Two Parents & A Podcast

This week on Two Parents & A Podcast, happy FRIDAY!! We open with the debate you guys started: permanent holiday lights. The comments say they’re the answer to our white lights vs. colored lights problem.. we say lights go UP and lights come DOWN (or you lose the specialness!!). Tacky or worth it, we need votes!!

A follow up on the budgeting app: the no-spend era is real. Alex is now submitting purchase requests to the CFO of the household (Jules jk lol) live on the pod (makeup remover, toy bins and hangers: APPROVED ha...

This week on Two Parents & A Podcast, happy Wednesday!! We start off with the HARD-HITTING question everyone is talking about: what’s the perfect pool temperature? (lol) But really, Harrison started the morning with a 6:55am father/daughter swim (pool heated to a magnificent 92 degrees), so now we NEED to know.. comment yours, and nobody ask about our heating bill hahaha

House updates: the fence is officially in fabrication!! The front yard should be done in two weeks (check back with us then), and the outdoor kitchen behind the pool is “best case Thanksgiving”.. or bes...

This week on Two Parents & A Podcast, happy Monday!! We’re back from the parents-only trip to Jackson Hole!! And we were greeted with the sweetest thing Tate has ever said (“I missed you”).. so naturally we’re never leaving again hahaha

Which kicks off the kids corner: can a 2 year old ACTUALLY miss their parents? Why do kids save their meltdowns for YOU (spoiler: it’s actually a compliment)? And the take we stand by: we don’t FaceTime the kids while we’re away.. it’s for you, not them (discuss). Plus Tate spent the d...

This week on Two Parents & A Podcast, happy Friday!! We have a special guest: Victoria Thain Gioia, co-founder & CEO of Perelel, Harvard MBA.. and most importantly, a working mom of 4 (ages 9, 7, 6 & 2!!) 

We start with the story behind it all: a 20-week scan that didn’t go as expected, and how obsessing over the “why” sent Victoria deep into prenatal nutrition research.. deep enough that she pitched her OB a company idea mid-appointment (from the stirrups!!) The big takeaway: one-size-fits-all doesn’t work for women. 

Then we get into the part we kn...

This week on Two Parents & A Podcast, happy Wednesday!! Before anything else: we’re doing an audience check-in!! Comment what you want to hear more of (Q&As? guests? news rundown? pop culture?) and we’re picking one comment and sending you to your favorite lunch spot on us ($100!!) So comment!!

By the time you’re listening, we’re in Jackson Hole on a couples trip with the neighbors!! Alex packed a carry-on (brave), Harrison packed “extreme” location-specific outfits, and there are custom t-shirts involved that we legally (lol) cannot spoil yet. But leaving the kids had...

This week on Two Parents & A Podcast, happy Monday!! EURO JULES IS BACK!! The trip recap is lowkey scattered throughout the entire episode (sry), but the highlights: a Tuscany wedding, a “2 hour” drive that was actually 4.5 through scenery Jules swears is Pittsburgh adjacent (it’s a compliment??), and a new barometer for measuring the success of a trip.

But first, Alex gets sent to the mall with a box of Harrison’s returns and gets absolutely humbled at the counter (“ma’am, has this been washed?”).. so we need a ruling: can you return a shirt you al...

This week on Two Parents & A Podcast, happy FRIDAY!! Anyone else keeping up with Jules’ insta story?? (bc we are and like need to book a Euro trip ASAP?!)

Alex kicks us off with her girls night recap (which apparently she already recapped to Harrison last night) (and this morning) (hahahhaha blame the margaritas). Harrison also has some thoughts on her outfit.. sorry to the audio listeners (you’ll have to use your imagination lol).

The business corner is packed this week: is Starbucks actually buying Chipotle?! Harrison breaks down...

This week on Two Parents & A Podcast, happy Wednesday!! Wea open with the homework we promised: the Jura vs. Mr. Coffee blind taste test (but also promised this section was 2.5 minutes MAX lol) Results? Closer than you'd think (about a 10% difference.. the Jura wins on ease, Mr. Coffee holds its own). 

