Secret Mum Club with Sophiena - The Spooky House Sale

Episode Date: August 20, 2026

Soph and Emma are debating whether they’d trust their kids’ instincts after one little girl refused to move into a house because she thought it was “scary”. Plus, a listener’s £3 birthday banner is becoming a decades-long tradition, and another mum shares a gorgeous baby update. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hello, this is The Secret Mum Club. I'm Safina and I'm Emma. And welcome to your Thursday's episode. Where we get to squeeze in all the extra bits and bobs from the week. Squeeze all your bits, honey! All of your comments, thoughts, questions and fun stories. Keep you going through the weekend. Shall we jump on?

Are you ready? Are you ready for love? Yes, I am. Oh, we could have done. Are you ready for the correspondence? Connor. It doesn't scan. Too many syllables.

Too many syllables. Are you ready? Are you ready for another message? No, I just... Are you ready? Are you ready for the Corrie Corner? Yes, I am. Are you?

Yes. So you go, that's your intro for the correspondence corner. That's how you know. It's live. I don't know. I just looked at the camera. I know. We need to...

I feel like there needs to be a tweak every week. Tweak every week. Tweak of the week. And that was your tweak of the week. the week. God, it sounded like a radio lady. Professional. That was well, awks, I was lit. Don't want to take your drip from you. But should we jump on in?

Yeah, let's. Okay. Go. Go. This is from Priscilla in Brisbane, Australia. Oh, did you know this? Something about the name Priscilla. Priscilla. Priscilla. It just is so fabulous. So fabulous. So strong. Priscilla. Yeah. What's your name? Would you be a Cilla for sure? No. Straight up Priscilla.

Priscilla. Priscilla. Yeah. Pardon? I said Prisly. I thought you said pussy. I was going to say pussy. I say, Jesus, that's a bit far. Okay. Right, Priscilla, take it away. Hi, ladies.

I was listening to the episode where Becca mentioned that she saves a piece of her son's birthday decorations each year. I do something similar with my little boy, Joey. Oh, Joey. I love, I tried to push Joey for Joseph when he was little, but it didn't really stick. But I love Joey like a little baby kangaroo. I was going to say a little baby kangaroo. She says, I reuse the same birthday banner every year.

I hang it in the same spot, add a helium number balloon and take a photo. So with three years in and somehow I've managed to hold on to this $3 banner from Target it means so much to me it's so fulfilling but also heartbreaking looking back at the photos

from each year. I love listening to the pod every week you ladies make me laugh oh look at the picture. Oh was there a picture? There's a picture attached. Oh Joey, look at you. Oh and she's writing.

Oh my gosh, she's writing on it as well. She's writing on the back of every flag Joey's first birthday Oh Friday the 2nd of January 2024 Joey's second birthday Thursday the 2nd of January 2025 and Joey's third birthday, Friday the 2nd of January, 2026. Right, can we, I don't think I'm going to be okay.

Hold on, how many things? Is there one? Is there enough letters in a happy birthday? Six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve, third. Fuck! She'll get up to his 13th birthday. And then it's going to stop. And then no more ban.

When he turns a teenager. No more banner. You can have to get him a new banner. I suppose you could just write underneath. I was going to say you could go back underneath. 26. Do the math. 39.

How many times can you do you use it? Fifty-nine. Yeah. Yeah, that one. Oh my gosh, that is adorable, isn't it? Oh, Joey, I hope you had the best third birthday. I do the same. I have to do a number balloon every single year.

Yeah. It's compulsory. I go through, I've got one, two, three, four, five, six, eight, nine, ten. That's a lot of fucking balloons. Can you imagine I'd be nearly done with my banner if I was Priscilla? You've got double balloons now because you had to get two for Colby's tent. Which was great, though, because we had two for Colby, but it was our one year anniversary of the house. Oh, yes, you reused the one.

Yes, I did. Perfect. It was the best thing ever, honestly. I love a reuse recycle. Oh, yeah, you've got to. I mean, I do have a happy birthday. You know, like the letters that you stick together with, the little pins? Yes.

It's a fucking such a fath. Every time it's someone's birthday, I'm like, why am I doing this again? But I do have one of those, a paper one that I reuse every year. But the letters, like, variously go missing. So when it was Joseph's birthday in February, I think I had to, like, spell some things with, like, a B had to be an eight. And, like, a D had to be a four or something. And I was like, I think it still reads right. And people come around and be like, is that supposed to say happy birthday?

Yes, it's close enough, all right. Everyone knows what it means. Take it. Otherwise, you don't get no love. The sentiment is there. Exactly. All right. And that's what counts.

Oh, Priscilla, thank you for sharing that so much. If you could do it for the foreseeable and let us know every year that Joey has turned the next day. Yeah, I want to know how long you can keep this banner going. We'll be here for the next 52 years. See him when he's 52. Oh, thanks, Priscilla. Thank you. Okay, we've got one last message here.

