The Worst Advice Holiday Episode!

[00:00:01] Speaker A: Hey, everybody. Welcome to a special holiday edition of the Worst Advice I Ever Got. I'm your host Sean Taylor, along with my producer JB and today we're joined by four members of the Smith and Howard family of companies. The holidays are all about family gathering together, swapping stories and maybe getting some advice that turns out to be the worst. So we thought what better way to celebrate than by talking with a few people from the Smith and Howard family of companies about the worst advice they've ever got about the holidays. Now we're shaking things up this time, too with a panel format featuring multiple guests, multiple stories, a lot of laughter in between. It's I'm sure going to leave you with plenty of good stories made from bad advice. A little disclaimer here, though. This is a true behind the scenes look from parents that get into the real stories behind Christmas. So if you've got little ones who believe in all the magic of the holiday season, if you catch my drift, you might want to earmuffs them on this one. [00:01:06] Speaker B: All right. [00:01:07] Speaker A: But our first story comes from Laura Bowser, who works in our Richmond office. Laura, thanks so much for joining us today. [00:01:13] Speaker C: Yeah, thanks for having me. [00:01:14] Speaker A: So, Laura, what's the worst holiday advice you ever got? [00:01:18] Speaker C: So the worst holiday advice I ever got was to keep the magic of Santa going as long as you can. And I know it's going to be controversial. And we put the disclaimer in. [00:01:29] Speaker D: Yeah. Good thing we did a disclaimer. [00:01:32] Speaker C: I grew up in a family where Christmas isn't a day, it's an event. The adult tree still even has all the gifts labeled from Santa. And so I grew up where you have to believe in Santa. And so when I had kids, I thought I'd continue that magic. And so I did. And with my son, all the gifts were from Santa. We did the cookies, we did the reindeer, give the carrots out in the front yard, all of it. And it was great until he entered elementary school. At the time, we were living in the city and the school he went to, about a third of the students are underprivileged. They come from underserved communities. And when he returned to school, I think it was after his first grade year, after Christmas break, he was on the playground. And one of the kids on the playground was talking about what Santa brought him, Xbox, a game, puzzles, all this cool stuff. And they were all just talking about how fun it was. And my son noticed there was a little boy from his class that had kind of wandered off to the side and was Crying. And so my son went over and said, hey, why are you crying? And he said, you know, I tried so hard this year to be good. I did everything I could to be good. And once again, Santa didn't come for me, and I don't know why. And my son came home and told me this, and he was devastated for this boy. And he said, mom, I, I didn't know what to do, so I lied to him. And I said, I don't think Santa's real. He said, but I just said that to make him feel better. [00:03:08] Speaker C: And you know those moments in parodying where you're like, oh, crap, I wasn't for this. [00:03:13] Speaker D: What do I say? [00:03:13] Speaker B: Yeah, right. [00:03:15] Speaker C: And I had a split second to sort of make a decision. Do I tell him the truth or do I double down? He's only in first grade, he still believes. [00:03:23] Speaker A: Oh, wow. [00:03:24] Speaker C: And so I kind of said, you know what, I need to tell him. And so I said, hey, buddy, pull up. Let's talk about it. And so I told him, you know, Santa's really just Mommy and Daddy. And he. The look of betrayal on his face because not only did he feel like I'd been lying to him, he felt like this poor kid had been lied to and that all this had happened because of one big lie. And then the questioning started. It was, all right, well, what about the Easter Bunny? What about the Tooth Fairy? What about the leprechauns? And he even actually went so far as to go, and what about Jesus, Mom? And I was like, jesus is real. [00:04:01] Speaker E: I can prove Jesus. [00:04:03] Speaker B: All right, I can do this one. [00:04:05] Speaker C: The rest I can't. So it was just this eye opening realization that you have to be aware of the communities you live in. And Christmas is about joy and serving others. And if you have more than others, how that comes across with the kids through the meaning and magic of Santa, it can be devastating. [00:04:26] Speaker A: Well, I'm very curious what that meant to the Christmas committee and the rest of your family. How did it change the big get togethers knowing that you told your