Comedy Through The Chaos: Parenting Edition

Ain't nobody bringing us down, down, down, down. Good morning everybody. Hello throughout the Cadre sphere. It is Saturday. Hopefully the day is treating you well. If not shame on it. Not shame on you. I'm moisturizing my hands, that thing. So I felt a little, a little dry. A little dry as we began our conversation. I am Ms. Shannon Paul. I'm a variety of word related things as far as profession goes including a comedian, a corporate speaker, a voice actor. Hello Tristan, good to see you here. Hello, hello, hello.

Happy to see you in the chat. As I was saying, I'm a variety of word related things by profession including a comedian, a corporate speaker, a voice actor, an event MC and a benefit auctioneer. So I get to go places and help them tell their stories. Amar, good to see you. I feel like it's been a while since I saw your beautiful name in the chat. Good to see you. Happy Saturday friend. Happy Saturday. Welcome to the Saturday edition of Comedy through the Chaos. So good to see you here, here. I hope that the week has treated you well.

Jc hello friend. Cheers. Cheers. We're doing a little K pop here in the house this morning, but it may not last. It's talking about going hard which sometimes we have to do. Hello everybody. I am also very fortunate to be the proud parent of an adorable 17 year old kiddo who happens to be high supports on the autism spectrum. He is currently doing that 17 year old thing of sleeping in which I appreciate. It gives me time to kind of like get my act together, especially this time of year where it is already kind of chaotic and I live in the land of chaos, hence the name of my brand, Comedy through the Chaos.

But it's something that I think that we can all learn how to navigate and not feel as thrown about throughout the chaos. It just takes a little bit of practice and some things. I said that as well. Jc. Hi Amar. So what I thought we could talk about today as we've been looking back over the last year and how the year kind of played out. And for me one of the things that I noticed is that this was a year of many milestones, small milestones, things that popped up and things that were unexpected as pivots are often want to do.

Often the pivots come because something unexpected happened and then we prove our resilience by moving around whatever little speed bump, road blocker necessary pivot we had to turn around. So congratulations if you did some of that in your life this year. Excuse me. Hey Kathy. Hi. Speak wonder. Good to see you. So I'M like, I heard that you could be allergic to snow mold, which is what I think I'm having. So hopefully the potion will help. So as we continue to talk about many milestones, that's really how my year has played out, especially with my son.

So, no, there weren't a lot of. This is some huge milestone that we made something we have been working for Icebound. We had kind of a thaw. And so we're gonna have some more snow tomorrow, I think in the part of Minneapolis that I'm in. And so we shall see. The forecast calls for wintry mix before we get there, which, as you know, is never, never a favorite that's going to be underneath snow. No bueno. No bueno. But we shall see. I'm gonna try and get all my errands done today so I can hunker down tomorrow.

But that's a good example of some of the many milestones that I think my kiddo has had is that ability to pivot around changes in the weather, that ability to go, oh, we had planned on doing this, but we're not going to do that today. And for us to be able to navigate that when that's something that may have previously caused a meltdown or an issue, and now we can float through those waters a lot more buoyantly than we used to. I did that for you, Kathy, because I thought I'd. I'd add in a nautical term to show how worldly I am.

So the other thing is that we've had these moments of, oh, that was something you were working on somewhere in the background. Like more moments of independence, better moments of communication. All of these things that seem really tiny and almost things that you wouldn't necessarily give yourself credit for. Like, I just realize in retrospect that this is the first full year that my son has been with me full time and the time has just flown. Absolutely had flown. You are welcome. Thank you very much.

Speak wonder. And so just looking back and going, that was not something I had planned for. I didn't anticipate that I would be a full time single mom with the special needs kit, but I am, and we are navigating it with grace. We are doing well, much better than I had anticipated. And some things that I had been seeing as difficulties actually have managed to take care of themselves now that we were. I, I like that that's not the word that I chose for 2026, but now that I've said it, maybe I should have.

I'm gonna write that down and Use that on my personal vision board. Even though I said it, I'm going to remind myself that I need to keep that in mind as we move forward. But that is something that I didn't foresee. But it's turned out to be a really good thing. A major change, but a good change. And shown how we were able to bob and weave and. And move along. And especially this year, one of the things that I also noticed is that we didn't have to call out for life preservers this year, but there were more people in my circle that tossed us a hand when we needed it.

There were more people that came up with something and gave us a little push if it looked like we were getting stuck on the rocks. There were a lot more people that came by and said, oh, wait, wait, wait, don't go. Don't go that way. That's choppy waters. And I was in a position to receive that information and take that advice and miss some of these difficulties that would make our lives a lot harder. And so those mini milestones have been very, very important to me and my kiddo. They have helped influence the way that my parents and I give care to him.

And I am very grateful for all of that. And if it wasn't for the ability to look back and go, those little things, those little things have end added up to a good year, a complex year, a layered year, a. A year definitely full of. Of complexities and choppy waters and difficulties at different spaces of it. But looking back in general, it was a good year for us and it's giving me a lot of hope as we move into 2026 to sit, to say, you know, there's lots of reasons why I'm expecting good things in 2026.

And I not only expect that for me, I not only expect that for my son, I expect that for all of us. Because I do think that we are showing that we can all build community together. We can figure out ways to communicate with one another that makes sense for us. And hopefully there's enough of us that are doing those many milestones that we'll all be able to work together. So I want to leave you with a couple of homework assignments that they've gone throughout the week. And the first one was one that I helped use as I was building.

