Couple Things with Shawn and Andrew - 294 | holiday chaos is over.. now what?

Episode Date: January 14, 2026

Thank you to GoGURT for sponsoring today's episode! Try the GoGURT Simply we talked about in this episode, it’s amazing! ▶ https://bit.ly/3HCC0BY Life after the holidays hits different 😅 In this episode we’re talking all about getting back into routines — the emotions, the chaos, the resets, and the small things that are helping our family find rhythm again. From first-week-back realities to simple hacks for calmer mornings, we’re sharing what’s actually working (and what’s definitely still a work in progress). Plus, a big shoutout to Go-GURT Simply!! Our kid and parent approved, grab-and-go snack this new year that is simply delicious. We love having them stocked in the fridge (and freezer!) for busy days, quick breakfasts, and constant snack requests. Tell us in the comments.... what are your best family routine reset hacks? Love you guys! Shawn & Andrew ▶ David is offering our listeners a special deal: buy 4 cartons and get the 5th free when you go to https://www.davidprotein.com/EASTFAM. ▶ Rewild your nutrition at https://www.kachava.com and use code EASTFAM. New customers get twenty dollars off an order of two bags or more, now through the 31st. ▶ Let Rocket Money help you reach your financial goals faster. Join at https://www.RocketMoney.com/EASTFAM Subscribe to our newsletter ▶ https://www.familymade.com/newsletter Follow our podcast Instagram ▶ https://www.instagram.com/shawnandandrewpods/ Follow My Instagram ▶ https://www.instagram.com/ShawnJohnson Follow My Tik Tok ▶ https://www.tiktok.com/@shawnjohnson Shop My LTK Page ▶ https://www.shopltk.com/explore/shawnjohnson Like the Facebook page! ▶ https://www.facebook.com/ShawnJohnson Follow Andrew’s Instagram ▶ https://www.instagram.com/AndrewDEast Andrew’s Tik Tok ▶ https://www.tiktok.com/@andrewdeast?lang=en#GoGURTPartner #BacktoSchool #ShawnAndAndrewPods #Family Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What's up, everybody? Welcome back to a couple things. With Sean and Andrew. Today, we're going to talk about returning to school post-holiday chaos. Oh, baby, baby. Is it chaos? Is it chaos? And we're going to talk about the controversial, controversial idea of, is it a good thing?

Do we like when they go back to school after the holidays? They're like, are we ready or not? I tell you what, everyone's already sick now. Everyone's already sick. I know. And I feel like, well, the theme of this episode really is getting back into the groove after the holidays. Pressing the reset button, new routines, early mornings, trying to find rhythms again. I don't know about you, babe.

Do you feel like your routine gets messed up and mixed up during the holidays? Are you serious? I mean, what routine, first of all? I always say, there is some. We decided to do something sick and twisted this year. we decided to throw a move into it as well. So like we literally moved houses. We had to move out of our house.

We had a month period of time before we could move into the new house. We threw in a December birthday, a week-long vacation trip, which is just a distraction for the kids, a move, and then Christmas. And maintain the holiday travel. And this was the sentiment from the outsider's perspective

was, oh, that's so fun, you'll be in the new house by Christmas. Yeah. From living it and experience, it was like, that was such a bad idea. Do not move in December. We pulled it off. But every possible rhythm and routine that we had, which like we are very rhythm and routine-oriented people and family, like a family, was completely gone. The kids' sleep schedules.

We even moved their rooms. We moved the boys in together. Drew moved into like a different style of bed. we move it we have no rhythm anymore so getting back into it trying to figure out how to get the kids up at the right time for school and what did they eat for breakfast because it's no longer candy canes and snowflakes yeah and frosting covered sugar cookies yeah it's wild it really is an emotional roller coaster and i feel like sending the kids back to school is equally an emotional roller coaster we should also say we're loving the new house and it's great just the timing was was wild

But anyway, today's episode is brought to you by gogert. Yes. Goghirt simply. That's right. Which is made with no artificial flavors and has less sugar than goger original, but has the same on-the-go convenience with mess-free and fun tubes. Our kids are obsessed. We have tried every type of yogurt.

