This is the most dramatic podcast ever and iHeartRadio podcast. Happy Mother's Day, Chris Harrison Lauren Zema coming to you from the home office in Austin, Texas on this Mother's Day, a day to take pause and think about and think the incredible women in our lives who have gotten us from there to hear and meant the world to us.
You know, I got to say I love Mother's Day as a holiday. I do too like some holidays, Like I'm not the biggest Valentine's Day person in the world because I kind of feel like if you're in a relationship, you probably have an anniversary you do once a year, and you know you should be showing each other love every day.
So what is Valentine's Day for? But Mother's Day?
I love because while kids should be showing their mom love and appreciation day and day out as they're growing up, once you leave your home, your mom has still given you so much that you've taken.
With you your whole life.
That I do love that there's a day now as an adult to be able to just really take a moment and say thank you to my.
Mom, or think about them and think about what they've imparted upon you and given you. And so this is just a day that we wanted to step back because we have two incredible moms that we love and adore and cherish and so Mary Beth Harrison Donna Zema are going to join us today on the show.
I'm nervous.
I'm nervous. I don't know what they're gonna say. I don't know what they're gonna.
This seemed like a good idea, I know, I'm regretting.
I'm literally like kind of I know.
Our producer said, hey, you know, you know it would be cute. Let's get let's get your moms on. Let's put this up Mother's Day Sunday. This is going to be great. So we are doing this Mother's Day edition. And yeah, as we are on the precipice of bringing our moms on the air, this doesn't seem like a great idea anymore.
Who's more honest than a mom?
You know, That's what I'm afraid of.
I mean, my mom, I'm hanging out with her. I walked out the door and she says, what are you wearing?
That's horrible.
You know, she's very honest, So what's she going to say? When she's been given the mic.
That's a question.
You you're The dynamic with your mom is incredible And before she comes on, when you think about your mom, what do you think about?
I think about how she gave me confidence, strength, independence. That's the first thing I always go to with my mom because though I might like I laugh about the criticism, right, but the thing is the criticism over the years prepared me for the world. And while she might give her opinion on things, my mom also always applauded me on everything, told me I'd done a great job, told me I
was smart. And at the end of the day, what do you want more from a parent other than to feel loved and for them to make you feel like you can go out into the world and succeed. Those to me are the two biggest things, and I got both of those from my mom.
So I'm so blessed and grateful.
When I think of being a parent now that I've had my turn at this and still going, but loving them as much as you can and being present in their lives to me or the other two main columns of being a parent. And when I think of my mom, she was that she was present and loved me. I never didn't feel that love for my family and that support from her, and that I could just go out and try stuff and push myself and no matter what it was, even getting into the crazy world of television,
she supported that and probably shouldn't have. That's a crazy idea. Some kid from Texas who has no links to this business is going to go be a sportscaster or newscaster like, that's nuts.
What's interesting is that my mom did not support me getting into this at all. So it's kind of amazing actually that we're both sitting here that we've had careers and we should ask our moms.
No, No, two roads are the same, and they both worked. But I think at the end of it, we both felt loved and we both felt that they were present in our lives, knew who our friends were, knew what we were up to. They were strict yet loving.
Well should we bring them on?
Should we do it? Let's push go. So we're going to start this with my mom.
The Queen, the Icon, the Legend, Mary.
Beth Harrison, the Queen, the Icon, the Legend. Happy Mother's Day, Well, thank you, Happy Mother's Day. Well you started it. Two and a half years before me, and you did such a bang up job with my brother Glenn. You said, you know, let's do this again.
Let's beat at the flag pole and see what happens.
All the chances I've already got a launch into interview mode. I don't know the answer to this, Mary Beth. How did you guys decide to have Chris? Was it that you wanted to give Glenn a little brother?
Were you hoping would be.
We were very specific about it. We wanted them to be no more than two and a half years apart. And the funny thing is they share a half birthday. We celebrate half birthdays in my family. You know, when you were one, then you were one and a half, and then you were two. Yeah, so we celebrate half birthday. So Chris's birthday is Glenn's his brother's half birthday. So they are legitimately two and a half years apart.
Six months to the day.
There's got to be a parenting award for birth order.
