Too Peas In A Podcast Mandy Hose and Kate Mulholland

Kate and Mandy lament their way through Melbourne’s latest lockdown while reading through some awesome Pea speakpikes – thanks so much for sharing and making them laugh in captivity! Move over Hamilton – Too Peas: The Musical is on its way! 

A couple of extra things that made them laugh and cry this week:

Kate sobbed her way through Lion but was cheered up by Sam Cotton’s hilarious Instagram animations.

Kate and Mandy both loved Nelly Thomas’ Facebook live reading of her book Some Brains, which gave all the lockdown Peashoots something to share and laugh about that day. 

Other Pea Business:

Pre-order our forthcoming book The Invisible Life Of Us – releasing on July 20

Come and see us at our live afternoon show at the Melbourne Podcast Festival!  

Forecast for Thursday June 17 – Cloudy, 15 degrees

Thank you for supporting Too Peas In A Podcast! Don’t forget to rate and review. 

Contact us here:

Website: www.toopeasinapodcast.com.au

Email: [email protected]

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Kate and Mandy talk to Julia, pea mum of William and Rider and founder of William Ready. Willam Ready specialises in designing and creating early learning educational resources that are unique and designed to enable learning while having fun.

Julia started the business following William’s diagnosis of autism at 22 months of age and the traumatic early birth of her son Rider. With the help of her engineer husband and teacher sister, she first designed 3D-printed tools to help support William’s learning, and now has a range of products available for use in schools and therapy, including the option to design sensory spaces in the classroom and home.

Julia aims to help all children learn and build confidence in themselves by giving them the right tools, and spread awareness and acceptance that it’s really okay to be different and do things differently.

Good news - Julia is offering all Peas 15% off products at her store! Head to their website and enter the discount code TOOPEAS15 at the checkout. 

Connect with William Ready here:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/williamready.com.au

Linkedin: William Ready

Instagram: @WILLIAMREADY2017

Other Pea Business:

Melbourne forecast for Thursday 10 June – Rain easing, windy. 16 degrees. 

Listen to The Little Stevies’ new song Melbourne We’ll Meet Outside

Kate enjoyed reading Georgie Carroll’s book Off The Charts

Pre-order our forthcoming book The Invisible Life Of Us – out on July 20.

Thanks for supporting Too Peas In A Podcast – don’t forget to rate and review us!

Contact us here:

Website: www.toopeasinapodcast.com.au

Email: [email protected]

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Kate and Mandy talk to Emma, ea mum to 5-year old Mikey who has quadriplegic cerebral palsy and founder of Mighty Able - a clothing brand dedicated to celebrating all abilities.

Emma experienced the traumatic early birth and 5-week NICU stay of her very sick baby Mikey, who was eventually diagnosed with hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy, or lack of oxygen to the brain at some stage during the pregnancy.  

Emma has built a strong network of Perth Peas, after spontaneously inviting another Pea at hydrotherapy over for a glass of wine. Emma wishes every Pea mum and dad could have the same level of support to reduce the very common experiences of loneliness, isolation and fear.  

Emma started Mighty Able when Mikey was eighteen months old to celebrate and highlight the resilience and bravery of peashoots, and promote inclusion and respect. Her number one goal is to make people with disabilities and additional needs feel mighty and supported.

Connect with Mighty Able via their website, Facebook and Instagram.

Other Pea Business:

Pre-order our forthcoming book The Invisible Life Of Us 

Melbourne forecast for Thursday June 3 – Showers, clearing early, 18 degrees.

Don't forget to rate and review!

Contact Too Peas In A Podcast:

Website: www.toopeasinapodcast.com.au

Email: [email protected]

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Today’s guest Lydia has a peashoot son with Tourette’s Syndrome and twin daughters, one of whom has ADHD and anxiety. Lydia is also a peafessional radiographer who is studying to be a peacher.

Lydia moved from Ireland to Perth with her husband prior to the birth of her children. She had her son, then experienced the traumatic premature birth of her twin daughters at 32 weeks, resulting in their hospitalisation in NICU and SCN for 6-7 weeks. Lydia experienced postnatal depression and posttraumatic stress disorder as a result, and talks about her experiences of receiving mental health care.

Lydia’s son was diagnosed with Tourette Syndrome when he was six years old, although he was showing signs of simple ticks at age two. Lydia’s goal is to spread awareness that Tourette’s Syndrome is so much more than just ticks and swearing, as her son also experiences sensory processing issues, dysregulation, disinhibitions, anxiety and OCD behaviours. Lydia is involved in supporting other parents through the Tourette’s Syndrome Association of Australia and started the first Western Australian camp program.

At school, Lydia helped her son and his classmates understand that Tourette’s Syndrome is just “like hiccups in your brain", which the kids happily accepted. Her son has a good understanding of his condition and can advocate for himself quite well, and knows when he needs help from a teacher to manage difficult situations with other kids. Her twin peashoot struggled with being organised and remembering things, and was diagnosed with ADHD following some good support from a great peacher.

