our monkeys, my circus: a dad's tale

adrien rock city, august 2019

Hey hey hey, it took nearly 18 months but Episode 18 is finally here — thanks largely to the eight-year-old insisting that we fire up the podcast machine. This is the first time in OMMC history that we record a podcast without the now-12-year-old (though I imagine he’ll be back for subsequent episodes).

This time around, I talk with the lil’ brother about life as a second grader, some of his third-grade hopes and dreams (playing an instrument and learning more math are the list, apparently), his desire to become a better athlete, and why it’s sometimes annoying to have a big brother.

Alright, let’s get to it.

Ep. 18: Talking Big Brothers, Becoming a Better Athlete (!) and LEGOs (natch)

ryan wilson

art imitating link. november 2018

On latest podcast, we discuss the seven-year-old’s birthday and our recent Thanksgiving, and then recap our field trip to see Rhett and Link on the Tour of Mythicality that included an impromptu Beastie Boys flashback.

We mentioned in the last episode that we had tickets to their next-to-last show and the experience exceeded everybody’s expectations.

In case you’re wondering — and you almost certainly have to be — here’s the deal in the photo above: The 11-year-old was in the middle of one his now-frequent mood swings while the seven-year-old wanted to fix himself up to look like Link in the picture they’re both holding.

Ep. 17: Talking Birthdays, Beasties and the Tour of Mythicality

ryan wilson

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(We play a brief clip from Rhett and Link’s podcast, Ear Biscuits, and if you want to hear that episode in its entirety, knock yourself out.)

I wrote about it on Facebook a few weeks but I’ll recount the story here too…

We drove seven hours through a driving rain storm to catch the next-to-last show ever in the Tour of Mythicality and it was worth every harrowing near-death experience. The seven-year-old was wide-eyed with excitement from start to finish, literally sitting on the edge of his seat, clapping furiously after every song and sketch, laughing uproariously -- even if he didn't totally get the joke -- and raising his hand with all the urgency of the know-it-all in class when Rhett and Link called on volunteers. The 11-year-old was much more understated in his appreciation of the show but I could hear him cackling, and every time I glanced over a huge smile was plastered across his face.

And this was all DURING the show. Afterwards, we got to meet Rhett and Link.

(We all grew up in the same small town back in the '80s; I'm four years older but they're the same age as my sister and they've all been friends since elementary school. But my kids only know Rhett and Link through the television. For them, it was like meeting Bruce Springsteen or Beyonce.)

By the time show ends, it's 11:30 pm and we hadn't eaten since lunch. Under any other circumstances, the seven-year-old is passed out from the combination of sleep deprivation and hunger. But he was as alert as if he'd just gotten 12 hours sleep after the best meal of his life. So we were about four people deep in a line of 100 and the seven-year-old saw Rhett and Link as they appeared from behind a wall and made their way to the meet-and-greet area.

HE WENT NUTS.

The closest thing I can liken it to is when Oprah used to surprise her studio audience with those 'AND YOU GET A CAR! AND YOU GET A CAR!' announcements. The reaction of those women?

Two minutes later, we're walking up to meet them. The seven-year-old leads the way, followed by 11-year-old, our 17-year-old nephew (who introduced us to Good Mythical Morning five years ago -- long before we knew about the show and long before he knew I grew up with them), and I'm bringing up the rear.

The seven-year-old was very nervous about what to say, but he walks up to Link, extends his hand and introduces himself.

You’ll have to listen to the podcast for all the details but I’ll leave you with these two nuggets:

One: The drive home — and the weeks that followed — was a constant barrage of, "I CAN'T TELL YOU HOW MUCH I LOVED THE 'TOUR OF MYTHICALITY'! AND WE GOT TO MEET RHETT AND LINK!"

Two: As a parent, there are few things better than seeing your kids truly and completely happy.

when you’re going for steve harrington but end up looking more like eleven with a perm. oct. 2018

On this episode, the 11-year-old and I talk about the fact that his voice has changed dramatically since the last podcast -- seriously, he's gone from fresh-faced, squeaky-voiced elementary school kid to James Earl Jones as Darth Vadar. We go on to discuss what it's like to now be in middle school and some of the freedom's that come with getting older.

Like, say, us deciding to let him watch "Stranger Things." (So far, he loves it. I can't stress this enough.)

We also touch on what we did over the summer (camping, traveling up and down the eastern seaboard, seeing out first live show) and our early Christmas plans, which is another way of saying: We're going to see Rhett and Link next month on their Tour of Mythicality. If you have no idea what I'm talking about, we get into the details on the podcast. But if you have kids, you're almost certainly nodding your head knowingly right now.