He crashed it. They're really I mean, I don't want to think about how precise my parents were, but they were really precise. That's an image you don't want in your head.
No, and it wasn't planned that way. It just so happened that way. But anyway that it worked out perfectly.
And one thing before I kind of turned it over to l Z. You guys were so young, you were babies, having babies.
That's gonna say, children raising children.
When I think about having gone through what I've gone through as a dad, it helped to have years of experience, a little money in my pocket, you know, just having you guys, you know, a mom and a dad and a brother to help support. What was it like for you guys, because when you had me, you were twenty years old.
I honestly, if I had to do it over again, I'd do it the same way because I know me well enough to know that I am a it's all or nothing, and so if I had ever started in the workforce, I would have been so focused on that that I don't know that I would have been as focused as a mother as it was. I didn't go to work until you boys were older. I might have done some part time stuff. I mean I taught dance and exercise for years, but I always did it when you were in school. So I was home when you
were home, and that was really important to me. I didn't want someone else raising my children and teaching them to say please and thank you. So that was really that was important to me. And I had older parents. I was the youngest of four, as you know, and so my parents were older, and I was always so envious of those my friends that had younger parents. And so I look back on it, and you know, I could keep up with you all like it, and there was nothing that we didn't go.
Do, keep up with us. You lapped us.
Oh, Mary Beth, I started crying.
It's funny when you hear her words today sound kind of familiar, like I only do things one way. I'm all in.
Oh someone named Chris Harrison.
Yes, Oh my gosh, Marybeth, I really just started crying.
I've never heard you say that. That's so to say.
There's something so powerful about because you know, part of your story is okay, I became a mom young.
And it didn't we didn't plan it that way exactly.
But to hear you say you would do it all over again, the exact same way. What a beautiful perspective to look back and think. But I was all in and I had all this focus.
When you raise two boys that came out as great. And you know, I always say they survived to spite me. I mean, it wasn't it one like I had a book or anything. But I had great role models as you your dad, and I. I had my parents to look up to, which was a house full of love. I mean, honestly, I was raised. I laughingly said this to someone yesterday. I was raised somewhere between Leave It
to Beaver and Ozzie and Harriet. If you remember those old shows, it was, you know that quote unquote perfect childhood. It wasn't until I got to college that I realized people, everyone doesn't live like that. Everyone doesn't have that kind of life. And so I had a phenomenal example. And you know, sadly, we only know what we know. I mean, we're raised how we're raised, and we only know what we know. And so if we know love, then we show love. If we don't, we aren't raised that way,
then that's not how we're raised. So thankfully I had a great role model, which I hopefully passed on to them as a great role model. And as I watched you, Chris as a father, I clearly see we did one bang up job on that one. Because you are a phenomenal father, loyal brother, incredible friend. I mean, what a.
Yeah, I know, thank you for making him for me, by the way, you handed me a perfect package.
I don't think. Let's not go perfect.
Well, I got to sing his yeah.
By the way a week, we have four questions we're going to ask you, and the tone of that might apply to one of them. So we'll get to that, but real quick, I just have to sing his praises. And he doesn't even know this yet, but we just moved the kids out of their dorm Taylor and his house Josh for the summer yesterday, and my friend Lindsey stopped by to see us because she lives really she lives two minutes from where Josh is now. And she texted me last night and said, and she's a mom
of a baby girl. And she texted me last night and said, I just keep thinking about how great Chris's kids are, and I keep thinking about what a great father he is.
And I'm not joking.
The next time I see him, I have to have a conversation with him and learn all I can from him about parenting.
I was just like, that's.
So sweeten this podcast.
Yeah, laugh about that when people would say, oh, your boys are so good, and I would go, yeah, let's wait till they're thirty and they haven't you know, stolen and whatever kids will do these days. Then come back and tell me what difference.
Oh, I like that we made it.
We tell their adults to see how they are.
Okay, exactly? You know.
Well, we've got four questions here that we wrote down, so this transitions perfectly. Number one, we need a mama pro tip. What would be your best piece of advice on parenting if you could only give one?
