Tag: parenting

  • Bumperpodcast #378 – Overwhelmed

    Bumperpodcast #378 – Overwhelmed

    Natty is completely overwhelmed – and is trying to figure out how to become more whelmed – while avoiding being underwhelmed. It’s a lot to take in – but, he’ll try his hardest!

    The Bumperpodcast is an oftentimes hilarious weekly romp around Headquarters, in Coffee-Can Alley, with Natty Bumpercar and his entire gaggle of pals!

    You should send us an email to bumperpodcast@nattybumpercar.com. We’re here and we’re listening!

    Go like our Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/TheBumperpodcast/)!!


    About This Episode

    Natty Bumpercar returns to the Bumperpodcast after a hiatus to discuss feeling overwhelmed by the state of the world. In this introspective episode, Natty explores the etymology of 'overwhelmed,' 'underwhelmed,' and 'whelmed,' wondering why we can't just be normally whelmed. He shares candid stories about quarantine life, homeschooling his kids, dealing with a toy-destroying dog, and the challenges of performing comedy over Zoom. Natty reflects on the strange nature of time during quarantine, unfinished projects piling up, and finding silver linings in spending more family time together, even when grocery bills seem impossibly high.

    Memorable Quotes

    “I looked at myself in the mirror and I said today is not the day that I'm gonna break… and as I left the room I heard the mirror whisper 'or is it' and I was like whoa hey mirror I thought you had my back”

    — Natty Bumpercar

    “I'm hoping that this podcast is leaving you considerably whelmed. Not overwhelmed, not underwhelmed. I want to whelm you.”

    — Natty Bumpercar

    Topics: #quarantinelife #overwhelmed #parenting #homeschooling #comedy #zoom #time #family

    Featuring: Natty Bumpercar

    Full Transcript

    Natty Bumpercar: oh bumper podcast what's been what are you doing who what are you where you been at where you been hiding from me or i've been missing you uh i know you're thinking over there whoa whoa don't don't point fingers at us we're the listeners we're the bumper podcast geteers where have you been natty natty bumper car who's supposed to be recording this on a weekly basis and hasn't for a while i don't know i try i even i here's the thing i have been overwhelmed uh can just considerably overwhelmed with uh the state of the world and uh i just i i haven't been able to get to it and then i started to think what does overwhelmed even mean like and then i started researching it and it was pretty cool because i feel like i'm constantly overwhelmed uh and then i was just like have i ever just been whelmed i would like to just at some point in my life instead of being overwhelmed just be whelmed just be uh just a baseline whelmed uh there's there's also you know sometimes i'm underwhelmed but uh currently overwhelmed so i'd like to find a nice a nice middle ground um and so what i started to do is i started to think about what does overwhelmed a thing well overwhelmed um it it just means to to bury or drown beneath a huge mass it's like a whoa that sounds intense you were overwhelmed right and uh so which is how i feel like it's it's cool because i think it used to be more of a uh almost like a nautical term where like a ship would be overwhelmed by the waves right and uh they it eventually kind of started to mean that uh you know you're it's you're just anything that can is taking you down is beating you down you you could become overwhelmed so in this scenario i'm the ship i'm the ship out on a sea on a very stormy sea and the waves are crashing over me they're overwhelming me they're threatening to take me the ship out of my ship down but no no no my friends they will not take they will not take me down no sir i um i did i woke up the other morning and i looked in the mirror and i was trying to give myself a pep talk and uh i i looked at the mirror and i looked at myself in the mirror and i said today is not the day that i'm gonna break and uh and i felt good about myself a little know you gotta build yourself up sometimes and as i as i left the room with a mirror in it i heard the mirror whisper you know or is it and i was like whoa hey mirror i thought you had my back and it's just like i have your reflection not your back and i was like ah good point good point um anyway so uh underwhelmed is another thing right are you overwhelmed are you underwhelmed underwhelmed isn't even a phrase it doesn't make any sense because uh if overwhelmed is talking about the waves crashing over the the the bow of the ship threatening to to pull it under you know one's ever going to be like ah the ocean is very calm today the boat is calm very underwhelmed now of course you might know what it's like ah we went to see that new movie i was super excited about it i didn't live up to my standards i was pretty underwhelmed so wait you're saying that the waves just were uh very calm at your at your ship i don't know and then and then whelmed i really feel like we should bring it back or i don't even know if it was ever there i'm hoping that this podcast is leaving you considerably whelmed not i don't want to be overwhelmed i don't want to be too much for you because there's too much else going on and i certainly don't want to you know uh be aiming too low i don't want to underwhelm you no i want to overwhelm you i want if you ever if somebody's like oh you listen to the bumper podcast yeah i do are you a bumper podcast couture i suppose i am how do you feel about that in one word can you describe to me uh the bumper podcast one word and you can just look at them straight in the eye and you can say whelmed it's gonna that's probably gonna go on our business card we're we're gonna hire a skywriter to you uh you know just write uh to an advertisement in the sky so people can know to tune in and they'll say it'll just say whelmed and we'll forget to uh actually put the bumper podcast or anything that ties it to us but eventually enough people are gonna know that when they hear the word whelmed boom they're talking about they should be thinking about the bumper podcast in my opinion the dog just joined me i have to tell you she's been completely underwhelmed today by the amount of attention and love that she's received and um what she's done to make up for that lack of love and attention is to destroy toys not my toys because i keep them in the high ground all right and she will not overwhelm my defenses to get to these toys the children however leave their toys scattered around the house everywhere that the dog can reach them and i uh a lot of times i'll wake up to shrieking ah yee ah oh which is a completely overwhelming way to start your day and i burst down the stairs and i say what's going on down here the dog ate our toy ah did she overwhelm your defenses no the toy was on the ground i'm like you can't leave the toy you can't leave the toys on the ground your toys look like her dog toys so she's going to eat them but they don't listen because why would they i don't know nothing i'm just their dad dad's that's a fun thing with kids is they're like ah dad you don't know nothing you don't know my my worries you don't know nothing about me my life i'm like buddy i helped make you like what are you talking about i know i've been here every day i know i know a little bit about you but i don't know anything about you about you uh but no no no no no dad you don't you come you're completely underwhelming me as a parent i'm like all right that's we don't have to keep using the over under and the whelmed during the episode um i was trying to figure out when the last time that i sent out an episode was and then i realized i don't even know what today is i've completely given up on time we did an episode of a while ago uh about time being linear and time folding in on itself and how strange time can be and then we got into nostalgia and stuff and the thing is is i don't it's i wake up every day and i don't i'm just like like we had to do the kids homework this morning and they were like what's today what assignment do i do and i was just like oof i had to look at my calendar i was just like it's uh well obviously it's tuesday and then i'm like how is it tuesday that's weird i mean yesterday was monday huh all right sure but i don't really believe i mean it's just like there's nothing uh solid concrete about the days that that are keeping me and my brain kind of in line with what day it is um which is a struggle when all this quarantine started i was i was very i was cleaning all the time and i was making lists of stuff to do and then i think just the more and more stuff that i was doing i have all these projects and i'm like oh my god i'm gonna have to do this project and i would start a project and then i would realize i don't have all the pieces to finish the project and i can't go to the store and so that's on the list and the more unfinished projects that i would get the more overwhelmed i would get right and and so then i would my list would just keep growing longer and then you know you wake up every day and you're just like okay we got to get the kids food we got to get their school stuff ready we got to talk to the teachers we got to talk to the school we got to talk to we got it we got to talk to the teachers we got to work we got to do the bumper podcast we got to do the uh hanging out with pig and pal show every day which is still happening gotta take the dog for a walk oh man we got to start the car every so often this is we it's just very strange but i have to say and i was talking to someone yesterday a medical professional if you will and what we were talking about was uh and i think i mentioned this before silver lining uh it's great to be able to hang out with my family i love it love it to pieces i make jokes about it about not wanting to hang out with a family but i i actually love it to pieces and um you know it's it's it's nice to be able to be the kid's teacher and to realize that i was completely correct and not going into uh being a teacher like for a job i should not have ever done that i'm glad i did not ever do that it's completely over the top i'm glad i did not ever do that i'm glad i did not see everything's overwhelming you go to the grocery store you're overwhelmed you walk into the cleaning supplies aisle you're underwhelmed you go to the front to pay and you're like how much food are we eating how can how is it possibly this much money every single time what are we what are we doing are we i mean all we're doing is eating is what's happening that's the only way that we've been able to get our brain levels our serotonin levels to uh to be at a nice even keel uh so that we're not overwhelmed and we're not underwhelmed is we just keep eating we might want to make sure that our stomach is completely whelmed i love it um anyway how are you doing are you hanging in there you you doing okay yeah i've been doing zoom comedy shows zoom comedy shows and um actually i have a a meeting with zoom uh at some point they haven't sent me the invitation yet but they said they are because we're gonna want to try to figure out the platform to see how i can make make zoom comedy shows even better because right now it's just uh you know you're just one random person just on video talking to nobody and then uh you know somebody will type in the chat lol and you're like ah that doesn't have the same effect on me and i'm like oh my god i'm on a comedian who's telling jokes uh as actually hearing someone laugh seeing someone type lol no it doesn't it doesn't do it for you you're like oh i guess that one that was a big one i got i got one lol oh wait look i got a uh a sideways laughing partially crying emoji ah i'm tearing it up tonight this is living the dream so i'm trying to see if there's a way to make that better um we do a weekly uh open mic and my friend's coffee joint it's a cedar beans coffee joint in cedar grove new jersey we got that figured out it's a blast it's really fun we're really uh trying to take charge of all this and and and and and fit into the new world right

