Labor Day at the Harrison Household

of all the national holidays, it's just Labor Day. It's one of you know, Memorial Day, Labor Day, the two big holidays we think of that, you know, ones in the spring and then the other ones in the fall. Memorial Day obviously very understandable. I get meaningful for this country. The fact that Labor Day is a holiday rooted in the late nineteenth century when labor activists pushed for a federal holiday to recognize the many contributions workers have made

to America's strength, prosperity, and well being. That's Labor Day. That's still a holiday where we shut everything down. Half the country honestly is going dove hunting because usually September first is opening day of dove season and to all those headed out, be safe and enjoy. It was a big holiday or for me growing up in Dallas, Texas.

But the fact that Labor Day is still still a thing is really bizarre to me because it's just something we do and it's something we say when I was a kid, and I'm sure many of you are doing this probably still today. On Monday. Labor Day is the sports tournaments if you have kids, the big Labor Day Tournament. I was a soccer player growing up in Dallas and we played in the big Plano Labor Day Tournament. I

think it was in Plano, Texas. I don't know if that's still a thing, but I'm sure volleyball, basketball, baseball, soccer, football is starting. It's all going on, and so I'm sure for many of you maybe you're on the road and you're in it, and those for you know, I remember fondly. Really holidays were the time when we would be traveling. The Houston Thanksgiving soccer tournament, the Memorial Day Tournament, the Labor Day tournament, even Easter, a sacred religious holiday.

Was the Dallas Cup, which is like the second largest youth tournament in the world, and it's a huge, huge event. To play in. It was a huge honor, but it

was all of Easter week. So it's funny. I kind of marked my holidays as a kid as these tournaments went by, but it was time with my family, and it's you know, I remember, you know, those times of piling into a hotel room and running up and down the halls, and you know, swimming in those indoor pools, the bacteria domes that are just over chlorinated to death.

But those were great times in my memory. And I had him with my own son when he was playing lacrosse or whatever sport, when we would travel, and I vividly remember his last lacrosse tournament when he was in high school. We were out in Palm Springs, and we always kind of made a tradition to swing by in and Out Burger on the way out of town and grab a burger and eat it on the way home.

And I kind of welled up with tears as I looked in, you know, in the back seat, and I see this high school kid back there, this man now, and I realize, this is the last time we're probably piling in a hotel room together. It's the last time we're going to be on the road where I just sit for hours on end watching him play sports. And yeah, I was sunny and hot and all those things, and you're sometimes miserable. But at the same time I miss that.

I really relish those times, and I kind of I am envious of friends that have younger kids and like you, I'm like, what are you doing this weekend? Like, oh, we're you know, Alexa has a volleyball tournament. We're going to watch her play five hundred volleyball games. And I envy that because I really enjoyed that time of watching my kids compete and watching them win and lose and how they took it, and the camaraderie and the friendships and the pizza parties and you know, all the goofy

stuff as well. So if that's what you did this weekend, I hope you enjoyed it. I hope you are recovering from your sunburn and you have a chance to rehydrate. For many of us, it was just a day off for me, very different labor day now that there are no sports. I had a house full of college kids. Luckily the kids are only you know, two and a half three hours away up there in Fort Worth at TCU, so instead of staying home for their first home game, TCU football and college football is on the air. It

started this weekend. If your alma mater was playing, I hope it went well. We were rooting for the Frogs. Of course, TCU played Colorado and all of the kids, my son and his roommates, my daughter, her roommate, they all came into town. So five kids piled in. It's amazing how small the house can feel, how quickly, but it's a good kind of noise, and it was awesome to have them all here and to see your kids

growing in that way. It's a different time. You know, they go off and do their own thing now and they go out, but to hear their conversations, to hear how they're doing and see how they're doing, it's a sense of pride. It's fun. And every stage, you know, I have friends who have young kids, and I have friends who have older kids, and I'm of course in that stage as an empty nester, as LZ and I are with the kids in college. Every stage is phenomenal.

When you see them start to walk, when you see them start to talk, when you see them start playing sports or start theater, whatever stage that you are in, it's fantastic and drink it in. And I am doing that. I'm drinking it in as much as possible because I also know, like every other window and every other stage, it closes and they move on to the next. And you know, this is senior year, so it is the last labor day where my boy will come home from school.

He's done. My daughter still has a couple more years left. But I really try to soak up these moments as much as I possibly can. And this weekend was one of those where you know, five college kids eating me out a house at home and you know, pool towels and you name it, constantly washing everything and picking things up when they break. But it's so good and it's so wonderful to have that, and I hope you have had that as well and had a chance to barbecue

and cook out. This is you know, I go into full dad mode, where go shopping before they ever get there, over by over purchase barbecue and everything because I know these kids, you know, are going to come in and absolutely crush it. It's also, by the way, about that time and you think this is over right when your kids go to kindergarten, they're five years old, six years old, whatever, first grade, kindergarten. It really goes all the way through

elementary school. You know, parents, I'm talking to you that first week, you are a test tube. You are an incubator. The kids have gotten sick. Everybody has gotten back to school. There is a you know, herd mentality of getting sick. You know, the first colds that pass around and it goes from kid to kid to kids. So you got the snotty nose kids that are coming home from school, and of course they get over it in like two or three days. You get it, you go down for