first. [00:04:36] Speaker D: Grader, what are you doing? [00:04:38] Speaker C: So my, my, my son knows to be discreet because he wants the gifts. So I was able to kind of hold that over his head. And I was like, we're not going to talk about it. And with my daughter, I actually, we shifted how we go about it. And we basically told her, santa brings one gift only, and it's between you and Santa. And it's a cool gift every year, but we usually come down Christmas morning like, oh, that gift that, that must be from Santa. We didn't bring that. And it's easier for kids if they talk about the gifts they got from their parents versus you didn't get a gift because you were bad. [00:05:12] Speaker A: Good point. Yeah. [00:05:13] Speaker D: When did you, Sean, when did you stop listening, believing in Santa Claus? I feel like I was like, me. Yeah. [00:05:19] Speaker A: Like, I don't remember that. And I, I, I, I, I, I mean, my verse. No. No idea. [00:05:25] Speaker B: Sean. [00:05:26] Speaker D: Sean was like, this isn't tracking. And you're talking. One guy goes across the world. I know. He's four years old. He's like, this doesn't make any sense. [00:05:34] Speaker A: No clue, guys. [00:05:36] Speaker C: I think I was fifth grade. [00:05:37] Speaker D: Yeah. [00:05:37] Speaker A: It was more than first grade, I'm sure. Right? I mean, first grade just sounds. [00:05:41] Speaker D: Yeah, it just sounds young to me. [00:05:42] Speaker A: But in fairness, I mean, what a predicament to find yourself in. Right? And obviously you. You used the moment for. Great teaching moment. You did insert some bribery in there, which I appreciate. That's a good thing. All the gifts over their head. Funny. [00:05:56] Speaker C: And this is just a tidbit for parents. My daughter doesn't believe in the tooth fairy, and that's because when she was four years old, she asked an Alexa device if the tooth fairy was real. And before my husband could get to the kitchen to unplug the device, it told her. So we changed the settings, but just. Parents need to be aware that kids. [00:06:16] Speaker D: You can just change it to be like, hey, listen, Alexa, you like. You think that's amazing. Come on, Bezos. [00:06:23] Speaker A: I mean, this is the. I mean, who will have learned anything more valuable than knowing how to alter your Alexa settings to keep the tooth fairy alive? That's perfect. [00:06:31] Speaker C: There's always. [00:06:32] Speaker D: It's the worst advice you ever got, but there's always a little bit of good advice that comes from it. [00:06:36] Speaker F: So there we go. [00:06:36] Speaker D: That's perfect. [00:06:37] Speaker B: The fake news. [00:06:39] Speaker A: Yeah. Yeah. Hey, Laura. So when you think about this, I guess it's kind of like balancing honesty and the magic and others. I mean, what. What takeaway do you. Do you. Did you pull from this experience? [00:06:52] Speaker C: I would tell parents, you want to keep it magical always, but you need to balance the realities of where you live, the communities you're serving, who your kids are interacting with, and just level set, you know, also for the parents of the boy that thought that Santa hadn't come, you know, have a conversation around, we just don't have money. I think there's a level of honesty that everyone needs to have because at the end of the day, the kids feel like they're being punished if they don't receive gifts, if they believe something that isn't true. So it's. It's a. Definitely a balancing act. You want to believe in the magic, but you also want to make sure that everyone's, you know, taken care of. [00:07:35] Speaker A: That's great. I love how you navigated that whole scenario. And to use a good segue in the podcast world, I'm going to navigate over to our. There it is. Next panelist. All right. [00:07:45] Speaker D: Gotta have the segue. [00:07:47] Speaker A: I'm trying to get nominated for the best podcast host award. Isn't there such a thing, J.B. you would know. [00:07:52] Speaker D: Yes, we can figure that out. [00:07:54] Speaker A: But let's navigate over to our next guest, which is Travis Shears. Travis works out of our Chattanooga office. Travis, it's great to talk with you today. [00:08:03] Speaker F: Yeah. Appreciate the invite. [00:08:05] Speaker A: So, Travis, what's the worst holiday advice you ever got? [00:08:08] Speaker F: The worst holiday advice that I ever got was moms don't care about Christmas presents. [00:08:16] Speaker D: Okay. [00:08:18] Speaker F: I feel like that's. [00:08:19] Speaker D: I mean, that's. Does my mom care? [00:08:22] Speaker F: I feel like. Yeah. [00:08:23] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:08:24] Speaker D: Okay. [00:08:24] Speaker F: Yeah. [00:08:24] Speaker A: I'm really