    Unknown: okay see you guys later so you you you you you you

  • Bumperpodcast #374 – Nighttime crew

    Bumperpodcast #374 – Nighttime crew

    On today’s Bumperpodcast, Natty talks about how nightmares happen because of a lack of a labeling system in your brain. What?!

    The Bumperpodcast is an oftentimes hilarious weekly romp around Headquarters, in Coffee-Can Alley, with Natty Bumpercar and his entire gaggle of pals!

    You should send us an email to bumperpodcast@nattybumpercar.com. We’re here and we’re listening!

    Go like our Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/TheBumperpodcast/)!!


    About This Episode

    In episode 374, Natty Bumpercar gets candid about exhaustion after one of his four children experiences three nightmares in one night. Drawing from his middle-of-the-night comforting duties at 2:33 AM, Natty develops an elaborate theory about how the brain processes stress through a "day crew" and "night crew" filing system. He proposes that unlabeled emotional folders lead to nightmares, suggesting a color-coded organizational system for feelings to help the night shift brain workers process daily anxieties more effectively. Natty also shares his thoughts on creating helpful daily routines and structures for children while maintaining flexibility for spontaneous fun. This sleepy but thoughtful episode balances humor with genuine parenting wisdom about managing childhood stress and emotions.

    Memorable Quotes

    “I went to a grocery store and we walked around and we ate samples. I had a little flaky pastry with some cheese in it. They gave me a piece of steak at the sample booth. What kind of magical dreamlike store is this?”

    — Natty Bumpercar

    “The night crew opens it and they're like whoa whoa whoa we didn't deal with any of that stuff today. Let's just throw it all against the board and see what happens. The dream board as it were.”

    — Natty Bumpercar

    “You want to have it so it can bend a little bit. Be spontaneous. Go have some fun, loosen up, live a little bit. Within certain boundaries, within certain structures.”

