The Gag is....Managing Groceries and Teen Hygiene Struggles

Welcome back to part 2 of "Surviving Summer". Ever wondered how to keep your grocery bill in check without sacrificing quality? Join me as I reveal my secrets for managing a family budget. Learn how I keep our food expenses around $600 a month by shopping weekly, making the most of BOGOs, and steering clear of unnecessary snacks. Plus, I'll share a heartwarming story about my son's adorable habit of wanting whatever I have, offering a glimpse into our playful family life. After listening, you'll be inspired to rethink your grocery strategies and maybe even share your own tips with our community.

Teaching kids household chores can be both amusing and exasperating. You'll hear about my adventures in getting my young son to handle laundry and dishwashing, with plenty of laughs along the way. From the mystery of unexpected dryer lint to the battle against persistent room odors, this episode captures the unique challenges of parenthood. As a mom, I've had to get creative to teach my son the importance of responsibility and cleanliness, and I bet many of you can relate to these stories. We also touch on the peculiar issues boy moms face, like those mysterious smells that seem to defy all air fresheners.

Summertime and teenage boys' hygiene can be a challenging mix, and this episode dives into that struggle with humor and honesty. My son seems to think he can skip regular bathing and deodorant just because he's not going out much—sound familiar? We'll explore the phase where boys neglect personal hygiene and the uphill battle of instilling good habits. I'll also recount my efforts to teach my sons to clean their bathroom properly and the resulting frustrations of their laid-back approach to cleanliness. Before we wrap up, don't forget to like, share, and subscribe to keep up with "The Gag is Pod," and follow us on Instagram @thegagispod for the latest updates and exclusive content. Thanks for tuning in!

Chapters

• 0:35 Managing Family Budget and Summer Chores
• 10:43 Teaching Chores and Room Odors
• 18:29 Parenting Challenges
• 30:34 Podcast Promotion and Social Media

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:36

Welcome to the gag is podcast with me, your host, charlie shantae, where I share the roller coaster of my life the highs, the lows and everything in between, after becoming a teen mom at 14 and a widow by the age of 21. It's a journey filled with tears and laughter, reminding you that even in the toughest moments, there's hope. The gag is life may be unpredictable, but it's always worth living.

Speaker 2: 1:09

It's very expensive, but I've mastered the art of grocery shopping during the summer. So for a family of four, I my budget is I do a weekly instead of a monthly. My monthly budget, I mean I'm buying like I don't buy nothing crazy. Like I only buy snacks once a month, sodas and juice once a month because what's gone is gone. Like I need for y'all to ration it out.

Speaker 2: 1:52

Like I don't understand how people be like I'm a family of three or a family of four and my food bill is like a thousand dollars a month. How, like, what are y'all eating? Are y'all eating crab legs every day? What are y'all eating? And when I say a hundred and a hundred and fifty a week, I'm talking about like meals, like I actually cook, like I cook four to five days out of the week and this is like not chips and sandwiches. Like I'm cooking like meal meals, ok, like burgers, hot dogs, like sandwiches, like they can do like sandwiches and chips for lunch, but when it comes to like a dinner or breakfast, like there's hot food. So I'm not understanding. Like are y'all just in the store? Like y'all on supermarket suite? Like help me understand. Like I like to go to a particular store because the BOGOs, like I went shopping today and I got a whole bunch of stuff and only paid $100. And like that stuff is going to last me all week and it may even last into next week, like I need to like and we drink water around here, like we don't drink a lot of juice and soda and stuff. So I want to know, like, how again in the comments, leave me if your food bill is more, if your family afford, and your food bill is more, if your family afford and your food bill is more than six hundred dollars a month. Please, please, comment or shoot me an email or something and let me know what you are purchasing, because I don't get it. And I buy name brand too, because some people might be like, well, you might not buy name brand, I do. I buy name brand. So I don't understand. Like and like I.

Speaker 2: 3:50

Like we eat leftovers, like we don't know. Like I take food to work, I take my breakfast, I take my lunch and we eat leftovers. We have very minimal throwaway, very, very minimal throwaway. I don't do that food throwing away stuff, because food is too expensive, too, too expensive. I don't buy the same stuff every week. I switch it up. We get variety. The only thing that's constant every week is fruit, and even with that, I switch up the types of fruit that, um, that we buy. Like I went to the store today I forgot to buy fruit, so I'm gonna have to go yeah, I'm gonna have to buy some fruit. Or I'm going to have to go yeah, I'm going to have to buy some fruit, or I'm going to have to find an alternate or something, but I ain't get fruit this week.