It says, hi, lovely ladies. I previously wrote to tell you about my granny telling me I was pregnant before she passed away. Do you remember this one? Yes, this one is a really, really beautiful story. This says, well, I just wanted to send you a little update. You asked whether I went full term with my pregnancy because I have a heart-shaped womb. Yes, I did. I was actually two days overdue before she made her appearance.

I had no complications during my pregnancy or labour, which I'm so thankful for. And I have another update. Lily Ann, who is named after her granny. Her granny, yes. Is officially a big sister to a little baby brother. His name is Tommy Edward Corrie, but we call him Teddy. He decided to make an early appearance and was born 15 days early. The labour was a little more traumatic this time, but he's safe and I'm healing.

I honestly can't believe this is my life. Everything I ever wished for has come true. Thank you for giving us mum as such a safe space to talk about all the beautiful and crazy parts of motherhood. Lots of love anonymous. Oh my gosh. My heart cannot even cope. Oh, my goodness. My heart can't cope.

That is the cutest thing. And she's just gone and had another baby. I know. A baby brother. I can't believe enough time has passed. I can't remember how old she said Emily Ann was. But I can't believe you've got pregnant and grown and given birth to another baby. In the time that we've read out your message.

It feels like you had like a, I don't know, like a four-week pregnancy. What animals have a baby in four weeks? Yeah. Like a dolphin has one in six weeks? I don't know. Or like a animal that's only pregnant. I'm going to say a cat or a dog, but I think they're pregnant for longer than. that. What animal is only pregnant for six weeks?

What's the gestation period? Also, the sea horses, men give birth. And then don't they die? Do they die after? I think they do. I think they give birth and then the man's seahorse dies. Ferret? Yeah, it'd be something small. I was going to say like a rat or a ferret. A ferret is only pregnant for six. I wish, I hope to come back as a ferret.

Yeah. Imagine you're only pregnant for six weeks. Although this six weeks' holidays, feel pretty fucking long. Not as long as long as growing a human though. No, that's true. Most of the year. They don't die. Oh, who gave me that for? fact. But that's nice. I carried that for 38 years. Yeah, I have. And every time I see a seahorse in a tank like at an aquarium or something,

I say to the babies, oh, the daddies are pregnant, then they die. God, I'm so sorry to offend the whole seahorse community. Oh, thank God. That's good news. God, that's really great. I'll be glad to go home until the baby's sad news. All the male seahorses are fine. Fine. So fine. Apart from having to give birth. Yes. God bless them. And they give birth to thousands of babies. Do they? Yeah. Excellent. Is it? No, tiny little ones.

Tiny little ones come out. And then they grow. Again, don't trust me on any knowledge that I'm giving you. This isn't a science podcast. Thank God. I'm right. Little seahorses. Little tiny seahorses.

They're mad looking, aren't they? They're wonderful. I saw a dragon seahorse the other day at the Seelife Center in Weymouth. What was that look like? Shout out to the seas. Yeah. Are you sponsored by the Sealife Center in Weymouth? Because you have not stopped going on about it.

It was a seahorse. You know, they have the little wings. Yeah. Like fins? Finns, yeah. They'd like big ones. And they were blue, electric blue. Wow.

I know. Oh, well, we're sending you all our love and all the world Anonymous. I hope Teddy is doing wonderful and Emily Ann is enjoying Big Sister Live. It's a big step. It's big jump, isn't it? Big jump being big sissy. Yeah. I have no doubt she's smashing him.

Yeah. Oh, cute. So cute. Thank you so much for your messages. If you have any comments, thoughts or funny stories, why not get in touch? You can email us. Hello at Secret Mumpod. or we're SecretMampod on TikTok and Instagram.

Just letting you know. We're wearing jackets. It's the tweak of the week. It's actually really nippy in it today. My nipples are out. We came in expecting a heat wave and actually we're both wearing jumpers. Yeah, but the aircon is airconning in here. The aircon is airconning.

And also the mornings aren't that hot. I am really loving the really hot days, but the chillier mornings and the cooler evenings. It couldn't be any more perfect. This is perfect. Yes. In the really bad heatwaves that we had earlier in the summer, it was just hot all the time. You could wake up and it was hot. You'd go to sleep and it was hot.

It was so oppressive. It was horrible. Now, I feel like the mornings and the evenings are what they should be. It cools down. It gets nice and chilly. It's still beautifully sunny during the day. Could it be any better? Could it be any better?

But anyhow, enough of us. It's time for one of your secrets after this short break. Welcome back. We love a secret on the Secret Mum Club. And you're all so good at sharing. So Emma, what have you got? for us to die. Okay, this comes from Marissa.

