#115 2024’s Most Unforgettable Guests

Kick it off.

What do you got for me?

This is the last time that these people will hear us this year for twenty twenty four.

Yeah, wow, what a year.

It's been been a long year. No, it's gone quick, is it? I think so?

Well a bit of it.

Has it been a long year for you?

Yeah?

How are you feeling?

How are you? How do I sound?

Look you are a little bit under the weather. We had to record these episodes. We're not obviously we're not live. Podcasts aren't live. I hate to ruin it for anyone.

What.

Yeah, I've had to drag ash to my house. Unwell, he's on a lot of drugs, all legal, A couple of.

Pain killers, couple of painkillers.

And we're just having a really nostalgic day.

I'm a soldier, you're a soldier, a young soldier.

We're just talking about what a year it's been. What amazing guests that we've had on this podcast. And we thought, we thought we'll give you a little reminder just how good it was. I know I sound arrogant, so just bear with me.

He sounds great. Shut up do I gosh, my good, you's sound great, But also shut up. We did we had some really good guesses. Both of our wives.

Oh look is arrogant?

Now, we had both of our wives.

She's nass.

April was.

Abril had a bit of Alian before she started.

Did she really?

Yeah, so I shouldn't laugh at her drug problems.

She was very anxious, very anxious, my wife.

But we had Laura Burn, also very anxious. She was on more than ones this year. April's on more than one too. We had a few episodes with April, so we are happy.

Today to bring you Laura Burn, April Wicks.

Yeah, we led in the mix and Kayla George one of our favorite episodes.

Taylor George would be up there with one of my favorite episodes. I'd say, yeah you.

I didn't realize when we first met. I had no idea how much of a basketball fan you are.

Yeah, look, I love a good time and I think basketball is all a good time.

You have a party.

It's a big part and also one of my favorite chats with a dad breath and Asta is also in the mix. So it's a cracking episode.

Enjoy.

Let's get into.

Well.

I've asked it a few times in the podcast. We've spoken about it a couple of times.

I've had a sectomy. Matt hasn't endured that as yet.

I want to know, is there a possibility for a third child, A third Johnson?

A third Johnson that's not a cat? Do you want to have another kid?

I think so?

So this is this is why the pendulum has swung so wide. I watched it and I can't keep up with him because only a couple of months ago, Matt said he did not want to have another child.

At all, because you're advocating for it. You pulled me aside and said we're having a.

Third personally for me.

I don't want another one for you.

There is enough plans and cats and everything.

I'm going to be honest, I don't need it. Why I don't need you guys have anymore?

Is it the stress of what I would requires?

Already?

I'm stressed out, man.

The plants are staring at me, the cat's staring at me, a three legged dogs staring at me, and now you want to introduce a fucking baby to stare at me on here too?

Okay? So I always thought it's funny for me because I never really ever saw myself as being a mom like I didn't. I never had you. I never had the maternal pool. I never ever dreamt about being mom or I didn't even know if i'd be a good mom. Really, I was like, that seems like you require a lot of patience to do it. And then I had Marley, and I well know that I met Matt, and you really wanted to be a dad.

And so.

You really wanted to be a dad.

And I think it was your excitement about wanting to be a dad that made me have excitement about wanting to be a mom. Even though I kind of knew it would be my plans. I just didn't have this like big maternal pool. Then Molly came around, and I loved it so much more than I ever thought I would. And I think people are so quick to tell you all the bad bits about parenting, and people don't really stop and tell you the incredible bits.

It's just so much more fun to talk about.

That's what totally and people. We revel in complaining, right, Like, that's my favorite thing. Humans love to complain. There's this real like shared almost like like like shared camaraderie when we complain about stuff.

All we do on this podcast.

And we're complaining about how the meads uncooked.

But I will say you're also a great mum as well.

Thank you.

I love being a mom.

I do, I do want.

I love it.

I love it so much more than I ever thought I would. And I look at Lola now, and you know, obviously, whether we have two, we have three, I'm still a mom for as long as I am on the earth. But my thing is I look at Lola and I can't believe that I'm never going to have another little person like that. She's the youngest that there is ever going to be in this household. And but every so often I just have these moments where I'm like, surely this can't be it. And I always thought I would

So it's a possibility.

I would like to I'm thirty eight now, I'll be thirty nine next year. Work is a lot in terms of like contracts and trying to figure out timings and stuff. But if we could have a baby next year, I would be excited too.

