Intuitive Mentor Mom: Strategies for Life Empowerment, Self Love and Gratitude for Single Moms
Welcome to **"Intuitive Mentor Mom,"** the podcast that invites you to look at life through a new lens! Join me as we explore the idea that life is happening for us, not to us, transforming those frustrating “Why me?” moments into enlightening “Ah, so that’s why!” revelations. Through my personal journey as well as others who join me on the show, we'll share insights on shifting perspectives and embracing growth as we navigate the beautiful tapestry of life together. Whether we're delving into relationships, tackling cosmic questions, or unraveling career and parenting challenges, each episode will inspire you to uncover fresh perspectives and recognize that every twist and turn is guiding you toward the best version of yourself. So, grab your favorite coffee or tea or hot toddy, get comfy, and let’s embark on this exciting self-discovery and adventure! Tune in and let’s uncover the magic of life’s challenges together!
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Intuitive Mentor Mom: Strategies for Life Empowerment, Self Love and Gratitude for Single Moms
26: A Fireside Chat with My 13-Year-Old Son: History, Politics & What's Missing
Our conversations with our children often reveal surprising insights about how they view the world and their place in it – especially when growing up in a single-parent household.
• Growing up with one parent creates a unique perspective where children recognize something is absent but can't always articulate what it is
• When asked what was missing in his life, the answer wasn't about family structure but rather: "I really want a tortoise named Eugene"
• Today's teenagers display remarkable awareness of global events and conflicts that receive minimal media coverage
• Young people bring fresh perspectives on history and politics, viewing world events through a different lens than their parents
• Single-parent households don't need to be viewed through a deficit lens but can be recognized as valid family structures
• The quality of communication between parent and child matters more than the number of parents in the home
• Our individual hearts have to heal for our communities to heal – personal growth affects our collective wellbeing
• Sometimes wisdom comes in unexpected forms – like learning to do a front flip because "it gives you confidence"
If you enjoyed this episode, please rate the show and share it with a friend who might benefit from hearing these perspectives on single parenting and raising thoughtful children in today's complex world.
Looking for confirmation, guidance, or support in an area of life where you feel stuck, stagnant, or simply unclear of what to do next? Let's connect: book a complimentary Discovery Session with me, today!
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In today's episode it's a fireside chat with my 13-year-old son, leland. I'm excited to bring him on the show. We learn his view of what it is to be in a single-parent household. We also learn about his views around history and politics, because he's a big history buff. We also learn what's missing what's missing in this single-parent household. You'll be surprised what it is. Welcome back to the intuitive mentor mom podcast, where we explore strategies for practicing more self love, gratitude and finding new ways to empower ourselves in this ever changing healing adventure of life happening for us. I'm your host, tara, michelle, let's get started. Thanks for being on the show. You want to introduce who you are. I'm your host.
Speaker 1:Tara, michelle, let's get started.
Speaker 3:Thanks for being on the show you want to introduce who you are. Should I say my full name? Yeah, just say your first name. Oh, my name is Leland and I'm turning 14 soon and I'm 13 right now. Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1:Nice, so I wanted to have you on the show One. I think you're amazing. You're my son, this is my son, everybody Wow. I think that you are really an incredible soul, an incredible person, and over the last few years I've been watching you really grow and shift and change. But one of the things I wanted to do was bring you on because, as a single parent, you're one of the biggest parts of my life. You are the light of my life. What has been your perspective? What has been your experience growing up in a single parent household?
Speaker 3:What has been your experience growing up in a single parent household. You lack a certain father. You lack it's not even just a father figure, you just lack a certain parental figure, depending on which one you have a single father, a single mother or you just lack that parental figure, and it makes it difficult at times.
Speaker 1:Yeah, when you say lack, you know, given that you don't even know what it would be like, right to have somebody here. We don't even know what that would be like. Yeah, you're going to miss something that you never had. Yeah, yeah, because I mean, when we think about the journey with your dad was when you were a year old. He was home for a little bit Before I gained consciousness.
Speaker 3:Well, you had consciousness. Whenever you're a baby, you're trying to just like, like you don't really think much.
Speaker 1:Well, you think a lot, but you don't remember those memories, you don't remember anything. Yeah, you don't remember those memories.
