Staying Sane While Staying Home
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Michael and Pele homeschool their three daughters, so they have some experience managing their days with the whole family together at home. But even for them, this new reality is challenging. In today’s episode, they reflect on how they’re staying sane while at home all day every day, how their kids are coping with all of this, and how Michael’s ashy feet made Pele worry there was something seriously wrong with him.
Transcript
[00:31] Michael Bennett: Welcome, everybody, in the crisis of the world right now. You’re tuning into a Mouthpeace. And we’re here today to talk about keeping your family positive and sane in this world crisis that we all thought was a joke, but has come into reality right now. And it’s 24/7 with your family, 24/7 dealing with any crisis within your family and having to face it every day. It’s not as miserable as it sounds. But we’re live from our bunker, we just bought this new bunker. We kind of dug in the ground in Montana. We have enough food for two years, a couple weapons, some highly explosive tools. So don’t try to find us in our location. But we are in Montana right now.
[01:17] Pele Bennett: So, yes. We’re not telling anyone where our bunker is, but you just told everyone what we have. So that actually also compromises us.
[01:23] Michael Bennett: We are not compromised because we have the new technology that we just got from China. Nah, I’m joking, but we are definitely not in a bunker. We’re definitely not watching Netflix constantly. We’re not overeating right now chocolates and extra fried chicken on a daily basis.
[01:46] Pele Bennett: So basically you’re really talking about yourself right now.
[01:50] Michael Bennett: My whole family has been eating Mediterranean fish from the Mediterranean.
[01:56] Pele Bennett: No, but I think what we also — I guess we can share like personal stuff that has been trying to keep us sane individually, as well as like trying to keep the family entertained, keep the kids going. And for me, I would love to order food, because I’ve been cooking every day three times a day. Yes, you do cook sometimes. I can count on maybe two hands.
[02:26] Michael Bennett: I’ve been preparing food daily. Lunches, snacks.
[02:29] Pele Bennett: So when I mean cooking, I don’t mean like, you know, instant microwave oatmeal. So cooking has definitely been — actually, you know what? It hasn’t been like a headache or like I think in the beginning it was fun to cook. And then in the middle, it’s like, OK, you know, like, what are you cooking now? But it has been a little more fun because you have a little more freedom to cook because you have to cook, not because it’s like you had this crazy, intense day, then you have to get in the kitchen. You know, it’s been, I think, not easier. It’s just been more fun.
[03:11] Michael Bennett: Yeah. I’ve been really pushing my cooking skills to the test these days. You know, I cooked the Mediterranean chicken the other day. I put it in a crock pot. I’ve done lamb. I made steaks on the grill. Fish. A lot of different types of dishes these days. So I would say cooking has been fun. I’m wouldn’t say it’s therapeutic for me, but it’s been fun. I think the hardest thing people didn’t appreciate was the school teachers, how often we send our kids to school. We don’t have to deal with them for eight hours a day. Now we stuck with them. I’m like do I really like my kid or not? People are really, really questioning that. But we’ve been lucky.
[04:00] Pele Bennett: But also we have been doing homeschool, I think a lot of people know that, for the last year. And so even with that being said is that that was good, that we did it because we got a taste of what this is like now. But at the same time, our teacher is not with us. So we are more mobile. We have to be virtually online. And so now it’s like another curve we had to also adjust to ourselves. Because everyone’s like, oh, you guys already do homeschool, so it’s fine. Yes, but no. Like, even all of this is new to us having to go ahead and try to figure all this out.
[04:31] Michael Bennett: I mean, to be honest, Peyton, she’s good. She’s very studious. She does all her work. She goes back and does what she needs to do. Blake is a hit or miss. You know, one day she could have a hot streak, and one thing can go down a long, long road. But Ollie. Oof. Let’s say a prayer real fast. I have to stay with her constantly. I think that’s been the hardest child to deal with.
[05:03] Pele Bennett: Ollie, she just wants to do what she wants to do. She knows what she needs to get done. She’ll get it done. She still does go in like a few circles and then she’ll get it done. It’s kind of like you when we get lost. And I’m like, oh, Michael turn on the GPS. And you’re like, no, no, I know where I’m going. We get where we need to be. But it takes an extra 30 minutes.