Would you name it after me.

It would be named.

Ash jam Picklets like.

I know Jamie Little Jimmy Jam.

I'm definitely done obviously. How that a sex me?

Yeah, okay, well I know that you like you feel the churl in there, but ok. My one thing though about like having another kid is that I think people's instant reaction when someone has already has two these days and that's two of the same sex, the instant thought is to be like, oh, well, you're trying for a boy, like you're trying for the alternate sex. I love being

I'd always prefer another girl.

Yeah, and if we had three girls, I would be absolutely fucking thrilled. So I want that to be like on record, so that if we ever do have another girl, people are like, oh my god, yeah, I just wanted to have my boy, just wanted genuinely, Yeah, I could see us having another kid. Also, Nana just moved in, so like we've got a free baby sitter.

I would like to be more involved.

You could be the Godfather.

Thank you.

I laugh about it now.

But the thing I think that I was attracted to you were like your whole two tattoos that you had at the time, and I was.

Like, that's hot, and they're like the worst tattoos I have, yeah, under my arm and under that they're like one of them was done by a tato artist that she was pissed and it was like, so it's so bad, and the other one was just like a dumb seventeen year old tatoo.

Did you show where the tattoos that night?

Yeah? I just walked around those.

By the way, he was skinnier than me as well, it was I was so small.

The photos of you when you were younger, you're a bit of a trim young lad.

Oh now what am I fat?

Dad?

A very clean cut.

You're allowed ten kilos for every kid you have.

You didn't have the mustache.

No, did that version of events match what happened from you?

Yes? Yeah, that was pretty bang on. I think I tried really hard to go home with her. She said, no, kick me off the bus.

Yeah, we did catch a bus home, got a bus home.

Well, young I was poor and then I spent weeks weeks courting, courting weeks to the point where it was a joke between her and her friends. So I was a joke really.

Because you were you were like playing hard.

To get or he was very keen.

And I remember joking like because he sent like, not millions, but he said plenty.

Of messages throughout the day.

And at that time I had a job where my phone was locked away on a locker and you'd send like a couple of messages like just like, how's your day, but then another one would come through.

The one You're going back to back to back.

Back to back to back in those days.

Yeah, I'd never do that now.

And I joke to one of my friends at the time and I was like, oh my god, this guy's so keen.

Imagine if I end up marrying him.

There you go, guys persistence.

Do you remember after you guys met at the pub, like what your first date was?

Yes, where did you go?

So you'd been out like that whole day, so I think you'd been drinking as well, So you were like, does not sound like that. You were like, Oh, we should go out for dinner, but I think you need to Can you pick me up.

WHOA, I was out during the day, but I had tried to see April at other occasions but she was playing hard to get. And then the one occasion I was in Bondai actually, and the one occasion where she was like, oh I'm free tonight, I was. I caught up with a girlfriend of mine that I had moved down as well, and we just hadn't seen each other yet. She moved to bond dimit, so we caught up for

And then it was like, oh shit.

So I pretty much stopped whatever I was doing and got on a bus and then got on a train.

But the thing is that I was like, A, You're going to have to drive. So I got dropped at her.

Like pretty much at her place, and then we drove to where I was living, which was on the floor of Pete's house, who was at the cafe street.

So just to clear that up.

Carry on, I'm pretty sure as well.

You did send in a message I think that's when you told me.

You're like, oh, I can't afford dinner.

I can't remember how I found out that you couldn't pay for dinner much.

Oh yeah, yeah, I'm.

Pretty sure you like told me straight up, You're like, I haven't got money for dinner, but I'd love to take you out.

So I was like, context, context, context is everything, guys.

I had. I had packed up my car.

From living in my parents' house, moved here, was working three jobs that paid cash, and it was like the worst time because I was in Bondou with all my money that I had and had pretty much spent it on lunch and everything, thinking Okay, I'm just going to go home. I'll get paid the next couple of days from one of these jobs. But then I didn't want to miss the opportunity.

So honesty, honesty is the best pose.

Yeah, but I don't think I don't recall saying it.

Well, I just I can't remember how I found out that I had to pay, because I did have to pay to that.

No, let's get to that. Okay, you didn't have to pay. He didn't make you pay the.

End, because no, he did.

He gave me a discount, didn't he because you worked where we end up going for dinner.

So yeah, we drove. We drove somewhere.

We didn't really have plans, and I was driving.

I think we went to go to a sushi place, but we couldn't park or something, and then we end up going to You were like.