    — Natty Bumpercar

    Topics: #parenting #nightmares #sleep #anxiety #mentalhealth #dailyroutines #brainscience #emotions

    Featuring: Natty Bumpercar

    Full Transcript

    Natty Bumpercar: well well well if it isn't the bumper pod casketeers my favorite people in the whole wide world hi there guys how's it going it's me natty bumper car and this is the bumper podcast and today we're gonna talk about being tired being so very tired one of my four children had three nightmares last night it was like a christmas carol but in the middle of uh march he had he had one one and he but he couldn't remember his his nightmares have you ever had nightmares before man i have and they can be so scary after he had his nightmares and i finally got to sleep um i didn't have a nightmare but i had a fun dream which is it's weird for me to say it's a fun dream but i went to a grocery store and i had a fun dream and i had a fun dream and grocery store with a couple of friends of mine and we walked around and we ate samples i mean it doesn't sound like a lot of fun i understand that but for me at the moment it seemed like the best kind of fun um i had this i had this a little uh a little pastry a little flaky pastry with some kind of cheese in it oh it was so good i had um a piece of steak they gave me a piece of steak at the sample booth i've never i've never had steak at a sample booth what kind of magical dreamlike store is this i don't know but when i was asking him about his dreams he couldn't remember all he remembered is that he was sad and scared and and it made me sad and so i i came into his bed and uh i i laid down so what we do is because he has you know a tiny little bed is his head's on one end then my head's on the other and then our feet are going in the opposite direction and that's just so we have you know a little bit a little bit of room right to to try to get back to sleep and then i take my my left hand and i kind of laid it down over his uh onto his legs and just kind of patted him just saying it'll be okay buddy it'll be okay it'll be okay and he calmed down and you know before we even he came into the room and got us and uh i gave him a big hug big tight bear and i said are you okay what's the matter are you gonna be you're gonna be okay you know daddy's here mommy's here we're we're here everyone is here and he said okay because he was very tired also it was the middle of the night when this happened and like like 2 33 in the morning that's very very early or late i guess it's it's this is a uh is your glass half full or half empty kind of it was very middle of the night we'll say that and so i got him back into bed and uh he actually he wanted a little a cup of water and then he used the restroom and then we got back into bed and i i patted his legs and i said it's going to be okay it's going to be okay now i have a theory and you can tell me what you think about this theory but i have a theory and my theory is if you're in uh if you have some sort of sort of stress some sort of tumult some sort of uh rough times during the day maybe that sometimes your brain doesn't want to deal with that rough stuff that stress at that moment and so your brain stores it all into a folder back in the back of your brain right into the your storage and then when you lay down the night crew comes in and uh takes over from the day shift they said hey see you later and they're like hey night shift we'll see you later and the night shift comes in and they've got this stack of folders you know from the day they're like okay we got to process all this stuff that happened during the day you know they start going through the folders oh look this we played kickball it's a little let's have a little kickball dream even if it's just a tiny dream oh this folder is very heavy and very dark and very oh well let's open it oh my goodness there's a lot of stress this child was worried about something oh what what in the world maybe it's that you have a test coming up maybe it's that somebody said something mean to you maybe your dog ate your ball or something like that you know all that stuff goes into your folder your sad scared worried angry folder whatever and then when this night crew opens it they're like whoa whoa whoa whoa we didn't deal with any of that stuff today you know what let's just throw it all against the board and see what happens what happens the dream board as it were and then you get to deal with whatever i guess comes from there so your brain hasn't dealt with whatever issues you had during the day you've internalized everything you've taken all your emotions and you've squished them squished them squished them squished them squished them squished them down into you and then at night they're like oh i gotta get out of here and then and then maybe you might you might have little nightmares which is sad right but understandable also you have a lot going on everybody's got a lot going on in their day in their minds not just like the normal stuff but maybe your schedule has been uh shifted around maybe things are a little bit different than they used to be and even just different can be enough to to to make you worried about things or uh to get you anxious or to get you angry and and you know if if you're too tired or whatever to or you're too busy to deal with uh that anxiety that that anxiousness that anger then you it all goes into that folder the night crew doesn't know what to do with it they just open it up and then boom bam boom whatever happens happens right i think that maybe a better way for the day crew to deal with this stuff is to label the folders right and so then the night crew's not coming into this blind the maybe we're gonna have uh you can even color code it right maybe blue for happy uh red for angry yellow for sad uh uh green maybe for worry i don't know purple you know like purple for silly makes sense right uh and then so then you can put all your your thoughts from the day into these folders and so then when they're done they're going to be in the folder the night crew comes along they can they can look at it and they can go okay you know what let's let's this looks like this uh angry folder sad folder is pretty thick tonight let's how about let's work through these other ones we're gonna leave this one here for the uh for the day crew or maybe we'll just take a little bit out of of that one and we can spread it in with the other stuff just to try to minimize the impact of the bad stuff because you know if the folders aren't labeled they don't have any idea what's in them and they're just gonna open it up and then wham bam you got a crazy dream man right which it it's bad because then if you have crazy dreams that keep you up at night then the next day you're tired right and that just means you're almost set up for more rough stuff to happen which is just going to keep filling up that bad folder which is just going to keep on making you anxious and making you worried and making you upset and without some sort of labeling system i'm telling you it's just going to become a spiral it's just going to keep happening it's going to come around going to keep coming around it's like a trolley car here it comes boom here it comes boom here it comes so we need to talk to the manager whoever is managing your brain i'm assuming it's you and we need to figure out uh a way to set up a good system for your uh daily activities your thoughts your feelings your emotions to be more properly labeled so that the night crew isn't coming in blind um and then from there i i can only see good things happening i can only imagine that uh things are gonna get better and better maybe not here's the thing too if we're going to transition to a whole new um system then there's going to be some bumps in the road there's gonna be some confusion there might even be some mislabeling which could lead to just oh who knows like let's let's say you have uh you're really really really really really really really angry about something and that ends up in the pink folder and they open up the pink folder expecting you know what i don't know bubble gum and rainbows and good times and then all of a sudden this angry thing in the oh it's just gonna that's gonna be we're gonna have to write up a report for that okay that's gonna have to be looked at we're gonna have to figure out where where where in the chain of command and here no one's gonna get into trouble because this is a brand new system and we're not the kind of company that's gonna you know point at people and say you did this but we are going to try to figure out how to make it better and how to not have that happen again okay so let's work on that i think it's become very important in my day trying to establish uh structures trying to establish uh a good foundation so like when i we've been putting up uh lists in the house so um when you wake up and there's like a nice piece of paper and it says um uh go potty brush your teeth make your bed right and then you know then go downstairs have some breakfast relax and then we'll start the day right and that even just like adding little things like that little constants are good for your brain because if your brain knows where it has to go it doesn't have to wake up and then think like what am i gonna do now it's like oh i'm just gonna go potty i'm gonna brush my teeth i'm gonna make my bed boom boom boom boom boom and then every day you get into a rhythm and the rhythm and the rhythm and it's gonna make you feel a little bit better i think that's my theory now there's variables right let's say you have uh lunch time on there and then you have go outside and play and it's raining well then we're gonna have to shift gears gotta be flexible too that's the thing when you have a system you don't want it to be a rigid system right a rigid system means it's not flexible you want to have it so that it can bend a little bit so it can so you can do other things too and and that allows you for the freedom to to move around a little bit right to be spontaneous it's spontaneous you know what that means it it means uh hey you're supposed to do this thing hey but do you want to do this thing and you're like yeah i'd love to do that thing you know if it was a rigid system you wouldn't be able to you'd be stuck doing the first thing but if we're a little bit flexible hey be spontaneous go do this other thing that's okay do you do what you want that's go have some fun loosen up live a little bit right within certain boundaries within certain you know structures it's all about structures um what i like about structures is kind of what i was saying it helps me to know what i'm supposed to do and then i can choose if i want to do it or not which is what i think you should do because you're awesome okay

