When the power goes out mid-recording, the show must go on. We were half way through a recording session with Matthew, Mandy, and Mandy’s friend Megan, when Matthew’s power went out, taking all they had already recorded with it! But the show must go on, and Mandy and Megan continued their holiday conversation, diving into the realities of managing winter celebrations as a retail-owning parent, the mixed emotions around Santa, and how New Year's Eve evolves from disappointing bar nights to meaningful family traditions.
Questions We Explored
- How do you balance holiday excitement with preventing post-January 2nd crashes?
- When is the right time to stop lying about Santa, and how do kids handle the truth?
- Can Santa disappointment teach children important lessons about coping with unmet expectations?
- What's the strategy for managing presents across multiple holidays and generous relatives?
- How do New Year's traditions shift from young adult parties to family-centered celebrations?
Additional Topics
- The bookstore owner's fate: Working retail through the entire holiday season
- The great Elf debate: When one kid refuses to watch the family favorite
- Evolution of gift-giving: From big ticket items to experience-focused spending
- Hanukkah present strategies: Every night versus every other night
- The Top Chef New Year's competition and New Year's Day open house brunch tradition
What is Once and Future Parent?
Three parents. Three generations. One endlessly humbling journey.
Welcome to Once and Future Parent, where the parenting timeline gets the roundtable it deserves. Join hosts Matthew Fox (brand new parent), Mandy Kaplan (mom to a high-schooler), and Pete Wright (father of mostly-launched grown kids) as they gather to compare notes from three different stages of family life.
From the sleepless nights of preparing for a newborn, through the chaos of early adolescence, to the bittersweet art of letting go, each episode tackles the lessons, laughs, and late-night Googling that come with parenting at any age. Expect a mix of heartfelt honesty, media-fueled nostalgia, and just enough intergenerational snark to keep it relatable.
We’ll talk about everything from screen-time philosophies and failed movie nights, to the last bedtime story and the awkward magic of being parented by your own kid. Whether you’re building a nursery or texting your college student emojis you don’t fully understand, you’ll find real talk, hard-won wisdom, and a reminder that none of us are in this alone.