a week or two. It absolutely kicks your butt. That definitely happens when the kids are going off to school for the first time in elementary school, because let's be honest, kids aren't that clean. We can use all the sanitizer we want, but unless you're wrapping them up in Sarana wrap, that's just kids being kids. So they all come home, they've you know, given you their colds, you've been wearing

it out. Well, that doesn't change because now kids go to college and the first couple of weeks, they don't sleep, they're not eating right, all of a sudden, they're away from you, and their nutrition goes to hell, and so does everything else and their sleep patterns, and so you know, they call it the dorm cough or the dorm cold. You know, they blame it on you know, faulty or bad ventilation, but let's be honest, we know where it comes from. And so you think you outgrow it, but

you don't. So you know already both my kids have fallen prey to it. I'm hoping that you know it's over, but no doubt, probably this week I'm expecting to come down with it as well. So if your college kids are home as well, I'm in the same boat. They probably were just as sick as your kindergarteners were. And if you have kindergarteners, just know that's coming. It doesn't change. Kids grow up, but they're still kids. But it's a

beautiful thing. And I hope that they can stay kids as long as possible, because Lord knows, the real world is coming, and there is enough time to be an adult. There's enough time for those life changing decisions and moments in your life that will rock you and shake you. So the longer you can keep them a child and a kid. We all try to do that. I hope

you had a great Labor Day. I certainly did. Elz is on the road visiting family, so unfortunately she's not here to regale us with her Labor day, but I know it was a good one because she was with the people that she loves very much and they love her, and so I guess that goes to show too, you're never too old on Labor Day to go back home and go visit mom. So happy Labor Day to LZ, her mom, Donna, and her family, and to you. I

hope you had a great one. And if nothing else, I hope you just took a break whatever you did today, and you just shut down. You turned on a podcast, which I'm very thankful for because I do appreciate the time that we get to spend together. I love the interviews. I love last week and if you didn't listen about l Z's experience at Experience Camp, a camp for grieving children.

It was a camp for kids who have lost a significant someone in their life, a parent, a caretaker, brothers, sister, Lauren, God bless her. You know. Only this woman found this camp and it went from I'm going to go visit for a day to I'm going to go be a counselor and really dive in. And of course, only in true Lauren fashion, she becomes Barbie at the camp and is you know, the town favorite. And all of the counselors.

It's not just Lauren. There were some magnificent counselors. And we talked to another one, Jesse, who was on the show, and Lauren and her. I kind of just tried to stay out of the way. I tried to ask a few poignant questions, but I really wanted to listen to them talk and share their experience at this camp because it really changed them as much as it did the kids. But it is so beautiful that stuff like this exists.

And Lord and I talked about charities and God bless you if you are involved in one, and whatever cause it is, you know, it's tragic that there are causes that are near and dear to our heart because it means that you have probably been shaken like that, whether it's cancer, youth mental health, which Laura and I are very involved with, in youth's suicide, which is something that

is near and dear to our heart. And thank God, there are people who have been shaken by things and then take that and do something with it and try to change the world and make things better. And Lauren is one of those people, as are all these counselors and the people that have been running these experience camps for so long. So if you have a chance, if you're in the mood today and you're just hanging out,

you're like, hey, I got more time. Go back and listen to that episode last week with Jesse and Lauren and I talking about experience camps and if you want good experience camps dot org. It really it was moving, and so I'm glad Lauren's off with her family, getting a little break and obviously probably a break for me, which is never a bad thing, but I'm glad you didn't take a break for me. I'm glad you are here for the most dramatic podcast ever, as you always are.

We have some great, great interviews coming up this week. Super chef Tyler Florence is going to join me. He is phenomenal, this guy. I tell you, you know, I had known of him and I'm a huge fan. I'm a huge fan of chefs. You guys, probably if you've listened to me. You know, I love to cook. I love to experience cooking. I love to try new things. So I watch a lot of Food Network, and I watch Tyler's show, The Food Truck Race, which is so fun and so awesome and it's been such a huge success.

So I wanted to talk to Tyler about Food Network how he's crushing it, but also all his restaurants, and I went to visit one up in San Francisco and it was spectacular, and he took the time to grace us with his presence and you know, de bone our dover soul and deliver our steak and his passion and you'll feel it in the podcast. You will feel like, I want to go cook man, I want to do this. He is so into everything, and we even got off on like coffee and just really got into this, got

into the weeds. You can't help it with him because everything he talks about he is so knowledgeable, and so it's a really fun conversation about life, love, food and everything in between. So give that a listen. That's coming out later this week. But thank you for your time today, thank you for celebrating Labor Day with me. I mean, hey, if we started this in the late nineteenth century, you know,

when labor activists were pushing for a federal holiday. I'm sure we were all just doing the same thing of like, hey, can we just have a day off. Well, thank you for all those labor activists that gave us this federal holiday and gave us a time out. Truly appreciated and thank you for your support. It means the world to me. I love talking to you, I love sharing our stories, and we will do it again because we have a

lot more to talk about. Thanks for listening. Follow us on Instagram at the most dramatic pod ever, and make sure to write us a review and leave us five stars. I'll talk to you next time.