worried to ask who told you this? And if it stuck, the moms on. [00:08:29] Speaker F: Here, I bet, could guess who told me this. Dad. Dad told me this. [00:08:37] Speaker F: When I was younger. Whatever. We all made for our moms in Sunday school. You know, we'd bring that. We get to elementary school, we do an art project. There's a. A coffee mug that becomes a pen holder, that becomes a paperweight that sits around. Right. I mean, she seemed overjoyed every time, you know, thanks for the gift, buddy. A hug. Right? And so. [00:08:58] Speaker D: So he was right. [00:08:59] Speaker B: It was. [00:08:59] Speaker F: He was okay. It. It was right off the bat. Yeah. I mean, even when I got older, had a job a little bit. You know, I remember in the 90s, I'd get perfume. I'm like, dad, I'm gonna get her some perfume. Right. I remember going to the. To the department store, west ham Mall, Knoxville, 15, 16 year old buying red door. The lady's looking at me like, why is this kid buying red door? It's for my mom. And so he's a good kid. Right? So I take it that was. [00:09:30] Speaker A: But. [00:09:30] Speaker F: But it was the same reaction. Right. That was a level up in gifts, but I feel like it. Thanks, buddy. Appreciate it. Yeah, I love this stuff. Whatever, you know. [00:09:38] Speaker A: Okay, wait a minute. I'm a little lost. So you seem to be right. Your mom seemed to love every thing you got for you. When did this turn disastrous? [00:09:47] Speaker F: Yeah, so I got married in 2009, a couple weeks before Christmas. Okay, but it's cost money news alert. Right. For out there. So got married on the 12th, went to the Caribbean for a week. Right. All inclusive resort. That, that was a chunk of change. And so we get back, it's a few days before Christmas, everything's great. We're newlyweds. You know, my wife's not a mom yet, but her mom asked her Christmas morning. They call, they talk. What did Travis get you for Christmas? It was a chi hair straightener is what I got her for business. My mother in law was underwhelmed. [00:10:29] Speaker F: And so, you know, and I didn't hear about it from my mother in law. I found out through my wife. Right. I mean, my mother in law is going to tell me. It's great, whatever. And, but she. So I realized, yeah, moms don't necessarily care what gifts from their kids, but moms care what gifts their kids receive. Maybe. [00:10:56] Speaker D: So it's like incomplete advice. It's like, okay, so moms don't care about Christmas gifts. Yeah. [00:11:02] Speaker D: You gotta keep going. [00:11:03] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:11:04] Speaker F: Circle back with marriage advice from dad instead of just running with the mom's, you know, doesn't really matter what the gift is. [00:11:11] Speaker A: I'm very curious about Christmas number two and the gift next year. [00:11:18] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:11:20] Speaker F: You know, it's unmemorable, so I think I must have done better. Jewelry, something, you know, I mean, it had to. Yeah, I, I don't remember the gift, but I remember I got higher marks. And I don't, I don't want to paint my mother in law in a bad light. It's not her, it's. I see it with my wife and our kids. Right. I mean, you know, what are we going to get the kids? I don't know, what do they want? Get them a couple things. And no, you know, it's a big, it's a bigger deal to her. And, and it's so I, and I see it with my mom and the grandkids and things like that. Right. She's more interested in what did the grandkids get. What are they excited about that sort of thing than themselves. [00:12:01] Speaker A: It's so typical Travis. We hear advice all the time on this show that is meant to be good, sound, solid advice. I mean, buddy, your mom loves you no matter what you give her. And it turns into your mother in law, like scratching fingernails on the chalkboard going, how soon can you leave this deadbeat? You know? [00:12:18] Speaker F: Okay. Yeah. [00:12:23] Speaker D: It works in one way. [00:12:24] Speaker B: You know what I mean? [00:12:25] Speaker D: Like for a little While this, I mean said, this is always how it works. I mean, a little bit it works for a while and. But it's incomplete or there's some gray area to it. Anytime you get into the black and whiteness of any advice, it turns bad. [00:12:35] Speaker F: Yeah, well, maybe that's why with clients I'm like, you know, what's the answer? Well, it depends. [00:12:45] Speaker F: In the world, it's very facts and circumstances based. I can't just, you know, maybe that's where I learned that lesson. [00:12:52] Speaker A: So is there a new rule for gifts? What's the new rule around the house? [00:12:57] Speaker F: Yeah, be, Be, be thoughtful. Be