Oh, that's easy and it's really two. One is love them with everything you have in you show them love. Don't just I mean, don't just don't just tell me I'm one of those. Don't don't give me words, show me with your actions. You can tell me you love me all day long, but if your actions don't go with it, it doesn't. It doesn't matter whether you're in a relationship as an adult or any other time. But
more importantly to me is self confidence. I taught preschool for what nine years, Chris, I guess, and my whole thing was your kids may not know how to spell their name, but they're gonna feel so good about themselves that they don't care. And that's my whole I was raised that way with my dad. If you want to be president, honey, you go be president. If you want to be the best trans collector in the world, go be the best track. But whatever you do, do it well.
But you can do it well. And so self confidence is everything for children.
Everything that makes so much sense because every time, I mean, when I describe you to other people, Mary Beth, probably the words I use the quickest are like, she is a force. She is so strong, she gets it done. She is a business woman, she is like. That is how I describe you right off the bat. All right, Chris, do you want to take one?
Yeah, greatest joy of being a mom doesn't Obviously this doesn't have to be a specific me story. This could be I know I have a brother, so maybe no. Is there is there a moment where as a parent, you just had this overwhelming feeling of joy or accomplishments.
For me, it's watching you and your brother, because from the time I brought you home from the hospital, your brother adopted you as his best friend. And for me to watch that my entire life with you all but to see it apply now as adults. You guys going to Mexico together to go fish last week is it's everything to me. So my greatest joy is watching YouTube and as children, you two trying to make each other laugh was just joyful. So I yeah, that's my joy
is watching YouTube. Be best friends as children, but to continue to be best friends, that's everything to me.
And he's definitely that.
Yeah.
I mean, it was so cute. It's so cute to see them together, mary Bet, because you really like they have the same laugh. They laugh the same way, and if something makes them both laugh, it's like watching twins.
It's so we were on a group trip and some of these people did not know us, and they were like, oh my god when we started talking, like, you guys sound identical. Your mom's your mom said that she was here the night we left, and she's like, oh my gosh, you guys sound identical.
I don't know if you remember, Chris, but you and Glenn used to answer the phone for each other. So a day we call, or a girl would call it and you would answer and it was Glenn's and your grandmother couldn't tell you too. She started talking thinking it was one of you and it was another. So you all sound very very much alike on the phone. Not as much now as adults, I don't think, but you did as children.
Yeah, I had more games, so I handled the relationship situation.
That's what I was.
You flirted a bit for him, You warmed the whole moment up.
I had it at an early age.
You'd have a whole conversation with Glenn's girlfriends and they never know was Glenn. That's true, terrible.
Yeah, that's at the age when boys are like messing with girls trying to get them to like them.
They think that they think that tactic works.
Mary Beth piggybacking off that, how did you foster that friendship?
Though?
Because you hear from a lot of pe But like, I feel like my kids hate each other and they beat each other up and they bully each other. How did you foster two best friends as kids?
You know, Lauren, if I thought I could clone that, I'd write a book about it. But I Glenn knew that Chris was coming from day one. He used to talk to my stomach. I mean, I remember being in the grocery store, and you know, I didn't allow him to have Captain crunch and those kind of cereals, and he's we're in the grocery store. And I talked all the way through it with them, you know, we need this, we need that, and he said we need some Captain crunch.
I said, no, no, we're not going to We're not going to have that. He kept going and going and I said, I told you no, and he reached down and he started yelling, don't you want some Graptaic crunch? And I said, Glenn, we're not talking about that. He said, I'm not talking to you, I'm talking to the baby. But I started it.
I would jump in and say this because you've said this before and it's actually true, and I did it to a certain degree. My mom would make us so mad at her that my my brother and I would band together so my brother and I beat the crap out of each other. We would go at it, I mean, just you know, typical brother stuff, wrestling, fighting, hitting, We would beat the tar out of each other until usually I ended up crying, and my mom and dad it drove them crazy, and so my mom would come in
and do whatever to us. At one time she actually made us kiss. That's a true story. And we were so mad at her we forgot we were what even what we were fighting about. And so that was actually a great tactic that I've employed. I have never made my kids kiss, but hey, it was the seventies, but that was funny that I remember that vividly, that we would be beating the tar out of each other and five minutes later we would forget and we were like, mom, sucks, that's terrible. Come on, yeah exactly.
It's like, if you're going to be mad, then be mad at me and get for each other. Yeah. I hate fighting. I absolutely hate it this day. I'm not an antigony. I'm not an antagonist.