[05:29] Michael Bennett: That’s just not true. That’s just flat-out fake news. Fake news to our listeners. Ollie, the age difference — the amount of when they pay attention, when they don’t pay attention. That’s kind of hard to judge. And I think definitely the younger kids, to all our listeners, we’re with you in spirit right now. We do understand if you have kids under seven and how hard it is to keep them focused the whole time, because you really have to stay with them the whole time. You want to run off and do something and then you come back, you’re like what the hell? How did you get marker on the wall. How did that happen?
[06:09] Pele Bennett: No, I was just about to say that it’s like as much as they need to focus, also, sometimes when you’re helping them, you have to focus also because you yourself as the adult get distracted. Because you’re like, oh, I have to sit with them. And then you might have your cell phone with you or something on the TV pops up. And so it’s like a double whammy of two people trying to stay focused. It’s more difficult.
[06:30] Michael Bennett: But overall, I think the greatest thing is the ability to spend more time with your family. But I was looking at one thing that I did take for granted was bagging groceries. Because now, you know, you go to the grocery store. You have to bag your own grocery near to put your groceries in the cart. And, you know, you just take them for granted. But bagging your own groceries when there’s somebody waiting behind you, and you’re worried about getting Coronavirus, and you’re trying to pack everything and you got your gloves on, it becomes really hectic.
[06:59] Pele Bennett: That is true. So when I was in the store and I was starting my bag my groceries, and mind you, I had like a lot of items, and I’m moving slow. The girl’s looking at me, the cashier’s look at me like, hurry up, you know, keep moving. And so this other guy came over and he started helping us. And I just stopped. And I was like, you know, I really underestimated people bagging things at all. And I’m usually that person that’s like, why did they put so many cans in one bag? Why did they do that? Why did they not double the bag? But I’m like, it’s really, really difficult. And the young man that was there, he goes, yes, it’s a science to it. And I said it literally is a science.
[07:34] Michael Bennett: It’s a high pressure job when there’s a virus on the line. It’s hazardous. And there’s somebody waiting in line and they’re looking at you. And you’re like do not cough me. And you feel bad because you know, the people who are working behind the cashier, they really are stuck in a hard place because they’re behind this. And they are literally risking their life and risking getting disease. And you just trying to move fast or, you know, you can help them and have their day. But bagging groceries is hard. That’s one thing that I will forever remember about this whole thing.
[08:11] Pele Bennett: The one thing?
[08:12] Michael Bennett: That’s like a little small thing that I took for granted everyday because I used to go to the grocery store a lot. And now you go to the grocery store not as frequently, so when you go, you have a lot.
[08:36] Pele Bennett: Yeah, that’s true. But I also think it’s because everyone in line has so many items. So now because you have to bag so much and you have so much to go through is taking longer.
[08:44] Michael Bennett: And you know the thing I hate about that whole idea, though? You walk into the grocery store and everybody’s like, don’t panic. Don’t get more than you need. And then you look at the news, it’s like people are dying every day. Get everything you need. Take what you want. Are you going to die? So you go to the grocery store, you have a list, you have everything. You go and get it in overset and you just go into a manic mode and everything that you had, it just changes. It’s almost like you’re in one of those old food shows that people used to go to the grocery stores and knock everything in the grocery bag.
[09:16] Pele Bennett: I loved that show. It was called grocery store something. And they gave you like five minutes and you could whatever you get in your cart. There was like two shows. One was you just get it. And another one you had to like ring up to see who purchased the most, moneywise. And so you throw stuff in your cart. And that was me and you the first time we went to the store.
[09:36] Michael Bennett: We came back we were like, did we get butter? We didn’t get any of the essential things.
[09:41] Pele Bennett: It’s like you said, everyone saying not to panic. It’s so difficult to not go the store and not feel a little unease. Also, knowing that you need to get food, but looking at the surroundings, how are your regular grocery store trip is not the same.
[09:56] Michael Bennett: No. You feel like you’re Mad Max. And I walk up and I’m like, Oh, my God, this is Mad Max. Everybody got a clown mask on. People got bandanas on. People got you know, people got semi-automatics in their back pocket. It’s just you go in there, you just like, I just gotta survive this moment and you just go and just knock your meat into your thing. And just grabbing things you don’t need.
