MomCave LIVE

Surviving Summer | Meredith Masony | MomCave LIVE

• Jennifer Weedon MomCave | Meredith Masony

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Join Jen and Meredith as they talk about Summertime survival for moms! They share their busy schedules, parenting challenges, and the lack of personal fun due to work commitments. Jen and Meredith would offer tips if they had any that they think would help, but they emphasize solidarity among moms and finding joy in chaos. Meredith's chats about her upcoming comedy tour. They also want to tell moms to take time to laugh and unwind! You've got this!

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Jen: See, it says "live." It says "live." We're completely live. Welcome to MomCave LIVE, where we may have lost our minds, but we haven't lost our sense of humor. Tonight, I'm live with my buddy Meredith. You might know her from "That's Inappropriate." All things that are inappropriate. We're just doing great. Are we halfway through summer?

Meredith Masony: I think so. Well, my kids go back to school on August 10. 

Jen: So you go back to school much sooner than us.

Meredith Masony: Yes, Florida goes back, but we were out on May 25.

Jen: Oh my god. Okay, so we're just shifted. It's the same thing. I'm trying to make us go live on all the platforms and go live on Instagram. Let us know if you're watching. Leave a comment on Facebook. Say hello. We're going to talk about how we survive with kids during the summer. So, Meredith, do you have a busy summer?

Meredith Masony: Well, let's see, my kids are 17, 14, and 12. My oldest just got back two days ago from seven days at a pole vaulting camp. When my daughter leaves, he leaves again on Friday for another pole vaulting camp. My daughter leaves on Sunday for a week at a camp in Tennessee, which isn't even in the same state as we are. And then she comes home on Saturday, and I get to wash all of her clothes, repack everything, and then drive her to her next camp the day after.

Jen: Oh, wow.

Surviving Busy Schedules and Enjoying a Staycation.

Meredith Masony: At that camp, she's going with my youngest. Today and tomorrow are the only two days this summer that all of my kids were home at the same time. So we decided to make a quick staycation out of it, just so we could spend some time with them. It's been brutal with sports, camps, and everyone's activities......

Read More Here: Surviving Summer| MomCave LIVE | with Meredith Masony.

Jennifer Weedon Palazzo:

See it says live. It's says live. We're totally live. Welcome to MomCave LIVE where we may have lost our minds, but we haven't lost our sense of humor. And I'm live tonight with my buddy Meredith. You might know her as that's inappropriate. All things that's inappropriate. And we're just good. Oh, and it's of course, were getting rid of that. It's going to do the thing where it gives us an echo. Okay, hold on. Are we halfway through summer?

Meredith Masony:

I think. I think we only have well, my kids go back to school August 10. Yeah.

Jennifer Weedon Palazzo:

So you have you go back to school much sooner than us.

Meredith Masony:

Yes, Florida goes back, but we were out May 25.

Jennifer Weedon Palazzo:

Oh my god. Okay, so we're just shifted. It's the same. Same thing. Okay. I'm trying to make us go live on all the places and go live on Instagram to know watching a Facebook comment, say hello. We're gonna talk about how we survive. With kids during the summer, it may or may not go to Instagram. That's all good. Okay. So, Meredith, um, do you have a busy summer?

Meredith Masony:

So let's see, my kids are 17, 14 and 12. Okay, so my oldest just got back two days ago, from seven days away at a pole vaulting camp. When when my daughter leaves, he leaves again Friday for another pole vaulting camp. My daughter leaves Sunday for a week at a camp in Tennessee, which isn't even in the same state as we are. And then she comes home on Saturday, I get to wash all of her clothes, repack everything. And then I drive her to her next camp the day after.

Jennifer Weedon Palazzo:

Oh, wow.

Meredith Masony:

And that camp, she's going and my youngest, but this today. And tomorrow, we're the only two days this summer, that all of my kids were home at the same time. And so we decided to kind of make a quick staycation out of it. So we could at least spend some time with them. But it's just been brutal with between sports and camps and everybody's activities. And I tried to take some time off from the tour. And so I didn't schedule too much in July, and August, but it's just been nonstop. And then today I had a total meltdown in my car. Because I had to sign up my firstborn for his senior pictures.

