Podcast Episode 359: The Let Them Theory: Parenting Edition Transcripts

Please note: Transcripts for the No Guilt Mom Podcast were created using AI. As a result, there may be some minor errors.

JoAnn Crohn (00:00.642)

You can let them have that hungry reaction. You do not have to solve the hungry reaction. They might be bawling on the floor. They might be totally disagreeable. And all you have to be concerned about is the left knee reaction. How are you going to respond when that happens? 

Welcome to the No Guilt Mom podcast. I’m your host JoAnn Crohn, joined here by the lovely Brie Tucker.

Brie Tucker (0:24:500)

Hello, hello, how are you? I’m dancing in my head to ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba.

JoAnn Crohn (00:32.074)

I don’t know that song. What song is that?

Brie Tucker (0:35:260)

I can’t remember what it is either. I think it’s Land of a Thousand Dances maybe?

JoAnn Crohn (00:39.040)

I have never even heard that title.

Brie Tucker (0:41.380)

Da da da da da da

JoAnn Crohn (00:43.860)

Have you ever heard this title, That Brie is singing? I have never heard it!

JoAnn Crohn (00:50.35)

Okay, I recognize that. That’s like the Rocky theme.

Brie Tucker (0:53.082)

No. 

JoAnn Crohn (00:53.651)

Okay I’m really bad at this.

Brie Tucker (0:57.250)

You guys, this is what JoAnn has to put up with every day. Me just randomly humming things and being like, think, hold on, I can’t quite dig through that perimenopause brain fog. I know it’s in there somewhere. The randomest crap that comes out of my mouth sometimes. I don’t know.

JoAnn Crohn (01:15.734)

It’s like ABC easy as one to kitty ADHD.

Brie Tucker (1:22.950)

It is, it is. Well, I always say like, I’m very blessed to people in my life that are willing to learn Brie speak. And yeah, yeah. Yep.

JoAnn Crohn (01:30.742)

It works out. Well, today we are talking for you about one thing that you can let go of and let go of control of, because what if the secret to less stress as a parent isn’t more control over what your kids do, but actually letting go. So this comes from a book that we did a book club on in our balance membership. It’s called the let them theory by Mel Robbins and it’s impacted everyone so much like our members were saying, I mean, shout out to Jamie. She said that this was the first book in years that actually helped her like helped her like see things in a new way helped her like do things differently. So today we are taking Mel Robbins let them theory and we’re translating it to the parenting chaos that we all see.

because there is a way that we can make our parenting lives easier by just letting them. 

Make sure to stay until the end of the episode too, because we have a five day challenge for you that you could take to really use this let them theory in your parenting life. And you’re going to find out how to get it at the end. So now let’s get on with the show.

JoAnn Crohn (02:52.216)

You want mom life to be easier. That’s our goal too. Our mission is to raise more self-sufficient and independent kids and we’re going to have fun doing it. We’re going to help you delegate and step back. Each episode we’ll tackle strategies for positive discipline, making our kids more responsible and making our lives better in the process. Welcome to the No Guilt Mom podcast.

INTRO MUSIC

So Brie, I have to tell you, like, when I heard of this book from Mel Robbins, The Lethem Theory, I saw it actually Oprah was talking about it. And I’m like, my gosh, Oprah’s talking about Mel Robbins. That’s cool.

Brie Tucker (3:37.793)

I don’t see Oprah anymore. I miss her. I miss her. She’s not coming up on my stuff. I need to like check that out.

JoAnn Crohn (3:45.686)

Well, she came up on mine. Maybe I was actually looking at Mel Robbins Instagram feed and I saw Oprah. But this let them theory, I got the book and I started reading it. I’m like, my gosh, like, this is a genius way to think about things because I am a people pleaser. You’re a people pleaser. We like to make people happy. As we actually discussed in another episode, how you said like your dream is not to have anyone argue with you and just be happy with everything you pick. Yeah.