Wow.
Well, but that's kind of a psycho logically brilliant ploy, is to unite against you.
I took that into coaching when I started coaching the kids in Little League and soccer and all that. If the kids were mad at me, then they couldn't be divisive, they couldn't worry about themselves. It was like they were a united front.
All right, Mary Beth, we have one more question on our Big four list, and it has to come for me because well, I am marrying your son man.
Welcome to the family.
Oh, thank you.
You guys have been so welcoming from the start. I and still remember that first passover where I kind of met the whole crew and I was just like overjoyed with how loving of a family.
This overwhelmed and overjoyed. That's a lot.
Overwhelmed in a good ways. We got to drink wine. But so, what piece of advice would you have for me about being married to Chris? What would be a tip you'd have for me about being married to him for many years and making it a happy relationship?
Oh my goodness, we threw that at you love him. And as someone wisely said to me, if two givers get married, then a marriage will work. If a giver and a taker get married, they probably will work. But one's always going to feel kind of abused. And if two takers get married, there's no chance that a marriage is going to work. So very wise words that were said to me a long time ago before I got married.
And it's true. But Chris is a giver. He enjoys giving, and so be a gracious receiver because that's his that's something that brings him joy is to give and to share, and so to not be as gracious and I used to say this to your grandmother, to Chris, be as gracious a receiver as you are a giver, because you are also a giver, Lauren, and I've watched that with you, but you need to be equally as gracious a receiver.
Wow.
I'm going to soak that in today.
That's so because I'm sitting here, I was processing your words, Mary Beth, as you were saying them and thinking, God, you're so right. Because one thing I have said that has made me fall in love with Chris from the beginning is we take care of each other like he's a great partner. And you know, I didn't have that in past relationships. I was I was the giver and
I was, you know, with takers sometimes. But that's I actually think both of us could work on like the way that we receive and we and I have.
To yeah, wow, okay, sorry, I was that was really good. I'm going to go back and re listen to our own podcast so I make sure you're every word of that.
Is there any doubt where I came from?
Oh my gosh, And as you're sitting here saying things, Mary Beth, like he's a loyal person and love and those things. Those are words when I go describe somebody to Chris, some of the first words I say, so again, thank you for giving me this wonderful man that I get to marry, My pleasure.
And happy Mother's Day. Thank you for the love, the unconditional love, the support being at every play and soccer game and football game, and lord knows there were so many. But just like your parents taught you, the one thing I always talk about with my mom is that feeling of what would you attempt to do if you knew you could not fail? And my mom instilled that in me and thinking people go, why did you ever get into sportscasting? Why would you do TV? No one in
my family ever did that. What drove you and what drove me was I never thought I could fail. I just didn't think it like that. And I am an eternal optimist and I always think green lights and if it's going to be somebody, why not me? And that all came from this woman right here, my drive, my love and I have you know, my mommy and my dad. But it's Mother's Day, and so thank you. Thank you for giving me.
All that fast story about you as a child.
Well we'll see I mean, I don't think he turns that down. We'll see.
When Chris was I don't remember, six seven, I don't know, eight years old, somewhere in there, he started doing play by play of his brother. And so it would be here's Glenn getting up, and now he's going to go brush his teeth. Let's see is he brushing the uppers? Look, and there he is. He's going to go for cereals. He's gonna be cherios, are gonna be witty, and Glenn would be, Mom, make him stop. And if you Chris stopped doing play by play of your brother. He did
that for a long time. And who knew as we were yelling at him to stop, that that would be his first.
Career getting into sportscasting and.
You know, very bad.
I was going to ask you when when Chris told you this was what he was going to get into, were you surprised or did you already know?
And maybe that story is the answer.
I you know, he was emc of this play at the.
High school talent show, his high.
School talent show. He was, so it's not like we planned it. And certainly he thought that soccer was going to be his inroads to his life because he was played soccer from the time he could walk. But I'm forever grateful to his college and to his if that got him in that direction and he thrived. I mean, it's just he's got that. I love listening to him, and more than anything, I love your interviews because it's not about you, and it's never been about you, and
nor should it be. It's always about who you're talking to or who you're on air with or TV or whatever. And I've always admired that, and I know that was advice that was given.