This week's conversation is, was there a change this year that you didn't plan for, but has turned out to be a really positive shift for you and your family? So was there a change this year that you didn't plan for, but ended up being a really positive shift for you and your family. If you'd asked me before, I had never planned on doing this, this, you know, without a co parent. But it's turned out to be a really good thing. It's turned out to be really good things. And that is surprising but wonderful.

So for you, is there something that you can pinpoint where there was some sort of change that you didn't plan for as you were giving care to someone that you care for and about that was a positive shift for your family that you didn't expect? And the second thing that really stuck with me was this question. What's one way that you've grown as a parent or a caregiver that you don't always give yourself credit for? You know, what's one way that you've grown as a parent or a caregiver that you don't always give yourself credit?

Good morning, junk food junkie. Good to see you in the chat. Happy Saturday to you, friend. I hope that you are well. I hope that you are well. If not, shame on the day we will figure out how to hold it accountable for doing you dirty. And so for me, there are a lot of little things that I just do as a reflex as a parent and a caregiver that I don't always think is something that I need to give myself one of those ta da, look what you did moments or badges or ribbons for. But I also had to be honest with myself and go, you know, you've gotten so much calmer and more patient.

And before, there were a lot of times where I was doing that fake it till you make it thing about calm when on the inside, spinning, churning, doing that duck where you look calm on the outside, but you're just churning under the water. My nails do a good job of that. Good job. I should do that visual more often. Yeah, yeah. Ah, wonderful. I'm glad you had a chance to connect with family and friends. Wonderful, wonderful junk food junkie. But this year, what I noticed is that I'm not faking it as much as I was.

I literally am. Yeah, you know what? That wasn't something I want to deal with. We're in the midst of some outbursts or something. Didn't go quite the way I planned. But on the inside, I literally can feel that. It's like, nope, you are still pretty chill about that. You know, look, you pivoted a lot faster. Oh. You were able to rebound and go this direction and go, all right. That plan that you planned Ain't happening. You need to take that, crinkle it up and run it and, and just throw it over your shoulder and move on to the next thing.

And that's something that I realized I didn't give myself enough credit for. That. It's legitimately a lot more content inside this thing that I live in. And I'm. I'm happy about that. And hopefully I can maintain that as we move into 2026, because it feels nice to not be continually buzzing around in my head like a hive of bees. So that's something that I'm giving myself credit for. So what's something that you should give yourself credit for? Where's something that you have grown? Where's a position that you can focus on and go, you know what a plus to me on this particular aspect of growth as a parent or a caregiver?

And give yourself credit for that. So those are the two things. I'll remind you again, what's the change this year that you. That you didn't plan for, but it ended up being a really positive thing for your family? Think on that. And then secondly, what's one way that you've grown as a parent or a caregiver that you don't give yourself enough credit for? Appreciate that. Oh, junk food junkie. Just like getting rid of the clutter on our house, it's also good to get rid of the clutter in our mindset.

The box is down. Thank you for sharing that. I agree with you. And it's sometimes more difficult to get rid of the clutter in your mind than the things that tangibly take up space in your house. And, you know, junk food. Junk food. I have also spent time this year getting rid of some of the additional things taking up space in my house that no longer need to take up that space. Honestly, the thing that I'm wearing today, this jumpsuit, this might be one of those things. I am on a. A process of going through the clothes in my closet and going, if you're not going to wear it, then it needs to bless somebody else.

So I put this on today going, is this your vibe anymore? If it is not your vibe, it needs to be released into the universe. And so this is one of those things. So feel free to mull, speak, wonder. Feel free to speak. Well, this may be the last time you see this denim jumpsuit because it may go to live with someone else today. If I am not feeling it by the end of the day, it may go into the. Let's go. Give it to somebody else and maybe you have some other things in your life that are like that. Hopefully these prompts give you something good to think about over the next week.

Hopefully there's something that you can anchor back to if you get into that spinning cycle where you're like okay, I'm stuck in this moment and I need to get past it. Well now you have something else to think think on instead. So hopefully that works for you. That's something that occasionally works for me. In the meantime I'm gonna go see. I still have not heard much thumping around in Cyclone kids room which is a good thing. I really would like over the next week to get his sleep pattern back on back.

Just he had been out of whack sleeping over the last month and I'm looking forward to getting back to a a little bit. A little bit more consistent before we head back to school after the break. So we got a week. So. Yes. So I appreciate you. And don't worry, speak wonder. I'm not gonna be always so nautical, but I had an opportunity to use it today for you and you were on my mind. So you're welcome. My potion and I appreciate you. Always remember that. Let us know what else we can continue to share with you here in the Cadre sphere.

That's why we have a variety of contributors that give you all this information, hopefully in a way that you can receive at the time that you need it. So always let us know. You can always let us know in the replay or reach out to us if there's something that you'd like us to cover or a way you'd like to communicate that would be of most value to you at the time that you mean it. And finally, as always, I want to remind you that I hope that the day treats you well. If it doesn't, shame on it. Not shame on you.

I plan to see you next Thursday here at 2pm and we'll be ringing in the new year. Look at that, how quickly we got here. So I'll see you next Thursday everybody at 2pm Central. Enjoy your week. Be well everybody. Talk to you soon. Any that it is. I'm sorry.