Oh, I work it.

I work at this jizza.

Pizza place, so we'll go there.

And so we went there.

I had dinner and whatnot, and obviously all his co workers were like behind my back, which I know now. Yeah, and then the bill came and I went up to pay and.

Afford to pay, but.

My name.

I think the important thing to remember is that you can start with the bar really low and then from then on everything's a plus.

Yeah, and you did? You did?

You used to spoil me rotten in what way? Oh?

I remember like one of the first Valentine's Days, I think you bought.

Me an iPad mini, buy me jewelry.

Yeah, like literally spent probably credit card debt.

It can't make up for that one dinner I couldn't pay for. But it was the most important dinner obviously. But I mean, at the time, I recall, I was like okay, well, the people I was with in Bonder, I got to go, and it was like I got to go.

I have to go for a particular reason.

I could have easily just been like no not yeah.

Yeah, So that's how that's how the first date went.

Do you remember thinking on that date? This feels different to other dates that I've been on.

Definitely, she had to pay for it, Like I.

Feel slightly lighter in the wallet. It wasn't expensive, all right.

No, and like you know you're talking when we were twenty, there was not a high expectation of like long.

Whining and it was about that. Yeah. Yeah, I enjoyed his company.

Your dog is very into the story. I don't want to ask questions that are too personal. Did you have a kiss after dinner?

Was there a kiss?

Oh?

I have no idea.

I can't remember. I think so well, I don't know.

Where, like wouldn't have been at the restaurant.

I remember when are we Because we had to stop at my place before we went, and I was living with Pete and there's three brothers in that house, Like, oh, walked in there, had to get some fresh clothes, and Pete was like, where are you going? I was like, oh, I'm going on a date with April Gates and he was like.

Bullshit, you're lying bullshit. And then I was like and then he's like walked out open the front door. It's like, dahn, she had a big crash on April. So I stole a stolen something.

I don't think I was ever his, but.

He still thinks, he still thinks he's got to change.

For anyone who hasn't been in the room, for anyone who hasn't given birth, what's it like, and especially because I can't imagine doing that without drugs, but you're in a moment of like extreme pain. And then what's it like when you get to see your child for the first time and you get to hold them?

Yeah, okay, so hang the fuck on bus. Obviously have seen it as dads, but holy Molly, like nothing prepares.

You for that.

It is excruciating. And you have a plan, chuck that fucking plan in a bin. That plan is not sticking to play. That is so true.

Like I had a plan.

I mean, I'm like a non planning plant person that I was like, Hey, I want to have it in the bath, Like I'm real zoning idea I'm going to breathe through this thing. Let's have it in the bath. I couldn't even fit in the fucking bar my legs, my legs were way too long for this public coastural bath. And yeah, no, the pain I felt, I think Minnie was apparently turned the wrong way inside me and shit, and she was taking ages to come out and blah blah. My legs felt like they were going to fall off.

Is a stick. She's like a quarter of the size of me. So I was like, mum's miniature.

If she can push out two big heads that me and my brother had.

And it's apparently painless.

This is a walking apart from me and my baby was pretty small, but the way whatever the fuck she was doing in there, it was just killing. So yeah, birth was far and it was too late. By the time I got through all all the hours of dying in the whatever with the midwives.

And stuff, it was just too late to get an epy.

Like by the time I was like, what's going on, guys, can I get the epidural? They were like, well, you've literally you've probably only got an hour left.

You're about to start start pushing.

You've just done this for like seven hours, like and I was like, oh, yeah, okay. Now it's like I'm this is a mental thing, and I'm like, okay, I'm not getting it, like I'm going to do this because I was like, I should have got it like ten hours. But when she came out, I was just so fricking frothing and relieved that that was over and trying.

To figure out how to hold this sip slippery little sleep because they're so slippery sippery.

No one tells you that you're going to drop it like I was. I wasn't in a bed, I was on all fours on the little tile whatever the floor is, and she was just so slippery, and I was like, shit, we're all covered in blood and vomited and everything.

I'm going to drop this little egg.

It took so long of me just catching my breath chilling for like a few minutes before my mom and the midwives were like.

What is it? Check what it is?

Like, what is it?

You know what?

What's what's the sex? And so that was super cool, and I was like, holy ship.

I was like almost scared to like look because I was like, oh my god, I can't believe I've just been so lost in this moment of like just frothing that this little slugs in my arms that I haven't even thought to look at what it is because I'm just so stoked to have a healthy baby that's screaming at me.