[10:16] Pele Bennett: Oh, there were so many things I think that we got that I was like, what is this? Or what do I pair with this? So that I think that’s why I said it was kind of fun in the kitchen because you’re like, OK, I gotta do something. You get creative. The thing is I keep making a list. I’m a list person for the grocery store because I’m usually the one that goes. But all the kids say Michael is better in the grocery store because he gets more snacks and junk food.
[10:44] Michael Bennett: That’s not true. I just get the right things and I don’t need a list.
[10:47] Pele Bennett: Even when our niece lived with us, she was like, OK, I have to be honest. I do like when Michael goes to the grocery store because you get more stuff that they want to eat, you know, like snacks and whatnot. But every time we’ve gone to the grocery store now, which we really try not to go out a lot, not so much to get it, but just in general, like staying at home I think is more important. But every time I take my list, I never use it. And then when I come back home, I’m like, damn it. I didn’t get half of what I need.
[11:16] Michael Bennett: No, she don’t get what she needs in the cart. Then she give me that wife look like go back to the store right now. What did you forget? Lemon? You want me to risk my life for a lemon?
[11:31] Pele Bennett: First off, that only happened one time. I did need lemon. And butter. Which are very crucial to how we eat because we need both of those.
[11:41] Michael Bennett: The grocery store experience, it is a whole other experience. I think I’ll take my time when things get back to normal and smell the vegetables once again and pick things up, slowly, judge the avocado. Do you know how many times I got avocados and got home and realized that these avocados are over fucking ripe? It’s happened like seven times. So it’s just like I’m in there and I’m trying to get the avocados but there’s somebody behind me and they don’t have a mask or they don’t have one gloves and I’m just like — I’ve seen people with no shoes on, and I think those people were just trying to test the virus.
[12:32] Pele Bennett: That was definitely alarming, to see someone with no shoes. Like I’ve seen some people that don’t have masks on, they don’t have gloves on. You see it. But to see someone with no shoes, I was looking at him like, really? Why don’t you have shoes on in the grocery store in general, even if we weren’t going through this pandemic, why don’t you have shoes on?
[12:50] Michael Bennett: I think another thing that has been pretty interesting is definitely spending more time and having time to self-reflect. I think a lot of times we’ve been so busy with our jobs and all these different things, we don’t self-reflect as much as we need to. Or reflect on our family, our faith. And I think this has been a great time to reflect on all those things right now.
[13:12] Pele Bennett: But it’s also a little difficult because I feel like everyone, you know, their situation is so different how they’re living, their means to get things, to use things. And so I feel like the reflection is like a good and a bad, though, because reflecting on like, oh, what I have is, you know, not a lot, but it’s all I need. But also it’s like what’s missing in your life also. So it’s like filling those little holes and like, where can I do better for myself first so, you know, for my family and whatnot.
[13:45] Michael Bennett: Yeah. But, you know, one of the funniest things to happen? I can’t even lie. I’ve been neglecting to put lotion on my feet and they’ve been pretty ashy. Right. And it was so gentle, Pele looked at me with so much concern last night and she said, “Are you sick? Are you ok?” And I looked at her and said, no, baby, I just need to put some lotion on my feet. But those are the things that I will remember, like my foot being so ashy that my wife was so concerned that I needed to go to the hospital.
[14:21] Pele Bennett: When I tell y’all — I didn’t know you were going to mention your feet. I’m not joking. He was watching TV. I walked into the room. The lights were on and his ashiness of his feet was just like glaring with the light. It literally was like a reflection, it caught my eye and I was like straight to his feet and I was like, Michael, oh my God, look at your feet. And he was like, what? I don’t even know how to explain what your feet looked like because it was beyond dry. It was so scaly and dry.
[15:00] Michael Bennett: It was just dry feet.
[15:03] Pele Bennett: Then I was like, oh, my God, Michael, is something wrong? Like, is your body deficient of something?
[15:09] Michael Bennett: Yeah, deficient of lotion!
[15:13] Pele Bennett: And then, yes, he put on coconut oil and it disappeared.
[15:17] Michael Bennett: Yeah, I was like my bad. I hadn’t had my feet out in a while. But that moment right there is a moment that I’m going to cherish. The way that my wife looked at me with concern. She cared about me. She cared about the way that my feet were and how I was presenting myself.
