Ramona Quimby, Age 8: Xennial Girl Summer Re-Read

We're kicking off our Xennial Girl Summer (2026) with one of our favorites from childhood, Beverly Cleary's Ramona Quimby: Age 8.

Delve into the research with us and join us for some discussion questions about Ramona, Yard Ape and the overall angsts of being a kid (revisited).

We thrifted the book and listened to it on audiobook.

Don't miss all of our Xennial Girl Summer series!

This episode was made possible by the book itself and the following sources:

Wikipedia, Ramona (novel series)
Wikipedia, Beverly Cleary

Episode Topics and Mentions:

Ramona Quimby, Age 8
Beezus and Ramona
Ramona the Pest
Ramona the Brave
Ramona and Her Father
Ramona and Her Mother
Ramona Forever
Ramona's World
Henry Huggins
The Mouse and the Motorcycle
Runaway Ralph
Dear Mr. Henshaw
Socks
The Dutch Twins
Beverly Cleary
Judy Blume
Lucy Fitch Perkins
Laura Ingalls Wilder
People Mentioned
Stockard Channing
Tom Cruise
Hugh Jackman
Emma Thompson
Larry David
Sarah Polley
Superstore
Curb Your Enthusiasm
Project Hail Mary
Sheep Detectives
Babe
Ramona (1988 television adaptation)
Oregon
Portland
Berkeley
Yakima
Carmel-by-the-Sea
Grant Park
University of California, Berkeley
University of Washington
Xennial Nostalgia Mentions
D.E.A.R. (Drop Everything and Read)
School libraries
ThriftBooks
Audible
Kindle vs. physical books
New Kids on the Block 
Sustained Silent Reading programs
Ramona Forever
Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret.
Dazed and Confused
I Know What You Did Last Summer
Dawson's Creek
Actors & Celebrities Mentioned
Joey King
Selena Gomez
Food & Snack Mentions
Hard-boiled egg
Ramen
Gushers
Fruit by the Foot
Fruit Roll-Ups
Bugles
Oreos
Dot's Pretzels
Broccoli
Chef Boyardee
Trader Joe's "fake Takis"

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Transcript

Cold Open And Summer Kickoff

SPEAKER_01 0:00

I think she kind of is a show-off and she even admits it. Not in the way of like I am a diva show-off, just in the way of she likes to make people laugh. Hello everyone, and welcome to Generation in Between, a Xennial podcast, uh, where we remember, revisit, and sometimes relearn all kinds of things about being 80s kids and 90s teens. My name is Danny. Hi, everyone, I'm Katie. And today is the first day of Xennial Girl Summer. I feel like we need a sound effect like that guy at karaoke that time. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 0:41

Yeah. Or the guy, did you ever watch Superstore? No. Bo. It was a character on there. He would just always make that sound. Just, oh my God, I didn't realize he was great. I'll send you a video. But yes, Xennial Girl Summer.

SPEAKER_01 0:53

Xennial Girl Summer. So we have four books we're rereading from our childhood time, four movies that we're re-watching. Well, for Katie, I don't have you watched, you have not seen two of them, right? Two of them I haven't seen. So we're re-watching or watching for the first time. So if you want a list of what we're doing, go to our um Insta and they're pinned at the top. So it'll tell you the titles and what day our episode's airing. So you can watch and have it all fresh in your little brain.

Why Ramona Still Hits Home

SPEAKER_01 1:26

Okay. So today we're starting, and hold on, I have the book. Katie, tell everyone what book we're doing today. Today we are doing Ramona Quimby, age eight. And look, I got one from Thrift Books from the 80s. This is the one, this isn't the one that I personally have, but this is the edition that I had, okay, on my shelf. And this was the one that my kids used to have too. They don't have them anymore because we read all the Ramona books. Um, so did you read these as a kid?

SPEAKER_00 1:56

I feel like I did not. Oh, you didn't. But I know who she is. So I'm wondering if like my older kids made me read them. Because a lot of the stories in the story, like all the things that happened to her, I remembered as I was reading. So either I read it or my kids read it, or I don't know. I should have asked my kids. I know. It's weird. It's such a weird cute book.

SPEAKER_01 2:20

I loved these books as a kid because I could relate to Ramona so hard. Oh my god. I mean, look, I even looked like this, guys. This hello, that picture of her is so good. I had crazy hair. I mean, I was a mess. Uh like Ramona is a nuisance in the show? I was. I was, guys. I was bossy. Yep. Like my sister used to like get onto me because I had my friend down the street who was on our boy band, had that clip on our our new kids episode. My my best friend Alicia lived down the street, and I was so bossy. And my sister would like come in our playroom and be like, quit being so bossy.

SPEAKER_00 3:02

But I was the youngest. And so I had to bite a boss. So I mean, I was the oldest, and I was also bossy. Were you? Yes. Like, but more like, and you're the only girl too. I'd be like, we're gonna play like a game, like house or farm or something. I'd be like, no, you say this. Yeah. And I'll say this. I would do that. Yeah, which is you know, we were meant to be performers, I guess.

SPEAKER_01 3:22

Assertive.

SPEAKER_00 3:23

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 3:24

What is that? What is that saying? It's I'm not bossy. I'm just um I have leadership skills. Leadership skills. That's it, guys. Well, okay, so you hadn't read them. So this was your first experience remembering it. Remembering that I read it. But maybe your kids read them. She also reminds me of Tegan a little bit. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 3:43

So I'd I'm like, the way she worries about money and stuff, Tegan's.

SPEAKER_01 3:50

Um, I love these books so much. And but before we get into this book, and I picked this book specifically. This isn't this is like a bunch of Ramona books in a series. But this is the one I remember re- and I used to reread books. I remember rereading this particular one the most. Okay. And I think my sister had some of them because when we go through the timeline, you'll see when some some of these were written. Um, and then I had some of my own. But anyway, this is when I remembered the picture. I remember it like lives in my brain forever. So when I I was like, I have to order it, and I had I wanted to read it. Now you listened to it.

SPEAKER_00 4:26

I did listen to it on Audible, read by Stockard Channing. Guys, doing all the different voices. And when people were singing songs, she sang the songs, like the tune of them. It was really good.

SPEAKER_01 4:38

I love this so much. She was great. I love it so much.

Beverly Cleary’s Origin Story

SPEAKER_01 4:41

But before we start talking about this book and the Ramona books, we're gonna talk about the author, Beverly Cleary. Now, you probably have read some book somewhere written by her for sure as a kid, because she wrote, she wrote all the Ralph S. Mouse books, so Runaway Ralph, Mouse and Motorcycle. We've talked about those before a long time ago. She um won a bunch of awards. She wrote Dear Mr. Henshaw, which is a book that came out in the 80s that was about a kid writing to his favorite author um as his parents were going through divorce. Oh wow. I loved that book because I read it at the time that my parents were going through divorce. And it was she just she is like Judy Bloom in that she knows how to encapsulate kids' brains. Yeah. And what they're actually thinking, like, yeah. Yeah. So um her story, you are going to love how she became an author. Okay. So Beverly Cleary was born April 12th, 1916, and y'all, she died on March 25th, 2021. She was 104. What? She was almost 105.

SPEAKER_00 5:44

That's wild. Right. Right. Wait, what year did she die? 2021. 2021. Wow. But you said she was born in 1916. Oh, 104. That's great. I know. I'm making 100. Oh shit. Yeah. Right. Oh my god.

SPEAKER_01 5:59

I know. So you go, Beverly. I know. Amazing. So she's actually one of America's most successful authors to date. She um, she's had 91 million copies of her books, have sold worldwide, and it's probably more than that because this was a few years old research I found. Um, and she was first published in 1950. Dang. I know. Wow. I know. So um the beginning of her life, she lived in rural Oregon. She lived on a farm until she was six, and then her family moved to the big city of Portland. Um, that adjustment from going from country life to the city was was pretty difficult for her. And so she struggled when she started school. So in first grade, her teacher put her in a group for struggling readers. Now, for those of y'all who are younger people, it this even happened to us back in the 80s. We were put in like reading placement groups. Do you remember this? Oh, yeah. And all schools called them something different, but everybody knew who was in what group. Of course. So she has said this the first grade was sorted into three reading groups the bluebirds, red birds, and blackbirds. Oh, I know. I was a blackbird, and to be a blackbird was to be disgraced. I wanted to read, but somehow could not. Oh. I know. So it's just sad. I and I feel like that's such a disservice to everyone. Like it's helpful to keep kids in groups who are on the same level, but then it's also helpful to have them all together so they can help each other. For sure. And learn from each other.

SPEAKER_00 7:30

That's tough, yeah. Because it's like you want, you don't want the people who are advancing to be held back, which I guess is probably the main reason. Nowadays they have so much segmentation on online programs, things like i Ready. Kids still talk about that though. Like my kid and one of her friends in a kind way compete. They'll be like, What? I'm on grade eight. You know, they're like fifth graders. Oh, well, I'm on grade nine in a month, you know. And it's like, what if you're a kid that's like, I'm on grade the normal grade we're supposed to be on or less, right? So I think they're trying to help customize it, but kids still talk. So it's still hard.