Speaker 2: 4:44

But tell me, like, how y'all be able to be like $1,000 a month, because that is crazy, like that is wild. $1,000? I know food, but, jesus, $1,000 for food. Y'all must be eating lamb chops and crab legs and oysters and lobster tails and, boy, y'all eating, y'all, y'all, y'all eating good over there. Y'all must be having like seafood balls, like every week, because y'all eating mussels and what y'all eating for a thousand dollars a month and it's only for y'all. That is $250 worth of food per person. That is crazy, that is crazy, crazy, crazy. I feel like I need to do an episode on my food breakdown, like how I save and different stuff, like that. Because, oh we, crazy, crazy, because you ain't that hungry like and, and new face has this thing that every time he see me with something, he feel like he want it and I'll be like you didn't want this until you seen me with it. So, like, miss me with that.

Speaker 2: 6:22

So today we was watching the Olympic trials today. So he came up he had a bowl of cereal. He don't eat milk in his cereal. So I was like, oh, what you eating? He was like cereal. I stuck my hair right in there and grabbed me a fistful of cereal and I I was like I was like this. Good. He's like why did you do that? I said because I want you to see how I feel when I have something. And then you stick your little grimy fingers in there and I'll be like I did it Because you know how, like you don't ever want something unless I want something. Well, I seen you with it, so now I want it. I figured you know, and I was like you don't like how I feel, do you? He's like no.

Speaker 2: 7:00

So then he went back and he downstairs and he got some more and I did the same thing and he's like how about I just going to make you a bowl? I said, no, I'm good, I don't want to I'm good, I don't want nothing. He was like well, you keep eating out of my bowl. And I was like okay. I was like and so then we went downstairs and I cooked. I had something. He was like can I have something? I said no. I said because you didn't want it until I wanted it. He's like no, I was going to get it earlier, but you know I was eating soon. I said nope, wait till another day. Let's wait and let's live to see another day.

Speaker 2: 7:45

And when it comes to food, also, when do we start eating midnight snacks? Because when school is in do you get midnight snacks? No, so why do you feel like you got to have a midnight snack now? Like why I got to come downstairs in the morning and see a sink full of dishes? Like the dishes was done, matter of fact. That reminds me I need to tell him to start your dishwasher but why I got to come downstairs and there's a sink full of dishes. Like when I went to bed last night there was no dishes in the sink. But I come in here now there's dishes in the sink, and then you ain't even had the audacity to whatever you was eating, to rinse out the bowl or the plate or whatever, on the side with the strainer. So now it's like food particles inside.

Speaker 2: 8:35

Listen, I love when the kids is out of school, but these am. They act like they don't have no type of home training none, what so ever, none, none, what so Ever. And so that brings me to my next thing Summer responsibilities. So summer responsibilities, so like you're home all day, why are there dirty clothes on the floor? Why are there dishes in my sink? Why is the trash overflowing? Why is the trash still on the curb? And the trash man ran yesterday. I have questions. I have serious questions, like are you that busy to where you can't do none of these chores? And so this summer is a little bit different.

Speaker 2: 9:40

New Face, 14 now, and I was like you know, you need a little bit more chores. Because I felt like you know, you've been skating, you need some more chores. So now he's tasked with dishes. He been doing a recycle, like he had to take the recycle out and put it on the curb and different stuff like that. And so now I decided that it's time for him to learn how to wash his own clothes. So I told him I was like yo, I was like you know, I think it's time for you to learn how to wash your own clothes. You know, and I thought he was gonna be like well, mom, like why do I gotta do that? Y'all? He was actually happy. He was like he gave like well, mom, like why do I got to do that? Yeah, he was actually happy. He was like he gave me a hug. He's like oh my God. He was like thank you, mom. He's like I'm so excited, I'm so happy. I was like OK, ok, I'm glad you're excited to wash your own drawers. So I'm like you need to pick a day.

Speaker 2: 10:43

I taught him how to sort, I taught him how to put the laundry detergent in there. I taught him how to put the fabric softener in there. I was like when you put your clothes in a dryer, you make sure that you check the dryer lint so that there's not a lot of lint in there. You get your couple dryer sheets, you put your dryer sheets in there, you get your clothes out and I need for you to hang these clothes, I need for you to fold these clothes and boom, it's just simple as that. He's like okay, I can do it. And so he successfully completed his first few loads of clothes.

