind of like easy transition or a transition of ease, kind of growing up and then holidays changing, like our biggest Christmas was the Christmas before she died.

1:22:41 Yeah. And then that was also our biggest family vacation. Was that, like September, we had a massive Christmas and then she died in March? Yeah. So that was just sort of like the end of it, like I don't know. I think probably more people than we really think about have memories of like this was the hard end of, yeah, what was childhood and then there was the beginning of like a new harsh reality. Yeah, um, and so then reconstructing things, I think was probably, it was a challenge, like as an adult it was nice to have some autonomy, but just like kind of always looking for that emotional space, but not quite recognizing that it's never going to be the same again right um, and I, I love, I think, what we do now.

1:23:25 I appreciate all the things that we have created for ourselves now and we tend to keep it like real. It's like what do we want to do? Yeah, let's just keep it chill and we want to spend time with friends and hang out at home, and I decorate things for myself so that it just feels nice yeah, I did my. Uh, I did my. I did put a tree up this year. I wasn't originally going to do it. Yeah, I did do it. All of my, all of my ornaments are blue and silver and and I took a picture of it and I sent it to my daughter and I said hey, hanukkah tree is up was that that's your like color this? Is my whole color scheme.

1:24:06 It's like right now. It's like the blue and the silver and then you realized you were like oh, that's very hanukkah tree, I love it, that's perfect. I think that that would be appreciated. Yeah, whatever, you know, it looks pretty good, so it's all right. But it does change. You know if you've had children or not, if you are single or in a relationship, if your parents are still alive or you are deceased, or you had a good relationship or a bad relationship. Yeah, it changes everything. You can fully define this experience for yourself and there are going to be natural transitions and like that's okay. Yeah, and you can ignore it all. Take yourself to the movies. Absolutely. Go on vacation, hibernate till it's over.

1:24:48 I love those stories. I'm just hibernating till it's over. Yeah, because if it doesn't bring you joy, why? Why worry with it? if you are suffering because you are trying to meet an obligation. Yeah, it is time to have an important conversation with yourself. I think that's fair absolutely all right, leslie. What do you want for christmas this year? uh, nothing wow, seriously, like we've. We were like it would be dumb, practical shit. That's the other part about getting it's dumb practical yeah, I know I want a dining room table. I need to get somebody on the roof to like deal with this like weird leak that we discovered. It's like super, I love spending time with people.

1:25:30 Yeah, though, it's like okay, I want to have a good like dinner. We're gonna have like lunch with my dad. Like it's just like when you don't have, it's the experiences over the stuff a hundred percent. That's where we are, and we had an experience and then we're gonna have another experience, so we're not buying anything. I have so much things I could get rid of. None of that. What did you hope for for christmas? um, you know, same kind of thing. It's just the, it's the silly stuff, it's the stuff that, like you know, I need a backpack whoopty shit and you'll probably buy your own damn backpack if it doesn't show up under the tree. Yeah we could think globally. We want accessible and affordable women's health care I would love that.

1:26:11 I would give up my backpack for that. Yeah, totally we want that world peace I would take world peace absolutely I would give up my dining room table that I'd like to get yeah for that make a lot of sacrifices for that absolutely and for people to be entertained. Yes, on this show, speaking of which we should bring in our sort of like concluding segment, which is our you tell me five minutes of fame I'm looking at you like what? uh, yes, we have a fun five minutes of five minutes of fame today. Um and friend of the show. Friend of the show. So what we do with these is we ask people if they have a a moment where they've met a celebrity or they've done something super cool, like they won the Presidential Physical Fitness Award in elementary school.

1:27:04 It's your favorite. I love that One of these days somebody is going to actually say that. I know I hope they do. They're like I got the certificate from Jimmy Carter and right before we started today, you read one that because you had just asked this question. You read one about because would just ask this question. You read one about because we were talking about hallmark christmas oh yeah, yeah, that somebody had like went to a hallmark christmas movie, like event in kansas city yeah in kansas city and met like some of the hallmark stars, that's so fun, so amazing. Yeah, we were literally just talking about this so goofy stuff like that. Those are those five minutes of fame that we really want to kind of celebrate here. That are just, you know, dumb shit. That happened that um we can point to, and so this uh listener sent this in.