thoughtful. You know, it's not the amount that, that really matters that you spend. It's. It's the thought that you put into it and the story behind the gift. Yeah, it seems to have served me well for the last, last bit after that. That faux pas, the first go round. [00:13:17] Speaker D: First two advices were both about just being thoughtful with what you do. You know what I mean? I guess that makes sense. [00:13:22] Speaker C: Travis. I told my husband, if it plugs into a wall, I don't want it. And that rule seems to have fixed it, you know? [00:13:28] Speaker F: Yes. Yeah, it's pretty good. I have got. Was this gift for, for me or for you? I mean, it's for the house. [00:13:38] Speaker D: I'll tell you, I did ask my wife if a dishwasher would count as a Christmas present. It would not. [00:13:45] Speaker F: No, no. [00:13:47] Speaker A: Yeah, that's. That, that, that sounded like a test. You failed jb. And in another fantastic segue. Speaking of testing, we're going to be testing Shelly Carmichael next, who's one of our newest employees at the family of companies. But she's also on our panel today out of our Atlanta office about her worst holiday advice. So, Shelley, thanks for being here today. [00:14:08] Speaker E: Absolutely. Thank you as well, Sean. [00:14:11] Speaker A: So, Shelley, what's the worst holiday advice you ever got? [00:14:15] Speaker E: Sean, the worst holiday advice I ever got is that the holidays are only magical if you make them that way. [00:14:23] Speaker A: I'm sure we got to dig a little. What, what did that advice mean to you at the time? [00:14:28] Speaker E: Well, you know, I totally relate to Laura's aunts. I was of the very same mindset most of my life growing up. Young adult life had young children in Christmas had to be Norman Rockwell perfect. Everything had to be perfect. Everything had to be decorated. It had to be totally magical for the kids because my life growing up really was not that. But one year I was talking to my family, talked to my sister in law, and we were talking about where we were all going to gather. And it was suggested to me that it'd be at my house. Internally, I thought, well, yeah, I can do that. [00:15:03] Speaker D: You make Christmas, right? I mean, like, you know, I mean, that's what you do all the time, right? [00:15:07] Speaker E: Exactly. That's how you make it magical. So I basically posted around 15 people, not including myself and my children, and took it upon myself. So in my own head, I'm agreeing with that advice. Right. It's. It's sort of my own advice. And prepared everything for all of these people from scratch. There were no boar's head orders. Everything was from scratch. [00:15:35] Speaker E: Even. Even the cinnamon rolls. And I, at the time, would mill flour from organic wheat. [00:15:42] Speaker F: Oh, good Lord. [00:15:45] Speaker E: So, yes. [00:15:47] Speaker A: I don't even know. [00:15:48] Speaker D: I don't even know how to do this. [00:15:49] Speaker E: I have a flour mill. Yeah. So anyway, so I just took it upon myself, did all the decorations and cook this massive meal and made everything. Everyone came. We had a really great time, but it seemed like it was over in the blink of an eye. [00:16:05] Speaker A: Well, when you say we had a really great time, I'm very curious to see if you yourself had a very good time or if you needed. [00:16:13] Speaker A: Medical support. [00:16:15] Speaker E: Actually, you know, that's a really good point, Sean. It was over in a blank. And I was just exhausted that year. And I really had taken it to the total extreme to try to make it magical for. For everyone else. And really, I didn't really enjoy it. Like, I was imagining and dreaming. So for me personally, it kind of did take away some of the Christmas spirit and magic. I was worn out. [00:16:40] Speaker A: How did you. How did you learn from that? Or if. Did you host again? Like, what did that experience kind of teach you? [00:16:48] Speaker E: Sometimes it takes me a few times to learn a lesson. I did not. I did not repeat that exactly, but I did continue forward for, you know, a number of years with all the magic and all the things that I was doing. And then, of course, the kids, my. My two children, who are adults now, were no longer in the house. And I. I finally one year thought, you know, I'm going to all this trouble. They're coming home. I see them for a day and a half. They don't really seem like this is impacting them the way I used to or I wanted it to. So I just decided not to do anything. One year, oh, I didn't even put up a treat. [00:17:27] Speaker D: Okay. All the way the other way. [00:17:30] Speaker E: I didn't put up. The Christmas village didn't go to all that trouble because everyone who decorates for