SPEAKER_01 8:10

So so she started off on a on a kind of a hard path with reading, but her skills improved and she got better at it, but eventually she just found reading boring. And she said many of the stories were simple, they were unsurprising, and she wondered why authors didn't write with humor um or about ordinary people for kids. Huh. Which I mean, we have so much now, but think about when she was a kid. There was not. But um, however, on a rainy afternoon at home during third grade, her third grade year, she found herself enjoying reading a book called The Dutch Twins, which was a book by Lucy Fitch Perkins. And this book was just about the adventures of ordinary kids, and she loved it. Um, so she has said that that book was an epiphany for her, and afterwards, she started to spend tons of time reading. She was at the library all the time, trying to find new books. And by sixth grade, a teacher said that Beverly should become a children's writer herself based on essays she had written for class assignment. Oh, by sixth grade. Sixth grade. That's awesome. So that's that book right there. I think that's really cool because I have always been a big reader. I love books. My kids are the same way, and it makes me so happy because my like I'm a huge reader. I read to them constantly when they were little. They were big readers as soon as they could read. We went to library tons, especially because we moved. Every time we moved, we would go to library first. That was like a fun thing. And libraries are like comfortable wherever you go. So even if we were in a new scary place, oh, we could go to library and there's books and it's fine. Right. Um, but my older son, you know, once they get to middle school, high school and they have to read for school, they kind of fall out of it. I remember I did this too, and he's finally back in it. And it makes me so happy. He bought his a Kindle with his own money, like one of those really fancy, nice ones.

SPEAKER_00 9:58

And he bought one for Emilia today.

SPEAKER_01 10:00

I know.

SPEAKER_00 10:01

He's peer pressuring her to read. Yeah, she's like, I'm getting a Kindle. I'm like, okay, don't you have an iPad? She's like, it's just for reading. Well, and they are cool. I can't do it.

SPEAKER_01 10:10

I have to touch it. I like books too. And he was showing me, like, but mom, look. I'm like, it's not a book, sir. It's a screen and I don't like it. But anyway, it makes me happy that he has found his way back to reading. Yes. Um, so anyway, so she's a big reader. She starts writing stuff on her own. And after she graduated high school, she went to Chaffee Junior College in Ontario, California, not Canada. Um, and she had aspirations of becoming a kids' librarian. Okay. So she had two years there. She did, you know, her basic stuff, got all those classes out the way. She got accepted to UC Berkeley and she got a BA in English in 1938. Now, let's think about that.

SPEAKER_00 10:49

There weren't a lot of women in college. I was gonna say that would have been un not unusual. Maybe that's not the word, because there were some women, but that was certainly not the commonplace. Yeah, and like think about it.

SPEAKER_01 11:02

She was a woman in college during the Great Depression. That's insane. I know. So while she was there, she met her future husband, Clarence Clearly Cleary. Oh, during um those two years, and she met him at a school dance, which I guess they had in college back then.

SPEAKER_00 11:21

They didn't have the clerubs to go to. Right. I wonder how many, like what the ratio of men to women was at that, though. Oh God, I bet it was crazy. Probably so off kilter.

SPEAKER_01 11:30

I bet it was crazy. Yeah. Um, so she met her husband, and in 1939, she graduated from the School of Librarianship at the University of Washington, um, with a second bachelor's degree in library science. Okay. Um, she accepted a year-long position as a children's librarian in Yakima, Washington. Yes. Um, and during this time, her parents actually disapproved of Clarence because he was a Roman Catholic and they were not. They were Protestant. Oh boy. So they said, whatever, and they eloped in 1940. So they said, we don't care, bye. Yeah. So they got married uh during her year there, and she worked as a librarian on post at the U.S. Army Hospital uh on Camp John T. Knight in Oakland, California from 1942 to 1945. Then she worked at Sathergate Bookshop in Berkeley before she became a full-time writer for kids. So here's how she kind of took the jump to become like a full-time author. While she was working as a kids librarian, um, she really empathized with the kids who had come in because they had a hard time finding books with characters they could relate to. Okay, they would ask her questions like, why aren't there more books about like regular kids? And like, and she was like, actually correct. Why aren't there? So after a few years of making recommendations of books that were already around, and then she would also perform like live storytelling at the library. Um, she said, you know what? I'm gonna start writing books about characters that these little young readers can relate to that they're asking for. I want to give them what they're asking for.

SPEAKER_00 13:12

Wow. And boy did she, boy did she, what'd you say? 90 million or something.

SPEAKER_01 13:17

Boy, because in the end, the the when you hear when she started and that the books she wrote so long ago are still like still prevalent and kids are still enjoying them, that is such a talent. I can't even it's like Judy Bloom.

SPEAKER_03 13:33

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 13:33

Um, so after World War II, her and her husband settled in. I love the name of this city, Carmel by the Sea.

SPEAKER_00 13:39

Oh, yeah. Do you know that? It was on curb your enthusiasm. Oh, was it? Yeah, it's it's the episode where someone's getting baptized and Larry thinks they're drowning. You're right. I think that's where they are.

SPEAKER_01 13:51

Oh my god. I didn't know you watched that show. Troy loved yeah, that show. He loves Larry David. Anyway, uh they they settled there and in 1955 she gave birth to twins, uh, Malcolm and Mary Ann.

SPEAKER_00 14:02

Oh.

SPEAKER_01 14:03

And they lived um in Carmel Valley Village from the 1960s on. I think she lived there till she died. Okay. Um, I could be wrong. I don't think I wrote that down, but anyway. So the majority of her books um are actually set in the Grant Park neighborhood of Northeast Portland, Oregon, where she was raised. And she's been credited as one of the first authors of children's literature to figure emotional realism in the narratives of her characters, often children in middle class families. Okay. Now, there's a lot of people who do that now, but she's she was one of the first.

SPEAKER_00 14:38

I mean, that makes sense because if you think about it, I don't I don't know that I can like name them off the top of my head, but a lot of books for kids that featured kids were more like adventure type things. Yeah. Well, like the Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew. It's like what yeah. And what about regular life? What about yeah, what about things that aren't so far out there? Oh, I'll have to tell you about the movie I saw yesterday now that you said Nancy Drew at some point.

Sheep Detectives And Movie Tangents

SPEAKER_00 15:03

Sheep detectives. Sorry to uh derail this conversation. Okay, well now we gotta go into it. Okay, have you heard of it?

SPEAKER_01 15:12

Uh no.

SPEAKER_00 15:12

Neither had I, but is it uh is that one of those like um British claymation ones? That's what it sounds like. It does sound like that, and I thought it would be like that, but it's live action. Few Jackmans in it. Real sheep light. She's like, calm down. It's like they used different sheep, but they there's computer generated portions. Oh, it's like they talk and like babe. It's a lot like babe.

SPEAKER_01 15:36

Okay, except they're sheep.

SPEAKER_00 15:37

Um, I actually really enjoyed it. It's a murder mystery, who done it?

unknown 15:41

I'm not joking.

SPEAKER_00 15:43

And the sheep solved the crime. I know it sounds ridiculous, but I'm telling you, it was really good. Did Tegan want to see it? Yeah, yeah. So Tegan has a summer bucket list. First of all, she's trying to do everything in the first couple days. And we said slow down. Of course, yeah. Summer's long. So her and two of her little neighborhood friends wanted to ride their bikes to the plaza, which is where the cinema is, but none of us felt like super comfortable with them going by themselves yet. Mainly because of cars and stuff. It's just bad traffic and it's it's not super close. So I had some time yesterday. So I was like, I'll ride with you guys, and then we want to see this movie. I'm like, that's fine, I don't care. Whatever you guys want to see. So I don't read up on it, nothing. I'm just like, I'll figure it out when I get there. If it's a cartoon, I'll just take a nap, right? We get the recliner chairs. We go. I'm totally shocked and amazed to see that she's in it. You know who else is in it? Um, Emma Thompson. What? Yeah. And yeah, so it's this like I guess British village rural area, and this guy's a shepherd, Hugh Jackman, and I don't want to spoil it, but anyway, I can probably guarantee I won't watch this movie. But everyone else might. True. And it is summer, it's a good summer movie. And anyway, I cried three different times. It moved me. Plus, the murder mystery storyline surprised me. Like at the end when it was like solved, I was like, oh wow, I didn't even see that coming.

SPEAKER_01 17:07

It's like cinematic genius, sheep detectives. I will I will watch it again.

SPEAKER_00 17:12

It was really good. Wow. Yeah, and the girls loved it, of course. Oh my were the sheep cute? The sheep were so and they had baby lambs. And it was funny because they had three of them, and one of them sheep and lambs, are they the same? Yeah. Okay. Yeah. I I actually had the same thought. I was like lambs. I was like, those are sheep, right? Right? They're just the baby. That's just what you call them. Okay. They're lambs when they're little. So there were three of them. And I was like, oh look, it's you guys. Cause like, yeah. But one of the little ones' names was pickles. Oh my god. So dying. The sheep's names were really cute in the film. Because the big thing was like Hugh Jackman named them all. He said you have to name your sheep. So they all had names and stuff. It was really, really cool.

SPEAKER_01 17:51

Well, you're kind of selling me on this movie. I'm telling you, you will probably actually like it. You know what we watched was Project Hail Mary.

SPEAKER_00 17:58

Oh.

SPEAKER_01 17:58

So I haven't seen that yet. It's so good. Well, I read the book first. Highly recommend reading the book first.

SPEAKER_00 18:04

So sorry about that. But Sheep Detectives highly recommend. Also, Project Hail Mary. Two very different movies. Two very different movies. But you'll cry on both of them. So. And there's really no dogs in the sheep detectives. Don't worry. Two sheep dogs for like a second.

SPEAKER_01 18:19

Two dogs. Two dogs more than I know. For like a second. Oh.

SPEAKER_00 18:22

It's not about the dogs, is what they're doing.

SPEAKER_01 18:23

Thank God. Okay. You know what? My you know what? Caden loved all those um dog movies where they talked super buddies and air buddies and all that. Oh my God. I love those too. I could not. They loved those. Anyway, all right. Moving on.