Speaker 3:I must remember pushing cars downstairs. Pushing cars downstairs, I remember. This is one distinct memory. I was at his house in phoenix and I remember just pushing cars downstairs. Yeah, that's all I remember okay, I remember that. I remember you telling me about that yeah, where I just would like push cars and then we would push cars down the floor.
Speaker 1:That's all I really remember so when you say you're lacking a parent, say more about that. Say more about what the feeling is of what the lack is, what you feel you're lacking, like it's just not there.
Speaker 3:You just have one parent.
Speaker 1:What would you want to have there? What do you think it would be like if there was another person there?
Speaker 3:I don't know, because I've never really had one. What is it that you would like to have there?
Speaker 1:what do you think it would be like if there was another person there? I don't know, because I've never really had one. What is it that you would like to have there?
Speaker 3:I'm not really sure if I'm gonna be completely honest. I don't know yeah.
Speaker 1:I remember growing up because my dad was not there either, and for it always felt like there was something missing, but I didn't know what it was. Yeah. Yeah, and then when I did get to see him, it was such a monumental moment.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I'd agree with that.
Speaker 1:Yeah, but then those moments were so fleeting and short.
Speaker 3:I mean, I don't think I've seen my dad in person since like fifth grade.
Speaker 1:Has it been that long?
Speaker 3:Yeah, it was in 2022. I remember.
Speaker 1:Wow, it's a long time, yeah, and we're not going to nothing, to bad mouth. There just is what it is Right, but it's sad and okay. So, with life happening for us, you know, I look back at when my situation with my dad, you know. Looking back now today, I ask myself well, what are the things that I gained as a result of him not being around? And there was a lot of things that I felt that I was missing, that he wasn't around, but I do believe there was this independence or this confidence within that I gained, being able to just stand up on my own two feet and take charge of my life in a way that I had to, you know. But when you look at it from the perspective of what are the, what are the plus sides about your life right now, as in parenting, or just plus sides in general.
Speaker 1:Both, whatever you'd like to share.
Speaker 3:I don't really have much insight about about any pluses of having a single parent, since I don't really know any off the top of my head. And then for life in general, uh, not being homeless, not being an orphan, being able to eat food and drink water, that's pretty good. Yeah, that's pretty good when your luxuries that some people just simply do not have yeah, absolutely when you.
Speaker 1:You said you don't know too many single parents no, I don't know any pluses of having a single parent oh, you don't have any pluses, yeah I'm not really sure yeah, that makes sense, because we don't know well, yeah, it's generally considered more of a bad thing I know why do you think?
Speaker 3:that is I'm not really sure. It's just, I think, because of how society's been built over all the years, that it's made default that you have multiple parents.
Speaker 1:You have two and then if you don't, then you're, then you're missing something. Yeah, do you? Okay? So that brings up a really interesting question to me what do you think is we know that, we know that the other parent is a missing having your dad not here as a missing but when you look at your life overall, is there anything that you're missing in your life? Just in general, just in general. But when you look around at your life, like, is there anything missing? Like we have a home, we have a nice home, we do a lot of things with friends, like, do you think there's a missing Aside from your dad being missing? I know a really big one. Yeah, what's a big one? I really want a tortoise, you really want a big one, I really want a tortoise. You really want a tortoise, I really want a tortoise. So what's missing is having a tortoise.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I want a tortoise. I want a big tortoise named Eugene. A big tortoise named Eugene. Yeah, I want a tortoise, but we can't have one because it'll just dig out of our fence.
Speaker 1:We might be able to have one. That would be something we'd have to work on.
Speaker 3:I'd love to have a tortoise.
Speaker 1:But from the material standpoint, have we missed anything throughout our life? Material standpoint. Yeah, like we've always had a roof over our head. I mean, you know, I think what I'm trying to get at is that piece about how we put a big emphasis on the importance of having two people in the household, but yet there's so many people in the world that only have one person in the household.
Speaker 3:As in parents, or just people in general.
Speaker 1:Yep as in parents and, from what I've seen, are kids more balanced when there's two parents in the household? Maybe, but what if the single parents were also doing a pretty good job of trying to keep you guys balanced as well? You know what I mean. Like the context of life has it that you know this is bad if there's not two people in the household.