You know, they eat it out of the container. They drink it. Eating it out of the tube, the go-gert tube is by far their favorite. That's right. Whether we're at the in-laws or at home, on the road or elsewhere, Gogart really is a mess-free, awesome snack to keep us going. It is. And in the summer months, guys, a little secret tip for you.

When we were bouncing around flag football and baseball and softball and whatever, if you throw them in the freezer and then just throw them in your lunchbox or whatever you're traveling with, they're like ice cold and the kids will love them. It's almost like an ice cream treat. Yeah. So, anyway, let's start, shall we, with... with some comments of the day. Okay.

And Gillian Gray says, I never tire of watching you guys in your marriage banter. You remind me so much of myself and my husband. Do we banter? What's the difference between like, you know,

a little banter, a little argument? Teachers find out. It does. It does. And then another comment is from Kimberly Barger, who says,

thank you for being vulnerable and sharing such personal stories. You're both an amazing couple and amazing people individually, but even more so together. Thank you. Kimberly. I have gotten pumped. That was my 2025, like, revelation was, dang, I think we're a freaking good team. It only took a good team. Thanks, babe. We are. It's fun. Uh, anyway. I love you. We can roll into the next segment. Parent emotions after the holidays, you guys, how do you really feel about kids going back to school after

are lots of intentional time over the holidays. Is there relief, sadness, excitement, overwhelm? Are you excited to jump back into family routines? This was the first year since we've had kids that I really felt the magic of the holidays and that far outweighed the overwhelm of the holidays. I'll let you answer yourself. But the kids now are six, four, and two. And like, they're just fun.

And they're less like manually. Yeah. Demanding, if you will. So we're just having the best time playing around. They're playing with their cousins. And I feel like just the relationships during the holidays blossom in different ways. So I'll feel really sad about them going back to the routine of school now. Even if it's just a couple times a week, like bear our two-year-old kind of does mom's day out.

and like you miss him. You drop him off and you're like, what am I doing? We've had some really special time with Bear. He's blossomed, which is so cool to see. He's really like coming to his own. Gosh. I will say for me, though you didn't ask. No, you did ask.

This year was, I agree. Simultaneously the hardest year I've had and the best year I've had yet in the holidays. having our baby turned two in the middle of the holidays, having like the most magical Christmas because of the ages and the new house and the kids were excited for their new bedrooms. And just the magic of that was incredible. What was the theme of Bears' birthday? Bulldozers, boots, burgers and bonfires.

It was a blast. For bear. We had a lot of friends over. It was good time. That was the day after we moved into our new house. We hosted that birthday party at our house, which was with 50 people and was crazy. By the way, Bear said his first prayer for us, like we asked them to a couple weeks before his birthday.

And we said, all right, what do you think before? And he closed his eyes, folds his hand and says, bulldozers. And that's it. And he goes, amen. Bulldozer, excavator. Amen. It's so cute. But this holiday season has been a little bit more difficult for me in the sense of there

were a lot of things that kind of peaked at the same time. So creating, let's call it holiday magic in our household is in my lane. So like that's something that I love. I thrive in doing it. Creating finding presents under the tree in the next morning or Christmas morning. You know what I'm talking about everyone. It's amazing and I love it. But also what fell into my lane this year was the logistics of the move. Andrew has done. so much of the build and stuff, but it had gotten to the point where it switched into my territory of the logistics of where we're going to move,

what we're going to pack, how we're going to function for the month where we're out of both houses, the trip we're going to take, getting everything moved into the house, where it goes. And matching that together made it so there was like no time for myself at all. So I don't feel a lot of sadness right now with the idea of like a routine again just because having time to like wake up in the morning and make a coffee.

Sounds exciting. But I will also say it has been so special. Our trip to Texas, having our kids sit at like a dinner together and say their prayers and just have so much intentional time has been so special. So it's very, it's very bittersweet for me. Who do you feel like it gets more emotional between you and I? A hundred percent. What?