To you early on the late great Bill Diggins.
Yeah, it's not about you. And so his journey was Yeah, his journey was just a wonderful thing to watch. And no, I didn't see that coming, but yeah, he just fit right into the right place.
And I will say, when you have a journey like that and you are on that ride, it means so much more when you have Because I always wanted to make my mom and dad proud. I always wanted to make my brother proud. I always wanted to answer to my grandparents, Mimi and Papa, and I think that is a huge thing for being a dad. You have to be responsible to someone other than yourself, even your mom
and dad. It has to be bigger than you. And I always felt like our name was on the back of the jersey and that's what I represented, and so that that's what was instilled in me by you, among a million other things. And so I just want to say thank you and I love you, and thanks for doing this, and thank you for just being an amazing mother.
Thank you. It was my pleasure. You were easy to be an amazing mother with.
And I'm sorry for as many times as people say, that's not your mom, that's your sister.
She has great skin. Great Also, thank you for the good genetics, Mary Beck.
Yeah, exactly.
We're just glad our parents had good skin. That's all we can. That's all we're thankful for.
Now, Happy Mother's Day. I love you very much.
Thanks, guys, love me. I'm with you.
So that was Mary Beth Harrison.
I mean, especially because it's funny that your brother was just we hadn't mentioned this before, but Chris and his brother went on a trip, a fishing trip, a guy's fishing trip together, and I hadn't spent that much time.
With just you and your brother before.
He was at the house with us, and you know, because other family was always around our kids or whatever. And to see you two together for the first time made me so happy because with a sibling there's always that ease and just to watch you two laugh together and reconnect and to hear her say that that was her biggest joy of parenting, Oh my gosh, that really got me.
And it's funny. I get that, you know, and I see that in my kids already. That that's what gives me great joy is when I.
Yes, I see that.
Even like when we were moving the kids out, there was one moment I think you were starting to walk to the car and it was like they were saying bye to each other, you know.
And it's even though.
They're going to be together today like Josh's, but still I think they were just leaving this year of college together.
Well you hear a silly story like we sent Taylor to the Taylor Swift concert, Yes, And it was a mess getting out of there. And she called her brother, who was forty five minutes away and already in bed, and said, Josh, come get me. And he woke up, and he woke up and went and get assistant.
Do you think we did something right. Yeah, they are there for each other. Yeah, maybe that's one of the biggest tests of parenting as siblings. Well, we can ask my mom about it, because me and my siblings are certainly close.
But we've all had our moments.
I am looking forward to this next interview, Ladies and gentlemen, the Donna Zema Up next, Dundun Dawn.
Hey dudes, this is Christine Taylor and this is David Lasher.
You may remember us as teenage co stars on the Nickelodeon show Hey Dude back in the Day.
Now decades later, we are together again as hosts of the Hey Dude the Nineties called podcast, where we revisit amazing nineties nostalgia.
From music to movies, to television and comedy.
We cover it all, and we get to do it with an array of guests who made their mark in that magical era.
Stars from Saved by the Bell, Married with Children, Blossom, Clueless, Full House, Beverly Hills, nine O two one zero. The list goes on.
And David, don't forget our number one fan, mister Ben Stiller.
How could I forget Ben Stiller?
I mean, it was so nice for us to both meet him for the first time. He was an amazing guest.
We've also had on other nineties megastars like Jason Priestley, Melissa Joan Hart, Cal Mitchell, and Mayam Biolic just the name a few, and there's so much more to come.
So sit back, relax.
You can even binge our episodes and make sure to catch a new one each week.
Listen to Hey Dude, the Nineties called on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen to podcasts.
Okay, I'm looking for the most Challenging Guest Award. Okay, let's get That's what my goal is here today.
And with that, let me introduce Lauren's mom, Donna.
Zema, Queen Empress, perhaps Dictator. Donna Zema has joined us.
Mom, thank you for being here.
Oh, you're welcome. I'm happy to be here.
Happy Mother's Day.
Thank you so much so.
This is a special Mother's Day episode of the podcast.
We spoke to Chris's mom and we're going to speak to.
