Matt and Rachel discuss play, what it looks like and whether they're good at it. Together they start working towards a grand theory of play. Plus some mail from the deep end!

How do you play? Let us know by emailing us at [email protected].

Mentioned in this episode:

• Rachel's bubbly music: "Feels So Right" and "Everything's Right" by Matt Wertz

Rachel and Matt talk about the things they don't want to forget about this season, both things that Oliver and Julian are doing and things that they are feeling and experiencing themselves.

We're always looking for more mail! Email us at [email protected].

Mentioned in this episode:

• Rich Roll Podcast with Jessica Lahey: Innoculating Kids Against Addiction

Matt and Rachel discuss the ways that having a second child has changed them from resignation to patience to introversion and all kinds of things in between. Plus, some things that haven't seemed to change at all! 

Have you noticed any changes through the podcast? Email us at [email protected]!

Rachel and Matt do a snake draft of the services they subscribe to after some brief marital therapy induced by some recent sleepless nights. 

Do you have a favorite thing you're subscribed to? Email us at [email protected].

Mentioned in this episode:

• Chris Trager, the fine-tuned machine
• Getting Things Done by David Allen
• Our subscriptions:
  • Todoist
  • 1Password
  • Spotify
  • YNAB; referral link
  • League Pass (Team Pass)
  • Amazon Prime
  • Refit
  • Microsoft 365
  • Google One
  • Prose
  • Pinboard
  • CleanMyMac X

Matt interviews Rachel about her experience of instinctive decision making as a mom. Where do they come from? How does she discern when to pay attention and when to trust conventional wisdom despite them? 

And stay to the end to hear about Oliver's own parenting techniques!

Have instincts of your own? A story where they worked out perfectly (or not so perfectly)? Email us at [email protected] and we'll likely include your note in a future episode!

Matt and Rachel talk about the positive and negative pressures that get applied when they have to parent in public and the way so much of this reflects our own stuff far more than the parenting our kids need! Plus, Oliver on red dye.

As always, we welcome your own takes! Email us at [email protected].

Mentioned in this episode:

• Sesame Street's "Good Night, World!"
• Beth Moore's memoir: All My Knotted-Up Life

Rachel and Matt talk about the value of studying the loves  and passions of others in the family and some examples of ways they have done that for each other and with Oliver. Plus some brief weather talk and the challenge of working out what's going on with a five month old.

Have your own example? Or another family/friend philosophy? Email us and let us know at [email protected].

Mentioned in this episode:

• Some Favorite Dude Perfect Videos: Ping Pong Trick Shots, Ultimate Mini Games Battle

Matt and Rachel discuss the surprising lack of rules in their family, how that might be a healthy thing and how children (toddlers especially!) help relativize the importance of ironclad boundaries.

Have a favorite family rule? Or a personal hard line you will not cross? Email us and let us know at [email protected].

Mentioned in this episode:

• Raising Boys & Girls Podcast
• The Worry-Free Parent Miniseries (from the Raising Boys & Girls Podcast)
• Dude Perfect YouTube Channel
• Blues Clues & You: Storytime with Josh & Blue (Podcast) 
  
  

Rachel and Matt hit a couple of quick highlights from recent days, and then dive deep on their love of reading, where it came from, how they've cultivated it and some favorites of this year!

Have a book recommendation? Or another favorite hobby you're dying to share with us? Email us and let us know at [email protected].

Mentioned in this episode:

• Wayside School Series by Louis Sachar
• A Series of Unfortunate Events
• Hardy Boys mysteries
• Ted Dekker
• Goodreads
• Robin Sloan on the Libby widget
• The Thursday Murder Club Series by Richard Osman
• Children of Dune by Frank Herbert
• Taylor Jenkins Reid (Daisy Jones and the Six, The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, Carrie Soto is Back)
• Delighting in the Trinity by Michael Reeves
• I Guess I Haven't Learned That Yet by Shauna Niequist
• Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros
  
  
  

Matt and Rachel lament their current four month regression with Julian and reflect on what it's like going back through this all a second time.

Whose analogy did you like better? It might be the only thing worth commenting on in this episode. Email us and let us know at [email protected].

Mentioned in this episode:

• Previous sleep regression episodes: Episode 20 ("I declared the regression was over..."); Episode 21 ("I was wrong...")
• "Look for the Light"
• Bell Sound Effect from Pixabay