And yeah, it was a girl.

Sometimes. Habilical cords also a bit confusing as well.

Your homos.

Did you have to cut it?

Did you cut it? How hard is it to cut? Like Calamari, I was like.

My mom had the scissors and was like chopping, like trying to it's.

Not easy to shop because these are craps.

Yeah, literally where the proper get cut.

Open kids safety.

Exactly the plastic ones.

But nah, as you guys know, those moments are ridiculous.

And then I just remember they kind of.

Put me in the bed, babies on me, like figuring out how to breastfeed and like that. But just like you're so off with the fairies, You're just like, what the hell? And then they're just like stitching me up and doing whatever they're doing. And that's not even I'm not even feeling a thing there because you're just so wrapped up in like, oh my god, you've got a baby on your move and such a cool and my mum was so great in those moments.

The way that Pearl was conceived and you've come to be a mum is so unique. Can you talk us through when you made that decision or how the conversation started to go down that that We were just talking about it before. Matt and I were like, how do you put that on the table, like, talk us through it if you don't mind.

Of course, of course, kylu My husband is a toaster islander and it's really common in Ireland culture to gift babies to other family members that are struggling to have their own children. And they truly believe that when they do that, they get their own after they have their own after which happens a lot.

You're not straight, not just.

My husband, although my husband did think I was feed part fore GM when we first met, so I was like, just you listen to what I'm saying. So, yeah, when I first started dating Kylou, I met his family and I knew that a couple of his nieces, his sister had a couple of babies and she gifted her second one to his mum. They lived in the same house, so I knew of the concept of what you know

Holy wow.

I was like, oh my gosh, huge, amazing. I wasn't overwhelmed with it because I knew of the practice in the culture, so I was like, oh, my gosh, is if you do that? I was like, oh wow. I was more overwhelmed that, like it could have been happening like soon.

I was like, oh, when you were struggling to fullbring it, did you think, hey, this may be an option.

No, Kylon never really spoke about it, but I did speak to his sister Nino about it a fair bit. So it was always like kind of in my mind like, oh, that that could be an option. But I really do hope to still one day like be able to hold a baby and still like a baby myself. But if this is our only option, that's really cool too, Like what a blessing? And so yeah, I guess what year are we now, twenty twenty four. I guess at the start of yeah, twenty twenty two. We just finished our

They would have been trying and stuff without you knowing, yeah, and then.

Obviously knowing that they wanted to give to you a baby.

Yeah, then them saying hey, we're nine weeks pregnant is as biggest shock to you as it is to the rest of the family.

I suppose, right, Yeah, No, it.

Was a bit of a shock, but I really wanted to see what sex it was going to be because they were going to keep the boy because they'd only had one son and they wanted another son. I was like, that's totally fair, Like it's your child even if.

You don't want to give me, so you're still there's still like fifty to.

Fifty with Yeah.

So as soon as we were able to be got the test done and we the doctor's exact words, but oh no, that's a hamburger. That's not a sausage, and that's a hamburger, Like, oh was that the official term?

The medical term for it.

Isn't the same doctor that's reckoning, I.

Was American.

Funny.

So yeah, after that, after we found out the gender, then we kind of just got into like, mind you, I'm preparing for a World Cup like a major event, while I'm preparing to be a mum, and so, you know, just telling my family and the close friends that I had, and I'm like, what, like they weren't really aware of the culture side of all. I don't really. I hadn't spoken about, you know, how their family do that before, so people kind of took a second to let it sink in.

And yeah, I mean, I think it's beautiful, but when you first hear about it, you're like, because it's so different to how Western culture would.

Be, I know, it's kind of like I didn't think it was that was the thing, and there'd be so many people listening right now that would be especially men.

Yeah, they would be like I never thought that that would be.

There was a lot of situ Yeah when I posted, when it came out, there'd been articles written or whatever. There was a lot of troll comings of just people that just had no open mind or no idea, like and that's fine, Like that's social media these days, right, you can't do anything. I don't know that you get troll coming to this podcast, though.

Normally it's just you guys swear too much. Yeah.

Really, we made front of a dentists and then people came after.

As we love the dentists doctors technically, but anyway, assuming that you'd have a bit of a thick skin playing professional sport, copying heat from people, we'll still.