So this theory kind of goes along with it and what the let them theory is. And I highly recommend you go get Mel Robbins book for this because she goes into all the intricacies and nuances of it.

Brie Tucker (4:26.828)

Speaking of which, Mel, if you’re listening, please come on the podcast. We’d love to have you here to discuss this.

JoAnn Crohn (04:31.598)

Just come on the podcast! We want to talk about this yes!  So let them is really you’re thinking about situations where you want things to go a certain way or you want somebody to react in a certain way and you don’t exactly have control over that. So I’ll give you an example. My sister was texting me and her daughter’s birthday, her first birthday is coming up and the birthday is on May 3rd. And she’s like, are you available May 3rd?

Brie immediately knows where I’m going.

Brie Tucker (5:03.500)

Waaaa-

JoAnn Crohn (5:03.570)

I’m like, are you available May 3rd to come to her first birthday party? And I was like, no, I’m not available May 3rd because I’ll be at the no guilt mom retreat in Cancun.

Brie Tucker (5:17.910)

Yeah.

JoAnn Crohn (05:18.640)

And she gave me like a sad face. And before I read the let them theory, I would have like done so much back explaining and so many things that would probably like make the situation worse. For instance, my first inclination, Brie, was to be like, Oh but it’s okay. I’ll come down another time or I’ll do this or I’ll do that. I would have immediately tried to fix the situation. But because of this sad response, I immediately thought of, okay, let them, let them, let her have her feelings. She is totally good with these feelings that she’s having. I’m gonna let her have them. And then the second part of let them is let me. Then I decide how I react and I show up in the situation. And what I did is like, I know I’m so, sorry. We scheduled this before she was born. I promise in like, we will not miss another one of her birthdays ever. Like I will be available. I will not schedule another retreat on it.

And she hasn’t gotten back to me yet. That was yesterday. But again, let them, 

Brie Tucker (6:26.040)

Let them have her feelings.

JoAnn Crohn (06:27.546)

It is all good.

Brie Tucker (6:29.246)

She might not even feel like there is a response needed to that even.

JoAnn Crohn (06:32.590)

That’s true.

Brie Tucker (6:29.246)

She might be like, OK, I hear you. 

JoAnn Crohn (06:36.850)

Yeah. 

Brie Tucker (6:37.748)

And it doesn’t want to put more sadness on you about it. You never know why people don’t. I’m the queen of making up stories in my head about why people don’t answer me. man, the stories I can come up with. You know, they go off the rails very quickly, very quickly.

JoAnn Crohn (06:54.648)

But let’s apply this to parenting because we know we want our kids to be happy. I mean, one of the hallmark cards that pisses me off to no end is saying like, you could tell a great mom by her happy kids. And I’m like, false. That is false right there. That is like, because you know that kids aren’t happy with a lot of decisions that we have to make as parents. Decisions we make for the good of ourselves, the decisions we make for the good of the kids.

And so when we think about this in terms of let them theory, there are so many ways that this applies to kids scenarios. For instance, when your kid is asking you for a snack or to go somewhere with them. Yes, you have the time to go get the snack with them. Yes, you have the money to get the snack with them. Do you want to get the snack with them? No, no, you don’t want to get the snack with them. And so this is allowing you to be like, you know what, I don’t want to get this.

I’m gonna stay right here and then you let them have their feelings.

Brie Tucker (7:56.910)

Okay, JoAnn, were you in my house last week? This exact scenario of, mom, I wanna go get a drink from Swig, but I don’t wanna drive by myself. And I’m like, you mean the one that’s like a quarter mile from our house? Yeah, can you just come with me? No, but you’re not doing anything. I’m recovering from a back injury. And so then she sat there and whined and was very upset about it, but.

Because…I was just like holding my ground. Yeah, yeah, you were in my house. How did you, I didn’t even tell you about that happening. I tell you a lot.

JoAnn Crohn (8:32.008)

I got it from my kids because we were coming back from our trip and my daughter wanted to go get snacks and I was just wanting to sit down. 