Why Cleary’s Writing Lasts

SPEAKER_01 18:38

Back to uh Beverly Cleary. Here's some things that uh quotes that critics have said about her. Um Cleary is funny in a very sophisticated way. She gets very close to satire, which I think is why adults like her, but she's still deeply respectful of her characters. Nobody gets a laugh at the expense of another. I think kids appreciate that they're on a level playing field with adults. I love that. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 19:03

Great summary.

SPEAKER_01 19:04

It's kind of things that I hadn't really thought about, that that's why they appeal to kids and adults. Um, Clary's books have lasted because she understands her audience. She knows they're sometimes confused or frightened by the world around them and that they feel deeply about things that adults can dismiss. That which is hard. I mean, I do it all the time, and I have to remind myself, okay, they're just kids.

SPEAKER_00 19:27

Like it is relative, and they don't have the life experience that we do to know it's actually gonna be fine, whatever this thing is. They actually feel however level of emotion they feel. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 19:38

Correct. So, and nothing as a little kid who felt big feelings, nothing made me more mad when I was a kid than somebody tell told me to that to stop being dramatic. Nothing made me more mad, or it's not that big of a deal. Because it was, it was to me.

SPEAKER_00 19:56

Yeah, like so. It discounts. Well, there's a part in the book where her mom is saying that about the teacher. She's like, Well, if you act like this, I wouldn't, I'd think that you were wouldn't like you either, or something. And it like hurts her. She's like, Your mom should be on my side or whatever. But like that was very relatable. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 20:14

I was so Ramona. Listen. Okay. Um, so her first kid's book was Henry Huggins. That was written in 1950. So this was the first in a series of fictional chapter books, just like these, about Henry. You'll love this, his dog Ribsey. Oh, cute. And his neighborhood friend Bezus and her little sister Ramona. So when she was writing the book, um, Beverly Cleary took inspiration from the times she um wrote stories for children during her story hours when she was storytelling. Um, and then Ramona was just a minor character in the book of Henry Huggins, but I'll explain to you how that got to be a little bit bigger. So, in a minute, Cleary's um her first book that shifted focus to center on Beesus and Ramona um was called Bezus and Ramona, and it was published in 1955, so a few years after Henry Huggins. Um, a publisher asked her to write a book about a kindergarten student, and she resisted because she didn't go to kindergarten. That's what she said. Like, I never went to kindergarten, I can't write about it. But later she changed her mind um after her twins were born.

SPEAKER_03 21:24

Oh.

SPEAKER_01 21:26

Other classics that um Beverly Cleary wrote that you may know, like I just said, the Ralph S S. Mouse books, those she started in 1965. Oh wow. Those were some of my favorite Beverly Cleary books when I was a kid. Uh, Dear Mr. Henshaw, which I told you about. That was written in 1983.

SPEAKER_00 21:40

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 21:41

Um, she wrote a book called Socks, which I completely forgot about until I came across it and I went, Oh my god, I love that book. Guys, it's about a cat named Sox. Uh oh. Everything okay. That's good, yeah. Um, it's about a pampered tabby cat who has to learn to share his owner when they have a new baby.

SPEAKER_00 22:00

Oh my gosh.

SPEAKER_01 22:01

It's written from the cat's perspective.

SPEAKER_00 22:02

Oh, that's cute.

SPEAKER_01 22:03

I forgot about this book. So we may have to read that. That was written in 1973. Okay. So some of these books that were written like earlier, my sister had, and I got them from her, and then the ones she wrote later I had. But if if you're a Zennial, you may know some of those books because they were probably on your elementary teacher's shelf or in your library. Um, she also actually wrote two two memoirs, one about her childhood, and that was called A Girl from Yam Hill, 1988, is when it came out. And then she won, she wrote one about her years in college and as an adult up to writing her first book. And that was called My Own Two Feet, and that came out in 1995. Okay. So she was she lived a while when she wrote it. Yeah. Um, these are just some more fun fun facts about her specifically, and then we'll talk about Ramona books. Um, she did have a public school in Portland named after her, the Beverly Cleary School. She's had several um statues of some of her most care famous characters, including Ramona, um, erected in Grant Park in 1995. So you can go to Little Park, and there's like Henry and Ramona. Oh, I love that. Um, her books have been published in over 25 different languages, guys. Wow. She's gotten tons of awards and honors, and here's just a few. In 1981, she won the National Book Award for Ramona and her mother. That's the name of the book. 1984, she got the Newberry Medal for Dear Mr. Henshaw. Um, for her lifetime contributions to American literature, she received the National Medal of Arts, which is kind of a big deal. Um, she got recognition as a Library of Congress living legend. Love. And the Laura Ingalls-Wilder Medal from the Association for Library Service to Children. So she's and there's plenty more she's gotten, but those are just a few of the standouts. Um, this is really fun, especially after reading this book. Publisher Harper Collins recognizes her birthday, April 12th, as National Drop Everything and Read Day, dear day. Um, in promotion of sustained silent reading.

SPEAKER_00 24:02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 24:03

As you read about in this book, which we read about, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 24:05

So did you have that in school? Yes. I don't think it was called that, but we had reading time and we had journaling time, depending what grade I was in. Yeah, we would like to write about. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 24:17

I loved, I think we called it deer. I think we called it deer. I loved it so much. For because all the book nerds out there were like, yes, because you try to read anyway throughout your school day. Like, especially like I would finish work early and you can't do anything, but your teacher would be like, Well, you can read a book, and I'd be like, Yes, that's all I want to do. So I'd like to rush through my math, which I didn't like anyway, and get to your reading. Get to my book. I had stuff to do. Okay.

Ramona Quimby, Age Eight Summary

SPEAKER_01 24:43

So now we're gonna talk about Ramona Quimby, age eight, and we'll talk of little things, and then I have discussion questions. Ooh! I know. Funny, okay. That'll be Um, I have some stuff thrown into about the other Ramona books as well, since this is the only one I'm reading. But first, here is the summary from the back of the book of Ramona Quimby, age eight. Now that Ramona is eight years old, she's doing all kinds of things she's never done before. She's in a new school with a new teacher, and best of all, she takes the school bus all by herself. But since her mother works and her daddy's in art school, Ramona has to stay with old Miss Kemp every day until Bezus comes for her. And as if all that isn't bad enough, she has to be nice to four-year-old Willa Jean. Ramona knows the family is depending on her to be brave with all these changes, but sometimes it's hard. Can Ramona really handle a new school, help out at home, put up with Willa Jean, and still keep smiling? Dun dun dun. Can she indeed?

SPEAKER_00 25:42

We're gonna fucking.

SPEAKER_01 25:45

Okay, so before we did you have fun listening to this book.

SPEAKER_00 25:48

I really enjoyed it. It's so good. I really enjoyed it.

SPEAKER_01 25:51

I don't even know the amount of times I read this book as a kid. It was a lot. Because I think like that was like one of my like anxiety techniques was rereading books. Um, but I haven't touched this since Cooper was probably around this age. So it's been years, and oh my God, it's still so fun.

SPEAKER_00 26:08

Yeah, and I think that yes, there's a lot of things that like as you're reading, you're like, oh, I could see how a kid would really like this. But then there's a lot of things as an adult that you process differently. Absolutely. The parent stuff for sure. Because I'm sure if I read this as a kid or with my kids, whatever, you kind of you put yourself in Ramona's shoes. That's the beauty of it. But then when you're a parent reading, you're like, oh, I know why the mom said that, or I say stuff like that, or I know why the dad, or or even just like the financial jigsaw that is, you know, two working parents and then one's in school, but you get your transmission goes out. You know, like yeah, I don't know. It just kind of I I really had moments where I was toggling between like kid me. Yeah. That was like, oh yeah, I remember feeling like that, and adult me that's like, oh yeah, like she got that family dynamic right or whatever. Yeah. I really, yeah, I really enjoyed it.

SPEAKER_01 27:00

It was it was so funny to read it back as an adult for that exact reason. It's like, oh, I know why her dad's grumpy. He's tired and you'd be annoying. Like or why did he work? Yes, or why the teacher is the way she is, or whatever. Yeah. Right. Okay, so here's some more facts about this book and the other Ramona

Reading As A Kid Versus Parent

SPEAKER_01 27:21

books. So this book was published in 1981. Okay, so my sister must not have had this book. It was just mine. Um, and it is number six in the eight book series. All of the Ramona books together, I'm gonna tell you the titles and the year they came out. Okay. So Bezus and Ramona was 1955, Ramona the Pest, 1968, Ramona the Brave, 1975, Ramona and her father, 1977, Ramona and her mother, 1979, Ramona Quimby, H8, 1981, Ramona Forever, 1984, and then Ramona's World, 1999. Whoa, yeah. Okay. Yeah. So the idea for the Ramona books, like we talked about, came from Henry Huggins series. It takes place in the same neighborhood. Um, in those books, Bezus was one of Henry's friends, and then Ramona was just like a side character. She was like generally just a pest to Henry. She was like an annoying little sister. Um, so while writing the Henry Huggins series, she realized that all the characters, all the characters she had created so far while she was writing had no siblings. So she was like, Well, let me throw in a little sister to describe Bezus' nickname, whose full name is Beatrice, by the way. Um, and when deciding on a name for the little sister, you'll love this as a writer. She was working at home writing, and she overheard one of her own neighbors call out to another one, Ramona. And she was like, Oh, I like that name. I'm gonna use that. That's awesome. Isn't that hilarious? Yeah. So somebody just calling out their window, whether they're calling to a kid or a person or a cat, who knows? So that's how she came up with her name. So that's kind of how the story of Ramona came around. In 1955, after she had written three books in the Henry series, she wrote Bezus and Ramona, and Bezus is the main character in that book, not Ramona. The first one. Yeah, the first one. Got it. And in 1968, she had finished the Henry series and she returned to Bezus and Ramona in Ramona the Pest. And that book became the foundation for the Ramona series, where Ramona is the character. Okay. So she had one from Bezus, and then I guess she was just gonna do one for Ramona, but then she was like, Well, she's more fun to write about.