What? What type of emotion? What's that of emotion? Okay. Too soon. I get sappy. I get really sad. Andrew savvy.

I'm emotional. I'm emotionally volatile. Okay. It's a beautiful mosaic of a team. Sean and I did have a really fascinating conversation around Christmas where obviously there's a lot of logistics and tasks and chores and whatever and so she was like dialed in on that and thank goodness for that and I was more dialed in on like

the magic of it all and hey it's not what you do it's how you make people feel right and that goes for our kids too I'm so glad you got to experience the magic that was created solo that is what makes us a good team you get stuff done I get it done you get to enjoy Fun. I make sure that there's fun being had. Next question. Okay.

How do our kids handle the return to structure? Any first aid tiers or adjustment struggles? Honestly, our kids thrive in structure. They love the intentional time. They love the vacations and the trips. But they have been the first ones to say, Mommy, when do we get to go back to school? Oh my gosh.

I asked Jet this one. He's my workout buddy. Jet and I wake up literally, I would say, within 60 seconds of each other, naturally no alarm. At 5.30. And so we always do like, what are you grateful for? Then we'll work out and then we'll read the Bible together. It's a blast. And I said, Jet, what do you think for today? He said, wait, do we have school today?

I know. I said, no. He said, well, then I'm thankful for my family. So it was adorable. But they love school. They love their friends and they love their structure and they're missing it. So I think they will handle it just fine. Yeah. And even with like, you know, the younger they are. I feel like the drop-offs are harder and like creating the healthy detachment is difficult, but everything from going to church to the little mom's day out to school, I feel like we've done a good job at acclimating them in a way that's not like, hey, we'll see you in seven days and we're leaving for like we really try not to leave our kids consistently, you know, or for long durations. We travel a lot, but it's either not both of us, so one parent always stays home, or it's with them.

Anyway, so like that, that rhythm that we get of, yeah, we'll go to school, we'll come back, we'll have our family dinner. And then we'll do pasta Saturdays and burger Sundays, and we have this whole, they love it. And they look forward to it now. I will say, though, the challenges of relearning structure is going back to, like, moderation of screen. screen times and sugar. The hard part with the holidays when you go like Halloween, straight to Thanksgiving, straight to birthday parties, we have a Halloween birthday party and then we have Halloween, Thanksgiving, December birthday, and then holidays is like everything is so, like in excess.

They get more treats. They get more screen time. They get more parties. They get more late nights. They get so much excess of like luxury and treats. I'd say the biggest challenge for us is going back to that like moderation. I'm like, no, we can't have, like I said earlier, like a candy cane for breakfast. It's no longer Christmas.

And I always, Andrew and I always say there's like a week long phase of time where you just kind of have to play hardball and be like, we're not going to watch movies all day. We're not, you know. Okay. I've been trying to be more intentional about what I grab for snacks lately, especially on my busy. days when I need something quick, but still aligned with my nutrition goals. And that's where David has genuinely become part of my routine. Same. What I like about David is that it's not like most protein bars that either taste great but are basically candy bars or are healthy but feel impossible

to finish because of the taste. David actually hits that middle ground really well. They now offer two different bars, gold and bronze. Gold is their hero bar line. It has 28 grams of protein, 150 calories and zero grams of sugar and the texture is so good. It's kind of doughy with chunks and crispy bits throughout. It is delicious. My favorites are chocolate chip cookie dough and the cinnamon roll. It really is kind of doughy.

That's a good description. And then the bronzes are newer line of bars. It still has 150 calories and zero grams of sugar, but with 20 grams of protein and a totally different texture. It's more of a smooth marshmallow-style base with layers and a chocolate coating. The s'mores and peanut butter chocolate crunch are really, really good.