Brie Tucker (08:38.960)

Yeah. 

JoAnn Crohn (8:39.290)

She’s like, why would you come get snacks with me? Don’t you want to be with me? You know, I’m going to be moving out soon. Don’t you want to do? mean, kids do all of this, all of this stuff when you try to stand firm in your decisions. And I was just like, nope, I’m sitting here. And I let her have her feelings. at the same time, I controlled how I showed up in the situation because here’s like the geniusness of all that.

I got to the point where I hated apologizing for my own behavior. you know, where like you get so emotionally wrapped up, you say things that you would definitely not have said if emotions hadn’t been involved. If you hadn’t gotten like so invested in trying to get the other person to understand where you’re coming from and either forgiving you or saying it’s okay that you act in a way that you didn’t need to act. And I was doing that and I…didn’t like it. I don’t like apologizing for behavior that I think I should have some control over. Now, no one’s perfect.

Brie Tucker(9:36.625)

Well, I think also with you, I feel like you’re also cognizant of how that plays out to your kids. 

JoAnn Crohn (9:43.250)

Yeah.

Brie Tucker (9:43.605)

Right. Between the two of us, I am the queen of apologies. Right. I apologize for breathing sometimes too loud. Like, I don’t know. It’s a bad habit. I’m trying to break. One day when I do, I’ll buy myself a new purse. That’s an inside joke between us. But I think it’s really important, though, for our kids to hear that because the more that they see and hear us apologizing, the more they internalize.

Brie Tucker(10:06.638)

Okay, that’s how it’s supposed to happen. And we’re possibly even giving them the idea that, you know, as a woman, we need to apologize for things. And so they might start to expect that from other women. And if they are a woman themselves, like your daughter, they might start thinking, yeah, I’m supposed to apologize whenever I make other people unhappy. We don’t want that because it sucks. We just said it, makes you feel like crap.

JoAnn Crohn (10:35.820)

And you feel like you have no control over your life either because like your actions are totally based on other people’s emotional reactions. And that’s like horrible. That’s anxiety inducing all on its own. So when we let our kids have their own reactions, we are helping ourselves as parents show up as the parents that we want to be. Now you might be thinking, isn’t it our job kind of to control our kids and make sure like they have the reactions that are appropriate in society. Well, we’re going to get into that right after this.

So you might be hearing this let them theory and one of your yeah, buts is, aren’t as parents are supposed to lead and help our kids learn to control their own behavior or control how they act in certain situations. And to that, we have some little questions you can ask yourself about it. But Brie, you had a scenario happen where the control kind of backfired.

Brie Tucker(11:35.436)

You know, I did. And it was a response I wasn’t ready for, but at the end I had to do the let them. Yeah. Okay. So my son, he has a part-time job. A lot of times he closes at that part-time job and the part-time job is like, I don’t know, a little bit less than a mile from my house. And when he closes, he typically gets home between 10 30 and 11 o’clock at night. And that does sometimes happen on school nights, but.

He’s a senior, he knows his workload. I feel like he can juggle that problem.

JoAnn Crohn (12:06.070)

I get that.

Brie Tucker(12:07.601)

So he was working till close. And I normally try to stay up till he gets home just because I like to know all my ducklings are in the pond, whatever you want to call it. Right? Yeah. And it’s like 10 45 and I’m like, oh my gosh, has he even left work yet? So I opened the Life360. That little snot nose punk was like two miles away. At a Chick-fil-A!

What? What? What? And so like I text him and I’m like, yo dude, when do you think you’re getting out of work? Trying to pretend like I wasn’t spying on him and knew exactly where the heck he was. Right? And he’s like, well, I had to take somebody home. So I’m taking them home and then I’ll be there. And I went, they live at Chick-fil-A? No response. 

JoAnn Crohn (12:59.320)

There goes your cover Brie, there goes it.