On the home front: a postpartum update - Alex's first cycle is back, the bloodwork results are in, and the TLDR is she needs iron (P has a rec, but as always its #NotMedicalAdvice). Also Tate's sleep is back to normal, fingers crossed.. s...

This week on Two Parents & A Podcast, happy Monday!! Quick housekeeping: Jules is officially off on her Euro trip, which means P is filling in ON THE MIC this week.. (everyone say hi to P!!)

We open with a confession: we joined the Jura cult (anyone else??? the neighbors are founding members lol) Alex gives a full review of the new coffee maker, PLUS a question that spirals us: does anyone actually know / care where their coffee beans come from? You know your wine regions.. why don't we know our coffee?

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This week on Two Parents & A Podcast, happy Friday!! As you guys know, last Saturday we spoke at Dear Media by Day, and our panel was called “Having It All-ish: Career, Kids & the New Reality of Balance.” We had SO much fun up there that we knew before we left the stage: we had to bring it to you guys. So consider this the run-back.. and if you were there, act surprised lol

Here's the premise: we were told we could have it all. The career, the relationship, the family, the social life, and some...

This week on Two Parents & A Podcast, happy Wednesday!! Getting ahead of this: YES - Alex & Harrison are in the wrong seats (#SocialDistancing). We open with the moments you realize you're THE parent of the house: Alex packing a pizza-and-banana lunch for dance class, Harrison standing in the yard with the plumber feeling like his dad.. and the one that reminded Alex of her childhood: clacking around in heels before Dear Media by Day, hoping Tate remembers the sound the way she remembers her mom's. Plus a DM that's changing our vocabulary: when you're putting on makeup (or heels...

This week on Two Parents & A Podcast, happy Monday!! We are STILL buzzing from Dear Media by Day.. Saturday was AWESOME: panels all day, brand activations, happy hour, and our first time ever doing something like this as a couple. Talking about “having it all (ish)” in front of 300+ people?? SO cool. 

One of the best parts: our friends were in that crowd. Even better? We never asked them to come. They found out, bought tickets, and showed up for us. Which is EXACTLY why this week's PSA on friendship felt so timely: you need...

This week on Two Parents & A Podcast, happy Friday!! We shared a bit about our street this week on socials, and the comments had one big request: "please dig deep on the community y'all have created on the pod." So hi! We get into when it all started, the little ways everyone shows up for each other.. plus the couples trip we just booked with THE neighbors (who we realized we've somehow never hung out with 1:1..) AND, if you want one place to start with YOUR street: host the street-wide barbecue.

Before all that...

This week on Two Parents & A Podcast, happy Wednesday!! We open with the question every woman has wondered: do men ACTUALLY notice makeup? Harrison's honest answer confirmed what we suspected (the answer being "no") hahaha. We get into the levels of makeup (1, 2 and 3.. and how "you're so beautiful without makeup" is usually said to a level 1), what the "right" age is for kids to start wearing it, and the getting-ready gap: his entire routine is teeth and deodorant, hers is a production with a budget.

Next up, a weaning update from Alex: the fog...

This week on Two Parents & A Podcast, happy Monday!! First, the big news: WE ARE OFFICIALLY A DEAR MEDIA PRODUCTION!! (yay) If you're new here from the Dear Media world: hi!! We're Alex and Harrison, married, two kids (Tate and Rocky), and the “third-wheel” (lovingly) is Jules our producer!!! Welcome, we're so happy you're here. And if you’re not new here, the short story is - nothing is changing!!! 

Then we get into the episode with a confession: we are officially the parents who throw the over-the-top birthday parties. The exact parents we judged...

This week on Two Parents & A Podcast, happy Friday!! TATE IS OFFICIALLY TWO 🥹 (can you guys believe it?!) We recap the whole thing: the pancake breakfast, the revolving door of neighbors and family, and Alex stepping up for an emergency cake bake after a flight delay. As always, this is just our experience.. but here are a few "tips" if you have a toddler birthday coming up!! 1) Even if your kid "won't remember it," they still feel the JOY.. a day of your kid feeling extra loved is ALWAYS worth the extra effort. 2) Doctoring a box cake WORKS: yellow cak...