Jennifer Weedon Palazzo:

Oh, so sad, no. And it's good that you guys all get to be together because you soon he's going to be taking off flying coop leaving the nest and you won't spend much time together.

Meredith Masony:

I know it's been crazy. And so I wish I wish we would have planned like a actual trip. But I say that knowing that any if we had spent 1000s of dollars to take them somewhere they would have fought the entire Yeah. So I was like we can we can be staycation in for free. And you can fight all you want because I don't spend any money.

Jennifer Weedon Palazzo:

Fighting free fighting. It's fine. It's paid by the

Meredith Masony:

same fighting that you do at home. Right?

Jennifer Weedon Palazzo:

Yeah. No, they always say like, that's what vacation for a mom. It's just parenting in another place. You're just doing the same shit.

Meredith Masony:

But another laundry right now.

Jennifer Weedon Palazzo:

Oh, great on your sinking ship. So Hi, Amy. Hi, Bunny, bunny. They're popping in the comments and saying hello. Tell us what you are doing this summer and how you're surviving it with the kiddos. Um, yeah, we're having a weird summer too. Because this summer, we decided to make no plans whatsoever. There's no camp, there's nothing there. There's just us and our wonderful family time together. As you can see, that's not going great. Yeah, my husband and I both work from home. And my kids are a little younger. My oldest is the age of your youngest. So I have a 12 year old and a just turned eight year old and I made a list I made a list on my phone of all the cool activities I was gonna do with them this summer, and all the fun things in there really creative and none of them have anything to do with internet or video games. I don't think we've done one thing on the list. Yeah.

Meredith Masony:

I mean, that's brave of you.

Jennifer Weedon Palazzo:

It's, it's not like I made a choice, really that it was two things it was to way too busy, like at the end of the school year with all of the baseball on the dance classes and all the things and I was like, no more things. No more schedule for the summer. Yeah. And then also the fact that I'm broke, and I have no money, so I can't afford camp. So not only are they not in camp, but I'm working my ass off to make the money while they're not in camp. Right. Ready. It's been crazy.

Meredith Masony:

Yeah, it's tough, because I love having some unstructured time where you don't feel like you're pressed to get to the next event or the next activity. At a certain age that goes, that's just not an option anymore with them because they have so many other interests and things that they're doing.

Jennifer Weedon Palazzo:

That should be right? That's normal development.

Meredith Masony:

You're You're right at that. You're right. I want to say, maybe halfway through middle school, or even eighth grade is where it just starts like the wheels fall off. And it's like, they just, you know, they don't realize that they can't drive yet, or they have no money. And they make all sorts of plans. Right. And so you're like right at the cusp of where it's going to start, you know, like, everything is just going to be super hectic. And that's just how it is because it's every phase and stage is different. But I mean, that's totally normal. But like it is nice. Like there were there weren't many days this summer that I woke up and had nothing to do. But the days that that did happen when I say nothing, I mean cleaning the house doing laundry, this the normal stuff that a mom does, when she says she did nothing all day,

Jennifer Weedon Palazzo:

You still have to do those things.

Meredith Masony:

Right? Like that only happened not even a handful of times because I had to be up for horseback or up for basketball camp or up to get somebody's you know, my kids oil changed or up to do it. And you're just like, Oh my God. I just want to drink coffee. And I don't want anyone to talk to me. And that just that ends at some point.

Jennifer Weedon Palazzo:

I don't think that's an option. But like everything we always say like it's all a stage, even this, this too shall pass. In many, many years, this too shall pass. And we'll be like my mom, and all the grandmas out there who are just like, Oh, I miss those days, and they have too much quiet and too much coffee.

Meredith Masony:

Yeah. So it's all you know, and you can't, when it's everybody means well, for the most part when they like like I was just did you go over to thread?

Jennifer Weedon Palazzo:

I did Thread are threads with an S

Meredith Masony:

don't know, I call it the thread the thread. I'm on the thread. Okay, so I went I joined over on the thread. And I posted about my kid have, you know, having a senior photos and I was like I said, you know, don't mind me, I'm just going to be over in the corner rocking back and forth and snorting lavender because my you know firstborn is getting a senior photo

Jennifer Weedon Palazzo:

How very realistic of you and very healthy compared to other things that people can snort when they're stressed. So good for you.