Most protein bars are packed with extra calories and sugar, but David is different. You get a lot of protein without it feeling heavy and without sacrificing the taste. It's been really helpful for staying full between meals or when I need something simple while out running around. Don't just take our word for it. Try it for yourself. David is offering you, our listeners, a special deal. Buy four cartons and get the fifth free when you go to Davidprotein.com slash

EastFam. That's Davidprotein.com slash EastFam. And if you prefer to shop in person, David is available at leading retailers nationwide, including Target, Walmart, Kroger, Wegmans, and the Vitamin Shop. Just check out their store locator to find a location near you. It really forces you as a parent to flex the creative muscle. Drew's really into building fires now, which is a blast. Also scary.

It's a blast. And we'll do different things like whatever, everything from taking them on a hike to do, like, we're now at the phase where we can teach card games. with the kids. Anyway, it's always a, it's always a balance between enjoying the downtime and letting things just unfold and instilling some type of routine. Well, and that first week back, it's always a transition, like you said, you have to get really creative because your fallbacks are no longer on distraction and chaos and, you know, holiday luxuries. It's more on like intentional time and stewarding your time well. And for us, it's just kind of going back into, okay, it's a school day,

like we're going to get up, we're going to make our breakfast, we're going to pack our lunches, We're not watching TV. You can go to the coloring table or the playroom. You can go outside and run around if you want. But like it's more so just honestly like ripping the band-aid and going straight back to it. I think kids associate specific things with specific rhythms. So saying, oh, it's Christmas vacation. It's like, oh, yeah, I get to do whatever I want.

Not actually. But you know what I mean? The kids been asking for popsicles at like 7 a.m. Yeah, which I'm just like, exactly. But. Give him a goger. If you're like school starts again tomorrow on Monday or whatever it is, then it's like, you know you're going to get up. You're going to get your clothes on.

You're going to put your uniform on. We're going to grab our backpacks. You just kind of have to like jump all in, I think. So the next section is about resetting family routines. Is that how you do it? Is like rip the bandaid, as you say? That's how I do it. Absolutely.

I don't think there's any soft transition. Yeah, we really don't. The kids, I think we're able to do that because the kids enjoy it enough. And we don't really have to like reacly acclimat acclimatize. And I will say our kids, for the most part, we do such big transitions in life so frequently as far as like, we take them to Japan and we go to Indiana and we take a week long vacation and then we go back to school week. can like our kids know their rhythms based off of where we are.

For example, like our kids have iPads, but our kids know very clearly that they're only allowed to have iPads on an airplane. And they're going to do Duolingo. Yeah. And it's not even a question anymore. Every once in a while, Drew will be like, can I do do do a lingo at home? And I'm like, are we on an airplane? Yeah.

She's like, no. So it's like figuring out your rhythms, I think truly, if you're making that transition from the holidays back to school time, you just root the Band-Aid and you got to go straight in. What would you say the first week back will look like in the East household? Our kids will be tired. That's what I think it'll look like. I think they'll be really excited to go back to school.

But I think going from overstimulation, chaos, and disorder to having to be diligent and, like, focused and doing their school. things and following the rules again, I think we'll ask of them more energy that they've been used to exerting. And so they'll be tired. I do think no matter what age, going to mom's day out or school, whatever, is taxing on the kid where it's like just a social stimulation and then like the teacher. It's just like a different format. And so I think fortunately our kids like really try to do that well. And I think it wears them out. So I do agree it'll be it'll be exhausting for them but I I think one thing that has helped and how we talk to our kids about getting back in a swing of things and preparing them priming them for it is not

It not being one foreign or something we've never talked about and also us not doing it directly in the moment so we will we will kind of give like I think almost subconsciously excitement of, hey, school starts in seven days or whatever. And then they start building the excitement and then they start to wrap their mind around. Okay, so that means, you know, waking up early and that means getting my backpack ready and my water filled up and the whole thing. So I think like if we were going to do that the night before and it was the first time they're hearing it, it would be a totally different experience. Yeah. But personal hacks for getting everyone out the door on time.

What are your personal hacks? Chaos? That's not my hack. Yours is moves slow. Just stay calm. Preparing lunches and meals the night before. The night before. Using lunchovers.