This week on Two Parents & A Podcast, DR. BROWN IS BACK!! We start where you'd expect: toilet training (you guys know this is overtaking our brains lately). Alex gets a live check-in on Tate’s progress (verdict: she's in the "warm up phase"), and Dr. Brown drops the reframe every potty training parent needs to hear: it's the CHILD'S milestone, not the parent's.. so when they're ready, it happens in about a day (WHAT?!). Plus her honest take on pull-ups, and the nighttime potty training news that shocked us.

Then the important stuff: the me...

This week on Two Parents & A Podcast, happy Monday!! (we recorded this Sunday afternoon but still HAPPY MONDAY!) We open with Harrison's freak accident: he caught a falling glass, the glass did not cooperate, and now his hand is out of commission. Alex's 10:40 PM response ("you can Uber to the stitches..") will haunt her forever hahaha. Harrison’s first thought: thank goodness this didn’t happen before HYROX…  And in HYROX news that we cannot believe is real: POOP-GATE. A competitor at the Beijing race had an.. incident.. mid-race and was allowed to finish, and we have genuine rules questio...

This week on Two Parents & A Podcast.. we open today by acknowledging September 11th, 25 years later. We take a minute to remember, share where we were, and say what matters most: we will never forget.

There's no good way to transition into the rest of the episode, so here we are. Lots of stuff today, but we start with a major question: when do you have to start dressing your age?? Like, can a dad of two be walking around in trendy fits.. or is it time for a collared shirt? (Harrison is at...

This week on Two Parents & A Podcast, happy Wednesday!! It's a big day of kid updates: we officially tripped and fell into potty training Tate.. no method, no timeline. Harrison bought a little toilet when she started getting curious, we left it there, and she started using it when it felt right for her (removing the pressure has been the whole magic!) Meanwhile Rocky is in a sleep regression (idk, we feel like we just call everything a regression??), and Alex is weaning off of breastfeeding and shares it all: the decision tree, how she's doing it, and the...

This week on Two Parents & A Podcast, happy Monday and happy Labor Day!! Confession: we cut our first-ever weekend away from both kids a night short. Zero regrets after the morning we had… Tate climbed into bed with us, said "mama hand, dada hand," and held both ❤️ (one of the many fun things she learned over a weekend with Grandma!!) 

As for the trip: our official US Open review is in, and it's hands down the BEST sporting event in the world for a casual sports fan. There’s a whole tennis village!! Free Junior ma...

This week on Two Parents & A Podcast, happy Friday!! Harrison is out finishing his HYROX race (as Jules writes this lol).. results Monday, we can't wait hahaha

We filmed this Q&A answering YOUR questions, and we were so excited to get into them.. but first we got stuck on lip combos (and whether there's ANY men's product a woman wouldn't know.. comment if you have one, we came up short!) and a topic Alex has been thinking about a lot lately: how do you handle the first time your child's feelings get truly...

This week on Two Parents & A Podcast, happy Wednesday!! We open with a very important announcement: it's REST DAY (Harrison’s rest day lol but maybe all of you could join him), which somehow spirals into a real debate: is "downhill" positive or negative?! (If you're running, downhill is great. If your week is going downhill…? you see the problem.)

Then Jules brings a word from the people: collective effervescence.. the term for that shared-energy magic that happened at Wrigley (and at every Fenway “Sweet Caroline”, and every Coldplay "Fix You”). We're working it into daily...

This week on Two Parents & A Podcast, happy Monday!! So.. we (Alex & Jules) found ourselves in some heat over our video games after kids take from Friday, so we had to get a guy's POV.. and you guys? He may have even HOTTER takes. Turns out Harrison was a GAMER gamer back in the day (18-hour Grand Theft Auto Sundays.. we have questions), but as a dad he has rules: there are more productive ways to decompress, never let it eat family time, and play when everyone's asleep. Then Jules asks the question that will surely put us back...