Speaker 2: 11:20

But in the same time he did that, he took the lint out of the dryer and put it on top of the dryer. So there's like a big lint ball going there. It's like a big lint ball about this, big From all the lint he had gathered up from when he was washing his clothes. So there's a lint ball in there and I'm like bro, how hard was it to take the lid and go put it in the trash can? And I was like self and I was like huh and I was like you told him to clean the lint trap and you just expected him to throw it away. And I was like yeah, self was like it's where you messed up. And I was like, yeah, self was like this is where you messed up at. And I was like, damn, it's like you would think that you would just go put the lint in the trash instead of just putting it up here on top of the dryer. And it's just accumulating up here on top of the dryer. You know like why would you not take it? And I was like I didn't know that I would have to tell you to take the lint out and then take it and put it in trash. Like I didn't know that. If I had to tell you that, like I just thought that you would, I was like you know what that's what I get for thinking. But you know, now we've gotten this clear that you have to. When you take the lint out the lint trap, you got to take it and put it in the trash. Don't leave it up here on top of the dryer. Let's not do that. But I'm glad you're enjoying washing clothes, so I should never go in your room and see the leaning tower of clothes in your room ever again, because I've taught you how to wash these clothes.

Speaker 2: 13:13

He's learning how to wash dishes too. Um, you know, I let him use a dishwasher from time to time, and you know he's actually doing pretty well. Um, you know, I don't remember how old I was when I started doing chores, but we had no dishwasher. I was a dishwasher. So me I'm an old school parent Like, I let him use the dishwasher, but, however, I do prefer hand washing on dishes. That's just me. That's just how I've always been. I will have my lazy moments and I will use dishwasher myself, but I prefer dishes to be hand washed. He's getting good at that Um, and he's also learning how to iron Um, and this is something that I've heard people say like you still aren't close, like, yeah, you still aren't close. Like you, you outside wrinkle, like like now, we're going to do that Um. Leave the comments below.

Speaker 2: 14:17

If you earn your clothes or if you earn your kids clothes, um, I'm curious to know, like what y'all do you know? No judgment, no judgment. Um, I'm just, I just want to know do y'all, um, do y'all earn y'all kids clothes? Um, you know, I just I just want to know. I'm just curious. And speaking of washing clothes, let's talk about this last thing that's on my bucket list. Okay, this one right here is just just thinking about it. Just sends me why. And this is, this is I don't. I don't have any girls living home, so I can't test. It is boy moms, boy moms.

Speaker 2: 15:18

Can someone, anybody, somebody, anybody, please tell me what this smell is that are coming from these children? Please, pretty, pretty please, because it is a smell, it is something. I don't know where it came from. I don't know what it is. Okay, like I don't know if the summertime, if this is a time where they want to discover their body or they want to see how long they can go without bathing. What is this smell? Okay, it's very unique smell. Boy, moms, y'all know what I'm talking about. It's a smell that you would not forget.

Speaker 2: 16:16

Like I open the door and I'm just like whoa, like what is that smell? Like I put an air freshener in here but the air freshener has seemingly given up on this room. What is this smell? And I'm just like boy, go bathe. And he'd be like mom, I did. There is no way you have bathed and you still smell like this. And then I smell him and he smelled clean. But I'm like why does your room smell? Like you've been on a field exercise, you've just been camping outside and the campsite is in your room. Why does it smell like that in here? Well, mom, I don't know. I'm like Do you have any wet towels from swim practice or from the gym? What is this odor? Where did it come from? Why did the air freshener give up on you? It gave up on the smell.

Speaker 2: 17:29

And I'm looking at the air freshener and I'm like air freshener's full, but that stench is still in here and I'm not under. I'm not understanding. Uh, like you don't, mom. What are you? What smell are you talking about? You don't smell that. You seriously don't smell that interesting. Interesting, because we might need to get your nostrils checked out, because there is no way that you can't smell that like I, you, you really don't smell that. Like you, you nose blind. Like you really don't smell that. Okay, I need somebody to explain to me what this stench is, because because at this point I'm like we just going to set the whole, the whole room on fire because I feel like that's the only way that the smell would get out of the room. And then he come in my room. He'd be like your room smell good. I know it is good.