You have to. Using leftovers. Using gogert and things of that sort. Delicious snacks of that sort helps. I would also say laying clothes out the night before. helps like doing prepping everything having backpacks ready having lunches ready having outfits ready the night before so that there's no conversation to be had about it the next day there's no arguing over wearing this or that it's like this you laid it out this is what we're doing um

and then just kind of being like there's not there's not a lot of dilly dallying we also got caught in a lot of chaos because we were trying to keep our normal. sleep routine the first couple weeks of the kids going back to school in the fall. And what we learned was like just giving yourself a little extra cushion when it comes to time can really change the vibe. So like they can color like they want to or they can dilly dally however they do want to. Just however that means or however long that is makes a big difference. So I would say waking up earlier can create.

a sense of calmness. And calm is more important because they feed off your energy. I am chaotic and I'm stressed out usually. I'm like, get your freaking shoes on. I've asked you 72 times. And now we're late for school. Sean is a wonderful

prepper for that. Great job. Last part. Tips and tricks for easier mornings. This is not the last part, just to clarify. Oh, second to last. This is segment.

three. The tips and tricks for easier mornings. Over the holidays, I had this quiet moment just standing outside barefoot in the cold for a second looking at the sky and it reminded me how good it feels to be connected to something simple and real. And then it came back inside, opened up the pantry and thought, why does nutrition feel so complicated? Yeah, it's like your cabinet becomes this graveyard of supplements and powders all with labels you can barely interpret. You're constantly wondering what's real, what's filler, and who you can actually trust. That's what. why we love Kachava. It helps simplify everything. It feels like a way to rewild nutrition and get back to something cleaner and more intentional. It's an all-in-one nutrition shake crafted with high-quality

ingredients with no fillers and no nonsense. We've both noticed such positive shifts in our routines since incorporating Kachava into it. It supports steady energy, digestion, strength, metabolism, focus, and immunity all in a way that feels balanced and easy. And it genuinely is simple to make. I usually blend two scoops with nut milk and frozen fruit, sometimes a spoonful of peanut butter or iced coffee. There are also tons of recipes in Kachava kitchen, so it never gets boring. Plus, it actually tastes good. You've got six flavors to choose from. Vanilla, chai, macha, coconut assay, and strawberry. And each shake delivers 25 grams of plant-based protein, six grams of fiber, greens, adaptogens, and so much more. It's so much, guys,

and it's so good. No artificial flavors, colors, or sweeteners. Non-G-MO, no soy, no animal products, no gluten, and no preservatives. And you can try it risk-free with their love at guarantee. Rewild your nutrition at cachava.com and use code Eastpham. New customers get $20 off in order of two bags or more now through the 31st. That's Kachava, K-A-C-V-A-V-A-com, code EastFam. All right, so these are just kind of generic.

Yeah, a list we put together of the... things that you can do to help the morning be not as stressful. Yeah. So whether it's the night before, like we would recommend or the Sunday before the week starts or if you're doing it live and in the moment, just some things to think about. These are also things that we have at our house. So wash and cut fruit and veggies on Sundays. So I try to do some like meal prepping.

I will cut cucumbers. I will cut up strawberries and peel oranges and put them in like accessible places and bowls in the fridge to where the kids can help themselves. It makes for packing lunches really simple, getting breakfast out really simple snacks, and keeps the kids like somewhat independent so they can have their own rhythms as well. And like Sean said, we kind of have a snack zone in the fridge or the pantry where they know their go-to favorites will be to eat if they're hungry. It prevents you from having to get up and make the trip yourself or like interrupt whatever

you're doing or adding another thing to your to do list to. to go make that happen for them. And we all have those kids that are like, I'm going to sneak into the pantry and go get the thing I know I can't have. But we've made it almost like we've encouraged our children. These are your drawers. This is your pantry. This is where you can have a free for all.

And so we make it accessible to them to where they can feel a little bit more independent and like they have more freedom. Our goal with all of these is to maintain some type of routine, keep the kids happy and the parents calm and sane. Yes. Like Andrew said, we always make lunches the night before. We lay out clothes, shoes, bows, socks, underwear, everything. We also use visual charts and checklists.