SPEAKER_00 29:32

Yeah, and she's younger, so she's got more like space to grow and go through things.

SPEAKER_01 29:37

Exactly. And so all the Ramona books come from her point of view. So Ramona the Pest has Ramona starting kindergarten, and then the succeeding books follow her as she grows up and advances through school, usually at the rate of one grade over two books. Okay. So written um from the 1950s all the way through the 90s, as you heard, um, the dates aren't mentioned in the books. The the children are designed to appeal to any time period. So she tries really hard not to like speak too much of what is it.

SPEAKER_00 30:12

If I don't know if you notice that when you're I mean, I'm thinking about it now as you're saying that. Like there weren't really pop culture references, uh, and even the jobs that like her parents have are pretty uh universal jobs that are gonna roll the dice, but probably like receptionists and teachers and grocery store workers is like a pretty common thing that's gonna be around in our culture for a long time. So I kind of like that.

SPEAKER_01 30:41

She wanted it to be as timeless as it could be, you know. And so the last book, uh, which was in 99, Ramona was in the fourth grade. So I was gonna ask you that. How old did she get by the end? Fourth grade.

SPEAKER_00 30:52

All right.

SPEAKER_01 30:52

And generally, I mean, critics have been really positive about the Ramona books. So here's some quotes from them about them specifically. Um, Ramona is irrepressible. She represents the kind of girl who has not been subdued by adults or the world in general. Um, Cleary outlines Ramona's joys and sorrows in a manner both poignant and how do you say that word? Poignant poignant. I always say that wrong. That word.

SPEAKER_00 31:15

Poignant.

SPEAKER_01 31:16

There you go.

SPEAKER_00 31:16

Poignant.

SPEAKER_01 31:17

And hilarious. Um, through Ramona, Cleary touches young readers on an emotional level, which engages in challenges, but does not overwhelm. Her ability to sustain their attention over time from book to book remains an accomplishment beyond evaluation. Uh, greed. Yes. Um, so nowadays, I mean, these books are kind of considered like a standard in children's what they call realistic fiction, but they were super unique when they first started coming out. Like we said, there weren't a lot, which is why she started writing them. Um, Ramona's complexity, like those critics just explained, was really unusual to find in kids' literature. It they were just kind of, I don't know, they were like adventure books or whatever, or like Dick and Jane. And, you know, it wasn't there wasn't a lot of emotional depth, I guess. And what I thought was interesting was there was one critic who was saying, like, seen through the eyes of any other character, Ramona could just be seen as like a nuisance, like an annoying puss. But when you hear from her point of view, it changes everything and all of her actions make sense. Yes. So what is seen as others as annoying, like her teacher, to her makes complete sense. You know, like so I think that that is that's very difficult as an author to do for kids.

SPEAKER_00 32:39

Yeah. I think so. And it does make you empathize with her, right? When when she overhears the teacher not speaking super kindly about her, or when she has it, the embarrassing things happen, or even being sick, like again, those aren't those aren't things that it's a good reminder as a parent, too. I was realizing, and as a teacher, like kids don't do those things to be annoyed. I know. They don't like the questions. I mean, they're sure, but like most of the time, if we're bothered by it, it's because it's like interrupting what we're trying to get done. Yeah, you know, and it's totally normal for kids of all ages, but certainly like eight years old, oh yeah, to behave the way she does this book. Of course, of course. Developmentally appropriate is what we would say.

SPEAKER_01 33:28

Of course, of course. So we're almost to our discussion questions. Two more little fun facts. These books, and I looked this up because I remember this, they were adapted for a Canadian TV series in 1998, 1988 called Ramona. I'm pretty sure that they showed it either on like PBS or HBO or something, because I remember watching it. Um, and it was just called Ramona. It was a 10-part

Ramona Series Timeline And Timelessness

SPEAKER_01 33:54

TV series, and it starred Sarah Pauly, not that Sarah Pauly, um, as Ramona, and Lori Chodos as Beezus. And I think if you looked it up, you would recognize these kids. Okay. And they follow the books pretty close. Um, and I looked up some clips and I'm like, God, I remember watching this. But they had this book with like all the scenes, and she's in the office, and the teacher comes in and says she's a nuisance and all the things. But they did have a TV series, and then I don't know if you remember this. They did make an American movie called Ramona and Bezus. Not Bezus and Ramona. Oh, I know, and it came out in 2010. Um, it had Joey King as Ramona and Selena Gomez as Bezus. I don't remember that at all. I do. I'd never watched it. Um, and that the movie jumps around from book to book, but the plot mainly focuses on the seventh book in the series, Ramona Forever. Okay. So I haven't watched it. Maybe I should.

SPEAKER_00 34:53

Yeah, maybe you should.

SPEAKER_01 34:54

I bet you they try to make it like two of the time.

SPEAKER_00 34:58

That's what I was just wondering. Like, do they make it like modern or they set it back? But since she never lists, they probably made it modern.

SPEAKER_01 35:05

But then

Adaptations And Discussion Questions Begin

SPEAKER_01 35:06

I bet you they threw stupid stuff in. That doesn't need to be.

SPEAKER_00 35:08

But like, Are You Their Goddess Me Margaret? The movie was a period piece. True. I never watched it though.

SPEAKER_01 35:13

But that that one you had to have. I mean, that was of the time. I mean, like, even just like how you had a period and like how you used products with a belt, and oh my god, can you imagine?

SPEAKER_00 35:23

That's true. That's a good point. That kind of stuff was dated, I guess.

SPEAKER_01 35:27

Yeah. Okay. You ready? Ready for discussion? So pumped. Now, these are from Beverly Cleary's uh website. Okay. So these are probably for kids, but whatever, it doesn't matter. We are going to do We are honorary kids today. Because we read this book.

SPEAKER_00 35:43

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 35:44

Okay, so here we go. Okay. And if you read this book with us, we want to know what you thought. And you can answer the questions to yourself and send us your answers if you want. Okay. So why is it so hard for Ramona to be nice to Howie Camp's four-year-old sister, Willa Jean? Ooh, that is loaded. What do you think? Well, okay, as somebody who's the youngest in their house, even if you just have one sibling and then you're around another younger person, you don't know how to handle the dynamics of dealing with younger people. You know what I'm saying? Because you're the annoying one. And so then it's just like extra exhausting because you're like, well, uh, how dare. And it's almost like a mirror to yourself, but you don't know that. That's what the problem is.

SPEAKER_00 36:30

That's what I was gonna say. Is that Willagene is like her. Right. Probably when she was that age, but even now, as you mentioned. And so she's kind of on the receiving end now, right? And so that makes it, and also she's not the center of that like youngest attention. Someone else is, and she's being called upon to be the bigger person. Right. Which, like in her own house, she doesn't have to do. Exactly. So yeah, I think that's why I think it's just the the dynamic itself. I don't necessarily think it's Willie Jean's. No. And I don't think she's more annoying than like any other four-year-old. Four-year-old. She reminded me of my daughter Erin at that age. Erin was has always been like spotlight, Tiara, look at me. Like when I think I've told the story before, but when COVID happened, she would start coming to the breakfast table in full makeup. She'd wear wigs, and we'd be like, So fine, we wouldn't say anything. And then finally we were like, What's going on? She's like, Well, you said I can wear makeup just not to school. So she would wear like six or seven years old. She would wear like full that is hysterical. She would wear like this mermaid costume. Like so Willagene was really, and she always wanted to be old, like I'm older than I am.

SPEAKER_01 37:48

She wasn't six or seven during COVID.

SPEAKER_00 37:50

That was middle school.

SPEAKER_01 37:51

They were in middle school. No, Erin. Yeah. Aaron and Cooper are this. I mean, oh yeah. They weren't in middle school during the Caden was. You're right.

SPEAKER_00 38:00

Caden, yeah. I was like, wait a minute. Yeah, she would have been. Seven. You're right. Because that was six years old. She was a year older than Cooper. Yeah. And he was yes. So she was about seven. Okay. Yeah. I'm like, no, she was. You're like, Danny, my kid. I know how old I am. I promise. And I can see her little face. And yeah, and she was she was always, you know, and because my three older ones are so close in age, and then there's a gap for her, she's not like that drastically much younger than all of them, but they always would kind of view her as like, oh, the annoying little sister, and not each other. Right. Because they were kind of all the same age. So I don't know, Willie Jean just reminded me of her. That's hilarious. I thought it was really cute. Okay.

SPEAKER_01 38:38

Well, here's another question about that. Why does Ramona's mother say that getting along at the camps is Ramona's job in the family?

SPEAKER_00 38:49

Probably just to try to not scare her, but like guilt her into behaving. Right. That's what I think.

SPEAKER_01 38:56

Yeah. Well, and also maybe she was also kind of backhandedly trying to give her like a responsibility. Like, okay, well, your dad is going to school and working, and I'm doing this, and Bees is doing this. And this is your responsibility. I think so. This is what you're gonna do. And you're gonna keep it together.

SPEAKER_00 39:11

This is what we're asking of you.