    Unknown: you

  • Bumperpodcast #371 – Zippy the bug gets cold feet

    Bumperpodcast #371 – Zippy the bug gets cold feet

    Today, we get a visit from a sick little bug. I love it when we have guests – but, now I’m off to clean my equipment!

    The Bumperpodcast is an oftentimes hilarious weekly romp around Headquarters, in Coffee-Can Alley, with Natty Bumpercar and his entire gaggle of pals!

    You should send us an email to bumperpodcast@nattybumpercar.com. We’re here and we’re listening!

    Go like our Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/TheBumperpodcast/)!!


    About This Episode

    In this charming episode of Bumperpodcast, Natty Bumpercar discovers a sick bug in his home and decides to help rather than squish it. He has a delightful conversation with Zippy the Bug, a young bed bug who stayed home from bug school due to illness from staying up too late at bug parties. Zippy reveals he can't fly but can climb walls, and has mysteriously forgotten his siblings' names after just two days. After safely releasing Zippy outside, Natty reflects on the season of sickness, shares a story about his son sleeping on the bathroom floor, and teaches listeners about the phrase "cold feet" (or "kolde fader" in Danish). The episode wraps with Natty's ongoing saga of Popcorn the dog eating everything and an expensive vet visit.

    Memorable Quotes

    “We're really friends and so you hurt my feelings? That doesn't make any sense. We're really good friends because I made you feel bad.”

    — Natty Bumpercar

    “Why didn't you subscribe to the Bumper Podcast and leave a nice review and five stars? Kolde fader.”

    — Natty Bumpercar

    “I went to the vet and I said, Dear vet, I think that maybe this dog is in fact not a dog but a goat.”

    — Natty Bumpercar

    Topics: #illness #bugs #friendship #compassion #idioms #parenting #pets #health

    Featuring: Natty Bumpercar, Zippy the Bug (Guest)

    Full Transcript

    Natty Bumpercar: um what's um hi uh everybody there's a little bug next to me and i don't i don't know if i should squish it or if i should take it outside what do you what do you think little bug you don't know um well what would you rather would you rather be squished or would you rather go outside and live a life on a bush or a tree outside you'd rather go outside what now why is that are you afraid to be squished yes oh well that makes me kind of sad okay well then little bug i'm gonna pick you up uh with this napkin because i don't really want to touch you and i'm gonna just gently take you all the way outside okay now what are you gonna do when you're outside you don't know are you gonna go find your friends maybe yeah what do bugs do with their

    Zippy the Bug (Guest): friends i don't really know do you go to like bug parties i don't know i don't guess i don't think

    Natty Bumpercar: so do you play bug games yeah i guess wait why are you you seem like a young bug why are you at home today and not at bug school because i'm sick you're sick that's so sad how did you get sick

    Zippy the Bug (Guest): i think from like staying up really late

    Natty Bumpercar: oh so you were out at a big bug party last night doing bug dances and doing bug prances and doing all the things that all the bugs want to do is that what you're doing yeah i guess oh well i'm sorry you don't feel good did you take some medicine yeah that's good what what is bug medicine like what does it taste like i don't really know kind of yucky yeah i guess are you gonna have to go to the bug doctor no the bug is the bug ambulance gonna come pick you up and take you to the bug hospital no whew thank goodness because i don't think we have bug insurance um so tell me a little bit about your bug life do you how is bug school

    Zippy the Bug (Guest): it's good it's good what do you study in bug school

    Natty Bumpercar: i don't really know you don't remember yeah oh okay i understand how is your bug teacher she's she's fine well that's nice do you have any bug friends that fly yeah i guess and do you can you fly no do you just kind of can you hop or do you just kind of scurry around i just kind of like scurry around um do you stick to walls or anything or like are your feet sticky can you like climb things yeah whoa that's good you don't bite do you no oh thank goodness oh i didn't even i don't know why i didn't ask that first i don't want to get bit by a bug wait a minute you don't ever go into a bed do you yeah i go in my bed so wait if you're in your bed are you a bed bug yeah no i don't like bed bugs they're the worst oh you're not the worst though are you yeah i'm not the worst you seem like a pretty cool bug to me mm-hmm yeah well thank goodness well listen bug uh i'm just gonna pick you up with this napkin okay so be careful don't don't move around too fast i don't want to hurt you okay all right ready one two all right i scooped you up and we're gonna walk you out side and okay bug we'll see you later okay okay bye feel better all right

    Zippy the Bug (Guest): okay

    Natty Bumpercar: take your bug medicine and listen to your bug parents right yeah wait real quick before you go do you have any bug brothers or sisters yeah all right what what do you have uh like a brother and sister oh really oh that's nice what are their names

    Zippy the Bug (Guest): um well i really remember because like they were i was like super for like two days and

    Natty Bumpercar: Two whole days? Yeah. Oh, no. And you forgot your brother and sister's name already?

    Unknown: Yeah.