[18:17] Pele Bennett: So let’s go on that, how you present yourself. Because now we’re all home and everyone is probably very comfortable. You know, you’re like, ooh, it’s kind of nice not to have to get dressed. And then you start to kind of miss it that you’re not getting dressed. So how far do you go to not keep yourself presentable in your house?
[18:37] Michael Bennett: I dress up every day, pretty much. I tell the girls — because they want to wear pajamas all day.
[18:44] Pele Bennett: But also, you dress up because you also have more clothes than us. You ordered a lot more clothes. The rest of us, in our situation, have very limited items.
[18:57] Michael Bennett: No, they just don’t wear any clothes that they have. They just got more clothes hanging up than they want to wear. And especially the kids. But I do think it is important. I think you can have some anxiety being in a house. I think sometimes people dress up, makes them feel like they’re being proactive or whatever. But at the same time, being comfortable is super important right now, but I just don’t want my kids weren’t pajamas all day. And our teenager, she tried to pull off and I have to be like, brush your hair, please. She’s like no, no, I’m not trying to impress anybody. I’m like, impress yourself. You got to get real busted in this house right.
[19:34] Pele Bennett: It’s not even impressing yourself. I think it’s just taking care of yourself. Like, I don’t want the kids to get dressed for me. Because you know when you get dressed, it also changes your mood and makes you feel good? So if you’re at home and you’re bored and you’ve nothing to do, then actually, you know, like fixing your hair, it actually does change your mood. And for the girls, I’m like, look, I do their hair and I also take them to get their hair done. So right now, I’m the only person that has to do their hair and my hair, so I have neglected my hair for the most part. And I have to do the girls’ hair all the time. So our oldest, Peyton, is 13, she has really long hair. And I’m like, dude, you know how to, you know, do the basics. I’m like, if you could just help me out in that space, I would be forever grateful. But she likes to keep it in a bun, in a ponytail. So it goes so far along, I’m like, dude, I can’t even get these tangles out right now. So for everyone, I think like with your children, I mean, obviously we need to have patience with them, but if the kids also can step up and, you know, help out in these different little areas, then I can maybe tend to myself.
[20:40] Michael Bennett: You know what I think? Hold on a second. [Sneezes]. And you know what’s so funny now? A common sneeze — like that sneeze that I just did? I’ve never seen people try not to sneeze or cough. It’s everybody’s holding in a blunt or something, or some type of secret. It’s like they cough, but they’re trying to keep the smoke inside. You’re just looking at them with this glare, like you’re a zombie! Even your own family members. I sneeze and I see Pele look at me. I don’t have it, baby. I don’t have it.
[21:25] Pele Bennett: No. I’m looking at you because you’re not sneezing into your elbow. You’re sneezing in the air.
[21:30] Michael Bennett: If I’m sick, I want my family to be sick. So I like them. We can go through it as a whole family.
[21:37] Pele Bennett: No, we already know we’re going to lock people up.
[21:42] Michael Bennett: It does feel like Call of Duty or zombies or Walking Dead.
[21:53] Pele Bennett: But it’s also if you see someone sneezing, but also you don’t want anyone to see you sneeze.
[22:04] Michael Bennett: That’s what I’m saying. You hold it in like you smoking a blunt. You just kind of go to a quiet spot and find a bag of potato chips and just you just let that breath go out and make sure nobody hears you, because it could turn into something. And I mean, it’s just the common things that we took for granted, like a sneeze and a cough is —
[22:23] Pele Bennett: Also, another bad thing is that having to use a bathroom while you’re out, you know. I don’t want to go into the restroom. So you have to hold yourself until you get home.
[23:00] Michael Bennett: What is something that most people probably miss being alone that they didn’t do? I feel like people right now feel like their only alone time is on a toilet in the house.