SPEAKER_01 39:12

It reminded me of, because like I grew up with working parents, and then you know, my parents split up. So I always had somebody taking care of me at some point in time, whether it was my older sister or uh my grandma moved down at some point. But before that, there was a lady who lived down the street who's like Miss Kemp and her name was Miss Betty. Betty Sparks was her name. And that's where the neighborhood kids would go. Like if they, you know, she was retired, you know, a retired lady. And um, I remember having to go there sometimes, and I hated going there because it was boring. And she had, I don't remember if it was her granddaughter or somebody in her family, but she had a little girl she would have to watch just like this. She was a lot younger than me, though, like more than four years, and I would have to entertain her, and I hated that. I would be like, ugh. And I was like, Ramona, I just want to sit on my butt and read my book until I could leave. Yes. And then I'd have to entertain this little girl, and I totally forgot about that. And I still remember going to Miss Betty's house because so stupid. You know, I remember her dog, she had a cocker spaniel. We also had a cocker spaniel that was like unhinged. Her dog was nice, but you would go to her door and she had like a courtyard thing, so there was like a gate, and the dog would just run around in the courtyard, and so you'd go to like ring the bell or whatever, and I can't can't remember the dog's name, and the dog would always be like waiting there, and I'd be like, oh, the stupid dog. And it it wasn't a jumpy dog, it was fine, it was a dog though, but I was like, oh and you probably didn't want to be there, and I didn't want to be there anyway. Miss Betty was perfectly nice, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 40:47

But uh, it's just this the circumstances, yeah. Yeah, I think all those things are why her mom kind of put that on her job in the family, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 40:57

Yep. And my mom would be like, Well, I don't know, Tara's not gonna be here, and whoever you're gonna miss Betty's be like, no. Right. No, but when you're a working parent, I mean, you know, yeah, you do what you gotta do. Do what you gotta do. You gotta do what you gotta do. All right. So number two, how does Ramona manage to deal with Danny, a boy on her school bus when he calls her Bigfoot? How does she manage to deal with it? That's what it says. Um, do you remember what she does? She snaps back at him and says, Yeah, she she says, um This is yard ape? Yeah, okay.

SPEAKER_00 41:31

Okay. Sorry. I was like, who's Danny? She says it's superfoot to you or something like that. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Superfoot. Yeah, that's right.

SPEAKER_01 41:38

Which man, good for her. Good for her. Eight years old? I know. That's one of those things that you think like, okay, I was picked on a lot as a kid. And so I was never quick enough with Quips back. Me either.

SPEAKER_00 41:49

Still, I'm still not. I am now, but like you are, not me. I'm like, let me text you later. Something better. Even my own children, I'm like, ooh, you burned me. I'll hit you up later. And then an hour later, ooh, I got one.

SPEAKER_01 42:04

Yeah. Hey, as long as it comes, it doesn't matter. Well, I I had nothing to say. And I mean, part of being made fun of a lot when I was a kid has made me be good at Snapbacks now because I couldn't do it. I couldn't, well, and I was not as confident. Ramona is a confident little girl. She is not scared of that kid. She'd be like, listen, she is super foot to you. Yeah. And I was sassy too, but like to to like the people who made fun of me, I just could not stand up to them. I just couldn't do it. Um, because then you have fear of being made fun of more. I know. When I was in high school, I eventually got over that. And I remember that there was this one guy uh who was a football player, of course, and he was extremely good looking, but he was a huge asshole. And I'm sure he's nice now. I mean, he was a young teenage kid. Sure. But you know, typical jock, whatever. And I could not stand him. I was like the only per I was like, I felt like I was the only person who saw him for what he really was. Do you know what I mean? Yes. And I just could not stand him. Everybody had crushes on him, and like I was like, guys, he's a douchebag. My apologies if you're a nice person now, sir. I'm not saying your name because maybe you're not, and you're a huge, horrible asshole still. Anyway, we were going to our grad night trip here down to Disney, and I we were uh, and I had a huge graduating class, so we were on lots of different buses, and he was on my bus, and I was like, ugh. Well, him and like a bunch of other football players were drunk, came drunk on the bus. Teachers couldn't do anything because they weren't drinking actively, they were already drunk. So they were being loud and obnoxious, and m my friends and I were setting a few rows in front, and so they just start being fuckheads, and he starts throwing shit like little spitballs and stupid like teenage boys do. And I and everybody was like, Oh great. And uh finally I was like, Can you fucking stop? Like, or something. I was like, quit, just can you please stop? Nobody gives a care what you're doing. And he was like, Oh, you stupid bitch, you know, whatever. But I was like, I couldn't take it anymore. And I was like, that's it. I'm done. I'm done with you thinking you're beautiful. Like you can throw spitballs at people. I let me be on this bus in my pajamas.

SPEAKER_00 44:15

Let me just chill and read my book on this bus. Why why do I gotta deal with your spitballs?

SPEAKER_01 44:20

I still remember that because I was like, you said something. I was like, I hate and because you know what it is? It's like that whole, that whole like uh jock popular person just think they can do whatever they want. And I was like, I'm just gonna do it. And you didn't like it. I was so sick of it.

SPEAKER_00 44:34

But anyway, um, I like that Ramona was quick with her quips. Me too, me too. And that she stood up for herself. She did. And I mean, I think that's a testament to like a because a lot of the things she's going through, I they don't show her as they don't mean she's weak, but it's just like showing normal struggles. And so to see her in a moment that's not weakness, where it could be like, oh, like he's mean to me and I'm being bullied and all this stuff, which is totally within anyone's right to feel that way. But to see her like kind of have that strength in her wasn't is nice because as the reader, especially if you're uh empathizing with her, oh yeah, it's a moment where you can be like, it's like a victory for you too. Cause then you're like, I can do that. Right.

SPEAKER_01 45:19

Maybe I can say something back totally. Yep. Yeah. So, but here's the interesting part, and we'll talk about this. It says, Why is it that once she gets her eraser back from him, Ramona begins to sort of like him? Hmm. I always I always thought that was so weird in the book.

SPEAKER_00 45:34

Do you remember? Because he was like kind of well, yeah, because then like she doesn't stay mad at him for the rest of the book. No, they kind of become friends and she kind of likes him. I wonder if it's just a level playing field respect thing. Maybe like she feels respected and he but she demanded respect from him, which now he's giving. Oh, that's deep. Which he should have respected her just period. But maybe that's it. Like, like they say, and who knows, this is not my actual advice, so please don't take it. But when you stand up to bullies and they don't bully you, I don't know that that's actually.

SPEAKER_01 46:12

That's also not true.

SPEAKER_00 46:14

But it's that that idea, right? That like when you push back, sometimes that boundary is what people need to be like, oh, okay, I guess you're not someone I can push around.

SPEAKER_03 46:26

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 46:27

Now that doesn't explain that explains why maybe he might treat her better, but that doesn't really explain why like now she's being nice to him. Right. Which is funny. We had something in Dawson's Creek like that too. We should that I was gonna bring up when we get there. We sure did. And we're gonna be able to do that. But I was like, why?

SPEAKER_01 46:40

Why?

SPEAKER_00 46:41

But anyway, so much to say about these last few episodes of Dawson's Creek.

SPEAKER_01 46:44

Oh my goodness. Y'all need to go listen to those episodes. We're almost there. Almost done. Um, okay, number three. Why does Miss Whaley, Ramona's third grade teacher, excuse me, call sustained silent reading period dear? She what is it? Uh drop everything and read. Yeah. Why why does she call it that? I don't remember what she said. I don't either. She said she wanted to call it something more fun or something like that. And then she said, why doesn't Ramona like the name? I can't remember. I can't either. Wow, we are doing great on this question.

SPEAKER_00 47:17

She doesn't like which name? Sustained silent reading or do you hear that?

SPEAKER_01 47:20

I don't remember she she didn't like she didn't like deer. Oh. And she called it drop everything and run. Oh. Yeah. I can't remember why. I don't either. Well, we'll just oh well skip on. Keep going. Um why is it the best part of the school day, according to Ramona and Howie? Now I don't remember what Howie said. Me either.

SPEAKER_00 47:40

But I guess it must be similar to what she said.

SPEAKER_01 47:43

What Ramona said, which she just is excited to be able to read for exactly what I said, because then you don't have to hide it and you can just read and everybody leaves you alone, and it's the best.

SPEAKER_00 48:04

Classic.

SPEAKER_01 48:04

Katie's reading ahead.

SPEAKER_00 48:05

I was. I know what you're gonna say.

SPEAKER_01 48:08

Um, who started the hard-boiled egg fat at school and what happens when Ramona tries to follow the fat? Now, these questions are written for kids, and they're just trying to help help them with their critical thinking, their critical thinking, and their reading comprehension to remember facts, which we just failed on number three. We did. Um failing on reading comprehension section of our test today. I don't remember who started it. It was yard ape. Oh, it was. That's right. Yeah, it's now that sounds disgusting with tons of kids bringing hard-boiled eggs. I know.

SPEAKER_00 48:38

That would smell so horrible. It was like there was some fad before it that she mentions that she knew her mom wouldn't let her do because it had to do with like junk food. Oh but then when yard ape started bringing hard-boiled egg, she knew her mom would let her do that because it's like a healthy protein food.

SPEAKER_01 48:55

She didn't get the right egg. So if y'all haven't read this book, we won't ruin it for you. It's the whole book, but this part we will. Yeah. So they bring these hard-boiled eggs, and they're the thing they like to do, the kids, is to smash it against their head to to start the peeling process. Well, Ramona does it, and the egg, she grabbed the wrong egg and it wasn't boiled, and it just got all over. Bless her heart. Had to go to like the office, and it was like a whole thing, and uh it was so funny. She was so mad at her mom. Valid. Yeah, like valid.

