Birthday Parties and the Zombie Apocalypse

We’re in the thick of school holidays right now, which, if I’m being honest, has meant a significant readjustment since Ben and I began working together this year. On occasion we really feel the tension between living, working, parenting and adulting in the one place, and school holidays can be one of those times.

That’s not to say it’s a bad tension, but definitely a new thing we’ve had to learn to navigate since that super exciting conversation on New Years Day this year, and you’ll hear us navigating it a little today with the kid-centric noise ramping up in the background of today’s poggie! 

This is another hostful episode and, boy oh boy, did you ask some cracking good questions! We weren’t able to get through them all, but rest assured we will work on answering them in next month’s Q & A show, as well as any others you might want to ask over on Facebook or in the comments below.

Here are some of the questions we tackle in today’s host-only affair:

• • I'm a 20 year old university student and a big advocate of slow living, but I feel like a lot of the content out there is targeted towards a different age group. What advice would you give to your 20 year old selves regarding slow living and what would you have done differently at that age if you'd been introduced to this idea sooner?

• • Can you talk about school holidays and your thoughts on structured activities for your kids versus encouraging them to find their own fun?

• • How do you navigate birthday parties? With sport friends, school friends, parent friends with their kids .... it can turn into a party every weekend! Kids love parties and being invited so much so that I think saying a flat out 'no' is almost cruel. And if you go and celebrate one child's birthday, then isn't it nasty to say no to another child? I’d also love to hear your thoughts on actually hosting a party and the gifts and the lolly bags etc.

• • I am working from home and find myself distracted by laundry and dishes...I'd love to hear details about how you get work done. Specifically, your daily rhythm, how you set boundaries around work/home management etc.

• If the world were presented with a zombie apocalypse, do you think it would still be necessary to live a slow life? How well do you suppose you both might fare in that situation?

I told you they were great! To go from 20-year-old versions of ourselves, to navigating the zombie apocalypse and everything in between - well, that’s just a whole heap of fun.

Turns out I have some very real thoughts about birthday parties and zombies (not necessarily together) and Ben has some really excellent insights into how he breaks his work days in to chunks that allow him to get a lot of work done without getting overwhelmed or becoming distracted.

Enjoy today’s hosts-only show, and be sure to leave us a comment with your questions so we can answer it next month.

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Or you can listen to the show directly, simply by hitting the Play button above. Enjoy!

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Show Notes:

• Station Eleven by Emily St John Mandel
• On Writing by Stephen King