[23:14] Pele Bennett: Yeah, that could be possible. It’s so funny because my sister sent me this meme and it was like a photo of a woman, and she has like 10 arms, and every hand is on something like cooking, cleaning, Zoom was on there, feeding a baby. And at the bottom, it says when your friends ask, aren’t you so glad you have all of this free time? I was like, right. I’s so funny, because that’s why I said, it’s so easy to say, oh, it’s so nice to reflect, so nice to have downtime. It’s like there’s so much good in all of this, you know, that we have our time with our family. But then there’s so many different things that are happening also, you know, with domestic violence, you know, different things like that that people have to endure during this time. So I’m like, we’re all in our own bubble of like reality. But I’m really curious to like, how is everyone’s reality? You know, I’m sure it’s so different.
[24:07] Michael Bennett: Everybody’s reality is so different. Some of these moments are creating more anxiety for certain people, certain people are feeling trapped. And there’s a certain sector of America who feels like with this lockdown, all these different things, they feel like their freedom of speech, their freedom of just being free is being challenged. And just by that being challenged, they’re trying to react to it, not realizing that we’re not challenging your freedom. People are actually trying to extend the freedom. There are people who are like, OK, I want the sickness to go away. And I care about old people. But then there’s people like, well, I want to go outside. I want to do this. But it’s like at this moment, if you care about old people, you gotta stay inside. So it’s always like you have to give up a little bit to secure a better future for our kids and our grandparents. And I think people are having a hard time balancing that.
[25:01] Pele Bennett: I think it’s because usually, you know, everyone’s like, oh, we carry viruses already. There’s so many people dying already. And so like this happens daily, you know, with all of these different things. But for us to have to do it, you know, in this pandemic worldwide, that we’re all having to do this together, I think it does kind of — if we’re talking about reflecting, it also reflects on like how you care about people, how you think about people, because in using that as example, like, oh, old people are dying, people are saying this statement. But then you as a person is like, well, I’m going to go out to this beach. Like, I don’t think to tear someone down, like, oh, you don’t care. Shame on you. But I do think that that reflection is like a little selfishness, you know, because now it’s like we’re not thinking like small little things, like this is a whole big thing that if everybody can do this at the same time, the impact it makes. But then you start judging other people’s actions or even their words. I’m like, I can’t believe you would say that. But then like, how do you judge that? Can you judge that?
[26:01] Michael Bennett: Yeah, you can judge. If you’re saying you care about this and you have one task — and actually, I think people take people going to jail for granted. People just in their house seeing people go to jail. Oh, three years, two years, you’ll be out, man. We in a house with all the things that we want. People are on house arrest and they’re going mad. All people are asking is for people to stay in the house for one month. You still got everything you need, but just try not to go as much as you want. And the funny part is that everybody used to say, man, I don’t want to go to work today. I don’t want to go to school. Now, everybody don’t have to do something — when your freedom is taken away — if you have the opportunity to choose, if you don’t wanna go to school, it’s like, yeah I chose not to go to school. But then if somebody says you can’t go to school. I think it’s just the idea that their freedom is being challenged is really what they’re dealing with. If they had the choice to stay home, they’d be like, I’ll stay home. Because I want to save old people and so the virus doesn’t spread. But since they’re being mandated to stay home. It just seems so un-American to them.
[27:16] Pele Bennett: Controlling. Then it’s like, OK, wait, now it’s a problem. I was going to say the girls, because our family, we talk all the time on Zoom, FaceTime, whatever it is. And they keep asking them oh, so are you guys ready to leave, you know, out of your houses? Are you ready to go places? And my girls, I didn’t realize, maybe they’re really homebodies because all three of them are like, nope, I’m fine. Don’t wanna go anywhere. I can stay home all day. I mean, of course, they’re a little obsessed with the iPad. So that has definitely been a struggle on how much time we give them, and then some days I’m like, you know what, I’m cutting it down tomorrow. And the next day, I’m like, OK, I’m cutting it out tomorrow. Because it really is so much time. You really have to be so creative for your children, how you’re keeping them entertained, but also keeping them, you know, educated.
[28:08] Michael Bennett: So it’s like if we can figure a way to keep ourselves happy, keep ourselves together, sane, working on our individual things. It is getting tougher and tougher. The more time and days. I feel like it’s like one of those things, like we used to have the cell phone, you had to buy 20 more minutes and 30 more minutes. When we were kids, you had to buy minutes. That fucking sucked. They keep adding time and so we have to keep figuring out what is the best way to keep ourselves together. And I think as parents, that is very hard, and as individuals that’s hard. And then collectively as a society that’s hard. So I think we just have to find what is the most important thing? Is it the survival of our species, or is it the opportunity to go to the beach one more time? I don’t know which one it is to most people. Most people would say, I’m just worried about me, until tragedy strikes their own home, or tragedy strikes close into their environment is really when they get the wake-up call. But why is it that we need to get that type of wake up call for us to realize that this virus is real, and it could possibly end your life or maybe you have a hard time with the disease.