    Natty Bumpercar: Oh, no. What is your name? I just realized I didn't even ask you that. Zippy. Oh, Zippy the bug. That's a great name for a bug. Oh, okay. Well, if I let you out here, do you think you can find your family? Yeah. Okay. Because I don't want you to get lost or anything. Hey, listen. If you ever need anything, you can come back and just ring the doorbell and I'll come and answer, okay?

    Zippy the Bug (Guest): Okay. Alright.

    Natty Bumpercar: Alright. We'll see you later, Zippy the bug. Feel better. Okay. Bye.

    Zippy the Bug (Guest): Bye.

    Natty Bumpercar: Holy cow, Bumper Podcast. I didn't expect that at all. We had a fun guest stop by. Zippy the bug. Love Zippy the bug. I'm sorry that Zippy doesn't feel well. It was also, I was very sad that Zippy doesn't remember the name of his brother and sister. It was very, that worries me. I hope he's alright. I think after I finish recording this podcast that I'm gonna go and check on Zippy and make sure that he's okay. When I was holding onto him, I could tell he has a little temperature and I don't have a bug thermometer or anything, but I could just kind of tell by the way he was, he seemed like he was moving kind of slow, a little bit groggy, and he just evened through the napkin. A little bit warm. A little bit warm. It's that kind of season though, right? It's the time of year where a lot of people are getting sick. There's stomach bugs going around. Oh, a stomach bug. Wait a minute. That's not that kind of bug at all. Then there's like little colds, little fevers, and all this poor, poor people getting feeling, feeling rough by my, we have Oliver who's the younger, and then Emerson who's the older, and last week Emerson had a bit of a stomach problem, and he had to come home from school and there was one night where he didn't feel good, and I ended up, we both ended up sleeping on the bathroom floor because it was cool, and he said that made him feel better, and because he wanted to be in there, just in case things happened. I don't need to talk about what things happened, but just in case things happened, and we'll leave it at that. But luckily, knock on wood, he feels better, and his brother Oliver, he's done very fine, but now we got this Zippy the Bug feeling sick, so it's going around. Take care of yourself. Wash your hands. Wash your hands several times a day, and try not to touch your eyes or your nose. Keep your little fingers away from your face because that's how the germs will get in, and I don't want you to get sick. Okay? I want you to feel good because when you feel good, I feel awesome. I don't really know that. I'm assuming that. Yeah, I'm going to say that. If you feel good, then I feel good. Right? That's a good way to be. It's like if you see your friends doing well, if they're succeeding at something, if, you know, maybe if there's a school play and they get on the play, yeah, you gotta build them up because that's what friends do. You build each other up. You make each other feel good about things. I have some friends of mine and they don't always do that. It's more of a you knock your friends down a little bit and it's like, hey, man, that means we're really friends. And I'm like, wait, that doesn't make any sense. We're really friends and so you hurt my feelings? That doesn't seem to make any sense at all. No, no, no, man, we're really good friends because I made you feel bad. That just seems like you're somebody who's who knows a lot about me and then uses that to make me feel rotten. I don't want to feel rotten. I'm not an egg. I don't think eggs want to feel rotten either, though. I don't want to I don't want to pigeonhole eggs into feeling a certain way. You know what, eggs? You do you. You go feel how you want to feel. Anyway, guys, this is the Bumper Podcast. I'm Natty Bumpercar and it's cold outside. I went to take the kids to school today and for some reason I forgot to wear shoes and to go from the front door into the car and then I do a drive-around drop-off and I forgot to wear shoes and I I was so cold. I was like, I wanted to cry. I was like, why wouldn't I wear shoes? I need shoes on my feet. But, you know, mistakes are made. That wasn't how we wanted to start the day, certainly, with cold feet. Have you ever heard the phrase cold feet? It's if, like, it's something that people say where if they're nervous to do something. Like, let's say you wanted to audition for the big school play, right, with your friend, but you didn't do it because you got nervous and so someone could say, oh, hey, why didn't you why didn't you go audition for the big school play? And you could be like, oh, I got cold feet. I don't know where it comes from. I feel like I'm going to research. I'm going to do some research. We're going to learn on the Bumper Podcast. Well, did you guys realize that cold feet, it's kind of like anxiety. It's like you're having second thoughts. It's like you're feeling a little bit timid about something. Like you're almost weak in the knees about something. It's like you have reservations about something. It's, you want to back out of a situation that you're in. These are all various ways of saying you have cold feet. And so I found a definition for it. It's a phrase which refers to a person not going through with an action. You've got cold feet. It's, it's, it's, I don't know. You can have stage fright. That's another way of saying cold feet. And I don't know if I can, if I can find it. Ah, yes. This is my favorite. Here's how you say cold feet in Danish. Kolde fader. So, I think you should start saying that. Bumper Podcast Gatiers, we don't get cold feet. We get kolde fader. Why didn't you go to that big meeting? Kolde fader. Why didn't you subscribe to the Bumper Podcast and leave a nice review and five stars? Kolde fader. That's so fun. I love that we learned something. We learned that bugs do in fact get sick and have to stay home from school and that they can in fact forget their brothers and sisters' names. And we also learned about cold feet. Kolde fader. And, you know, I think we had a nice time. Things I didn't tell you about. Well, Popcorn the dog continues to eat everything in the world. I took her to the vet and I said, Dear vet, I think that maybe this dog is in fact not a dog but a goat. And he looked at her and he looked at me and he said, Sir, that's clearly a dog. And I said, I think it's a goat. And he said, Dog. And I said, Goat. And we did that back and forth for a while. And then he said, Okay. Well then, take your dog and go. And the bill is $300. And I went to the front desk to pay and when they showed me that bill, I went to pull my wallet out and I didn't. Can you guess why? Kolde fader. Alright. Keep your feet warm. Go do what you're supposed to do. Don't get sick. Wash your hands. Looking out for you, Bumper Podcast. Looking out for you. You know why? Because you're the best.

    Unknown: Thank you.

  • Bumperpodcast #363 – Tips and Tricks

    Bumperpodcast #363 – Tips and Tricks

    Natty shares some golden parenting advice with the world. Hopefully it isn’t fools gold!

    The Bumperpodcast is an oftentimes hilarious weekly romp around Headquarters, in Coffee-Can Alley, with Natty Bumpercar and his entire gaggle of pals!