Christmas knows How long it takes? [00:17:37] Speaker A: Did you show, like, episodes of Scrooge and stuff? Like, I mean. [00:17:45] Speaker D: How'D that go over with all the kids? Did they. They like that? [00:17:48] Speaker E: So that was really interesting. I learned a lot from that experience because this year, my daughter was not able to come home. I sunned it, and he walked in the house, and he just looked around. He was like, ma, it's Christmas. [00:18:03] Speaker E: Well, what's going on? And he was. That had the opposite effect. He. I thought we would just do some fun things, enjoy each other, and I would not be stressed. And he was very disappointed. He wasn't unkind or disrespectful about it, but there was a clear disappointment that, you know, you read with your own children. [00:18:24] Speaker A: So the. The extremes didn't work. Like, going all out and doing nothing didn't work. How did you help that situation? [00:18:31] Speaker E: Well, I hope he doesn't listen to this podcast, but, yeah, so I. I felt really guilty. The good news is, is he came home, you know, before Christmas. So I went shopping, and I spent a lot of money on that boy. [00:18:44] Speaker A: Yeah. Very similar to the Laura Bowser holding the gifts over their head scenario. So you made up for it with money. [00:18:53] Speaker E: Yeah. So he's a musician, and he loves vintage clothing, and just very unique thing. So I went to Phipps Plaza, and I probably shouldn't say this online, but I went to St. Laurent and bought him a pair of blue suede shoes. [00:19:07] Speaker D: Oh, okay. [00:19:09] Speaker E: And they were amazing, but they were. It was ridiculous. And then I went to see. It was ridiculous. He loved them. And they. They went well with his vintage suits, but. Oh, would have never normally done that. And then went to CVS and bought everything I could think of to stuff his stocking. [00:19:26] Speaker D: Sure. [00:19:27] Speaker E: And it was all good in the end. [00:19:29] Speaker A: So what's your takeaway now about? You know, about making the magic of the holiday season happen? Like. [00:19:36] Speaker E: Well, I think that really the takeaway for me is, where's the balance? Let's have a healthy balance. Let's take care of everybody, including myself. So I've gone back to putting up a tree, which I love, and putting up all their ornaments that they've made since, you know, they could walk. And sometimes we might go out to dinner. Sometimes it's not the traditional turkey. I make lamb instead. But I've just learned that it's really the balance that's important and the relationships. But at least meeting people where they are to give to them so that they have that holiday. [00:20:13] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:20:13] Speaker D: Without losing yourself, I guess. [00:20:18] Speaker D: Of the holiday. [00:20:19] Speaker F: Right. [00:20:19] Speaker D: Because that's not going to help anybody. [00:20:21] Speaker A: Yeah. But not get into the scenario like the Clark Griswold. Hallelujah. Holy blank. Where's the Tylenol? Right? Let's avoid that. Right? [00:20:30] Speaker E: Yes. [00:20:31] Speaker D: This is a really good example of, like, again, the kind of advice that we get on the show where it's like the, you know, it's the worst advice you ever got, but you can't ignore it completely, like, if you. Or go into it completely, because if you do, you're going to lose all of the Christmas magic and you don't want that either. [00:20:46] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah. I mean, Shell, you were clearly navigating from going all out to doing nothing. You found that middle ground, so. And once again, speaking of navigating, we're going to navigate to our fourth panelist. JB High five. It's pretty good. [00:21:00] Speaker D: Yes. That's four. That's four for four on the segues. [00:21:03] Speaker A: Yep, yep. So Caleb Lloyd's joining us today out of our Atlanta office. Let's see how he navigated the worst advice ever got. Caleb, thanks for joining the podcast today. [00:21:13] Speaker B: Thanks for having me. [00:21:14] Speaker A: So what's the worst holiday advice you ever got? [00:21:17] Speaker B: The worst advice that I ever got is to do the elf on the shelf. [00:21:24] Speaker C: Oh, man. [00:21:26] Speaker A: Okay, Okay. I love, I love you're going last because everybody that's ever done this is like on pins and needles. So for. For anyone. That's unfortunate. Surely there's no one unfamiliar with what elf on the shelf is, but explain to them what elf on the shelf is, Caleb. [00:21:47] Speaker B: So primarily it's a capitalistic scam that. [00:21:53] Speaker B: You will be unpacking childhood trauma and paying for therapy for years to come. I mean, it touches