Brie Tucker(13:01.160)

Well I wanted him to know that I knew anything over my eyes here, mister. And so he like doesn’t text me back right away. And then he’s like, well, we’re hungry. And I’m like, you better get home soon is all I got to say. Like, you know, you’ve already left to take this person home, but you better get home soon because you have school the next day. And he’s like, yeah, I know. And so I did end up going to bed because I was like, forget this. I’m not staying up for this now at this point. If I stay up, I’m just going to be more mad. I’m just going to allow myself to stew in this because now I’m getting less sleep. And I’m like, what made you think that was an OK decision to make? Like, really? So I went to bed and he ended up getting up and going to school the next day. No problem. Made it to school. Actually, no, wait. no, he didn’t.

That’s what I was going to tell you. So the next morning I get up and I get up like, they had to be at school by like 7:20. And I get up between seven and 7:30. I’m a late riser. And then like I mosey out of the bedroom and I look at the hallway and I notice his door is shut. And I’m like, okay, he normally leaves his door open when he leaves. I’m just going to go check, open the door. Nope, there he is in bed still sleeping. And so I like shook him awake and I’m like, Robert, it’s 7:30. Do I need to call you out from school today?

Because to me, I’m thinking like, all right, my son never misses school. So if he had to miss school one day because he was tired, he’s going to be punishing himself because he’ll be behind on homework and all of that. And he’ll have learned his lesson about staying up till midnight on a school night. He jumps out of bed and is like, my God, I slept in my alarm. No, I can’t miss today. I got any like rattles off some stuff and he’s running and getting dressed and just dashed out of the house. So.

It was one of those things where it was like the natural consequence was able to come without me having to impose any like. You made the wrong choice, trying to control situation, like yelling at him. could have like grounded him for going out to midnight on a school night, which he is not allowed to do, but instead he, dealt with his own things.

JoAnn Crohn (15:18.190)

You let him and he dealt with his natural consequences. Yeah, definitely.

Brie Tucker (15:22.436)

Yeah, so it was crazy. It was hard. It was a hard one to let them it was a hard one 

JoAnn Crohn (15:28.878)

It is, it is a hard one. And like this whole theory is why like, I think it’s stated so simply, but also he probably would have been fighting against you if you told him to come home then he would have started like the biggest argument in the world. And then it wouldn’t have been about the problem of not being able to wake up. It would have been about a problem with his mom, like that he’s fighting against. So like just giving up that control is awesome. So

You might be thinking like, when is control really necessary when it comes to kids? I mean, obviously the younger kids are, the more impact you have in their lives and it becomes kind of a weaning off process as they become teenagers and then eventually moving out. So the way I look at it is control is necessary when it has to do with like safety or health, first of all. Like you need to go to the doctor and we need to do a well exam so you can get some vaccines. That’s a non-negotiable on my part. 

Brie Tucker (16:24.130)

Yep.

JoAnn Crohn (16:24.580)

Or like the one that I held as a non-negotiable is here in Arizona, we have the driving rule where you’re not supposed to have more than one person in the car with you the first six months you have your license. And that was a rule that my daughter, I mean, I wouldn’t have known if she goes like off of it, but I kept firm to like, that was my expectation of things. So then if she decided to go against it, like girls on her own. I mean, like, I just wanted to make sure I was crystal clear.

on those because when they get to teenagers, you can’t really control them at all. Like it doesn’t work.

Brie Tucker(17:01.650)

You think you can.

I’m just gonna give that little shout out to y’all. If you have a friend or somebody in your life that’s like, you need to be like really bring that hammer down so that they don’t fall in with the wrong crowd and all of this stuff, which by the way, we do talk about this on the episode that aired, I believe, a week ago. with Ned and Bill. But the more you try to control and say like it’s my way or the highway.

We got to tell you this is the better your kids get at figuring out a way to get around you or figure out that they feel resentful towards you.