    You should send us an email to bumperpodcast@nattybumpercar.com, or to call in and leave a message – 646.847.7976. We’re here and we’re listening!

    Go like our Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/TheBumperpodcast/)!!


    About This Episode

    Natty Bumpercar tackles winter weather woes and parenting challenges in this cozy episode of Bumperpodcast. After shoveling 6.6 inches of snow at 10 PM, Natty reflects on hosting Thanksgiving dinner for 17 people and shares the elaborate menu prepared for guests. The episode takes a heartfelt turn as Natty discusses the importance of verbalizing gratitude at the holiday table and introduces clever parenting techniques for dealing with childhood anxiety and dismissive responses. From sledding preferences to goat impressions, Natty delivers signature humor while exploring the universal struggles of parenting and holiday hosting.

    Memorable Quotes

    “I love to sit in front of a fireplace in a warm toasty cabin and watch as the beautiful snowflakes flitter and flutter… but then what I do not enjoy is walking in it, touching it, falling in it, getting it thrown at me, shoveling it.”

    — Natty Bumpercar

    “I think it's very important to verbalize what you're thankful for. Maybe just saying it makes it more real in my world.”

    — Natty Bumpercar

    “My kid eats like a goat. He'll eat trash. Wait a minute. My kid is a kid. I was so happy because I never thought of that.”

    — Natty Bumpercar

    Topics: #winter #snow #thanksgiving #parenting #gratitude #family #cooking #mentalhealth

    Featuring: Natty Bumpercar

    Full Transcript

    Natty Bumpercar: oh the weather outside is frightful but the wait that seems like a song I should know oh the weather outside is frightful but the something is so delightful so delightful hey guys it's me natty bumper car and it's it's snowed it's it's snowed why did it snow I uh don't know if you know this about me not a fan of snow I love to look at it I think it's beautiful I love to sit in front of a fireplace in a warm toasty cabin and watch as the beautiful snowflakes flitter and flutter all around the world and then they land and they look so pretty and they they uh they make the whole uh the world just look like a like a crystal castle no they make the world look like a fluffy powdered donut and better better uh but then what I do not enjoy is uh walking in it touching it falling in it getting it thrown at me shoveling it none of that stuff do I enjoy I kind of like sledding if I'm to be honest uh I uh do not like tubing tubing is where you go to a mountain you pay people money to uh go to the top slide down go to the top slide down go to the top slide down and you're like wait a minute natty that sounds like a lot like sledding and I'm like yeah there's so much more you have to pay money and then you have to wait in line and I don't know I like finding a hill finding a pizza box and just sitting on it and slide down here's the thing pizza boxes don't work I don't I've seen people like I use a cardboard to bog it I'm like nope nope that's just gonna get soggy and wet and fall apart what about if you uh hey I use a uh the lid for my trash can do you okay that sounds like a great idea you want to sit in trash can lid ah no thank you what about uh oh you know what here's my favorite actually as uh when mice sit on spoons and they can uh hold the uh the handle of the spoon and slide down that's that's my favorite that's my favorite right there I uh so we we did get we got 6.6 inches of snow I was just told which is a lot of snow and it uh it's one of those things where because we have to shovel the driveway and you have to shovel the walkway and you don't want to do it while it's still snowing because then it's just gonna snow on it again and then you're gonna do it all again no thank you so I waited I didn't shovel last night until 10 o'clock that's late and then I was trying to be a conscientious shoveler and not be loud about it so it's like I don't want this scraping noise to keep the neighbors up and so I tried to to not do that and then I woke up this morning there's more snow are you kidding me let's get on the schedule let's get on the same page all right okay man I listened to the last episode of the bumper podcast which I apologize was like last year and uh my voice was pretty amazing I even I was trying to figure out how to do it and I it's not I think I must have been sick I guess I don't know something something was going on something was in the air something was in the water I'll have what she's having I um so I have to uh the kitties or the kitties were home yesterday oh guys happy Thanksgiving did you did you give thanks can I tell you my menu I made so much food what did you make all the food all the food yes all the food ginger orange honey glazed carrots yeah I made those truffle oil uh caper lemon uh what are they called cauliflower with Parmesan oh yeah I did that Brussels sprouts with bacon and balsamic vinegar yeah I did that too there's a lot of food a lot of food delicious food we had a 17 people over and I was it was just a wonderful day it was a wonderful day y'all here's the thing that I like to do because we we host Thanksgiving every year and once the meal is out and everyone is is you know making their plates I'm the one who uh goes around the table and I force people to uh to say what they're thankful for what they're grateful for and people really get a poo-poo it they're like oh I don't want to do this but here's the thing I think it's very important I think it's it's it's very important to verbalize what you're thankful for you can you can say oh in my head I'm thankful for these things I'm thankful for the person next to you and maybe they don't get to hear it enough right maybe maybe just saying it makes it more real in my world that's what I think so we go around the table and I say you know uh what are you thankful for and then I may may I may even pepper with a couple of follow-up questions I think that's a good thing to do too I think the art of conversation is is dwindling which makes me sad but that's okay we just have to keep working at it um speaking of conversation here's a cool thing that we started doing in my house uh one of my children who shall remain nameless uh if if you say for instance uh hey buddy uh don't hit your brother because that does happen I'm not gonna lie to you hey buddy don't hit your brother the response is fine it's an angry fine you know what that means nothing fine it's a dismissive it's a knee-jerk reaction it's the first thing there fine and you're like oh no and so for years we've lived with fine and we uh and I would get really frustrated with fine and I would say don't say fine to me that doesn't mean anything that means you're just you're not even listening to what I'm asking you to do and so then I finally I came upon a really cool way of dealing with fine and that is if I say hey buddy stop hitting your brother and he says fine I say no I need you to repeat to me what I just said to you so it's kind of the same way as the thankful stuff where it's forcing him to stop and verbalize what I just asked him to do which in theory this is a theory I don't know if it's real uh make it stick a little bit better. Hey, buddy, don't do that thing. I'm not going to do that thing. Awesome, buddy. Thank you so much as you were. We've only had it for like two days, but it's so far. Fingers are crossed. It's working out. Here's another cool trick. Sometimes in my house, there's a lot of dysregulation, a lot of anxiety that goes on, which sometimes leads to unhappiness, explosions as they were. And so one of the ways that we figured out how to help with those moments of anxiety was to get the kid and you say, hey, buddy, I need you to look around the room and find five things that are orange. And he will do that, but he will go that, that, that, that, that. And you're like, nope, nope, nope. I need specifics. That orange ball, the orange dot on the clock, the orange handle of that spoon, whatever it is. Actually, orange is tough. We don't have a lot of orange things in my house, to be honest. I should have gone with red. We have a lot of red things. But it's cool because, in theory, it helps him to get out of whatever's going on in his mind and look around and focus on other things. And so it's kind of two cool techniques that we've started trying to use in the house to help things along a little bit. Now, if only we could find a way to help the puppy dog, because she won't look at anything. Hey, popcorn. Stop eating those socks. Fine. Don't say fine to me. Woof. Don't say woof to me. Say I'm not going to eat the socks. Popcorn, calm down. I need you to find three things that are blue. Woof. No, be more specific. Woof, woof. All right. Good job. I had a show the other week, and I was talking about my kids, and I was talking about how, their poor diet and how they kind of eat garbage. And I was like, ah, they're trying to get my kid to eat good food, and he just wants to eat chips. Chips all the time. He got really upset. He says, hey, I have the worst life ever because you won't let me eat chips. And I was like, that's not, that is not grounds for having the worst life ever. You have a great life. And so I was on stage, and I was talking about, I was relaying this story, and I said, ah, my kid eats like a goat. He'll eat trash. He eats garbage. Wait a minute. My kid is a kid. I was so happy because I never thought of that. And then I was just like, ah, my kid is a kid. And I went, like that, like a goat. And then I was like, ah, don't talk to your mom like that. Ah. Ah. Ah. Weird goat noises I'm making. I usually do better goat.