Meredith Masony:

So the comments are also supportive, right? And there's always the comment where it's like, wait until it's your last born. And you're like, I know, like I can't even write and it's all mean well, because it's like the you know, the woman's like, I'm on my last born senior year, and I'm falling apart and I'm like, Oh my God. And it's just, there's everybody always means well, but then those comments, you just feel like you're gutted, because you're like, I didn't even think of that

Jennifer Weedon Palazzo:

And you're like it can get worse.

Meredith Masony:

And you just brought to my attention. This is gonna get worse. I was in the hole. And you, that comment, and I had to dig deeper into this hole. Right? Because I didn't even think of that yet. Because he's 12 So that hasn't even entered in yet. Because he's just now getting armpit hair and you know, likes to watch. What was he watching? Oh, he loves to watch Friends right now. Oh, wow. Because Jennifer Aniston so, you know, we're just getting into that right? But then I've been I'm getting ready to send one away, not to prison, but out that and then when somebody brings it to your attention, they mean well, but you're just like, oh,

Jennifer Weedon Palazzo:

yeah, like let me just deal with this one catastrophe at a time here. One catastrophe at a time.

Meredith Masony:

Yeah. So it's, you know, but that's what that's what it is like, I was thinking about it today when I was on the beach. We take the kids to the beach and I hate the water. I love to look at it and listen to it, but I hate when they're in it because I just feel like I'm scanning nonstop. And I was like I can't remember the last time that I truly like exhaled

Jennifer Weedon Palazzo:

Right? Like the full on to be such a relaxing place but I made a tick tock about it that went up today it was like, it's like moms was the pool moms at the pool you're like, No, and you're like counting the children. So God forbid you, you sigh or look at a book or anything you can't.

Meredith Masony:

And my kids are older too 15. And, you know, my 15 and then 12 year old were boogie boarding or whatever, you know. And so they were trying to go a little further out, so they catch some waves and the entire time, I'm just like, Oh my God, I hope, you know, like looking for a fin, you know, or like, some catastrophic thing to happen. And my husband is like, You need to relax. And I was like, if I knew how I would

Jennifer Weedon Palazzo:

If only relax, somebody can get eaten by a shark, right? Who else is watching out.

Meredith Masony:

That's what think. That's what you assume right away. And, of course, I made. I'm so neurotic that I made us sit next to the lifeguard tower. Oh, that's a great idea. I was like this kid. I was like, I'm gonna keep my eye on him to make sure he's watching.

Jennifer Weedon Palazzo:

Right? It's just a little extra help. My family has a story that gets told over and over and over again about when I was a kid. We were at the beach, my little sister though my mom lost her. Like she just disappeared. And ever since then. And so she was walking on the beach. And they were all the lifeguard stations like every so often. And the lifeguards were bradoing elbowing each other like are you look for a little blonde girl, there's a little blonde girl lost. And they asked her, Are you lost? And she kept saying no, because she had been told not to speak to strangers, she just kept going further and further. Anyway, ever since then, it's always about like being next to the lifeguard station and being like, Okay, kids, this is where we are. This is our number. You know, this is home base. We do what we can.

Meredith Masony:

It's just so it's just a lot all the time coming in from every direction. Yeah.

Jennifer Weedon Palazzo:

And cover every base.

Meredith Masony:

And that's what it is. So I'd love to be more flexible. But I just I, I just feel like that's not an option for me.

Jennifer Weedon Palazzo:

No, no. And I don't know that I actually could relax if I was given the opportunity. Really. It's like I've been on watch for so long that I wouldn't know what to do or what not. Yeah.

Meredith Masony:

Yeah, that's what it feels like. But so

Jennifer Weedon Palazzo:

what do you do for fun? What's fun? And you guys comments, tell us in the comments. What do you do for fun?

Meredith Masony:

I mean, honestly, I don't know that I've sat down and said, like, let's go do this for fun. Like forever, like, I have no idea, like what I would do for fun if we're being honest. Because if I'm not on the road, with the comedy show, then I'm, you know, working on, you know, the podcast, or the next big project that I have been cooking for over a year that we're just now hoping to get launched soon. Or, you know, like, there's, there's just always something else that I'm doing. And that's on me because I start projects, right? I am somebody who just so maybe for fun, I start projects And maybe that's it. But that's what I do is I just start projects, and then I go and like we're doing a community cruise in October. That will be fun.