Oh, another beautiful one. Gosh, go on, guys. She says, hey ladies, I just found out about a little secret my dad had been keeping for a few decades. Jesus, wait, why did these come out so late? So, when is the boys holding the secret? Do you remember the lady whose partner didn't tell her in when she was in labor? Oh, what?

That she was a nightmare in labor. Yes. Told her two years later. When it was a safe zone, he was like, I think enough time has passed for me to tell you that you were a bitch. You were a bitch in that labour room Okay? I've just got to be waiting to get it off my chest

Dad's just busting out with some secrets after a few decades This is going to be juicy Right Marissa will love to know this Okay she says We were recently driving around the countryside Near where my parents live When my dad pointed out

This gorgeous house with a massive front garden He told me that he'd almost bought it once I have an older sister and brother And when we were very little My parents were looking for a new house They wanted somewhere spacious And my dad had found An incredible six bedroom old house

In the country Exactly the kind of place he'd always wanted. He was close to agreeing the sale when he decided he wanted to show all of us our new home. When we went to view it, my sister started wailing and saying she wanted to leave. Oh God, but please don't tell me this is going to be, I've already got goosebumps. This feels like it's going to be terrifying. My dad took her outside to calm her down and explained that this could be our new home. My six-year-old sister told him she didn't want to live there. He asked her why. She simply said, it's scary. And that was it. He didn't ask

any more questions. He backed out of the sale and started looking for another house. Eventually, he found the home we grew up in. It wasn't as spacious as the country house, but we made loads of amazing memories there. Lots of love. Marissa. He actually pulled out of it because the six-year-old said,

I don't want to live here. It's scary. I would be like... Marissa, what the fuck! That was what I was expecting more. A ghost story? Yes. No, it wasn't even haunted, nothing.

He was just like, do you know what? I hear you. I respect you. And I'm going to pull out of the sail. He pulled out of the whole sale. The whole sale. The whole... The whole.

The whole process of buying a house is so stressful. You've spent so much money. You've done so much work. Looking around. Get in the fucking car. And shut up. Maybe, because she was so scared, he was like, I feel you, sister. This is terrified.

Maybe if he's like a, if he believes in all that stuff, he was like, oh, she's getting an omen. She's getting a vibe from this house and it's not good. But you've got to trust. Do you know what? Something is well about a child in when they tell you something, when it's not like a fibby or something like that, there's certain degrees knowing you. child as to what you believe. Don't trust everything. But you know when they tell you something and you go,

do you're onto something. You're not actually, that's not your, that's not your lying face. You're not, you're not as cheap as I thought. And when they go, no, and you're like, okay. But there's something about a child, you know when your own child is lying. They have good instincts. Yeah. And when you look at them, it's Colby's the worst one for me. Dotty doesn't really fibby, but Colby is really trying to, really trying to fib. He cannot And you know, there's a bit of me that thinks, I wonder why my dad never believed me because I must have been a shite liar all the time. I was the only one of all three of us that lied. Lied all the time.

And now when I look at Colby, I know when he's written all over his face. He gets a dry mouth, his nose flares. He starts laughing and his eyebrows slightly go up at the end. And he tries to look me dead in the eyes and his little mouth is quivering. He's like, you're lying, aren't you? And he's like, no, no. No, no! And I'm like, yes you are.

But it's when he looks to me dead in my eyes, everything's straight. No, not even a glimpse on the eyebrow. And he's like, blah, blah, blah. And I'm like, fuck, you're not lying on you. He's doing the truth. Yeah. It's hard because it's like the boy who cried wolf, isn't it? Like, when they, Joseph's terrible.

He lies all the time. And he's at the age where he's like starting to make things up. Like he got a cut when he was out with me the other day. And I said, did Joseph tell you how he got that cut? He said, oh yeah, he told me such and such. I said, that's not true. He just made it up. Like he just, it comes out with like,

But things that don't even, like, they're not even that significant. Like, it doesn't really matter, but he'll just lie about it anyway. Or he'll, like, say that he played with someone at a school that he didn't. Or he doesn't tell us, like, what he had for dinner. Like, little... Would you class it is lying? Little white lies like that, little fibs. Yeah.

But why does it, I don't know why he makes things up. Maybe that's his imaginative brain. He's very imaginative. He is, he's got a great imagination. And so it's funny because, like, me and Stefan don't, if it's not serious, like, we don't shut it down, we just go, oh, really. Yeah, sometimes I just, I just say, yeah. think what's the what's the point there's some element in things and there's a lot I feel like there's so much

on social media that you do have to take everything with a pinch of salt and do it your own way but there's like parenting things that I do that I just think you know I feel children should just feel their emotion shouldn't they feel their experiences they're going to learn in the way that there's possible and if they're not hurting anybody sometimes it's quite fun to go oh no yeah because if it was sadie you would do it but because Joseph's bigger and older maybe we wouldn't give him that You wouldn't give him freedom. Yeah. No, we do.