[29:19] Pele Bennett: I think it goes back to that word reflecting. You have to reflect on everything, on your health, how you were eating before. But then it’s like compromise at the same time, because then you’re put into a spot where, like, if we’re talking about food, for instance, everyone is like stay healthy, but then you’re also in your home trapped with food that you can bring in. And so then those desires and those like temptations are actually becoming worse because it’s harder to have that willpower to have the habit change. So I feel like this downtime could go either way for you personally. Either you look at these things that you really want to work on, or you just indulge and eat chocolate and chips and stay on the couch, and Netflix. What kind of person are you right now? Or do you have a good balance and maybe you do a little bit of both and you’re still able to get things done? I don’t know. But I do think like balancing with your family — balancing with me and Michael, then with the children. And we actually have Michael’s grandmother with us, which has definitely been — she’s always a blessing, but during this time has been a blessing in disguise because she has been so helpful. And when I say helpful, not only, you know, like cleaning, helping to clean, helping with the kids, I think also just bringing her wisdom of life and her spiritual wisdom of life that she’s brought to our family, that really helped us strengthen and connect in different ways that I think has expanded us spiritually and also mentally. And also that’s another reflection to look at that in like how do we apply, you know, these different things of higher power, what you believe in to our lives, and then also to just listen. Not always talking, just listening to each other, listening to yourself and then stepping outside and listening to nature.
[31:07] Michael Bennett: OK, let’s take this into full circle, like you just said, nature, all these different things. Now we’re sitting here and the people who have always been essential to our existence are now being seen as heroes. It takes something for us to shine a light on people who have been doing — people doing their normal job, like people at the grocery store. They go everyday. They do their job. People at the nursing home, people who pick and choose people to drop off packages. This is just people who do these normal things. And it isn’t until now that we appreciate these people. A lot of these people are immigrants, they come from lower income areas, dealing with racial tension. And now those people who are now seen as the heroes. It kind of blows my mind to see that. But those people who were considered nonessential are essential people at this moment. And I think it’s important for us to not just leave those people when this virus is over. We’ll remember those people who put their life on the line every single day, and we should make sure that they’re not nonessential people. They are essential people to our success, our society, and we as individuals and we as a society shouldn’t take anybody for granted anymore, because the richest people in the world have the smallest impact right now. And the people who were considered to have the smallest place in the world are having the biggest impact in the world. And I think there’s something to say about the world right now.
[32:44] Pele Bennett: I agree 100 percent. I think also what we’re looking at is like what is essential? They keep using that word. Get your essentials. Or only essentials are open. And I know some people’s essentials are different. But at the end of the day, we’re talking about leadership or people that we think have power, that we think have authority, you know, like where is it? What do we use? What are we looking at when we’re looking at people, put them on such a high pedestal? And so now we’re talking about thanking people that do this everyday jobs in the grocery store. And it’s like, what is the power? What is the authority? What is that that’s captivating? I think it’s almost like humbling to see people, you know, not in need, but like how people are helping each other, how we’re thinking of, you know, grocery store clerks. Like, that’s a very humbling just to think of that person in a very human way. That like they matter, you know, their work is valuable. And I think that’s what I’m trying to say is like, what do we value? We value their skill, we value their time, but also we’re just valuing their effort. It’s not anything they’re actually giving to us. It’s almost like valuing their sacrifice, going to these jobs that we once looked at, you know, not essential. But now it’s like we’re all valuing things in different ways.