on Charlie's magic and Laura's betrayal. I mean, it's got all holiday disaster. [00:22:08] Speaker B: So it's a 10 inch stuffed doll that comes to your house on December 1st, hangs out, you know, theoretically, on a shelf, but the Internet has ruined that. And now it's gotten much more complicated and it's observing your kids like a creeper for the month. And each night it, you know, the elf flies back to the North Pole and reports to Santa and comes back. And so, like, in theory, it's simple, but because he flies away and then comes back, he's got to move about the house. [00:22:43] Speaker D: The Internet has ruined it. [00:22:44] Speaker B: How so? [00:22:45] Speaker F: How so? [00:22:46] Speaker B: Well, because, you know, in theory, hey, you know, like, he comes back, you move him a little bit, right? He's just like moving from the left side of the shelf to the right side of the shelf. If it was that low complexity, this thing would not be an issue, but because it makes great material for an Instagram feed to get eyeballs. Like, everything is escalated, and so you can't just phone it in and move him from the left side of the shelf to the right side of the shelf. So it's got to get. It's got to, you know, it's got to escalate. And so that's. That's where things start to really spiral into something that's just diabolical, truth be told. [00:23:21] Speaker A: Who on here has also done the Elf on the Shelf? Everybody. [00:23:25] Speaker F: I haven't. [00:23:25] Speaker A: No, you didn't. Oh, my. [00:23:27] Speaker D: Yeah, no, It's a two man. It's a two man job. [00:23:30] Speaker A: Oh, it takes a village, jb. It takes a village. [00:23:35] Speaker E: Yeah. [00:23:35] Speaker F: Night with the grandparents. Guess who shows up. Okay, you know, I mean, it's gotta watch. [00:23:41] Speaker A: Hey, Caleb, I'm gonna flip it back to you, but before I do, I'm just gonna tell everybody that Mrs. Taylor and I were so involved with this friggin elf that we named it. He came back every year, he had notes, but this little SOB stole my car keys one night and ended up the next morning. My car was in the grass with him behind the driver, behind the steering wheel. [00:24:05] Speaker F: That's a good one. [00:24:06] Speaker A: Caleb, I love you. I feel your pain. These people who didn't do Elf on the Shelf, I don't know what world you're living in, but Caleb, I'm right there with you. This feels disgustingly horrifying to me right. [00:24:16] Speaker B: Now, and all I can figure. I'm surprised that you did it, Sean, because in my mind, like, this is just a bunch of millennials that have done this and, like, ruined it. I mean, add it to the list of things the millennials have ruined, but. [00:24:28] Speaker C: Hey, hey, hey, that's another podcast. [00:24:30] Speaker A: I'm gonna get a lot of letters and emails. Man, what are you doing here? Fine. [00:24:34] Speaker D: I'm a millennial. [00:24:36] Speaker B: Yeah, I mean, me too. [00:24:36] Speaker D: I'm. [00:24:37] Speaker B: I'm right there. [00:24:38] Speaker D: So what made this, like, the worst advice? [00:24:40] Speaker B: I mean, we're so, like, we're seven years into this game now. Okay, nine. We've been doing it since she was two or three, and it's. It's only gotten worse because my. My oldest is, like, really muted it, but my youngest is, like, just a maniac, and she gets so pumped and so she's all in. And now you can't undo it because watching her lose her mind over whatever George is our elf's name. You can't not do it. [00:25:09] Speaker D: And so that was gonna be my question. Like, why are you still doing it then if you hate it so much? But get the kids, like, they love it. [00:25:14] Speaker B: So he's done quite a few different things. One night he painted my toenails. He's fished in our aquarium, ridden a dinosaur. He filled their shoes with cereal one time. That one kind of backfired because then they actually just ate the cereal out of their shoes. Like. [00:25:35] Speaker E: So. [00:25:35] Speaker B: Yeah, I mean, it's got to get pretty involved. And the onus of the hijinks falls on me. [00:25:41] Speaker A: Have you ever missed the night? Did you ever, like, have. [00:25:44] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:25:44] Speaker A: George show up and like the next morning the kids woke up and I'm like, what the hell, George? [00:25:48] Speaker B: Yeah, I mean that's, that's the other scam. So, like, if he doesn't move, like, then, then what are you gonna do? Because, like, you can't knock the magic off. Like, one time we'd gone out of town for Thanksgiving. We're like driving home in a panic that we realized, like, we had made no contingency plan for George to show up. So we had to call my sister in law who then drove