Get to you sometimes though, if you let it. There's a lot of stuff, and it can be pretty debilitating when you're not in a confident headspace because we've always got to maintain a confidence level to be able to perform and play under pressure. I don't know what life is like to not have pressure, like basketball pressure and if I finish one tournament, it's like, well, one game will and what's next. There's always pressure for the next thing.

So I just it was boring over here.

Yeah, so once we back to the pearl train of events, so once you know, it got closer to the time I had the World Cup. We won a bronze medal in Sydney. We beat Canada in the bronze medal game. Nine days later, I'm in the theater with Nina Wow, getting pearly. I was really nervous about the connection piece. I was really nervous, like about everything.

It was just in what way, well.

Because I hadn't held it. I hadn't, you know, actually been growing her in my belly. So I was really nervous about yeah, the connection but skinned skin straight away was with me and it was beautiful.

Yeah, wow, yea or.

Not the skin I held her straight away then, like when we went to the recovery redinal skin on skin which is really beautiful. But I was also really nervous and felt really guilty for taking away Nina's baby. And she said to me in the in the recovery room, she said, I, I've actually been holding her for you this whole time. She's not been my baby this entire time. She's been yours, and I've just been looking after it for you.

Disconnected from that. Yeah, really, I suppose you've got her.

Yeah, so I thought that. I mean, we're really close to me and Nina, so we talk a lot, and we've got a really great relationship. I guess you kind of have to be able to do this. But she was actually just down in Sydney last week with her four year old son, so that was really great for Pearl and Nicholas to be able to have a play. But yeah, it was a really I almost would like cry anytime, Like when we had to leave the hospital and she went to her house and we went to

Being a single dad with girls, do you think that time so much time with them has helped you build a much stronger bond than maybe some other dads have that are you know, still with the mom and there's that mix.

This mixed For me, like Ahia, that bond is unbreakable purely because from the day she was born, it's been me and her for different circumstances gg I don't get as much, which is hard for dads as well, right, because it's small than I would say the stereotypical you know break up where the mother mother has majority. You know, we always want more, but that's it's different, you know,

You know what I'm saying. I've got thursdays.

Other days it's called daddy doing night and and we have like swimming in the morning, and it's you know, it's the one day where Laura is working my wife, and so she's me and the girls and and it's this hard balance of I wanted to be a really memorable, enjoyable experience, and so you want to give them things that they enjoy. But at the same time, it's also

You sometimes heartbreaking because you got you've only got a short period of time, like a couple of days with her in a week, and if it's not a good time, you're disappointed and it's sad because you've got to drop it back on a bad note. Yeah, it just hasn't gone to plan, and you don't have that every day time to be with her for her, you know. So it is hard for dads like that, and it just doesn't always care to plan, right.

Especially they probably get older as well and they're into their own things or they might. I mean with my daughter, she's so young that like if we have a tip, you know, we can get over pretty quick. You know when that as they get, as she gets older and more stubborn and illien herself and can be like, well, I'm going to hold this grudge against you now because that's not fair what you did.

Whatever it might be, it must be really hard.

I can't imagine that drop off at the end of your time and you haven't been able to mend that bridge, and then you've got to wait all that this time to.

Try and try and have that moment and it's your own daughter, you know, Yeah, it's hard to take you as you go back again to all you ever think of is as someone as a kid or just growing up, is having that perfect family right where you've got your kids and you know, I was brought up in Well it didn't end up being a perfect family, but it was from my childhood.

And then you get to a point where it's just not and you've got to deal with it.

But that's like, you know, we've all got we've all got ways of dealing with different things and things we've got to navigate through and it's a constant challenge for me. But I love I love my girls, and I love bring and dads.

Well well, well, well, well, well here we are ash.

It's nice to revisit those voices.

Trying to say that with a really serious face sound like someone who's got is this schizophrenia?

That's what I say to myself every night podcast. I can't wait to lay down and revisit those voices.

Look, the series are best of episodes because we are having a delicious, wonderful, relaxing break over the Christmas period.

So we will be back with you next week for another best of episode.

And if you've enjoyed that, please leave us a review, a New Year's review. Some would say, well said five stars and then join us on socials, Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, and we love.

You all goes without saying see you next year. We'd be nothing without you. We appreciate your support.

You sound desperate now we are as see you next year.

Two.

Doting Podcast acknowledges the traditional custodians of country throughout Australia and the connections to land, sea and community.

We pay our respects to their elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torrestrate Islander peoples today.

This episode was recorded on Gadagal Land.