[34:10] Michael Bennett: And it’s crazy because in our Bible study we were talking about, there’s one chapter in Proverbs. And it was just talking basically about how God shows us the strength of the world through the weakness of the world, basically. And I think that’s the thing that is happening right now. This is really relevant. It’s important. And also the things we have always tried to hide in the darkness are having the brightest light on them, and people cannot shine those lights away from them. You can see the racial disparities in different communities, the lack of opportunity and a lack of medical attention to certain communities. And I think this right now, the people who didn’t believe, they were like, that’s not true, everything’s fair. People are really like, OK, I need to swallow my fucking words. I was wrong. There’s a lot going on right now. And people are starting to realize that the people who were against those essential workers now are begging for those essential workers to drop off their fucking Amazon box to get their fucking TV, or new X-Box.
[35:40] Michael Bennett: And my Pro Tip this week would be to recognize the value of each human being on a daily basis. And I think whether it’s in your home, I think now even husbands and wives are recognizing the value of each other. I think sometimes as husband and wife, we look at the wrong of what the person is doing. Never about the right or the light that they bring to your heart or they shine on you. And now is really a time to focus. And I think it’s their personal time that we really reflect on, look in and highlight in the great work of our individual family, the great work of the people around us, because our loved ones are essential to our lives. You didn’t realize how essential the time with your kids are to your well-being because before your job was the most important thing. You go to work, I need to make this quota. But when have you ever said, I need to make this quota for my family? And right now you’re realizing that this is essential. I look at my wife and I realize how essential she is to my well-being, how essential she is to the world, how essential she is to this family, how central she is to herself. And I really respect that, and I admire that. And I’m also realizing that for my kids, how different they are. I think sometimes we have so many things going on and we kind of group all the kids together. We say kids. But now we’re giving each kid and recognizing oh, I didn’t realize she had that talent.
[37:13] Pele Bennett: Yeah. I think valuing your children, like, for instance, for us to watch the girls grow in their relationship and friendship, you know, they’re like any siblings. They fight, argue, then they’re loving on each other. But to really see their interests pique on little things that one of them would say and the other one’s like, wait, would you say? Like they just get excited in those tiny little things to notice. It just like really fills my heart, where I’m like all their relationship is growing in a different way that, you know, will reflect for them later in life. But I do think valuing everyone in your home first. I think that’s so important because you’re so close with these people. I feel like you have to have time where you reconnect. Like reconnect your relationship with your loved ones and talking. It could be your family afar, you know, check up on them. Find out how they’re doing. Maybe somebody you haven’t talked to for a while to be like, hey, what’s up? You know, because I feel like we’re focused on, you know, ourselves within the home. But then all your loved ones that you do care about, and that’s friends. I also think that sometimes it’s OK to have a little space in your house. And I know that houses are small, houses are big. Whatever your space is looking like, you might have so many people in your house. Like, if someone needs to go sit in the car for a moment, someone needs to find a tiny spot. Maybe in the bathroom, they need 30 more minutes. We need to respect our space, mental space. You know, go have an hour of time by yourself. Read a book, maybe you want to watch a movie, but you want to do it alone. And I think that’s important.
[39:06] Michael Bennett: So do you appreciate me?
[39:07] Pele Bennett: Yes.
[39:08] Michael Bennett: Thank you. I appreciate you, too. I do. My anxiety level is low right now.
[39:24] Pele Bennett: Why?
[39:25] Michael Bennett: Because I’m with you.
[39:26] Pele Bennett: Oh, good lord.
[39:29] Michael Bennett: So our Pro Tip of the week is use your vision. Don’t walk by sight. Walk by faith.
[39:40] Pele Bennett: Amen.
[39:53] Michael Bennett: Please subscribe to us or like us on anything that you’re listening to. Apple, Stitcher, Spotify, whatever you’re listening to get away from your family, whoever you don’t want to be around. And make sure you rate us or give us a comment. Even though we don’t give a fuck about your comments, give us a comment. Mouthpeace is a production of Lemonada Media, which you can find online on all social platforms @LemonadaMedia. You can follow me on social media, @MosesBread72. I love bread, and biblically, I always thought I was Moses.
[40:23] Pele Bennett: And you can follow me on Instagram at @pelepels. Mouthpeace with Michael and Pele Bennett is executive produced by us, the Bennetts. Our Lemonada Media executive producer is Eli Kramer, and our producer is Genevieve Garrity. Our assistant producer is Claire Jones and our audio is edited by Brian Castillo. Thank you to our ad sales and distribution partners at Westwood One, and to all of our sponsors for making this show possible.