SPEAKER_00 49:28

She did not hard-boiled egg. Because she even checks with her mom before she leaves that day. She's like, Did you put my hard-boiled egg in there? And her mom's like, Yes, it's in there. Like, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 49:38

But it's so funny. If y'all want, look up the clip from the Canadian TV series, because it's the little girl actress is so cute and she does such a good job. And she does it. She has a real egg. Yes, it's so funny. But I was just thinking, what were some school lunch fads when we were kids? Oh gosh. Do you remember? I remember like the thermos, like bringing, I would we talked about that, Chef Weardy. I would bring Chef Wear D and a thermos. Do you remember? I I don't know if this if your school did this. Do you remember I think I was like in middle school when people would do this? They would bring dry packets of ramen, and you wouldn't, you would just like open it, sprinkle the seasoning, and then crunch it up and then eat it like chips. Did you do that? Oh, I don't remember. Maybe that was a regional thing.

SPEAKER_00 50:24

That's so I mean that doesn't sound terrible. That's it.

SPEAKER_01 50:30

We did that. We did it. I can't, I can't really think of any like specifically. I don't know why I remember and trying to think of other ones. Oh, well, little Debbie snacks were always ahead of. Of course.

SPEAKER_00 50:40

Of course.

SPEAKER_01 50:40

I remember when Gushers came out. Gusher's bag. And my mom was pretty, we ate, we ate all the junk food, so whatever. Um, I would beg my mom to bring to get the gushers. Yep. What else? My kids still love those.

SPEAKER_00 50:53

Uh, fruit by the foot was when came out when we were young, like it was a newer thing. And fruit roll-ups. Y'all saw my trick with the fruit roll-up on my finger. And bugles.

SPEAKER_01 51:02

We also ate bugles off our fingers.

SPEAKER_00 51:04

I love those. I I try to not have them in my house. I will eat them all.

SPEAKER_01 51:07

That's me and Oreos.

SPEAKER_00 51:08

And they make me feel so sick. But I can't stop.

SPEAKER_01 51:11

Can I tell you guys there is a snack food that is about to have to be blacklisted at my house because I can't stop eating it. Now listen, I love snack foods and I'm not I'm not saying foods, but there's things I don't have control over. Right. It's it's the extreme things, right? Like Oreos. I can only have Oreos in my house every now and then because no nobody else really likes they'll they'll like them, but I shovel them in my mouth. So Trader Joe's, we talked about these before, has these fake talkies, but not the spicy talkies. They're cool ranch ones. Yep. I love them. Guys, I can't stop eating them. They're so good. And nobody else really, like everybody can, that's like hit or miss in my house. Every day I eat them. I eat them every day with my lunch, whatever it happens to be, even if it doesn't match. So like I had like eggs and something, and I was like, and ranch talkies.

SPEAKER_00 52:01

They're so good. They're really good. We like those in my house. We like both in my house, but yeah. And they're like cheap. They're like two bucks a bag.

SPEAKER_01 52:08

And so I buy like three bags. It's so bad. I have to stop. I have to stop because I can't. But y'all need to know if you haven't had that snack and you like ranch flavored stuff, go to your Trader Joe's. If you don't have one, I will buy I will buy some and mail them to you because they are that good. They're really good. That they remind me of when I first found dots pretzels a few years back, and I couldn't stop eating those. I love them. And now they have all the flavors.

SPEAKER_00 52:31

It's the honey mustard.

Food Fads And Lunchbox Nostalgia

SPEAKER_01 52:33

And I like to mix them. Okay, now we're hungry.

SPEAKER_00 52:35

All right, now we're hungry. Happy time.

SPEAKER_01 52:37

Okay, so let's talk about this. We don't have to go through all these questions, but what does Ramona overhear Miss Whaley saying about her and why does it hurt her feelings?

SPEAKER_00 52:46

It's it's yeah, it's how she's talking about. She's a nuisance and a show off. Yeah. Yeah. And why does it hurt her feelings? Because it is kind of a mean thing to say about a kid. She says later in the book, not to anyone out loud, but in her head, she asked her mom how teachers are paid.

SPEAKER_03 53:02

Oh, right.

SPEAKER_00 53:02

And her mom's like, Well, we all pay teachers with our taxes. And she was like, Well, I think we should stop paying taxes. And in her head, she's like, My teacher is paid to like me. Right. And so this feels like her teacher doesn't like her.

SPEAKER_01 53:14

Well, and it's her fault. And then she finds out she wasn't saying Ramona was a nuisance. She was saying it was a nuisance for the lady to have to white wash the egg out of her hair.

SPEAKER_00 53:23

Yeah, it was misunderstanding.

SPEAKER_01 53:24

It was out of context. Um, and so, but then it says, Do you really, do you think Ramona really is a show-off and a nuisance? No. No, I don't either. I think she kind of is a show-off and she even admits it. But I but a lot of show offs are. I not in the way of like, I am a diva show-off. Okay. Just in the way of she likes to make people laugh. True. And so that can be mistaken as trying to like be an attention hog or whatever. But I think she just likes to be silly and she likes to like have people be silly with her. And I don't think that's being a show-off. I mean, it is, but not not in a negative way though.

SPEAKER_00 54:03

Right. It's just a personality trait. Yes. And it's what she kind of brings to the social atmosphere. Yes. Yeah, I don't think she's I don't think she's a show-off. Um, and I always hated that when I was a kid. I think I've told you a story about one of my grandpas kind of saying something like that to me once. Oh, yeah. Where he's like, Well, sh you think you're great and you think you're whatever. And I was kind of thinking, like, yeah, I do think I'm great. You know what I mean? Like, what's it to you? Like, why do you care, Grandpa? Of course I'm great. Of course I'm great. What's wrong with that? You know, right? So I I kind of empathized with her for that. Where, you know, where like when you it's it's even goes back to the memes that we see nowadays that are like, take up space and this and that, that her he overhearing that almost could cause her to shrink back from who she is. Right. Right. And I think we've all either, oh my god, someone say something about us like that, or got that feeling that someone was trying to make us smaller in whatever moment it was, and it still happens as adults, by the way. Oh my god. Um, when you actively have to push back against that and be like, no, this is who I am, and I'm gonna take up space and I'm gonna say how I feel and I'm gonna whatever. And that's essentially what's happening to her here, even if a little bit of it is like a misunderstanding. Look, we're getting deep today.

SPEAKER_01 55:18

We're getting deep. Who knew Ramona? Yep. Well, it's like, you know, like we were just saying, I was told so much when I was a kid, like, quit being so dramatic. Like, quit, it's not that big of a deal. Like, calm down. I mean, the night my dad died, and I was young, I was 11, and my grandma said, like, I started to freak out. Now, meanwhile, my sister's losing her shit. My mom's making phone calls, and my I I start to panic, and my grandma was like, no, no, we're not doing that right now. We're not doing that right now. Only to me, and I I'm not really sure why. I still don't know. I wish I could figure out what her thought process was in that moment. But like, I was a big everybody is is a big feeler. Every human being has big feelings. Let me put it that way. Some of us just express them more grandly. Some of some people just wear their things on the outside more. That is what I have always done. But I was told for so long when I was a kid not to do that and like to keep it together and just like and it sucks because now I I'm just let it all out. And sometimes I do have to, I mean, you have to rein it back in just because like guys, like not everything has to be a big deal. But I hear myself sometimes say that to my youngest, and I have to rank like undo it because I'm like, oh no, no, no, feel your feels, or I'll say, I know you feel like this is a big deal right now, and that's valid. Like those are your feelings. One day you won't feel like this.

SPEAKER_00 56:41

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 56:42

Right now you do, or like, or you know, and or I'll say, go ahead and go cry, go feel your feels, and then the next day move on, right? Yes, do your things. But sometimes I'm like, yeah, I remember being told that a lot. Or, you know, I'm a loud person being told all the time to take it down, take it down a notch. I mean, not granted. I do need to be. I have no inside voice, and that's a problem.

SPEAKER_00 57:03

Yeah, I mean But you know what I mean. I do, I do, and I think I think we've all, like I said, had those moments where someone has told us to shrink back, especially girls. The only thing I can think with your grandma, and this is just a total outsider perspective, is that if you were panicking, maybe it was just like one more thing to worry about that they didn't want to worry about. I don't know, because I feel like I've never been in those shoes, but if I was the grandma or the mom, like to my kids, I would let them kind of freak out. Yeah, and I'd be freaking out, you know. So I don't know. And I mean, not that it's an excuse, but she's from a different generation.

SPEAKER_01 57:41

I know. And like my sister had a lot of things going on, and so a lot of attention had to be given to her like medical things. Um anyway. And so I don't know, it's just weird. Anyway, that's a whole nother story. We ain't going into that.

SPEAKER_00 57:59

No, no, not right now, not right now.

SPEAKER_01 58:01

So let's talk about this, and then this will be our last question. Okay. When Ramona and her older sister Bezus complain about what they are eating for dinner, Mr. Quimby decides the two girls will make dinner the following night. Do you think this is a reasonable punishment?

SPEAKER_03 58:16

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 58:18

Okay, I thought the opposite. Really? Because Ramona's eight years old, and her sister was not much older. They don't know what they're doing, and you're gonna put them in there with fire. And like I mean, there are so many hazards. Like if I did that to my kids at that age, they would have burned the house down or hurt themselves.