This week on Two Parents & A Podcast, happy Friday!! It's a GIRLS episode.. Harrison is in Chicago, so it's Alex & Jules answering YOUR questions. The theme: married with kids vs. single and child-free, and every question in between.

But first, life: Tate learned to cockadoodle doo AND somersault this week (grandma brought a tumbling matt.. Harrison is going to come home to a full show). Then we get into the birthday crying phenomenon (high expectations + "don't plan anything!!" = a recipe lol.. moral of the story: say what you actually want, and a card is...

This week on Two Parents & A Podcast, happy Wednesday!! You guys know we record same-day, which means we get to open with actual breaking news: Meta agreed to a $17 BILLION settlement in the child safety trial. Harrison dusts off his finance-guy trick for understanding any settlement (go straight to the stock price.. what it did tells you everything) and we get into what actually changes for kids: time restrictions and nighttime blockouts. And while we're being all professional and stuff lol, Alex shares how she beat her 2 AM heartburn after Prilosec, Tums AND Pepto all failed. The winner? Baking...

This week on Two Parents & A Podcast, happy Monday!! The headline: we FINALLY did some wedding planning (live on the pod..) and we think we may have unlocked something?! You guys know we've been kicking this can down the road (2 under 2 - FORGIVE US), but one little scheduling switch changed everything (iykyk) and now we're officially in planning mode (send us your ATX dueling piano wedding reviews!!)

Before all that: the BEST fantasy football punishment we've ever seen (18 holes of golf with strangers.. no clubs, no ball, full commitment to every pretend swing hahaha...

This week on Two Parents & A Podcast, happy Friday!! Let's start with the fun stuff: we've seen the #BabylistItForward movement (thank you Alex Cooper!) and we want to do this for YOU guys.. or a friend you think could use it! Comment yours (or someone else’s!) Babylist links on YouTube or Spotify and we'll be picking a handful at random to send gifts to. (PS: Alex is requesting a story alongside the link!!)

Ok, let's get into the episode, because it was a good one. Of course we started with three rando topics no...

This week on Two Parents & A Podcast, happy Wednesday!! As you watch this, we are likely on our way back from Vancouver, woo! You guys know we've always said we think travel unlocks milestones.. and WOW did we notice it on this trip. Tate is truly in her independent toddler era (BIG time on doing everything herself, it's so sweet 🥹) and our Rocket Man slept 8 HOURS through the night?! (YAY)

OK we started with a little update from Harrison's golf tournament: gimmes were allowed per the tournament rules, but he wants you all to kno...

This week on Two Parents & A Podcast, happy Monday from Vancouver!! (Let us know if we should pick this studio up and drop it in Austin, because we are officially feeling like we need a remodel..)

Ok guys, it's back to school time, so we're taking a sec to ask YOU: how are you feeling?? We can feel the energy shift. We don't know what this season is like as parents yet, but we can absolutely remember shopping for a new pair of True Religions and heading to the bookstore for school supplies. WOW...

This week on Two Parents & A Podcast, happy Friday!! We are officially in Vancouver ourselves, but before we headed out, we answered YOUR questions (& for our guys and gals who love a parenting-heavy episode, this one is for you!!!) 

But not until we cover a few things first: maintenance days vs. self-care days (getting your nails done is NOT self-care, it's maintenance!), the weirdest ways people find out they're pregnant (did you know your hairstylist might know before you do?! Dry scalp, hair changes.. the signs are everywhere), and the great audiobook debate: Alex h...

This week on Two Parents & A Podcast, happy Wednesday!! This episode is the definition of everything but the kitchen sink.. also yes, we welcomed you to the pod TWICE because we forgot welcome on this upcoming Friday’s episode, SORRY hahaha. 

We're kicking things off with the Tweet of the Week: you're allowed to be proud of yourself, PRESENT tense. Harrison shares why it struck a chord (he's been guilty of never exhaling on the fitness front), and then Alex asks the question she immediately regrets: "do you think I'm funny?" (this is jules - I...