Speaker 3:They're going to grow up a certain way.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah. Do you believe in that?
Speaker 3:Not really.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I don't know that I do either.
Speaker 3:Okay, so when we did have a second person in the household. How did that go? It wasn't horrible, it wasn't the best.
Speaker 1:Mm-hmm.
Speaker 3:What part wasn't good about it? I was kind of a shithead.
Speaker 1:Oh really, Is that how you see it I?
Speaker 3:was a brat.
Speaker 1:Is that how you see it I?
Speaker 3:was pretty annoying. I saw the video. I was pretty annoying. What video the video that you showed us, where I was just being annoying. Oh, the YouTube video. Yes, I was being annoying. When I was a kid, I sounded like one of the kids from the Peanuts. That was so cute and funny, I know, but I could just tell that I wasn't the best way.
Speaker 1:Oh really, yeah, that's interesting that you see it that way.
Speaker 3:I mean, I personally think, thought that I was being a bit annoying.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I would say he would probably think the same about himself, because he I would say you're the adult and he'd say sorry, I'm 12. He'd always say that I'm 12, tara. I bet you guys would both look back and see it very differently today. But yeah, do you think things were better as in balanced or do you feel it was this the same?
Speaker 3:It was pretty similar. The same.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it was relatively similar so all right, we're gonna switch gears. Let's talk politics. You want to talk?
Speaker 3:politics. I mean, sure, but I mean I don't think that my insight is extremely important, because I won't be able to vote for like the next five years and then I won't be able to make it to the next election for like another three years, because at the time that you, yes, yes, I'm literally not going to be able to vote until I can drink. I'm not going to be able to vote until I can drink how do you feel about that?
Speaker 3:I'm not going to be able to vote for, like a presidential candidate of the united states of america how do? You feel about that, to voice my opinion better, because I won't sound like a little kid just spouting what he hears everywhere. And that's why I also don't like whenever other people my age or younger or a bit older talk about politics is like this doesn't extreme, this doesn't really affect you, because you're not going to be able to vote for like another 10 to like seven, 10 to like four years. Yeah.
Speaker 3:Do you think that it affects your future, it, what part of it, I mean, like what part of it affects your future?
Speaker 1:Great question. So actually this is a great segue for really the episode that I wanted to talk about, which I may still talk about next. What I find interesting, and I would love to hear your thoughts and opinion about it, is when you go out into the world today, most people are like oh, did you see what Trump did? Now, oh, trump, this Trump, that Trump, this see is that media does a good job of putting headlines out there or bits and pieces of a story to get everybody riled and upset about something. So then their day-to-day conversation in the now moment is figuring out how to make Trump or anybody who's in the presidential cabinet wrong.
Speaker 3:Even if they're like part of their side.
Speaker 1:Yeah, like everybody is just out angry about everything that's happening instead. Yeah, instead. And here's how I look at this, and I'm so curious your thoughts. If you want to make Trump wrong in his cabinet, or if you want to make Biden and his cabinet wrong, or if you want to make Obama and his cabinet wrong I just recently had this aha moment you have to go all the way back to 1913, when the Federal Reserve was actually implemented. How much we're like what? $38 trillion in debt right now, something to that effect.
Speaker 3:I think it's like $33 trillion.
Speaker 1:Yes, okay, that didn't happen in the last 10 years, right?
Speaker 3:Yeah, I mean, our debt has been building since the Revolutionary War.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and when the Federal Reserve was put in in 1913, which is backed by a certain group of people. So I guess what I'm trying to say is that if people want to have something to complain about, you have to go all the way back to the root cause, the start of the story, and then you have to look at all the things that happened between then and now, and it's one big giant snowball right Of one impact after another impact, of one cabinet making choices and another cabinet making choices on top of those choices, on top of those choices. To now, here we are, however, many hundreds of years later, right, and everyone thinks Trump did it, biden did it, obama did it.
Speaker 3:George W Bush.
Speaker 1:Yeah, there's what am I trying to get at? It is so much bigger than that. My whole point is when we waste our time being angry at the cabinet that's currently in office. It is a waste of our time because it is a machine that is so much bigger than us that has been broken for so much longer. I don't know the answers to fix it, but what I believe is that when we spend our time angry pointing fingers, we actually add more to the problem instead of being for the solution. So I'm curious your thoughts on that.