    Unknown: Ah. Ah. Ah.

    Natty Bumpercar: There we go. Ah.

    Unknown: Ah.

    Natty Bumpercar: Ah. Ah. Clean up your room. Ah. Ah. Put away your iPad. Ah. Ah. Find, find three things in the room that are yellow.

    Unknown: Ah.

    Natty Bumpercar: Ah. Man. What's tougher to raise? Human children or goat kids? I don't know. I don't know. I'm going to go think about it. Maybe come up with another weird solution. Hey, Bumper Podcast, I love you guys. I'm glad I have my voice back. I'm glad I'm feeling top notch. You're amazing. So amazing.

    Unknown: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

  • Bumperpodcast #362 – Correlation Coronation

    Bumperpodcast #362 – Correlation Coronation

    Natty sounds like a frog on today’s episode – and talks a lot of whatnot about such things as correlations and coronations. It’s swell. I promise!

    The Bumperpodcast is an oftentimes hilarious weekly romp around Headquarters, in Coffee-Can Alley, with Natty Bumpercar and his entire gaggle of pals!

    You should send us an email to bumperpodcast@nattybumpercar.com, or to call in and leave a message – 646.847.7976. We’re here and we’re listening!

    Go like our Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/TheBumperpodcast/)!!


    About This Episode

    In episode 362, Natty Bumpercar wakes up with a raspy voice that makes him sound like a robot or Alexa, confusing his children who won't follow his instructions. Despite his wife's concerns, Natty insists on still attending their expensive water park hotel trip scheduled for the next day. The episode takes a hilarious turn when Natty tries to teach his fibbing son about trust using the boy who cried wolf story, only to have the child fall asleep before learning the moral. Throughout the rambling episode, Natty explores the concept of correlation, battles with daylight saving time fatigue, and demonstrates his signature improvisational comedy style while dealing with his temporary voice transformation.

    Memorable Quotes

    “They didn't recognize my voice. I was like, all right, guys, time to get your shoes on. And they were just like, Alexa, stop telling us to put our shoes on.”

    — Natty Bumpercar

    “Just cause I have a funny voice doesn't mean I can't water park. I can water park with the best of them. Get me on a slide. Get me on the corkscrew.”

    — Natty Bumpercar

    “The wolf ate the sheep. And I was like, cool. I don't know about the sheep. But the boy, yeah, he got eaten. That's the whole point of the story.”

    — Natty Bumpercar

    Topics: #voice #parenting #lying #waterpark #daylightsavingtime #correlation #boywhocriedwolf #illness