Speaker 2: 18:32

I know it does. I know it does. Like there's no stench in here. You know I bathed, you know my clothes are clean like there's no, there's no stench in here. I put deodorant on and I'm like, well, if you bathe, like why do it smell like that here? And I'm like did you put deodorant on? He's like it's summertime and I'm not going nowhere and nobody's seeing me, so why would I put deodorant? Excuse me, so you just around here just juicing, okay, so you just you just anti-deodorant for the summer. Okay.

Speaker 2: 19:10

Now, if you like I know some people don't wear deodorant Me I can go. I can go without wearing deodorant because I don't stink, you know, and I have my body nice and pure and clean to where I don't have to wear deodorant all the time. If I don't want to. Him, he needs to wear deodorant. And I'm just like baby. I'm like it's a summertime, but you got to keep your hygiene together and so I was like you stink. And he's like don't worry about it. He's like I'm going to put some deodorant on. Baby, you can't put deodorant on over. Stink. Like you need to take like a bath, like to get whatever that's on you off of you bath, like to get whatever that's on you, all for you. You know, like whatever that stench is, is the definition of it's not on you, it's in you. I feel like it's in you and it's coming out on you like I'm like, sir, you can't, you can't be funky and not have bathed in lord knows how many days and then goes up, and so I'm, finna, go put some deodorant on it, doesn't you? You can't cover up funky like you can't. No, you can't do that. Like, how are you coming from training and you're just gonna lay on the floor like you're not.

Speaker 2: 20:29

Finna, bet boy, go bathe, and I just don't. And I and I know like y'all gonna be like, oh my god, y'all, you need to make him bathe. Oh my god, you need to teach him better hygiene. No, no, I don't, because he's a boy and boy moms know that there is a stage where boys are anti-hygiene and although he's getting, like now, during the school year, his hygiene be on point, but during the summer it's like he give up and he be like I'm just gonna change my clothes and I'm gonna change my drawers, like I take a bath every few days because I ain't really going nowhere, I ain't really going outside, so I ain't really sweating, so I don't really got to put water to my body. You know, soap, soap to my body, you know, and I'm like, are you going to comb your hair? Like you? Just you, just around here just slumming, just I don't know.

Speaker 2: 21:26

I love summertime, but I don't know, I don't know, I don't know. And you know, these teen years with boys and I'm just, I love my kids, I do see cheese, I love my kids, but who, we, who, I just I don't know, like, like parents, tap in, let me know, tell me, tell me that I'm not the only one dealing with the child with stench. Tell me, tell me, tell me that I ain't the only one that with the child with the stench. Tell me, tell me, tell me that I ain't the only one that is dealing with this, and I've been through it before. So I will tell y'all. There is hope, there is hope out there. It come with due time, but there there is, there is hope.

Speaker 2: 22:34

I'm teaching him how to clean the bathroom, because that is one place parents of boys, y'all finna, feel me on this I do not use my son's bathroom. No, no, no. I would rather go outside and pee outside than to pee in that bathroom, because I don't understand. I'd rather pee at a gas station than to go in there and pee. And I'm like I need you to and like my big son, marco Polo. Now, marco Polo, he'll get in there, he'll clean, because I taught him how to clean. That little one is taking just a little bit long, because I'm like you.

Speaker 2: 23:17

Like you sit on this toilet, like with this toilet bowl, like this, like you, he's like mom, I can't clean. Like you clean. Oh you, finna, learn big dog. Because this is like. Oh you, finna, learn big dog. Because this is like, like, if I, you come in here, you turn the light on and you use this toilet, like, but so you see it like this and you come here and you use this, I would have to come in here in the dark because this is. I've seen cleaner gas stations doing this and I don't, this doesn't bother you like. I'm like you, this don't bother you. Like when you sit down, you're not scared that something gonna get on you. No, okay, hmm, all right, yeah, no, I won't be using it, not at all. Nope, can't get me to do it. I'd rather go up the street to the gas station. I ain't going to do it, but yeah, sometime with kids is the time Boy time be had. You got the good, the bad, the ups, the downs, you got it all. So for the, you can't make this up. If you follow me on social media, then you know that New Face had some money and then it went. It just went away Right, and so I'm releasing it in like intervals of the story that happened. But since y'all are my faithful listeners, y'all get the whole story here on the podcast.