Speaker 3:I know that there were some presidents that would take away a ton of national debt, like I believe I think it was. Thomas Jefferson will only need like a third of national debt and I'm pretty sure in the next 10 years it got doubled so that it was just effectively pointless.
Speaker 1:Right, because the other cabinet probably said he's doing it wrong and then came in, implemented their thing. And then what did we end up? Right back in the same place.
Speaker 3:With more yes, and I believe back then it was around. It was around like 500 billion, which nowadays is like a lot of money, because I was this. That was the late 1700s.
Speaker 1:It's wild, right? It's amazing to me. So tell me your thoughts as a 13 year old, going to be 14. Tell me your thoughts on the worldview and politics. Like you know, I've always pushed you to be a critical thinker. Do your research. Don't just follow what I believe. You go out and do your research. What have you come to learn and believe today in your viewpoint?
Speaker 1:Like based on like what people agree with and disagree with no, based on your true thoughts and opinions about politics and the world that you live in and how you view it. How do you view it? It's crazy which part a lot of it what, what, what occurs crazy to you or say more about that either the blatant ignorance or over-awareness of global tensions rising. Mm-hmm.
Speaker 3:Like at this point, I do think that something could happen. It's not guaranteed and it's not like a whole Fallout World War III type scenario, but there are definitely a lot of conflicts happening right now that are concerning Mm-hmm.
Speaker 1:And there are some that people in the United States just don't know about is, in a thought form, that being aware of everything on the globe because we have social media now is actually a detriment to us, because it puts us in a state of overwhelm and it has us stressed out about a bunch of things that we can't control and takes us away from the very thing that we can't control, which is our own personal life. What's your thought on that? From the very thing that we can't control, which is our own personal life.
Speaker 3:What's your thought on that? I mean, I disagree with that. I think it's better to know everything that's happening so you can have enough awareness to know that the world isn't perfect right now, but also to acknowledge the fact that something is wrong and that you need to do something about it. I don't think that you should stress yourself out about that, because or at least how people stress themselves out about that I don't think that that is fully necessary.
Speaker 1:How do you think people could not stress themselves out about it?
Speaker 3:I mean most likely. I mean most likely by, just like I'm not really sure, because the more you look at the negativity of it, the more stressful it gets. Right. But then you only focus on a few things and not everything. Because if you're going to focus on oh the world is collapsing around me, I need to help. You can't just focus on one spot. You need to try and also, if you want to, you could raise awareness and then also bring more people to rally up and help others.
Speaker 1:That goes back to my belief that if people allowed themselves to unplug from media such that they're able to plug into what's the most important thing that I can do right now, that would make a difference for my friends and my family and my community right here, right now. Do you feel that being totally entrenched in all the world news and being stressed out about it, do you think that impacts your friends and family on a positive note?
Speaker 3:It could impact your friends and family, depending on where they come from and who they are.
Speaker 1:But I mean you being like oh my God, like if you're in that energy. Is that impacting? I'm curious, do you feel that's impacting your world positively?
Speaker 3:I don't think so, but also the way that I see it is like I'll see ongoing conflicts that I literally never even knew about, just because nobody in the news reports it. They only report the things that are important to America, like did you know that Myanmar is having a revolutionary civil war right now?
Speaker 1:I heard a touch of it.
Speaker 3:Yeah, there's a big conflict war right now. I heard a touch of it. Yeah, there's a big conflict going in there. There's Libya. There's a large conflict going on in there. On the coast up in Tripoli and Ethiopia there's a major ongoing conflict. Also can I say something? Yeah.
Speaker 3:Ukraine is said to be like oh, this is a really big deal. But in 2022, one of the biggest parts of the Ukraine war Ethiopia had a higher death count and I believe it was around 100,000 people. No, I think it reached around a million. I'm not sure. I'll have to check my sources on that but Ethiopia surpassed that and then people were only covering Ukraine. Nobody acknowledged it. I remember back then.