    Featuring: Natty Bumpercar

    Full Transcript

    Natty Bumpercar: so last night something crazy happened and this is this is my voice now and uh i guess i got sick i don't know it's weird i actually feel pretty okay it's just my throat uh is making this sound a lot and um you know if i'm to be completely honest i think that i wish that this was my voice not all the time but sometimes because it's it's crazy like this is watch i can let me see hello how are you doing i am doing fine thank you very much it sounds like a robot i have to like pull my chin in when i do that um so this happened last night and i uh i went i tried to go to bed early but it doesn't ever work out well for me and then this morning the children woke up at 5 15 in the morning which is so early they were up so early that uh even the dog was like hey it's too early to wake up i'm a puppy and i even i understand this is too early uh we just went through i think it's daylight savings time, which we're saving some daylight. All right. You know, but it's confused everyone. It's thrown the whole week off. And now this, this voice. And this morning I was trying to get the children ready to go to school. And I was in the other room and I was just like, all right, guys, time to get your shoes on. And they didn't, they ignored me. They didn't, they didn't recognize my voice. And I was, I was like, all right, guys, time to get your shoes on. And they were just like, Alexa, stop telling us to put our shoes on. And I was like, I'm, I'm not Alexa. I'm, I'm your, I'm your dad. I'm your daddy. So now here's the bananas thing is tomorrow. We, uh, are supposed to go to one of those crazy water park hotels because the kids have a couple of days off of school. And, uh, and so, I mean, I, I just booked it too, like the other day and Ooh, is it spendy? Yes, it is. And it's a water park. And if I have this, my wife was like, well, you're not going. And I was like, but I am going. And I was like, I want to go to the water park too. Just cause I have a funny voice. Doesn't mean I can't water park. I can water park with the best of them. Get me on a slide. Get me on the corkscrew. I'll check out a lazy river too. You know, where's the hot tub. So I don't know how it's going to work out though. If I'm to be completely honest. I got in trouble too, because I was told I had four, uh, four shows last week in a row for four nights of shows. And, uh, this was the last week. And, and my wife was like, well, obviously it's cause you were out for four nights last week. And I was like, that was last week. Why am, why am I, I'm not sick now because of last week, last week was a whole week ago. I mean, it's really, it was only a few weeks ago. I mean, it's, it's, it's only a few days ago for him to be completely honest, but, uh, I don't see any correlation bumper podcast. Cateers. Do you know what correlation means? It means kind of, of an overlap of, uh, facts of, of data points or data points. So, oh, you can be like, oh, look, this data point lines up with that. Oh, and it seems like there's a correlation. Oh, what do you say? Uh, the car was rolling down the hill and the break, uh, was on, but I think the break isn't working. I don't know if that's a correlation. I'm having a difficult time just describing, explaining what a correlation I know what a coronation is. Now a coronation is, uh, when someone like a king or a queen is given their throne and their crown, they're coronated. Uh, but that's not what we were talking about. Obviously we were talking about a correlation and I have in the last 10 seconds looked up what a correlation is and it is a mutual relationship. It's a relationship or connection between two or more things. Uh-huh. So I was correct. Recher, recher, research. I was trying to say research. Research showed a clear correlation between recession levels. Oh, that's not a nice correlation. We don't have to talk about that. I should have read that before. How about this? Research shows a direct correlation between recession levels. Oh, that's not a nice correlation. We don't have to talk about that. Okay. We have a situation between having a sweet tooth and eating a lot of candy. Is a sweet tooth really a thing? Hey! I've been diagnosed. What do you have? Ha! I got the sweet tooth. Really? Who diagnoses you with that? Is that the doctor or the dentist? Oh, no. The person who diagnosed this was, uh, Fitzgibbon, the cert euenderist at AAM. He owns the Fitzgibbon's candy shop on the corner. He said I have the sweet tooth. Can you get out of school for that? No, no. No, you can't. Now, I apologize that this episode is bouncing around, but you know what? That's what's going to happen on a day like today. It'd be great if I could have utilized the voice, and we would have been like, Oh, wow. He's really thought this through. He's got this wackadoo voice, and he's utilizing it. But no, this is just kind of a catch-as-catch-can episode. The other night, one of my children was, well, he told a fib. He told a bit of a lie. And I said, and there was a lot of stuff on his floor. That was why I said, hey, how did all this stuff get on your floor? I don't know. Well, it's your stuff. How did it get on the floor? I'm cleaning it up for you, but who, how did it get here? I don't know. Not my stuff. And I was like, oh, but I mean, it's clearly your stuff. This is definitely your stuff that I'm picking up. Nope. Must have been somebody else in the house. He started throwing people under the bus. And I was just like, nope, that person wouldn't have done it. Nope, that person didn't do it either. I was just like, buddy, you're not in any kind of trouble at all. Why are you? Why are you feeling the need to lie? Why are you feeling the need to fib about this? I'm not lying. Why would I? I'm not lying. I don't lie. And I was like, all right, relax, settle down. But you are. You're definitely making up a little. You did this, but I, and, you know, I just was asking why. There's no knees in, no knees in. A knees in is a reason for your knees in the season. I said, there's no reason to make anything up. And he's just started getting furious. He's like. Why does everybody always say I lie every time I say something, they say I'm lying. And I was just like, well, that's because you actually do lie quite a bit, quite a lot, quite a lot of lies. And he got really mad and, uh, he's like, no one ever believes anything I say. And I was just like, again, you tend to lie a lot. And, uh, I was like, you're kind of, he's like the boy who cried wolf. And I was like. You know, he lied a lot and then people stopped believing him. That's what happens. If you lie a lot, people can't trust you. People can't, you know, they're not gonna, they're not gonna listen to what you have to say. You're going to cry wolf and cry wolf and cry wolf and, and fool people and to a point. And then they're going to just say, no, I'm done. Not, I'm not doing this anymore. I'm not going to believe you. I'm not going to put my trust in you. And he goes well. Uh, you know, whatever the wolf, the wolf didn't even, you know, eat the kid at the end. I was like, wait, what? But he did. And he's like, no, the kid was fine. And I was like, no, the wolf ate the kid. The kid was the kid in the story of the boy who cried wolf. He, he got eaten. He got eaten by the wolf. It's the whole point of the thing. He goes, no, no, no. The wolf ate the sheep. And I was like, cool. I don't know about the sheep. I'm sure the wolf probably ate them too. But the boy, yeah, he got eaten. That's the whole point of the story. He cried wolf. The town's people ran over. No wolf. Laughing kid. He cried wolf again. Town ran up. No wolf. Laughing kid. He cried wolf again. Town did not run up. You know who laughed that time? Not the kid. The wolf did. Because he knew he was about to have some dinner. He was about to have some lion kid stew. So what I did was I pulled the story up and, uh, thanks internet. And I started, I just read it to him immediately. And, um, we got to, so the kid was annoyed that he was going to have to watch the sheep. He wanted a better, more fun job. And he, uh, went. Into the field eventually with the sheep and, uh, and he cried wolf once and I looked over and my child was asleep. So he didn't, he doesn't know. Maybe that's why he thinks the kid was okay. Maybe because he's never made it past the third page of this story. So to him, the moral of the story is go ahead and cry wolf. It's the sheep who's going to get eaten. Not you. You're going to be fine, but no, I would say there's a. Direct correlation between, uh, the, my, the moral that my son gets out of a story. And how quickly he falls asleep when he's listening to the story. Look at me. I brought it all back around to correlation. I feel like I'm going to be the correlation King. Maybe they'll even be a coronation. Oh. My voice even sounds a little bit better. Maybe I'm feeling better. Maybe that's what happens when you get crowned the King of correlations. Ah, there's a correlation between talking a lot and your voice feeling better or no, it's just the medicine kicking in.