You and we have four questions for just you know, kind of wanted to keep it streamlined and we're going to ask both of you the same questions. But I have to say, Mom, I mean, I was a little hesitant about this.
I didn't know how it was going to go. And how did you feel joining the podcast here today?
Well, I thought that you'd be asking me for my sage advice and wisdom on motherhood.
So I've been.
Thinking about because and then I've been thinking about how I sidestep certain questions as to non embarrassed one of my three children.
Well, which couldn't be hard if I tell the truth.
Everybody already has this amazing glimpse into y'all's life and your relationship. Well, the other day, y'all were you were wedding dress shopping, Yes, and your mom very much disapproved of your outfit. In fact, I think she said you hated it.
It was hilarious. Yes, my mom is a go ahead mother.
We just are not charitable with each other when it comes to saying, well, we really feel about what anybody's wearing or doing or whatever.
That's our family.
Sorry, that's very true.
That is a family true, a family of lawyers. My parents both lawyers, my brother now a lawyer. My parents wanted me to go to law school. And you know, we fight a lot and we laugh a lot, and actually I think babe. This was for you when you're first getting to know my family. I remember one day you we had just I forget who we'd just been hanging out with. Maybe it was with you and we mom,
and Chris goes, okay, I get it. You guys like poke at each other a lot, and you fight a lot, but you're like being funny.
Yeah, and it's all out of love. And if you can't hang in the courtroom, that is the Zema family. So true, you are not going to make it. It's sick swim.
You've got to have some thick skin around here.
Well, Mom, you prepared perfectly, which is very loyery of you, and you're right.
We are going to ask your advice.
So question number one, if you could only give one tip, what would be your best advice on parenting?
Learn how to say no. I mean, I'm sorry.
That's I think a problem with a lot of parents that they want to make their kids happy and they don't know how to protect their kids from themselves.
So you have to learn to say no.
No.
You can't do that. I know it's popular. I know you want to go there. I know you want to.
Have this iPhone at you know six years old, but they have to learn to say no. I think that's the most important piece of advice for a parent.
Too many parents want to be their kid's best friend, right, Yeah, that never works. And I will say, getting to know Lauren and now you, Laura, you've talked about this a lot that your mom would you know, I don't say dictate, dictate who you were hanging out with, your friends, made sure the path you were on, Yes, because who you're hanging out with, well, you.
Always used to say, mom, like, your your friends are your kids kind of most important. Yeah, social structure, and they dictate so much. And yeah, I mean my mom would employ such phrases as I'm the mother and you're not.
That was one of my favorites. I still employ that one.
That still works.
And yeah, you were very much that you were protecting us from ourselves.
That was a phrase you always said.
One phrase that I love that was that I think came from you, was you said, you've said before with kids, you can put the time in now or later.
Oh, that is so true.
And I see the the results of that in my own life so many times of people who didn't put the time in and they're still supporting adult children, etc.
Something you never want to.
Do speaking of somebody who is speaking of someone who's hit three home runs in a row. Your two beautiful daughters, your amazingly talented son who's now a lawyer and his budding legal career. Of all the things, what is the biggest joy? What have you taken the most away from being a mom and watching these three incredible children grow.
I think the biggest joy for me has seen the three.
Adults they've become, and not so much their successes in the employment arena, although I'm very proud of that. I'm the most proud and it gives me the most joy to see the adults they've become. They're moral, caring, wonderful people, and that's where I get my joys a mom.
Thanks Mom. She always used to say, I want you to be a person of substance.
And you are, all three of you are. Thank you, and you're with people of substance, which makes it very, very wonderful in a family.
Thank you.
Oh, she's getting emotional.
Well I'm not, no, I mean that from the bottom of my heart.
So well.
We had such a great example obviously in you, Mom, and I mean we I write this. I feel like my siblings and I write the same things in cards to you on your birthday and on Mother's Day. We are all always like sometimes we'll read each other's cards and we've almost always written basically the same thing, which is like, we wouldn't be where we are without you.
Oh no, no, I'm going to get emotional. Why did we do this Mother's Day podcast?
Oh my god?
But you know what I was thinking about this earlier, you know, in the words of others who come before me, it does take a village, and your village included two wonderful grandparents, people of substance to guide you and your father. So there's a lot of people involved in this mix. It's it's great on Mother's Day to be honored as a mother, but mothers don't do it alone, that's for sure.