JoAnn Crohn (17:37.000)

Yeah, because like a lot of times with control, if it’s really not a necessary thing. And I mean, we’re going into gray area right here. like things like bedtime, things like food choices, food choices is a hot button one because I believe you cannot control what your kids put in their bodies. Like you cannot completely control that. It is their choice to eat. And if they get that choice to eat taken away from them.

They are going to either develop really unhealthy eating habits or they’re going to not be able to listen to their body on what to eat. Now, of course there are other things you could do. mean, don’t buy the junk food or anything when they’re younger kids, but it’s not something where- 

Brie Tucker(18:14.220)

And you can expose them right. Yeah, we’re just saying like the age old you’re going to sit there until your plate is clean is not going to work out as well as you think it will.

JoAnn Crohn (18:27.950)

it really won’t work out. And I know there’s a lot of fear that comes especially with the eating issues. I mean, like I’ve seen it play out where you’re afraid that your kid is going to be hungry later and they’re gonna wanna eat at an inopportune time and be hungry when you don’t have food around. And you’ll have to deal with the consequences of them being grumpy and everything like that. And to that I say, yes.

This is where let them theory comes in because you can let them have that hungry reaction. You do not have to solve the hungry reaction. They might be bawling on the floor. They might be totally disagreeable. And all you have to be concerned about is the let me reaction. How are you going to respond when that happens? When your kid is crying, when your kid is hungry later, what’s your response going to be? And a lot of times like,

I mean, I’ve dealt with that too. And my response is like, you know, I get that when I don’t feel like eating sometimes and then I’m hungry later. I’ve learned like, I just have to eat. Sorry, bud. Know how that feels.

Brie Tucker(19:32.710)

Because we have an epidemic of young adults being put out into the world that haven’t had experiences, haven’t had the decision making, and have some difficulty with trying to figure out how to work through solutions. Because when they’re with us, we’re so used to making those decisions for them and trying to keep them within the confines of what we feel like is OK, that once they get out there, they’re like, crap.

Where’s the pasta water at the grocery store? had no idea. That’s water from the sink after you cook the pasta. Or like Brie, they end up going off to college and they’re like, I don’t know how to turn on a washing machine.

JoAnn Crohn (20:15.580)

You do get all those things. So up next, we’re going to talk about those decisions that seem a little more high stakes and how you can kind of wean yourself into that.

JoAnn Crohn (20:25.838)

So sometimes this let them theory might seem really, really scary when it comes to kids. We get into these whole like, oh my gosh, well, if I let them do this, then this will happen and then this will happen and becomes this big snowball, snowball, snowball coming bigger and bigger and bigger. Oh, yeah.

Brie Tucker(20:39.202)

You mean like someone who jumps to step 20 when there’s a problem? That’s Brie by the way. That’s our code thing for Brie is overthinking things. Step 20.

JoAnn Crohn (20:49.440)

Well, it’s an easy habit to get into, especially with our kids, in terms of huge decisions like where they’re going to go to college or what they’re going to do after graduation or what grades they have to get now. Like those could really seem like they impact kids in a huge, huge way, which is why finding ways to let them do stuff and make mistakes on their own is so important. My daughter just recently, she drove down to Tucson with a friend to attend this event.

Brie Tucker(21:16.860)

I love this, I love this story.

JoAnn Crohn (21:19.190)

And this event, it was the Bernie Sanders AOC rally. And this event, I know from our previous experience, from hearing you attend these events, like they are packed. You usually have to get there like six or eight hours ahead of time, like some crazy amount of time to even get in,

And just because you have a ticket doesn’t mean you get in. So I was talking with her about this the day before and she’s like, mom, we have a plan. My friend’s going to pick me up at this time and then we’re going to go down there and we’ll be there just in time for it. And I’m like, okay. Cause it was one of those where it popped in my head. I’m like, I need to let her. I know how this is going to play out. 

Brie Tucker(22:00.861)

Yeah.