So we use a thing called Skylight, which has like a chart and checklist. And then Drew actually has a checklist in her room, which is like, wake up, brush my teeth, get dressed. Feed the dogs. Yeah. Put my clothes on. the dirty bin. And it just kind of gives them a step by step to help them succeed. And by the way, you'll realize what is able to be structured and what's not. So we've learned that certain kids with their hair don't like, they'll choose live in the moment.

Like, hey, I want to do this style instead of that style. So we don't really like prep that. We always have to leave time for Drew. We do this almost every morning for school. We Google girls' hairstyles. She gets to scroll on mommy's phone until she finds one she likes. And I have to try to do it. Yeah. And it works out great. What? That was crazy.

Keeping breakfast simple or prepped ahead of time is great. Another reason why gogert is incredible. Bear is probably the one who loves them the absolute most. He will always ask for yogurt. And he wants the two ones. The way he squeezes it with this tiny little hands is hilarious. And is like full force. Suck it down.

Wake up early enough for some buffer time. And then again, always staying consistent with routines. Kids thrive on predictability. This is another reason why I would say rip the band-aid when you're going back into the like school transition is if you start to blur those lines for kids like, oh, I do get to have a candy cane on a school morning. Then they're going to be like, well, why can't I have it next week and why is it only this week? And this is why it helps to talk about the routine ahead of time. instead of trying to make up rules or routines alive and in the moment, you have a preset and pre-agre-to list of things that you've already talked about

that you can point to and say, oh, hey, I know you don't want to get your water ready, but we talked about this, what we're going to do. And that way, it's, I think, takes some emotion out of it where it's like, why don't you ever get your water or whatever? You know, it just kind of gives you something to deflect towards. We have referenced GoGert Simply a lot in this episode. So GoGert Simply has no added colors, no artificial flavors, and 25% less sugar than Goger original.

It really is a great snack, not only for Drew before after school, but also for Jet and especially for Bear, who said loves it. We'll have like seven a day if we let him. Yeah, when he's home during the day, he needs constant snacks. In good source for calcium and vitamin D per serving to help build strong bones. It's an easy tear open. It's a mess-free tube. Kids can literally grab it on their own.

Drew Inject can rip it open themselves. Bear still needs a little help, but he's literally just turned two. It really is nice, though, to not have something that you need to take out, prepare, get a plate four forks. You pull it out of the fridge, you rip it open, hand it to them. That's nice for a parent. Yes, it's convenient. But it also, again, it gives our kids this feeling of independence. Like, no, Mom, I'm going to go get it, which is great.

It's a great option for a quick breakfast or a snack during the day. I feel like it's kind of nostalgic for me, too. Goger we grew up with. And now our kids love it. It kind of feels like a full circle moment. But now that Goger has Goger simply, I think it's even better than the Goger we had grown up because it's just simpler ingredients, lower sugar. It's still delicious. It's a snack that we love.

They love. Keep it in the freezer. Not in the pantry. Keep it in the freezer or keep it in the fridge. It's good for hot day. anytime can't recommend it enough we literally have two and a half boxes right now in our fridge we keep them stocked all the time they're a lifesaver when our kids ask for a snack throughout the day or after school it's a snack that they love and and we love giving to

them because we feel good about it so it's a win-win so anyway thank you goger for making this episode happen and also just for for being there in our fridge constantly you ready for the next segment I am the parent mindset reset the most Most important, we've been talking about how to get the kids ready for the transition and go back to school and everything post holidays. But how about us? We read that first line for us. Talk about giving yourself grace. Not possible, Andrew.

Okay. Routines don't need to be perfect. I am a perfectionist by nature. I beat myself up and I am myself's worst critic as a mom. It's just about giving yourself grace and looking at your kids and saying, look at how happy they are. It's such a gift. I don't know if I'm becoming more and more like this or just realizing how different I am than you in this realm.