Speaker 1:So you raise a great point, and this is what I'm talking about is that how do you bring awareness? Okay, how would you take all that information, cause there's nothing, okay? Well, there's two pieces. So I believe you don't have to believe this. I believe that we're witnessing revolutionary wars all over because it's a revolution happening right now on the globe, because we actually have a global government. We don't have a country government, because all the governments, in my opinion, are all in everybody's, they're all in each other's back pocket, right, and the minions are us, the minions are the people.
Speaker 1:So there's that, and as a result of, and how I would use an example of that would be COVID, because that was a global shutdown, right, it wasn't just a shutdown in America, it was a global shutdown. So there's a global awakening occurring and so a revolution is going to happen, right, like that's obvious, right? Well, I don't know about, you don't have to agree, but that's how I feel. That's obvious, in my opinion. With your awareness of knowing all those things, what would be things that you would do to implement positive impacts into your community, with the awareness of that information? How would you go about that?
Speaker 3:So what you're asking is how can me knowing all this help me build my community a better place? Yes, yeah, just knowing that I feel like, just knowing that you're more fortunate and that you aren't involved in this could also be a good factor to help you de-stress in a way do you know?
Speaker 1:what I'm saying no, explain that because I don't know that.
Speaker 3:I know that you know, like knowing that you're fortunate enough to not be caught in a massive civil conflict and that you that you wouldn't just be another one of the numbers on the charts? Yes, okay, that's relieving to you. To me it is knowing that where I live is fortunate enough to have no major ongoing conflicts. And the United States is involved in conflicts, but it doesn't always affect United States citizens the way that it does for other citizens of other countries.
Speaker 1:We haven't happened to live in those types of cities.
Speaker 3:Yes.
Speaker 1:Because there are cities that definitely have civil unrest in our country but we haven't lived there.
Speaker 3:We live in one of the safer places.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, we do Absolutely.
Speaker 3:Because the United States harbors some of the most dangerous cities in the world.
Speaker 1:Yes, 100%. Do you think Americans believe that?
Speaker 3:No, no. Something that I've noticed is that Americans have, like this isolationist belief that, like they ignore everything, like do you know something crazy that happened while I was talking to my friends earlier.
Speaker 1:Tell me.
Speaker 3:I was like oh yeah, we were talking about other languages and I said, oh yeah, you have an accent. They're like no, we don't. And I said, yes, you do, you have an American accent. They accent. They're like no, we don't. And I said, yes, you do, you have an american accent. They're like no, we don't. Yet, yes, you do, and it was kind of a back and forth like, but I thought that that was just the normal way that you talk. No, that's the way that americans talk, because that's how old english from britain has evolved into american english and you notice, and you'll notice, how Australian English, united Kingdom English and New Zealand, india, all other places that speak English widely they all have very different words. They'll have different ways of describing things, how Britain uses different words that sound more fancy to Americans.
Speaker 3:And then Australians will sound crazy to Americans, and then Americans will sound crazy to everybody else.
Speaker 1:I was walking when I had dinner with Kelly the other night. We were on the square and we walked by a guy who had a very strong Irish accent and I was in love with it. Like that is it Cogni Cogni. I don't, I don't know where, I don't know what part of Ireland, but it was strong, it was so thick that you could barely understand him and I loved it.
Speaker 3:But then people in Ireland will be able to understand him perfectly. Yes, yeah. It's like how a New Yorker could go to like the United Kingdom, and they'll be like what? Are you saying?
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's funny. Anything else you want to share about history or politics Because you're such a history buff, which I think is so super cool Because I was so not into history. I love that you are.
Speaker 3:I'm very into history, I love history.
Speaker 1:I know Anything more you want to share about that?
Speaker 3:Like about what time period?
Speaker 1:Because it depends what's your favorite time period because that is like it depends.
Speaker 3:What's your favorite time period? My favorite time period is probably in between the years. The ones that I'm best versed in are definitely from like 1000 bc to like 1500.
Speaker 3:Those are my favorites why, it's just interesting learning about how people evolved from like the greeks, the greeks going to like the mongolian empire I like the mongolian empire it's interesting to learn about and how they were just able to go from a small place in the middle of the gobi desert and then they went up north into siberia, where they would then go on to make this to build the second largest empire in the world which is pretty phenomenal in a span of like fifth, in the span of like 20 years yeah in a very short span yeah but it's very, it was very interesting to learn about.