1:27:47 You can either email these in to us, um you can go to our website, which is gen x women podcom, and write in five minutes of fame, or you can call it in to 1-888-GENX-POD. We have a voicemail set up for that. So let's have a listen to this one. Okay, I'm sure you guys are totally sick of my stories by now, but it's Cindy Kay and I have another one for you. I was listening to episode 11 about game shows and I was on the dating game in 1989. This is what I thought I wanted to be an actress.

1:28:28 So of course I tried out for any of the shows. You go in and you audition and then they choose which show to put you on. And I got on the dating game and I got a Cindy Brady-type brain freeze as soon as the camera light went on and I could not put together a coherent answer for any of the questions. I was in like this, I don't know, zoned-out, dazed, crazy, whatever, and I just it was so awful and embarrassing. And when it aired a few months later my sister was going to school in Las Vegas and these guys would walk up to her and like a cost her and be like you're the girl that was on the dating game and you know she's my identical twin sister.

1:29:18 She's furious with me that I had even done it and to this day she's still furious with me. It's one of my most embarrassing moments and it was the worst. That's it, thanks, bye. Oh, bless her heart, that's our friend cindy c. Cindy, I hope your sister will forgive you someday. And Cindy is also an author. She writes sexy Gen X women romance books oh, that's cool. Yeah, she's pretty cool. That's awesome. Maybe we'll get around to talk about being an author. We should, absolutely we should. That'd be a good time, yeah. Thank you, Cindy, for sharing that and burying yourself. Yeah, it's very fun. That's what we're talking about Dumb little five minutes of fame or infamy, or infamy or embarrassment.

1:30:05 Like things that you're like, oh yeah, like it's a story, you pull out at a party every once in a while Right. And you're like would people care? Yes, people care that. That goofy shit. It's fun. This has been super duper fun and a nice like nostalgic little. I don't know your, your wig. I am, uh, probably gonna have to make some cookies now. I have a. Oh that's I got a desire. I have a desire to make some christmas cookies. I have a desire for cookies. I have a desire for lunch I want to make those peanut butter ones with a little oh, those are so freaking good. Those really are good. Yeah, let's do it. Yeah, I'm going to do this. We should make some Gen X women cookies. That'd be great. Happy Christmas, Megan. Happy holidays, Leslie.

1:30:45 I'll see you soon. Next week Tonight. Tomorrow, probably later Later today. Happy to our listening audience. Thank you so much for your support this year. This has been great. We just started this may and we're super thrilled about how fun it's been. Yep and uh. If you love what we're doing, please share this with a friend yep, that's the best way to help us grow. Uh, we may have a couple of sort of like transition episodes before we come back in January. There might be like a one that we'll throw in there before we record again we have a super secret surprise coming up in January that we won't we won't get too deep into now, but we've been holding our breath for it for a while fingers quadruple cross that it all works out.

1:31:32 It should be a good time take care of one another take care of your choices. Don't do things out of obligation. Do them out of love yes, enjoy your holiday, whatever that looks like. Yep, and we'll see you in uh 2020? you have been listening to gen x. Women are sick of this shit. Hey megan, hey leslie. What do people do if they want to find us? well. We have a website that people can find us on, and that is gen x women podcom. We also have a facebook page. We have an instagram account as well.

1:32:13 We have a Facebook page. We have an Instagram account as well. We have a YouTube account where we put YouTube shorts and other little tidbits up there. We have a TikTok account. I don't talk the dick or tick the tock. You don't tick the tock, I do not. I barely talk the tick. But I did put a TikTok up. We're explaining the internet to people again. That's okay, though it's great, we need explaining the internet to people. again it's. That's okay, though it's great. We need to know how the internet works. Can people buy merch? They absolutely can. We have a merch store on the website itself, and we also have an Etsy store too, which is pretty easy to find. It's just Gen X Women on Etsy.

1:32:53 And if you are listening to this podcast, presumably you found it somewhere. And while you're there, give us a review. Yeah, let us know what you think. Throw some stars at us, that'd be great. We'll take one, two, three, four or five. Ooh, five, maybe ten, and also make sure that you are hitting subscribe so that you're notified whenever a new episode drops. Most important, we also have a five minutes of fame that I think we should tell people about too. Hell, yes, we want to know your stories, your five minutes of fame stories. You can send those stories in on the website or you can call 1-888-GEN-X-POD and leave your story for us and we will play it live in our next episode.

1:33:37 Yep. Or two or three. We'll listen to it on a little red phone, just like Batman. That'd be cool. Let's get a bad phone A bad phone. I think that's it. I think you're right.