JoAnn Crohn (22:01.190)

But I need to let her because also there was the off chance that it does not play out the way I think it will. 

Brie Tucker(22:06.071)

Yeah. 

JoAnn Crohn (22:06.830)

Which I have been proven wrong.

Brie Tucker(22:08.050)

Right. 

JoAnn Crohn (22:08.880)

On occasion. Yes.

Brie Tucker(22:10.180)

And that’s hard with a teen. They don’t let that go.

JoAnn Crohn (22:12.601)

Yeah, it’s really hard. don’t let that go. I think that even makes let them easier because teams don’t let them go and remind you of your mistakes all the time. And so you’re like, fine, you want to do this? Let’s do this. So she went down to Tucson and she’s texting me from down there and she’s like, so we’re not going to get into this. The line was held at a high school and the line wrapped around the neighborhoods like around the neighborhoods, like probably a good mile the line was to get in. And what was even more like devastating to her is they were actually, the line was cut off 10 people before them.

Brie Tucker(22:53.96)

That is like salt in the wound!

JoAnn Crohn (22:58.400)

So it was a good experience though, because I mean, now if she wants to attend those events in the future, I don’t need to remind her of anything. I don’t need to tell her anything. She will be like, in this experience, this happened. And so I’m going to do it differently this time. So when you come to those decisions, you really have to ask yourself some questions. Like me in this experience, like what am I actually afraid of? Am I afraid of her being disappointed?

for not getting in. Yeah, that’s fine.

Brie Tucker (23:28.700)

Yeah right, because literally that is what your big concern was. And when you say it out loud, that’s what sometimes helps you go, wait, this isn’t a big deal.

JoAnn Crohn (22:58.400)

Or like, she’s going to waste so much time driving down to Tucson. And I’m like, yeah, but some of those experiences of mine when I’ve quote unquote wasted time have been like some of my best memories with my friends. So.

Brie Tucker(23:52.398)

That’s what I was gonna say. I have yet to find a teenager that goes on a road trip without their parents. That doesn’t have a good time, but go on.

JoAnn Crohn (24:00.000)

The next question is, is this about my safety or comfort? Because a lot of it was, because I had this thing about her getting on that ITUN with another teenage driver and like getting in an accident, especially with the driving thing. I go back to Brene Brown and her work all the time. And it’s not that something actually bad will happen. That is not like the fear. The fear is that I am vulnerable.

I love this child so much and in this situation I am vulnerable. And sometimes that really, really helps me when it is about my safety or comfort, just letting me know where those feelings are coming from.

Brie Tucker(24:37.600)

Yeah, I think that’s huge. Yeah.

JoAnn Crohn (24:40.903) 

And then another thing is what lesson do I want them to learn in this? Like, obviously sometimes we try to jump in and control because we know the lessons already. We have learned them well. But our kids haven’t yet. So sometimes we need to let them learn it by themselves. And my dad used to call that learning by the school of hard knocks. but I think that’s a great teacher. The school of hard knocks. It’s one of the best.

Brie Tucker(25:02.382)

No, I 100 % agree because I think it comes back to what I had mentioned earlier. If we don’t let them have these lessons, why they’re here with us and we can help pick up the pieces, we can help them work through their feelings, then they’re going to be out there learning these lessons on their own or too afraid to learn them because they realize that they don’t have a safety net when they’re out on their own. So it’s the best time to learn them is when we’re still around and we can help.

JoAnn Crohn (25:32.448)

Yeah. And then the final question is something that we talk a lot about here is what relationship do I want to build with my kids? Do I want to be always the one dictating what they do? Or do I want to be kind of a guide on the side, that advisor that they come to when they’re in really hard situations? And I would say I always want to be the guide on the side because having to dictate what to do all the time, that’s exhausting.

Brie Tucker(25:58.165)

It is I was gonna say that I’m like, okay, listen, the last thing you want is your kid calling you all the time for advice on every little decision that they’re making. It can become exhausting. So it’s just as bad as your we talked about this on a previous episode from last week. It’s just as bad as having that third child.