a half hour to our house to make sure that George was there inside a balloon because she can't plug it in either. So he was in a balloon like he had flown from the North Pole. And it was like a scene out of a movie. I mean, like, we're pulling into the driveway, she's pulling out of it, you know, so nobody sees. And then those mornings that you wake up and you realize that you have neglected all of your parental duties and the elf has not moved. Then it's a scramble of like you're just running down the hall, you just grab it, chuck it, wherever he ends up. [00:26:51] Speaker A: Do you just enjoy chaos? Why do you keep doing this? What's going on? [00:26:56] Speaker B: It's, it's chaos, you know, either at work or at home. I just, I need it to, to just feel alive, I think. [00:27:02] Speaker D: So what's your, what's your plan? What's your exit strategy? How are you going to get out of this thing? [00:27:06] Speaker B: See, that's another scam. Like, because I thought like, you'd be kind of like Lord Sign. Like at some point they get hip to this, right? And I, and I, my, my. I have an older brother, so his, his daughter is about five years older than my oldest. And like last year he was like, God, I didn't move that damn elf. I was like, why, why are you moving this thing? Like your Daughter ready to drive. Like, what are we doing? And he's like, oh, yeah. She knows it's not real, but she still likes the. The tradition of. So, like, there is no exit strategy. [00:27:40] Speaker D: Doesn't do anything else. [00:27:41] Speaker A: George needs to announce his retirement. You need, like, a retirement party. [00:27:46] Speaker D: Retirement party. [00:27:47] Speaker B: Yeah. I mean, that could be a decent exit strategy. I mean, the other scam of all of this that we didn't even talk about is not only does George get up to hijinks, but George brings gifts. So you have pre Christmas gifts throughout this whole process. And I'm like, you know, every year, there's the whole conversation. We have too much stuff. We got to get rid of stuff just so we can bring stuff in. And then I'm like, and now building my house. [00:28:09] Speaker F: I mean, it's just. [00:28:10] Speaker B: There's just a lot of. There's a writers in the contract is. Is what I've learned. [00:28:15] Speaker A: That's great. Great stuff. Well, to Laura and Travis and Shelly and Caleb, thank you for this special participation in this special episode of our holiday edition of the Worst Advice Ever Got. I appreciate you sharing your stories and the good and the bad times. A lot of this was fun, which is what it was meant to be. And you did a great job helping us with that. So thank you so much for joining us today. [00:28:40] Speaker B: Thank you. [00:28:42] Speaker A: Well, jb, every one of those stories started with good intentions and ended up with the learning lessons, I guess. Valuable lessons. [00:28:48] Speaker D: Oh, for sure. Yeah. We covered everything, right? Santa politics and the magic of Christmas and making sure you're not sacrificing yourself while doing that. That moms obviously care about what you get their kids for Christmas, to the grandkids and all that, and then, you know, elf fatigue. So sometimes the best holiday advice you get is to ignore the holiday advice that you get. You know, it's part of it. [00:29:13] Speaker A: Yeah. I have to say my PTSD is kicked in as it relates to, you know, my wife and I being exhausted after hosting a bunch of people for the holidays. And that look my wife gave me that year that I got her a vacuum. And, you know, that time that, you know, I, you know, dang near fell down the stairs trying to hang the elf, you know, repelling to the chandelier. [00:29:38] Speaker A: Basically. I'm gonna go and see Dr. Finkelstein right after this and get some more. [00:29:43] Speaker D: A lot of relatable advice. [00:29:45] Speaker F: Sure. [00:29:45] Speaker D: From this one. And, you know, that's what we wanted. Right. That everybody in the world was thinking about the same kinds of. [00:29:50] Speaker F: Kinds of. [00:29:50] Speaker D: Kinds of advice. And the Worst Advice that they Got. [00:29:53] Speaker A: Well, absolutely. And a huge thanks again to Laura, Travis, Shelley, and Caleb for joining us on our holiday episode today. And to everyone at the Smith and Howard family of companies, thank you for another amazing year. Your commitment to our clients, our people, and our communities shines through. So on behalf of myself and everyone here at the company, thank you for all you do. And from all of us here at the Worst Advice I Ever Got. Thank you for your support of the podcast. We'll see you next time. Happy Holidays. Look forward to that first January episode of the Worst Advice I Ever Got.