But I don't struggle with like feeling like I need to do it all or being overwhelmed with the task. And I hope that doesn't mean that you're doing more of the stuff. I just realize if there's gifts that need to be wrapped. or should be wrapped, it's really like a, do they need to be wrapped or not? And if they're not wrapped, it's fine. The kids are going to play with the broom anyway instead of this toy we're giving them. You know what I'm saying?

No, I completely disagree with that. I feel like it's not worth pulling your hair out over. I disagree. But having that reminder that you don't have to do it all and you can give and take in some places. that's good. Wrapping the presents is not a place I'm going to give. That's great. Because I will never forget the magic of Christmas morning as a kid.

And I want to make sure I preserve that for our children. I'm just saying my favorite present I ever got was a bike and that thing wasn't in wrapping paper. That's a bike. Anyway, I love the idea of not feeling like you need to do it all. Yeah. And having that be something we remind ourselves of. I think all parents, we need to. remind ourselves of that and presence is greater than perfection i agree with that i agree i need to remind

myself of that a lot here's this let me just give the parents including you a little encouragement that you are doing phenomenal babe thank and the goal is not to be perfect it's to create connection all right all right all right all right i love you i love you i love you Should we recap this? Let's just do a little recap of this whole episode of everything we talked about. I remember how exciting it was as a kid to go back to school, whether it was in the fall or in the winter. And thank goodness our kids have you to help them be set up for success. And you.

I also, I mean, do you remember picking out your outfit? Mm-hmm. Like the- Being excited to go talk to your friends about what they got for Christmas. Oh, man. Yeah. So fun.

But it is a lot because, like, there's some challenges, like waking up earlier maybe or, you know, eating different food or whatever it is. You know, the whole different social routine, having different expectations. Just remember to implement your routines.

Yeah. Give yourself grace. You don't have to do it all. But to us parents going back to the routine and having a little more structure in life, good job. We made it through the holiday chaos. And let's get ready for another one. Let's do it. Okay, honest moment.

I used to feel like I was generally on top of our finances until I actually sat down and looked at everything in one place and realized how much stuff had just slowly piled up. Subscriptions I forgot about, spending categories I was underestimating, little charges that didn't feel really big at the time. but definitely added up altogether. Same. It wasn't a dramatic moment. It was more like, wait, why are there so many charges we don't even recognize anymore? And that's what finally pushed us to try Rocket Money. Rocket Money is a personal finance app that helps find and cancel your unwanted subscriptions. It monitors your spending and helps lower your bills so you can grow your savings.

What I really like is how organized everything feels. It automatically categorizes transactions across accounts. and once you see your actual spending patterns laid out, it is so much easier to make intentional choices instead of just guessing. You can also set budgets and goals, get personalized insights, and receive alerts for big transactions or upcoming bills, which honestly just helps you feel more aware instead of reactive. And everything lives in one dashboard, checking, savings, loans, investments,

so you can actually understand your full financial picture without jumping between apps. Let Rocket Money help you reach your financial goals faster. Join at rocketmoney.com slash eastfam. That's rocketmoney.com slash eastfam. Rocketmoney.com slash eastfam. Anyway, please comment and let us know your best back to school or routine reset hacks. I really think my biggest hack is to have a game plan going in. You know, like we would always game plan for football the whole week going up to the game

and then there's always on-the-fly adjustments you make. But maybe that's like maybe you come in. with 90% of the plan and you tweak 10% of it. It's just nice to have a little concept to wrap your mind around going in. Also, thank you again to Gogurt Simply. If your kids haven't tried GoGert Simply yet, grab some gogurt made with less sugar than Goghurt original,

no artificial flavors or added color. We love gogurt tubes for convenience and GoGert Simply is a snack. We feel great about giving our kids. And if you made it this far and you haven't yet, please subscribe to this show, give it a rating, and leave a review on whatever platform you're listening on. We really appreciate it.

We're excited for the new routines, going back to the old routines. We're excited for this year in general. So anyway, hang in there, everybody. We're going to do great. Days are busy. The moments are messy, but you're crushing it. So keep it up. That's all we got.

I'm Andrew. I'm Sean. Until next time.