SPEAKER_00 58:34

I mean, I guess it depends if they're prescribing what they have to make or if it's

Show-Off Labels And Big Feelings

SPEAKER_00 58:38

some well, that's what I'm saying. So maybe make something within your means. If you don't know how to use the stove, then I'll I think that's the punishment, although they did use probably things that might have been potentially dangerous. But I think his whole point was if you don't like it, then you need a taste of like what goes into this.

SPEAKER_01 58:56

I mean, I understand what his theory was, but I just thought, absolutely not. Like that's unsafe. Now, in my house, you complain what we're eating, then you just don't eat. Like, no, you may not go make yourself something else. No, this is if if I make this, this is what we're eating for dinner. I'll tell you a funny story about broccoli. Ooh. So I have piggy eaters. Okay, even my husband's a picky eater, and I am not, and so my tolerance for picky eating is very little. And the more children we had, which is only two, they're multiplying. It got it got less. Well, my husband's the first piggy eater, then Caden, and then so by Cooper, I was like, I am over these people, and I'm the one who's in charge of most of the meals in my house. So, anyways, we had a rule when the kids were smaller that I started with Cooper, which was you don't have to eat, we don't have like a clean plate situation, but you do have to eat the vegetables that I mean when they were little, you have to eat all the vegetables on your plate. Okay. Everything else, you don't have to finish, but the vegetables are uh non-negotiable. Well, Cooper liked to push boundaries, even as like a toddler. And I was like, if you don't finish what you're having for dinner right now, then you can have it in the morning. Because it wasn't just like I'm not hungry anymore, it's just like I don't want to eat this. So he decided to test me one day. Now Caden figured out really quickly, let me just eat this broccoli and then I'll eat the rest of the, you know, I'll eat it

Dinner Punishments And Picky Eaters

SPEAKER_01 1:00:25

and then it's fine. Cooper was like, I don't want to eat the broccoli. He was like four. And I said, Okay, well, you want it in the morning for breakfast? Because you're not gonna have snacks. Like, if you don't eat what you're having for dinner, you don't get snacks later. Like, sorry, because you whatever. And he's like, Yeah, and I said, Okay, and he goes, I will eat my broccoli for breakfast. I don't want it right now. I said, Okay. Packed up the broccoli, put it in the fridge in the morning. He gets to the breakfast table, there's the cold, disgusting ass broccoli. And he goes, I'm gonna eat that for lunch. I swear to you. I said, Fine. Pack it up, put it. He gets the broccoli for the third time, and Caden was and it was during the summer, and Caden was like, just eat the broccoli, Cooper. Yeah, she's gonna keep giving it to you. Like, because he was like, She's gonna give up. Like he was like, it was like a battle of wills, and I was like, You will not beat me, four-year-old. I will, and he finally ate it. But like it was so annoying. So I thought this was unreasonable with the dinner roll because I have a house piggy eaters, and there was a night Caden was like, I don't want to eat any of this. I said, That's fine. If you're not eating this, then you're not eating. And he was like, Okay. So he didn't, and then the next night he realized I'm starving, so I'm just gonna suck it up. I'm gonna have to eat, you know? Like you're gonna have to eat what's made for you.

SPEAKER_00 1:01:44

Like, right, and that's the way it be. Yeah, I don't know. I mean, I guess I didn't have like a strong feeling either way on it. You don't have picky eaters, do you? I do. Oh, Brant's picky. We almost all we joke that we almost always have to make two dinners. Oh, see, I will not do that. But there's just so many of us, like, yeah. I don't know. I've that's why I've been quiet because you would hate the way we do dinners at our house. And we do say make your own thing if you want to, as long as you clean it all up.

SPEAKER_01 1:02:11

But see, you have multiple people who like you and like you have multiple people who do the things. It's generally especially then, it was just me. That's true. It's just me who gets the groceries, it's just me who makes the dinner. I mean, right.

SPEAKER_00 1:02:22

Tori does more now than I make stuff, I make stuff, and then also like our evening schedules now, same problem with you guys. Like not everyone's there. So it's like, it's like we will make one meal that's available. Yeah. Well, that's what we do now. Yeah. Um, and then if you if that's not your jam or you're just not feeling it, or you hate whatever it is, because it's hard to make seven people. No, my son barely eats with us at all now, but even six people um something they like all the time, then find something else. And I I do make like breakfast for everyone, and usually that's not one thing, but breakfast is different. Yeah. Like I can make a bagel, right? Pour a bowl of cereal. You know what I mean? Like, and they're all capable of that too. Like today I left before most of them were up because it's summer, and I was just like, well, you're on your own. But if I if I can, because I'm usually home that time, and uh, but my husband usually yeah, has I mean to be fair, I've I've stopped eating like pastas and stuff just to try to get my joints like back on track, which is a lot of like what my husband will make from yeah, because that's easy for a big group. So, like he's even said recently, he's like, Well, I don't even know what to make for you. And I'm like, Don't worry about me. Like, I'll I'll figure it out. Eating carbs at all? Um, some, but not a lot of energy. Uh good. Oh, it's been pretty good.

SPEAKER_01 1:03:40

I would die without carbs. My energy, I've tried that before, and my energy is be like, oh.

SPEAKER_00 1:03:45

I know, I know. It depends on the day. It's a hard balance, it depends on the day. But I'm just where I can, yeah. Trying to be like, okay, well, I'd rather just I'll just like grill a piece of chicken and some veggies instead. Like, I don't need to eat this pasta dish that you made that I, you know, and that's fine with me. But again, he's like, I'm trying to make food for everyone, but I don't know what to do for you. But anyway, enough about my weird eating habits as of late.

SPEAKER_01 1:04:08

Listen, everybody's got to do what works for their house, okay? Yeah. And so this was apparently what Ramona's dad wanted to do.

SPEAKER_00 1:04:16

I just thought that was not safe to have two small children with fire and knives. But also like the timing of when it was written. I know. We used to let kids do way more. I know. And learned from that, right? There's a reason we don't let our kids do online.

unknown 1:04:30

Correct. Correct.

SPEAKER_00 1:04:31

I'm not saying like kids were more capable than we just let them do more than.

SPEAKER_01 1:04:35

Can I tell you what I did? What me, a grown ass adult, this is so scary. A couple weeks ago, it was the night we went to go see Rock of Ages. Okay. Okay. Me and my husband and my youngest, I had cooked dinner before we left. And we have gas, gas stove, right? Again, so usually you know if it's on because you can see the flames. So I had cooked dinner, we ate dinner. Like, generally, generally the way it works in my house is whoever is cooking dinner, like we all help clean up, but like Troy will do the majority of the dishwashing if I cook the dinner. Okay. That's just the way it is. So we ate dinner, he's washing dishes, I'm getting ready to go, we leave, we come back.

Kitchen Disasters And Safety Reality

SPEAKER_01 1:05:21

It's like five hours later. Um it's summertime and Caden's home, so they're up way later than we are. So I was like, well, let me go in the kitchen and make sure everything, you know, the lights are off at least, because I know they'll forget to turn them off. I go in the kitchen, the stove is on. You guys. It had been on all that time. It had been on for like five hours. So nothing. Nothing on it, just open. Yeah, just a fucking low flame. I panic. I run. Troy's like falling asleep, and I was like, oh my god, we left. And it was a we because he was there. Like it was both of us in the kitchen. Yeah. And he went, I was like, We left the stove on. And he goes, No way. It got knocked. I said, there's no way it got knocked because the way gas heat works is you have to ignite it. And it clicks and I said it's not like you just knock it, like the cat would climb up there. That doesn't happen. And like, can I tell you guys? My brain was like all these times that I panic and think I left a curling iron on or didn't lock the front door and I come back and check and it's fine. This time I checked nothing and it was fucking on. And so then I'm like, are we gonna die of carbon monoxide poisoning? He's like, Danny, no, it it burnt, like it's it's burned off. It's burned off. It's not like the gas was on. Right. He's like, you can leave uh something simmering for hours on end on a stove. I was like, oh, true, true. But I was like, so I just like laid there in bed. Oh my god, it's so scary.

SPEAKER_00 1:06:48

Guys, so yes, that's happened to me a couple times with our garage garage door where I wake up in the morning and it's open. Oh it's been open all night. Oh my god, and like the door into the house block. That's happened a couple times. But when I was running a bunch in the morning, there was one morning I this is funny, I started to make a hard-boiled egg. You know, like the water in the pan. And I forgot about it and left. Shit. So no one else in my house is up. So I'm running five, six, seven, so you're gone a long time. Yeah. Long time. And I wasn't really looking at my phone. So Brant wakes up to the smoke alarms going off. No way. And he doesn't know why. He just like hears it. He goes in the kitchen, it's like literally no water in the pan, just this like burnt up egg. That's it's probably an hour later. And he's like turning it like almost like catching things on fire. And he's calling me and I'm not answering. So then I like walk in, he's like, Did you leave an egg on? I'm like, Oh shit, and I go run to because she's I already got it. But yeah. Oh my god, gosh. He woke up to like, he's like, You gotta like pay attention. I'm like, I know. But same kind of thing. I was like, wow, like it's so crazy. It happens so fast. I say so.

SPEAKER_01 1:07:59

We tell these stories to say, no, these young children should not be votes, yeah. As grown ass people. I know you said that was gonna be the last question, but I looked into this one. I think we should do that one as the last okay.

Kindness At Dinner And Hooters Detour

SPEAKER_01 1:08:12

Here's the last one. What is the happy ending to the day when the Quimby's go out for dinner together one dismal rainy Sunday when everyone is cross?