We do. And he'll like, it's the way he tells, like, he'll say something so ridiculous, like, that he went up into space or something. And he said, he really believes it. And he says to me and Stefan, I actually did. There's something just so magic about that. He's like, no, I actually did. I did.

I promise. And we go, oh my God, wow, that's so cool. Yeah. But the problem is now, when he is telling the truth, like he says something about, like, what Sade is done or how she's got her or something. I go, no, you're not, you're not telling the truth. Like, honestly, are you like it? And then, like, when I find out,

He's not lying. I'm like, sorry about that. But you do lie all the time. So I don't know when to believe you. Yeah, but that was me when I was younger. Even down to being a baby, there was one time that I covered my home's whole house in polish, even covered Richie in polish, right? So come in and my mum had asked who'd sprayed the polish everywhere. So I obviously pointed out at Richie. She put Richie to bed, told him off, put him to sleep, cleaned everything up. We'd had a little afternoon nap. She said it wasn't until she got Richie out of the car, felt his. Nappy was filled with polish and realized that it was actually me that had sprayed the polish on everything, including Ritchie, and she'd told him off and sent him to bed. It should have felt fucking terrible. But you were of an age that I didn't, you didn't understand. Yeah. And you're an age where you wouldn't feel guilty about someone else taking the consequences.

You'd be like, yeah, I got away with it. I passed everything on to Ritchie. Blame Ritchie for everything. Yeah. Yeah. So it wasn't me. But the thing was is Ritchie was, I don't want to say scared of me, but Ritchie didn't really.

Fight back. No. He just had no words. He used to just sit there. Just take it. Whatever she said. Just for a quiet life. Listen, I can go to bed and get the fuck away from us.

Yeah, put me to bed. I'm guilty as charged. Yesterday in the car, Joseph leaned over and unclipped Sadie's seat. Car seat. And he is the only one that knows how to do that. So then he panicked. And he was like, oh, Sadie's out of her thing. And I said, I was out to pull over and fix that.

I said, Joseph, that's really dangerous. You can't do that while we're driving along. And he goes, Sadie did it. I'm like, she fucking didn't because she doesn't know how to do it like you can't pass that off on her but he just won't take any accountability transactions.

So was he not in his car? Yeah but he can reach over. Can he? He just has a three point seat belt so he's got a bit more like more mobility. So he's leaned over and unclipped it I'm just driving along, didn't notice.

But he's like, oh and then he like panicked oh, say this out of her thing. I'm like how did that happen? He's like, she did it. Right. I'm like, okay, this actually has serious consequences now. Stop fucking lying.

Tell me the truth. Did you do it? He's a nightmare. Sadie did it. Sadie did it. She can barely like... God bless her little. Honestly. Oh, so cute. Nothing he thinks he's going to get away with it. I'm like, I can see right. Try you. I say God loves a trier. Yeah. God loves a tryer. But in this situation, would you have still bought the house? Because I sure would have.

I wouldn't have been listening to that situation. Cobby and Dottie both told me they didn't want to move into the new house. Well, I say that until they saw it. So when they saw it, I think they're viewed were different. They just thought they didn't want to leave their house. They didn't want to leave their bungalow. But they never went to the new house

and was like, oh good, no. I think, had they maybe got there and if one had run out of the house screaming, fuck that I'll be out. Would you? Yeah, no, fuck that shit right off. Because spirits get through to children. You've got to understand that Dottie spoke to

people in the other world. I don't even know, but the people that have passed on family members that had passed on. Dottie spent a lot of her childhood speaking to people, knowing things about family relations that I didn't even know about. I had to clarify with my parents.

So I think because of that element, if one of them had run out of that house screaming and said, that's too scary, I'd have been fucking out. Fuck that shit. Because spirits can get to children, don't they? They can get in because their minds are so much more free than ours. No, I would have been out.

Good on in my say. Anyone moved into that house, Marissa, or did it get taken down? Yeah. Wonder if you've ever gone past? I bet it's been taken down. Too haunted. Well, she said they drove past and saw it. But I wonder who lived there after you.

That's what I'm saying. If anybody moved in after. And what happened there? Or if it's still even there. What went down? What went down? If I found the right house, best believe I'd be signing on the dotted line. I've watched too many horror films, I think.

Yeah. No. Couldn't do it. Have your parents told you a secret? Then let us know. You can email us hello at secret mumpod.com and we're secret mumpod on TikTok and Instagram. And we'll be back. We'll be back.

We'll be back first thing on Tuesday We'll have more of your messages On our next Thursday episode And we'll see you next time on the secret M.