With neither Tourette’s Syndrome or ADHD not attracting NDIS, Lydia’s peashoots unfortunately don’t receive funding for therapies. The Tourette’s Syndrome Association of Australia however offers services, resources, activities and awareness raising campaigns, check out their website and get in touch if needed: https://tourette.org.au/

Other pea business:

Melbourne weather forecast for Thursday May 27 - Showers, 15 degrees

Melbourne lockdown forecast for Thursday May - “Could go either way”

Pre-order our forthcoming book The Invisible Life Of Us!

Get in touch with us here: 

Website: www.toopeasinapodcast.com.au

Email: [email protected]

Thanks for supporting Too Peas In A Podcast – remember to rate and review!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Kate and Mandy talk to peafessional Professor Sonia Grover, Director of the Department of Paediatric and Adolescent Gynaecology at the Royal Children's Hospital Melbourne, and former President of the International Federation of Paediatric and Adolescent Gynaecology - but you can just call her Sonia. 

Sonia has seen plenty of change in the 30 years she’s worked at the RCH. Periods, sex, genitals and tampons weren’t topics that the male gynaecologists of the past were comfortable with, so as a woman, Sonia is now able to bring a different level of care and insight to her patients.   

Sonia has two rules in life – one, be sensible and two, periods are not allowed to mess up any young person’s life, and if they are, then something has to be done. 

Sonia recommends that parents keep a diary of any of their child’s symptoms occurring in 4-6 week cycles, such as skin changes, vomiting or even seizures. If a cluster of symptoms is happening cyclically, it’s time to say, “I want to see a paediatric adolescent gynaecologist.”

She also recommends a range of treatments to manage varying levels of bleeding and pain, from the simple to the more complex. Sonia also discusses options to give peashoots more choice and dignity in managing periods (Mandy found the book Special Girls’ Business helpful – although it needs an update to include period underwear) and highlights the challenges and traumas transgender peashoots can experience in managing periods and future fertility options.

In the future, Sonia wants a world in which young women’s period pain is managed a lot better. We agree! 

Other Pea Business:

Pre-order our forthcoming book The Invisible Life Of Us ! 

Melbourne forecast for Thursday May 20 – Shower or two, 17 degrees

Thank you for supporting Too Peas in a Podcast!

Website: www.toopeasinapodcast.com.au

Email: [email protected]

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Sally’s peashoot is Willow, a kind, funny and empathetic peashoot with an original diagnosis of Turner Syndrome and grey matter heterotopia. Sally became a single mum to Willow and her two older sisters when Willow’s dad and his family chose not to have any more contact with her due to her diagnoses. 

Willow’s health unfortunately took a turn for the worst just before COVID-19 hit. She started sleeping 18-20 hours a day, had trouble walking and swallowing, begun experiencing hearing loss and needing a nasal gastric tube. An MRI eventually showed that her brain had atrophied, and Willow underwent many tests in order to find out what was happening to her.

Willow was going to a fantastic, supportive school that she loved, but didn’t have the energy to make it through the day. The school brought in a bed, blankets, pillows and beanbags so she could stay at school, yet sleep and rest whenever she needed to. Due to COVID-19, Willow couldn’t be sent to Victoria for treatment, so they relied on their great local team who rallied around Willow to provide the best care possible.

Sally shares that Willow ‘puts everyone to shame’ with her empathy, kindness and wicked sense of humour - all the things you want for your child. Sally calls her ‘Little Buddha’, and is proud of her compassion and understanding towards other kids with challenges. 

Sally reflects on some rectum moments she’s experienced, including the mums who tell Sally how great their children are for talking to Willow, and the fact that Willow is never invited to parties. Rectums – please stop doing this! Fun fact – Sally is a children’s entertainer and balloon artist called ‘Sally Sunshine’– so kids birthday parties are her thing.

Eventually, a team of specialists were able to come up with a diagnosis for Willow’s worsening health. They left Sally with just an acronym to look up by herself – MNGIE. This condition will eventually take Willow’s life.

Sally reflects on the fact that parents of dying children experience intense silencing and invisibility, as if the subject is ‘forbidden’. As a result, she’s started her own podcast with a friend, Gin In A Mug, especially to break the silence and provide comfort and community to others experiencing the anticipatory grief of losing their child in the future.

Thank you for sharing your vitally important story Sally xo

Other Pea Business:

Listen to Griefcast and My Dad Wrote A Porno

Book your tickets to the Ringwood East live show on Sat 15 May at the Karralyka!

Also, pre-order our forthcoming book The Invisible Life Of Us 

Forecast for Thursday May 13 – Afternoon showers, 18 degrees

Thank you for supporting Too Peas in a Podcast!

Website: www.toopeasinapodcast.com.au

Email: [email protected]

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.