That's true.
Well, we had my mom's parents, Grandpop's, and we would go to their house on the weekends. They lived about thirty five forty minutes away from us, so we spent a lot of time there. But it all gets passed down and then when I look at I mean now, even being with Chris's kids, I'm like, oh, I get it now. The cycle of things, because I'm taking a lot of what I learned from you into my time with them, so I'm very grateful.
Yeah, and a lot of that stuff emanated from grand and Pop. So all right, send it down.
The next question, that was the greatest joy of motherhood? What was the greatest challenge of myne Oh, my god, there were.
So many, and you guys were relatively great, well behaved kids. I think the greatest challenge of being a parent is to know when to let your kids make mistakes that sometimes they just won't listen to you, and you got to kind of let them go down the road and see.
When did you do that.
I won't oh, I won't talk about any particular examples in public.
Well, Donna, I want to ask you one in particular, because obviously your dad, yes, a lawyer, your mom lawyer, brother, lawyer, you, from what I understand, Correct me if I'm wrong, because this is an els story, wanted her to go to law school and did not want her to go into entertainment.
Oh my god.
No, I cannot be one of these these parents that say it says, oh, my daughter is successful because I did so.
Much to support her dream. No, that's what I thought, to be perfectly honest.
Yeah, I thought she's going to be starving in la and I'm going to have to support her for the rest.
Of her life. So sorry.
I was not one of those people. I because, as you know, it's so the odds are against you.
To make it in that town.
I know, I know Chris is holding up the end me wrong.
She proved me wrong. She did.
But it takes that too though. You have to because the reason I love that is your daughter had to have the intestinal fortitude that obviously you gave her to know that path and to know she was strong enough to go do that.
She did, she absolutely did, and I give her all the credit because she didn't have, you know, a stage mom behind her pushing her saying go go go. I'm like, oh, guy, don't you want to be an account Maybe it's not a lawyer, how about an.
Account By the way, I argue with her, and she would be an amazing lawyer, she really would. I have I have yet to win one. Yeah through that, apparently the dress really is blue not green? Okay, Donna, because this is Mother's Day and I am honored enough to about to enter this family. Uh, and you will be my mother. I have to ask a very serious question, what do I need to know about your daughter as we take this huge step in life.
I if I have one piece of advice for you, and I think you already do this.
Keep her laughing.
Warren thrives upon joy and laughter in her life. If you do that, you guys are going to be together till the day you die.
That's so true.
Wow.
True.
I didn't expect you to say that, Mom, Really well.
I thought you would say I know you pretty well, you do.
I thought you'd pick up on something else like, I don't know, but yeah, you're right, You're right.
This that sums me up pretty well.
Actually, I'm really having a moment of feeling like my mom knows me as an adult, and I'm maybe feeling like that for the first time, well last some years, when I in like my twenties, maybe where I kept I think there was a little conflict of you realizing or accepting who I was becoming as an adult versus who the more teenager version of me you might have known.
Would you agree, Yeah, yeah, I would.
There's there there was definitely some transition transition years. Yeah, well, that's probably it's also a letting.
Go too, right, because you know you've like nurtured this wonderful human being from the time they came out of your body, and then you know at some point you're going to have to let them go.
So it's a long process.
I have had to say the same thing where it's that it's that point where you throw them out of the nest to see if they can fly, but you're still like holding your hands out a little bit until you realize, oh, they're flying, and then it's ye. And it's hard to take that because you've done your job.
And I remember, I remember you told me once that Dad said to you, well, honey, the problem is like we raise them to fly away and encourage them to do it in a now we're upset that they did.
Which is the reason I live in Chicago by myself.
And they don't come see you enough. But don in all seriousness, I'm marvel at what an amazing mother you have been, what an amazing mother you are. The relationship you have with John, Christina and Lauren, the way they love you, the way they look up to you and idolize you. It's one of the things I fell in love with immediately with Lauren was your family, the family that you have built. You are definitely the matriarch of this family. There is no doubt about that.
We fight, we laugh, we communicate, we over communicate. I mean, one difference between you and I is like I talk to my mom, my sister, and my brother all every day, multiple times a day. Chris fights less, maybe communicates a little less so, but somehow we're making it work.