This week on Two Parents & A Podcast, happy Monday!! We're kicking things off with the MOST RANDOM comeback story: Nerds Gummy Clusters took a declining $50M brand to $850M in five years?! (Alex wants a whole documentary about whoever greenlit the cluster.) You might be asking why we start with this (lol) and it's simple.. Alex's leggings smelled like mildew, and Jules apparently has a condition (called dysgeusia) that makes water taste like mildew after she eats gummy clusters. Mind you, this was all supposed to be an off camera conversation LOL. But it leads us to a bigger...

This week on Two Parents & A Podcast, we've got a very special guest!! This conversation could not be more top of mind for us: earlier this week we talked about how much more risk tolerant we USED to be (ex: we once loved helicopters.. now we won't get on one hahaha). Because as new parents, we're focused on one thing: how do we live to 100 (no like actually literally??) so we can spend as much time with our kids as possible?!

Enter Dr. Stephanie Venn-Watson: veterinary epidemiologist, healthy aging researcher, and co-founder of fatty15...

This week on Two Parents & A Podcast, happy Wednesday!! This one's got range: playground etiquette, flying taxis, Myspace nostalgia and a practical joke involving a bunny. 

We kick things off with the "quizzing my husband on girly products" trend (Harrison learned the term nail bed today lol), the navy sheets convo (Alex shares what she was REALLY thinking walking into Harrison's place for the first time hahaha), plus the bunny prank that raised a real question: is it ever OK to gift your friends' kids a pet?! (Harrison says she wouldn't be mad one b...

This week on Two Parents & A Podcast, happy August!! We're kicking off the new month with a fun exercise: months as days of the week. Alex & Harrison think July is Saturday (aka everyone is in Europe), while Jules says it's obviously Wednesday (linear brain vs. vibes brain we guess lol).

Then some real life: the fever made its way from Rocky to Tate, which meant all four of us in one bed by 6 AM and a very high-stakes game of "nobody make a sound." Plus the grandparent gift idea we're recommending for everyone: give...

This week on Two Parents & A Podcast, happy Friday!!! Ginny bears is in the office (should this be a new Friday ritual?!). We’re kicking things off with a car debate (low-key our bicker of the week every week LOL): do we need a "non-car seat" car?! Alex is dreaming of a 4-door Jeep Wrangler for just the parents, Harrison is pitching a golf cart (Jules's face said everything), and somehow by the end of the convo we are still a one-car family until further notice.

Then Harrison drops TWO bombs from his NFL sc...

This week on Two Parents & A Podcast, happy Wednesday!!! We start with a real one: Rocky spiked a 102.7 fever this week (he's totally fine now!!), and even though we're second-time parents, it was a first-time occurrence for us… and we went RIGHT back into first-time parent mode. We get into how we handled it (calling the pediatrician hotline at 4 AM), how our in-home pediatric practice works (& why we love it so much), and the bigger realization: no matter how many kids you have, a new challenge puts you right back at square one.

Which sp...

This week on Two Parents & A Podcast, we're coming to you from GEORGIA!!! We recorded Sunday night from Serenbe (a neighborhood focused on wellbeing 45 minutes outside Atlanta - If you live a direct flight from ATL and are looking for a family trip… we highly recommend!!). We flew in for a friend's kid's first birthday and turned it into a whole family weekend, which leads to a bigger conversation: every state has "pockets of magic" like this, and we share the ones at the top of our list to check out next (the Northeast in the summer!! Montana!! Yellowstone!!). 

Welcome back to another episode of Two Parents & A Podcast — it's FRIDAY (and yes, as promised, Harrison has brought his Friday energy!!!). For our listeners who like a parent-heavy episode more than Harrison — this one is for you!! (lol)

OK so - did you know 90% of your adult brain develops between 0 & 5?! WE DIDN’T! So we dug into a few child development topics on this episode: First… your toddler saying "um" isn't rude (side note: is it rude for adults to say um?!), it's actually an important development milestone. Other interesting things: babies who swim act...