JoAnn Crohn (26:18.600)

Yes. We were referring to as your partner. If you feel like you’re parenting a third child, that’s other decisions that that’s another let them episode. Go consult Mel Robbins book for that one.  With the adults, but with kids, when you actually let them do the things, there are so many great things that could happen with your relationship and with them. So another thing you’re doing for kids when you’re letting them is you’re giving them.

agency and control over their own choices. And our interview with Ned Johnson and Dr. Bill Stixrud in episode 356 of the No Get Mom podcast, which you should totally go listen to, is kids need agency and control over their own choices to actually be engaged in the world. If they feel like nothing they do matters, you’re not going to have a child who actually becomes an active citizen. 

Brie Tucker(27:10.600)

Right. 

JoAnn Crohn (27:11.030)

They’ll be standing back waiting for things to happen to them. 

Brie Tucker(27:13.900)

Yeah.

JoAnn Crohn (27:14.187)

So there’s so much good.

Brie Tucker(27:15.550)

waiting for the surefire yes, the surefire do it and life is very limited in that capacity for most of us.

JoAnn Crohn (27:23.534)

I wish people told me more what to do in life to succeed. I really do. Like I really do. I think that all the time in entrepreneurship.

Brie Tucker(27:32.000)

Almost nothing is a given in life. Except for, what is it? What do they say back, or they used to say death and taxes. It’s nothing to givens. You’re going to have to try things that are a little wobbly. You’re going to have to put yourself out there.

JoAnn Crohn (27:46.742)

Yes, yes. So we hope you take this let them theory and see how you can apply it to your own parenting. And we have a little thing that we can help you out with with it. We have a five day challenge for you, which you can get from us. If you go to our Instagram, no guilt mom and DM the word challenge, we will send you the steps of five things, one for each day.

that you can let go of in regards to your parenting. And then you’re going to like look to see how it affected your stress level. So this is like a really like concrete in data activity that you could do that is going to have huge impact on your stress.

Brie Tucker(28:30.250)

Immediate impact.. I like that.

JoAnn Crohn (28:31.800)

Yes. Immediate impact on your stress levels and also your relationship with your kids because

Your kids are going to surprise you. They might surprise me all the time with the things that they do when I just let them. One though, like little caveat is that there’s some communication issues that will happen. And that’s okay. That is par for the course. What is happening in my house is my kids don’t tell me when they leave the house and my son’s 11. So he needs to tell me when he leaves the house.

Brie Tucker(29:01.603)

We’ve been having an issue with that too, only with my son. And I did tell him one day, I’m like, okay, I’m making this crystal clear to you. You have to check in with me before you leave. And I’m not asking for you to like, you know, tell me your exact plans because I appreciate the fact that you’re going out with your friends for pizza and you guys are gonna hang and you’re not sure where you’re gonna end up next. That’s cool. And he shares his location on his iPhone and I have the Life360 so he knows that I know that he’s not going anywhere.

But yes, it’s crazy how we feel like, and it’s interesting because when you say it to your kids, I don’t know if yours do the same thing, but mine are like, it’s not necessarily that I’m trying to hide from you. I just know that you can find me on Life 360s or whatever. So why do I need to tell you?

JoAnn Crohn (29:50.328)

That’s what they think. Yeah. And you’re like, you just want the personal interaction.

Brie Tucker(29:54.300)

I’m gonna let you know my expectation. My expectation is I don’t want to have to pull out my phone to figure out where you are. Yeah, I just don’t. I don’t think that’s, no, that’s not healthy. It’s not healthy.

JoAnn Crohn (30:05.205)

So we can’t wait to hear how you do on this Let Them Five Day Challenge with your kids. And until next time, remember, the best mom’s a happy mom. Take care of you. We’ll talk to you later.

Brie Tucker(30:15.800)

Thanks for stopping by.