You have to get it else and it's good you have your family because I only have so many.
Words, Mom, I wanted to ask you.
Chris's mom brought something up about how close Chris and Glen have stayed, and like, that's something I think again drew us to each other, was that we're both just so close with our families. How did you foster a situation where Christina and I and John were such close siblings and still are now.
Well, first of all, you didn't have much of a choice, living on nine acres of land by yourself.
We don't have any neighbors, any friends.
It was like, okay, we.
Better get along with them because you got nobody to play with. And this was, you know, the days before everybody was in front of a screen, right, So I think that did a lot to foster the closeness that you guys have. You only had each other many times, you know. It was like after school, you didn't go out and do a lot of things. You stayed at home. You were here on nine acres of land by yourself. Remember for a while, we didn't even have cable TV.
So that's true. My mom wanted us to be readers, so we didn't have TV.
No, Oh, Donna, I love the tell me again, this is a great story I've heard about you. You would incentivize your kids with the chance to read. Most parents are. You get screen time, you can watch TV, you can watch movie. You if the kids did great, you let them read. So they were excited just to get the opportunity to read a book.
Yeah, what little nerds they were, Chris, Seriously, I have them.
Completely of what did what brilliant I did?
I did used to say, Hey, you want to stay up you know, TV or whatever, but you can read.
So that was always my little sneaky way.
We're also learning from this podcast the psychology that is used in being a mom and how you tricked us into so many things. And by the way, it's sounding like I grew up, like I don't know, in some kind of isolated society.
We did.
We didn't have cable TV because you wanted us to read, and you did say getting back to the siblings thing, it was always these are the people who are going to be your friends for life. And actually remember even when I was in middle school, because everybody's the worst in middle school, I wanted my own room, and you made Christina and I always share a room.
Always.
Yeah, And you know, as a result, you two are probably like the closest sisters. I know. I'm very proud of that because you're right when I'm gone, who are you going to have each other?
That's your family so.
Well, and that is also why I can never be alone. So Chris is really benefiting from that. Mom.
Thank you. I didn't think you would. I didn't think you would. I thought you might make fun of me more on this podcast.
To be honest with you, Oh, I'm keeping myself in chat.
Let's end on a high note. I feel like we're really leaving a good emotional space right now.
We love you so much, and Happy Mother's Day.
Happy Mother's Day.
Thank you guys, Love you both.
Love you, okay, we're off the hot seat.
I was a little nervous.
I know you were. It is funny when you know my mom. They brought her on one of my one of the specials one time and she was live on Network TV, and I.
Just, okay, that's nervous.
You're just like, oh God, please let this go good. And she of course crushed it and she was amazing. She made me cry that night and again today. And I know there's that trepidation when our.
Moms get on Why why is that we can have.
Because it's a part of our lives that we've kept pretty quiet and secret, you know, like we're hosts. We don't live actually that out loud. So when you open up a little bit more of our lives, it's a little nerve wracking.
I also think that you can be the most successful you can be at the top of your career. You can be a name known the world over, and nobody can like bring you back like your mom, you know what I mean.
So it's see.
They've done their job, which both of ours have. They had this amazing ability to make you feel like you are twelve years old. Again.
By the way, speaking of doing their jobs, were they. They both just crushed being it.
They did. I know they they were.
Ready with their sound bites, they came prepared with answers, they spoke succinctly.
That's because they're both incredible business women too.
I look for a Marybeth Donna Zema podcast coming.
So wow, moms on moms, moms on moms, moms on momming.
But thank you to our moms, to Beth, to Donna, we love you so much. You guys have been amazing to both of us and now to both of us together as one big family. And there's just our way of reaching out to you to let the world know how much we love and appreciate you, but also to show the love to all of you and to all the incredible moms out there.
Yes, we wanted to share a little of their wisdom because we both admire both our own moms and each others and have learned so much from them. And thank you and all our love to the moms whoever that might be in your life. For some people, it's you know, mom or aunt or a friend who came into your family's life.
Whatever figure was that.
Loving maternal guiding light that you needed, Thank you and yeah.
Happy Mother's Day, others Day. Throw all the moms out there and we'll talk to you next time, 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.