Speaker 2: 25:18

So we were at the store, we were at the mall, we had spent the day out, um, you know, just hanging out downtown, like we always do, or whatever. Like once a month we go down there, we hang out, um, at this place called Sparkman Wharf, uh, so we eat, get some ice cream, you know, or whatever. So I was like oh, I need to go to the mall, I need to get my nose ring changed. And he was like okay, can I go to the bookstore? I never tell him he can't get no books. So I was like, okay, cool, I buy books, I don't have a problem with buying books, he rents books and he buys books, I don't have a problem. So I was like okay, he told me he has some money, so I don't, I took it to that, like, okay, he got money. He's like, yeah, he's like I got some money because my report card was good. I said, okay, cool, whatever.

Speaker 2: 26:17

So I went to this store because I needed to get a couple of more little things, some more things that I had gotten from there previously. So he was like oh, I want some of those chips that you had got me the last time from here. So I was like, okay, cool, I was going, so he goes. I got my own money. I said, okay, so I pay for my stuff and I'm just waiting. I'm waiting he bring his stuff up. She's like okay, that's $27.

Speaker 2: 26:52

So he looks at me and he's like, oh, you think you can help me out? Wait a minute. I was like I thought you had money and I said okay. I said, well, how much are you short? And he's like I don't have any money at all. And I'm like what? I'm like, show me your cash out. This boy has 16 cent left. Now, that was on a Sunday. This on Friday, two days prior, he had $150. So I'm like bruh, I'm like where's the $149? 84 cent at. I was like all right, so I paid.

Speaker 2: 27:27

I was like you know what happens when you buy stuff in the real world and you don't have no money. They make you put it back. I said, but you did get a good report card, so I'm gonna pay you just a little 20, I'm gonna pay this little $. I said. But after this we going home. I said because you don't have no money. I said no, I'll be shopping with broke folk. So I'm walking in the mall, we're leaving.

Speaker 2: 27:49

So then my mom facetimes me and she's like what is this? You need some money. All right, what are you talking about? So new face is like no, no, no, give me the phone, give me the phone, give me the phone. So apparently New Face has cash apped my mom to send him some money to buy his stuff, but she didn't see the cash app in enough time and so since she didn't see it in enough time, then he had to ask me for the money. So I was like was like no, I said you sent her her money back. I said because you had money and you spent all of your money, so we had to come home, and so for the rest of the summer.

Speaker 2: 28:32

The only time he get money that I'll spend money is, um, when we go on these few vacations, but other than that, he on free activities for the rest of the summer, because I'm not your personal ATM. You had a summer budget and you decided to spend your summer budget on foolishness and we had this conversation. I'm like, hey, you know we got this stuff coming up. So if you want these souvenirs and stuff like that, you might just want to. You know, throttle back on your little spending or whatever. I got it, I got it, okay, you got it. Now, you ain't got it. So now, when we go to these little, these little trips and stuff like that, if you want souvenirs, I ain't got nothing for you player, because you spend all your money.

Speaker 2: 29:15

I think he probably got about 68 left, I don't know. I tell you. I don't tell you because you started with a whole bunch of money and then you just kind of slowly dwindled it down. Um, on stupid stuff, and I know he bought stuff on the game because I seen the microsoft receipt come to my email. So I know he bought stuff on the game. Hey, that's not my problem, you knew what we had coming up. You decided to buy some little stuff on the game because you want to show up with your little friends. It's your problem, not my problem. So now you got to work with a little 68 dollars that you got left for the rest of the summer. But you know we're going to this comic-con convention, so I guess you ain't gonna be buying too much at comic-con because you know I don't know what to tell you my boy.

Speaker 2: 30:01

All right, so let's go ahead and wrap this thing up. And you know it's summertime, so of course I got to pick a song that correlates with summertime. So this week's song lyric of the week is Summertime. Fresh prince will smith and dj uh, what's his name? Dj jazzy jeff. Yep, fresh prince and dj jazzy jeff. Um, so we come to the end of the episode, as always.

Speaker 2: 30:35

Please remember to like, share, subscribe. Make sure that wherever you are listening to this podcast at, you are hitting the notification thing and the download button so that anytime a new episode is released, you are getting the new episode. It's automatically already downloaded for you. All you got to do is listen to it, remember. After you get done listening to it, go on over to YouTube. The gag is pot, remember. After you get done listening to it, go on over to YouTube, the gag is pod. Make sure you are watching as well, because sometimes I put stuff in the videos that is not in the audio version. And make sure you are following us on social media at the gag is pod on Instagram. Thank you for joining me for another episode, and I am your girl, charlie Shante. And then next time, bye, guys.