Jennifer Weedon Palazzo:

That sounds very fun.

Meredith Masony:

Yes. That I'm we're I'm so excited about that. We have like 60 people signed up. It's very small. I mean, it'll be on a cruise ship with everybody else. But it's just a small group that got together and we decided we were going to do a community cruise and everybody is taking their kids. So like all the kids are gonna get to hang out. And

Jennifer Weedon Palazzo:

I am a big fan of cruising. And people don't understand that the cruise is the ideal vacation when you have kids, because almost every cruise has free child care.

Meredith Masony:

Yeah.

Jennifer Weedon Palazzo:

And these kids, and the kids want to go to it. It's not like, you know, my kids beg to go they beg to stay the place stays open till like 1230 at night or whatever.

Meredith Masony:

And they can charge you is if you don't pick them up at like 12 or something. Right? Which I gotta be in bed by 10. So

Jennifer Weedon Palazzo:

Right? Oh, god, it's, it's just the perfect thing because you can still like have alone time and not have to make a babysitter arrangement and all that. So go you that's great. But of course you have the older kids. I'm now thinking about that. Because the last cruise we went on, my son is just about to turn 13. And I didn't realize that at that age, like the kids club. You no longer have they no longer like keep track of them. You don't have to sign them in and out. They're allowed to come and go as they please. So for the first time in his life, he had like full run of the ship and like got that. I mean you're not because you're like I know I know because you're like way beyond the stage and parenting, but it was like the big thing of like, I didn't realize that was gonna happen on the trip where he would go and have friends. And some of them will be girls. And they all have phones, and like they'd be doing their own thing and want nothing to do with the parents.

Meredith Masony:

Yeah. Yeah. But that's also, like, great that they're able to do that. And you know that they're not going to go anywhere. And our rule was always, you know, if you if you go off you go all together. And if you know, and my my oldest, now probably won't do that this time when we're on the cruise, because he's not gonna want anything to do. But my daughter, I will saddle my daughter with my son. Right? They, anywhere you have to go together. That's our third care what Kid Care says, You go together? Yeah. Because you know, I don't trust my 12 year old as far as I can throw him. So

Jennifer Weedon Palazzo:

for us to be able to sibling mine are just too far apart. They're five years apart. So like, that doesn't always work. Because she's not old enough. She has to be in the little kid place and he's in the big kid place.

Meredith Masony:

Right? Well, and that's like, my, my oldest and youngest are five years apart. Okay. So Sophie and Brian are 18 months apart. So I smoosh them. They have she gets all the time. I'm like, Nope, you go with your sister.

Jennifer Weedon Palazzo:

That's what that's what sisters are for. I'm a big sister. And that's what we do. Okay, so we've determined that you don't have any idea of how to have fun.

Meredith Masony:

No.

Jennifer Weedon Palazzo:

You're workaholic?

Meredith Masony:

Yes.

Jennifer Weedon Palazzo:

Um, okay. What about do you have any grand like, parents, grandparents of your children, in proximity of you

Meredith Masony:

No,

Jennifer Weedon Palazzo:

No grandparent help?

Meredith Masony:

No, no, we are kind of out on our own all of our family. We moved during the pandemic. Right. So in 2020, we moved from West Coast of Florida to East Coast of Florida. And it's it's not close. It's a five hour drive. Oh, that is that's way too far. Yeah, that's not like, let's take a day trip.

Jennifer Weedon Palazzo:

Like, no,

Meredith Masony:

I'm so we are literally all by ourselves here. So we don't have any family help. It's not like you can be like, well, we'll just go away for the weekend. And so and so can stay the kids. There's none of that. So we haven't taken a trip. Just the two of us. I don't I couldn't tell you the last trip we took that was just the two of us. No, maybe I can. Yeah, maybe it was 2019.

Jennifer Weedon Palazzo:

Mine was pre pandemic, for sure. It was my 40th birthday. We did a trip.

Meredith Masony:

Yeah, we went to New York City. Oh, fun. Yeah. I think I can't remember. I'm trying to think now. And I'm like, I don't know. I don't know.