SPEAKER_00 1:08:20

So that's when they go to the burger place. Yes. Whoppa Whoppa Burger, some the Whopper Burger or something. Oh, that's I think isn't it called that? I don't know. Let's see. But they go, despite, you know, financial strain, they decide, you know what, we're gonna go out to eat. And so they go, and she doesn't have to order off the kids' menu, or she just let her order off the normal menu. That guy, yeah. And so then older gentleman that's kind of like paying attention to them ends up paying for their meal, but they don't know till they go to leave. He's already long gone. Yeah. That's happened to me before, has it?

SPEAKER_01 1:08:52

I'll tell you the story. Okay, it's it was Whopper Burger. Whopper burger, okay. Is that what she said? I said Whopper. Oh, I don't know why. Whopper burger that happened to me one time. I was out with a bunch of girlfriends. I can't, I I can't remember when this was in my life, but it was like four or five of us. And um, we went out to dinner, and and I want to say it was when I was like a young mom, and so we didn't get out much. And we were just having so much fun, we were just laughing, cackling, crying, laughing, you know. And um we are sitting there and the waitress comes over and we did we ended up ordering dessert, or no, we didn't. She comes over and she said, Um, this man over there wants to pay for y'all's dessert because he said it's just bringing him so much joy to see y'all laughing. And we were like, what? And she's like, Yeah, he just wants to pay for y'all to have dessert because y'all's laughed. And then he he eventually came over and was like, It's so nice to see like smiles. And I don't think he was by himself. I can't remember. But that was like the you know, you see that happen in books and movies, but that yeah, I was like, Oh, people really do this.

SPEAKER_00 1:10:02

So that's very heartwarming. I have a non-heartwarming one. No, I mean it's fine. I was like, she's like, it's funny. It's funny. Okay, okay. So I was on a business trip somewhere. I feel like I was in Philadelphia. I don't know why specifically I remember that, but I was. And um, like my older kids were at different like relatives and parents. Oh no, yeah. Actually, my husband had my three girls, so his kids were over with their mother. And they were obviously younger than now, but they were probably 11 and under. Okay. All three of them. So he takes them to Hooters. Why, sir? Because he just wanted wings and he's like, it's fine. So it's him and these three girls, which is first of all hilarious. Oh my god, Brandt.

SPEAKER_01 1:10:47

So they go.

SPEAKER_00 1:10:48

They have a kids' menu and stuff. And the waitress is talking about how she's in college and she's like talking to all of them. So a couple was there, an older couple who must have thought this poor divorced man bringing his three kids to freaking Hooters on a Sunday because it's his dad day or whatever, they end up buying their dinner. I love that. Because they were like, Oh, you just have to dad. Because like, I just feel like their their reasoning is probably off. Like, oh, you're right.

SPEAKER_01 1:11:24

Because they're like, oh, look at that dad just being a poor fucking parent. Yeah. You know what I mean? Right, right, right. Like, if you were there, nobody would have bought your anything. Right, right. They probably would have been judging you.

SPEAKER_00 1:11:35

Yeah. And so it's it was kind of so the whole story was funny to me. I was like, it's how hilarious. But then the girls, which I don't necessarily think this is bad, but they didn't think of Hooters as like a bad place. Well, why would they until somebody turned me to? Yeah. So we were at this Girl Scout meeting not long after. And my middle and Aaron were there, and in her little cute, little raspy voice, she's like, My dad took me to Hooters. I'm telling you how quick the leader just snaps her head and looks at me. And I was like, Yeah, like we just kind of view it as a restaurant, like whatever. I'm trying to blow it off. It is a restaurant. And she was like, Well, um, like just to me, not to my daughter, obviously. She was like, Well, you know, like I I just think the objectification of women is really terrible. She told you that. Uh-huh. I mean, she was like really awesome about it. And I was like, Well, I don't know. It was my husband's fault. But also, like, that's your business. I know, I know it's a little much, but it's just take her to a strip club. Yeah. She's not sitting at bare assets. It was just so funny. I like as soon as I saw her little mouth open, I was like, I know what she's gonna say.

SPEAKER_01 1:12:42

I mean, listen, I am not a big fan of Hooters, and guys out there, don't tell me they're they have the best wings. They do not, they taste like every other wing in the history of the world. Yeah, that is not why you want to go there. Just say you want to go look at beautiful women. That's fine, okay? That is what it exists for. Yeah. That is, it is not some culinary delight.

SPEAKER_00 1:13:03

No, and honestly, a lot of them have closed. The one by the one um of the buyer malls closed now.

SPEAKER_01 1:13:08

I mean, I I had a friend in college who worked there and she made lots of money. She paid for a lot of school with that, but could I do it? No, no, people would pay me not to work there these days.

SPEAKER_00 1:13:24

They'd be like, actually get out.

SPEAKER_01 1:13:27

Actually, yeah. No, I I you can have whatever feelings you want, but it is still just a restaurant.

SPEAKER_00 1:13:32

It is, it's not that big a deal. And the reason she even brought it up is because like they talked about that for a long time, how they really liked it there, and how there those people bought their food and they were able to get dessert. Like, they just like thought it was such a fun time. It's like kid food, it's like bar food, it's like fries and like you know, chicken tenders, and the waitress was crying pretty and nice, uh-huh, and young, probably. So, yeah, it was just it just the whole thing. I was like, this is this is what is this? What is life?

SPEAKER_01 1:14:04

But anyway, I remember when Caden played travel baseball, and there's like you know, they people would want to go like to team dinners and stuff. And as you know, my husband is not a big group activity kind of person. So we would go every now and then, yeah. And we weren't always all at all the you know, you have sports things. And so I would I would be like, we'll go when dad's not with us or make it, but there was this one time where they just wanted to bring the boys to Hooters, and I was like, I'm sorry, like I'm not bringing my preteen boy to who I just I'm not like and I just and and Cooper was I was like, I just yeah, I just don't want to do that. That's okay too. And I'm like, now if they want to go on their own, that's their business. Sure. I was just I felt so weird about it. I was like, I just yeah, I just not especially when you've got a lot of options, like well, and it's different when you have boys and you're trying to teach, like, especially Caden was such like a nervous kid. And you know, we would try and teach him like don't stare at women, like you can look at women, but don't linger. Look, but don't linger. Like you can't help it if you notice somebody attractive, like you can't help. But there's a difference in looking and lingering, as we all know. Yes, but I he would get nervous. Like it's like, am I looking too long?

SPEAKER_00 1:15:20

Yeah, yeah, how many seconds is it? Like, yeah, oh poor kid. I know.

SPEAKER_01 1:15:25

So I was like, I just I'm not, I don't want to sit with a bunch of like 11 and 12 year olds at Hooters boys.

SPEAKER_00 1:15:31

And especially if if he felt like that, then you know he's gonna be uncomfortable the whole time.

SPEAKER_01 1:15:36

A lot of the dads were like douchey dirtbaggies. It depends on the group, and I don't need to listen to all the comments that they all say.

SPEAKER_00 1:15:44

No gross. No, thank you. Anyway, we're moving on.

SPEAKER_01 1:15:47

We're moving on, but so um, what's your opinion on Ramona?

Ratings, Next Pick, And Wrap

SPEAKER_01 1:15:52

I really liked it.

SPEAKER_00 1:15:53

I really liked it. Are we giving stars? I mean, we sure can. I think I think it's our first one for the summer. So I just want to say yes, we're doing stars this summer. We're doing stars. Um I I think a 4.5. I'm trying to think why I wouldn't give it the other 0.5. I don't know. Okay, that's a deep thought. I was just gonna say a five.

SPEAKER_01 1:16:17

Yeah, I can't think of what I would take off for. My legs, I'm wearing shorts today, guys, and we have these leather seats now, and my legs are like you're like stuck.

SPEAKER_00 1:16:24

I'll still say 4.5, but okay. If I if I think of why I'm even deducting that, I will know. I'll let you all know.

SPEAKER_01 1:16:32

Look, I would like everybody to know how tall I look today.

SPEAKER_00 1:16:34

You you're taller than me right now. Wow. And I'm not using a booster.

SPEAKER_01 1:16:39

My chair is just at like this really good angle. It's a really good angle.

SPEAKER_00 1:16:42

We need to we need to put spike marks on the floor. Like this tall angle. My chair here, and then it looks great proportionally. Awesome. Well, that was really good research. Thank you. That was so much fun. And next week's a movie. Next week. What movie is? Do you remember? I don't know. We can look in our I was just curious. I forgot. I looked when we like filled. Is it dazed and confused? It might be dazed and confused. Oh, I love dazed and confused. That one's gonna be so much fun. And I haven't seen it in forever. It's one of those like I've rewatched a bunch of times, but then I haven't like watched it recently. I watched it last year and I don't Oh no, I know what you did last summer. Oh, that's right. That's horror, summer horror. Let's go. I cannot wait. I'm gonna make at least a couple of my children watch with me. Yes, yes, I can't wait. Awesome. All right, well, thanks guys for joining us for Xennial Girl Summer. And be sure you're leaving reviews wherever you're listening. Five stars, please. Five stars. And follow us. Uh, we're in the 90s on YouTube subscribers at this point. 90s girls. Uh, but we would like to get to triple digits. So maybe, maybe you. Maybe you'll be a little bit more. 10 more people. Come on, let's go. Come on, let's do it. Please do all those things and sign up for our live event next time. Oh, yeah. Come to the live event. We're we're getting close on tickets because oh, when we want to come, you better sign up. We had a few more sign-ups. So I think we only have like 10 seats. Oh, if you want to come, you better sign up. Better sign up. Good. Um, we'll see you hopefully July 3rd, free event. Yay! And uh, we'll see you on our next installment next of Xennial Girl Summer Woo B edition. Talking about