Speaker 3:And then also the romans were very interesting to learn about because they they were massive conquerors. Julius caesar was one of the best conquerors in history what makes him one of the best conquerors it was primarily the fact that his conquests were had such a high success rate and that he was able to develop the roman empire into just a city-state a few hundred years earlier, all the way into a massive Europe and North Africa and Middle Eastern spanning empire.
Speaker 1:Yeah, oh. I have a question for you. What is it, this passion for Japan? Where did this evolve from? Where did this come from?
Speaker 3:I don't really know, I just like Japan.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and you want to move there.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I just want to go to Japan.
Speaker 1:So you don't think there is no influence? Is it anime influence? Is it godzilla influence?
Speaker 3:like I, think it's a mixture of just everything that I've seen what about it?
Speaker 1:fascinates you?
Speaker 3:I just want to go to argentina yeah yeah, that place looks cool yeah, patagonia, the dinosaurs that's the only reason I really, that's the only thing I really know about argentina yep, what questions you want to ask me?
Speaker 1:what do you want to know?
Speaker 3:what do you think about history?
Speaker 1:well, ask me um what do I think about history? How, what, what part? What, what part are you asking?
Speaker 3:well, I mean like more recent history, because I know that recently, because my english language arts class, I learned more about the holocaust and also world war ii so it was really interesting to learn about what happened back then and how also the word holocaust originally meant burn, but now it has a completely new definition from one string of events that I believe went on from 1937 to 1945.
Speaker 1:What is the new definition?
Speaker 3:The new definition is a mass genocide of a group of people or individuals. I believe that. Have checked that.
Speaker 1:And originally it was called burn.
Speaker 3:It just meant burn, burn. And that's also partially a reference to how they would burn the bodies at the concentration camps. Okay, so Holocaust's new definition is destruction or slaughter on a mass scale, especially caused by fire or nuclear war. That's the new definition.
Speaker 1:When before it was just burn.
Speaker 3:It just meant burn or to or to put something on fire interesting.
Speaker 1:So what's your question for me again?
Speaker 3:what are your, what's your perspective on history?
Speaker 1:what's my perspective? Um, it's interesting that you asked that and it's interesting. So when I was in school, I had some of the most boring history teachers so I had no desire in history because it was like paint drying on walls, like it was so boring, and I can't even think of a single history teacher that I was like oh, I like history because of that teacher. Like nobody hated it. Think of all my history teachers.
Speaker 1:The funny thing is is is my perspective on history? Um, I actually love history from the perspective that I look at it, from the perspective that I view it through my self-development lens, and you know me, my conspiracy beliefs and my past experiences of my experience of there being off planet and my experience that this world is nothing of what we know from the textbooks, that there's a story far greater than that. So my perspective on history is that it's his story, that it has been incredibly rewritten, that it has been incredibly rewritten, incredibly bastardized and incredibly weaponized, and it's been rewritten and rewritten so many times that I take it with a grain of salt. That's my perspective on history today. I would not have said that 10 or 15 years ago, but today I take it all with a grain of salt, because I'm very aware of how much it's been used to weaponize, to conform, to consolidate.
Speaker 3:To like put people against each other.
Speaker 1:To have governments have the level of control that they want to have control and, as a result, a symptom of that is that people are pitted against one another. That's a symptom, like, I think, that everything we're living today, with everybody hating on Trump or loving Trump or whatever, or hating on Biden and loving Biden that's all a symptom of something much bigger and greater, and so that's. I guess that goes back to my thoughts of what I want to talk about in the next episode around this symptom that we are stuck in called anger, blaming, blaming the other side. Like none of that. We are just a part of the disease when we stand inside of that energy.
Speaker 3:You can't cut down the top of a weed and expect not to grow back.
Speaker 1:Right, yeah, we have to actually get to the root of the weed. And the root of the weed, I believe, is the heart of an individual, and our hearts have to heal so that our planet can heal, and it isn't even our planet. Our hearts have to heal so our communities and our governments can heal, but our communities and our governments cannot heal without our hearts healing. And that's really what I want to call this podcast. It's about heart healing adventures, because I believe that our world and our life is this is an adventure. You and I are on this planet, we're on an adventure and we're healing our hearts, one day at a time. You know, one situation at a time. That's my thought. What else?