Ep. 16: Talking James Earl Jones, Stranger Things and Rhett and Link

ryan wilson

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Remember, you can subscribe to the podcast via iTunes, Stitcher or Tunein.

a boy and his LEGO avatar. may 2018

Experience has taught us that the 11-year-old can sometimes be very grumpy. Usually it's because he's hungry, but during long breaks from school -- like holidays or, say, spring break -- boredom can quickly morph into irrational anger if there is no contingency plan. Which is why this spring break was one long exercises in keeping busy. 

It wasn't like we did anything exciting, we were just busy. And sometimes that's good enough. If nothing else, it gave us something to talk about on the latest podcast. We also discussed the breaking news out of Uranus, the 11-year-old's new-found love for his new old-school New Balance, the lost art of kids knowing how to talk on a telephone, and the man who calls himself LeBron James.

Ep. 15: Talking Daniel LaRusso, T'Challa and LeBron

ryan wilson

Remember, you can subscribe to the podcast via iTunes, Stitcher or Tunein.

old school, new school. sept. 2017

Five years ago, our oldest began kindergarten. His little brother was a few days shy of his first birthday, and our mornings consisted of bus-stop drop-offs and figuring out how to co-exist; I worked while he played, ate and pooped. It wasn't exactly a symbiotic relationship -- or at least it didn't feel like it at the time. 

Now that the little one is in kindergarten -- we loaded him onto the bus an hour ago -- and it's just me and the dog, the mornings are weird. Weirdly quiet, weirdly ... boring. I can probably get used to boring -- it's my default setting, but it'll take some adjusting. 

In the meantime, the podcast is back, after a brief 10-month hiatus! And to commemorate the soon-to-be six-year-old's public-school debut, he makes a guest appearance.

Ep. 14: Talking summer, little brothers and kindergarten debuts

ryan wilson

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november 10, 2016

On the latest Our Monkeys, My Circus Podcast, I talk to the nine-year-old about the presidential election and what it all means -- for him, for us, for our family and for everybody else. Part of me is glad that he's just nine and was mostly clueless about all that transpired in the weeks and months leading up to election night. But part of me also feels like this is something we need to talk about, even if he isn't particularly interested in it.

Put another way, this is probably more about me than him -- a way to try and make sense of what happened, and more importantly, talk about how we can learn from it. Because while despondency might be the initial reaction, and one that lingers for some time, ultimately, that isn't a solution. My message to my son is simple: Be a good person. Seems like as good a starting place as any. 

So while we talk about World War III (seriously, he brought it up), we also touch on other, happier topics, including our first official piece of fan mail (!), mathletics and other just-as-nerdy endeavors, rock climbing updates and something called Butt Lightyear. 

Ep. 13: Be a good person

ryan wilson

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partners in crime, august 2016

It's another Our Monkeys, My Circus Podcast, and on the latest episode, the nine-year-old and I talk about his early retirement from soccer and how individual sports (like rock climbing, swimming and tennis) are more his thing. We also chat about as his non-sports-related summer endeavors, which include inventing a card game based on, sigh, Minecraft and recent developments in the world of LEGO Bionicles. 

So buckle up.

Ep. 12: Talking soccer retirement, rock climbing and homemade card games

ryan wilson

Added bonus: The nine-year-old's latest Bionicle creation, which I'm just gonna call SkullFace Debilitator.

Remember, you can subscribe to the podcast via iTunes, Stitcher, Tunein or SoundCloud.

kung fu monkey. may 2016

It's another Our Monkeys, My Circus Podcast, and on the latest episode, the nine-year-old and I talk about kung fu, (somehow) regressing basketball skills, Memorial Day, third-grade science and whether his grandfather took part in the Civil War. There's also the obligatory story about the four-year-old falling down and getting hurt because, well, that's what he does.

Ep. 11: Talking kung fu, little brothers and 3rd grade science

ryan wilson

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A quiet moment, in between the random name-calling contests. may 2016

It's another Our Monkeys, My Circus Podcast, and on the latest episode, the nine-year-old and I talk about his latest birthday, the joys of having an infected big toe and what it's like to deal with a sometimes-insane name-calling little brother.

Ep. 10: Talking birthdays, crazy little brothers and infected big toes

ryan wilson

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Remember, you can subscribe to the podcast via iTunes, Stitcher, Tunein or SoundCloud.