Jennifer Weedon Palazzo:

We don't know. Um, I had envisioned us of having like lots of helpful tips to tell people about like things to do and how to deal with kids over the summer, but because it's us we don't we just don't. Oh, sympathy, empathy.

Meredith Masony:

Yeah. I honestly, I'm not a tips and tricks or a hacks kind of gal. I mean, that's why I like the name of our podcast is advice ish, because you probably shouldn't take it like it's not. It's not probably the best advice. So we just, I think, I think sympathizing empathizing, and knowing you're not alone is probably the most comforting thing in motherhood. You get a stranger who you don't know who's a mom can look at you like today on the beach. I watched this woman run a zone defense. And I think she had I think four of the five kids there I think were hers. I think one was a friend of the older kid. He was just zigging and zagging and catching kids before water and here and there. And here and the whole time I'm thinking, I remember being you and like, scooping up kids and grabbing and Don't put that in your mouth. And you know, and then she's got got an older one, two, who was running down, running down the beach and not listening to her. And I was just like, Oh, I remember that. And I I feel for you. Because it's all the same stuff. Different day different decade even. It's the same stuff. We all go through the same stuff.

Jennifer Weedon Palazzo:

Thats just when you just make eye contact with that other mom and like you don't know each other. You've said nothing, but it's like I'm with you.

Meredith Masony:

I gotcha. And

Jennifer Weedon Palazzo:

totally, yeah. Well, Meredith, I'm with you. I've gotcha. You have over the internet. And please just just pray for us that we make it through this summer.

Meredith Masony:

I look I feel you I really do. It is so tough when you do take away all the structure and all the schedule because you just feel like there are no boundaries. There's no, there's nothing holding it together. It's just all Flippity floppity. But there are good parts of that too, because you aren't pressed to get somewhere at a specific time. You don't have to be out the door. You don't you know, you don't have to do those things. But then the moments in between where they're jumping on the couch and screaming and throwing crap at the TV.

Jennifer Weedon Palazzo:

That's no good. Yeah, it's so yeah, it is what it is, Meredith, tell everybody about when you're going on tour next, when they can see you, and all that good stuff.

Meredith Masony:

So I am doing Charlotte, North Carolina on July 18th.

Jennifer Weedon Palazzo:

I just got back from there. My family's there.

Meredith Masony:

Oh, yeah. So I'll be there at the Comedy zone on July 18. And then I go to Greenville, South Carolina on the 19th. Then I come home and a couple of days later on July 25. I'm in Gainesville, the 26th I'm in Orlando and the 27th i'm in Tampa. And then I have a couple of down weeks while we get the kids off to school and back together. And then I am gone every week until the end of the year. Wow. So, you can find tickets and shows at MeredithMasony.com/tour. And I have like, I think right now on the schedule. I think I have 35 shows between now and the end of December. And we're booking out 2024

Jennifer Weedon Palazzo:

Impressive. Okay, well, you don't have time to do anything for fun. Because that's what you do. You to make people laugh.

Meredith Masony:

But I love it. So it is fun for me because there is nothing like being in a comedy club with a bunch of moms who are all yelling at the same time. Yes, that is me. Yes. Hi. And there's nothing more validating than knowing that your story resonates with somebody else. Right. So that is what I do for fun.

Jennifer Weedon Palazzo:

That's so cool. You guys go check it out. Check out the tour. Thank you for hanging with me for this time, Meredith.

Meredith Masony:

Of course anytime.

Jennifer Weedon Palazzo:

Yeah, I'm gonna go grab the feral I haven't fed them yet. 753 So I'm gonna go do that. Welcome to my world.

Meredith Masony:

Macaroni and cheese and hot dogs are completely okay, dinner. Don't let anybody tell you different.

Jennifer Weedon Palazzo:

You've put frozen peas in the mac and cheese water when it's boiling. And it's like health food.

Meredith Masony:

That's what I told him. I already had a freezer pizza today. And tacos for dinner. And I'm gonna take them for ice cream right now.

Jennifer Weedon Palazzo:

All right. All right. Enjoy your ice cream. You guys. Enjoy your summer. Just come Laugh with us when you need to cry with us. Whatever you got to do, and I'll see you soon Meredith. BYE

Meredith Masony:

BYE