Speaker 3:Uh, that's pretty much the only question I have.
Speaker 1:No. As a 13 year old Leland, what is your message out there to other kids your age? What do you want to leave kids with, given the state of our world?
Speaker 3:What do you mean, given the state of our world?
Speaker 1:Well, given the state of our world, look at our world right now.
Speaker 3:Like what part of it?
Speaker 1:Everything that the world is going through.
Speaker 3:What advice do I want to give people?
Speaker 1:Yeah, what advice would you like to give to the world is going through. What advice I want to give people? Yeah, what advice would you like to give to the world from your point of view?
Speaker 3:I don't really know.
Speaker 1:It's a good answer. You know cause. You know why you're still growing and learning.
Speaker 3:Yeah, like 13.
Speaker 1:You know what I think I'm going to say this One of the things I love and this has nothing to do with a single parent household One of the things I love about our relationship is that we have really open communication and I think that you and I have a very special relationship. I think that we have a very unique relationship. We're very open, honest. I think you've seen a lot of bad sides of me where I'm really stressed out as a single mom. You've seen me have to manage and navigate all the things we manage and navigate. You've seen me move through challenging times fiscally, romantically, career-wise. You've seen me go through breakups. You've seen me go. You've seen me lose family member. You've seen me lose jobs.
Speaker 1:One of the things I love about our relationship is that I'm always able to come to you and just really talk about those things, but I think also the birds and the bees we talk very openly about. I think, like, overall, I think you're a pretty awesome kid and I'm really proud of you, given the fact that we haven't had the two people here and I've I've done my best to support you in ways where I've brought some people to your world as mentors and tried to support in that way. But I think you're doing a phenomenal job. But I think you're doing a phenomenal job and I think what I really would love to leave the world with in this conversation is it is unfortunate when kids have a single parent household. But what if we just started believing that it just is what it is and it doesn't have to be unfortunate, that really we could maybe change or shift that paradigm?
Speaker 3:but it just is what it is. I mean, it is what it is.
Speaker 1:Mm-hmm, but we don't have to have people feel sorry for us or we don't have to have people look at us differently, because sometimes I think people do. What's your thought about that? I agree, yeah. So what would you like to leave the world with? Before we wrap up this episode and I'm just want to say thank you for being my guest and sharing your world and thoughts what would you like to leave everybody with?
Speaker 3:I want a tortoise named Eugene. Learn how to do a front flip.
Speaker 1:You want to learn how to do a front flip?
Speaker 3:No, I'm just telling people to learn how to do a front flip.
Speaker 1:Oh, you're telling people to learn how to do a front flip. Everybody A flump, front flip, a front flip. Why do you want people to learn how to do a front flip? Wow, wow. Why do you want people to learn how to do a front Wow? Why do you want people to learn how to do a front flip? Because it's cool. And what will it give back to them?
Speaker 3:It'll give them the ability to go to someone and be like hey, do you want to see me do a front flip? And then they do a front flip and everybody's like whoa you know how to do a front flip. That's so cool. That gives them more confidence.
Speaker 1:Very good, gives them more confidence. Okay, what else do you want to leave the world with?
Speaker 3:Spaghetti, spaghetti, spaghetti, meatballs.
Speaker 1:Spaghetti, spaghetti, spaghetti, meatballs what does that mean?
Speaker 3:I'm hungry.
Speaker 1:Are you hungry? Really no. Thank you so much for being on the show today. Thank you for sharing your views on politics and history. Thank you for sharing your views as a single parent, kid. Thank you everybody for listening to the show today. I look forward to seeing you on the next episode, where we do go into a little bit more around my opinion which is like an a-hole, because everybody's got one on politics and my point of view of where I think the world should begin to put their focus on. But until then, if you like the episodes, please rate the show, put a review down below and we look forward to seeing you next time. Have a great day. Thank you for coming on this healing adventure today. If you're starting to see how everything is falling into place for you, consider rating the show and sharing it with one of your friends. Keep that spirit alive and join me next week. Same place, same time. Have a great week.