webe Parents

Ep. 45 w/ guest Chris Spencer: Jokes blocking your kid’s heart? When humor heals—and when it hurts 🤐❤️‍🩹

• Matt Lederman & Alona Pulde • Season 1 • Episode 45

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Comedian/producer Chris Spencer joins Matt & Alona to unpack how humor can be a bridge to connection—or a wall that hides our real feelings. From a “hickeys & frozen spoons” teen moment 😳🥄 to laughing through grief, to intimacy cramps that turn into days of belly laughs 😂—this episode gets real about emotional safety at home. We also explore culture, presence, and why simple, steady communication keeps families close (and kids honest). 

A few spicy moments that might challenge you (in a good way):

  1. Are you using jokes to dodge vulnerability? When humor masks discomfort, kids learn to hide too. 
  2. Can you name hard truths with warmth? From a daughter’s outfit to a parent’s “famous” casserole, honesty + care > people-pleasing.
  3. Are you present enough for joy to happen? Consistent, in-person time (meals, hangouts, movie nights) quietly builds trust—and makes the jokes land for the right reasons.

Have a Kinectin Account? Explore these Nudges to see how they apply to your own life — in a way only Amari can.

What is Amari? webe Parents has partnered with Kinectin to bring you Amari, your personal AI coach. Now you can interact with the ideas from our podcasts, articles, and parenting tips — and Amari will help you apply them directly to your pesonal Life. Don't have a Kinectin Account? Create one here

To learn more about what Alona & Matt are up to check us out at webeparents.com, or follow us on our socials at Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, or YouTube. Be sure to subscribe to webe Pärents wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts.

Alona Pulde:

Hey there, we'd love for you to hit that subscribe button. By subscribing, you're helping us spread the word and connect with more amazing people like you.

Producer:

Welcome to We Be Parents, where parent doctors Matthew Letterman and Alona Polday explore current parenting topics, share stories, and help bring families closer together.

Alona Pulde:

Welcome to We Be Parents, where we help families grow closer together across generations. Whether you're raising a young child, navigating parenting partnership with a spouse, or working on healing with your own parents, we are here to explore how connection grows in all directions. Hi, I'm Dr. Alona Polde.

Matthew Lederman:

I am Dr. Matthew Letterman. I'm not a doctor, but I'm Chris Spencer. We got a very cool guest here today. Chris is a comedian, writer, actor, producer who worked to span Stand-up stages, hit shows, like Real Husbands of Hollywood and behind-the-scenes writing for legends like Jamie Foxx and Kevin Hart.

Alona Pulde:

He's also a husband, a father, and someone who recently joined us on a 30-day health journey through Beyond Meat. And while this might sound like a comedy episode, it's really about emotional safety. How we use humor as a bridge or as a barrier.

Matthew Lederman:

Look at how the way we use humor in our families can either deepen or derail connection. And it'll be in interesting to get Chris's perspective on all of this.

Alona Pulde:

So without further ado, let's welcome our guest, Chris Spencer. Hi, Chris. So happy to have you with us today. I'm

Chris Spencer:

happy to be here. Yay.

Alona Pulde:

All right. So we are going to jump right in by bombarding you actually with some questions. You ready? All right. So as far as your role in the family, maybe you tell us a little bit about your family dynamics.

Chris Spencer:

I'm the father to I'm married for 19 years. That's like 27 years. You

Alona Pulde:

still have a smile on your face. That's good

Chris Spencer:

news. That's like 27 years in Los Angeles, so that's pretty good. I have an 18-year-old daughter and a 20-year-old son. My son is a junior in college, and my daughter will be a freshman coming up in the fall, and we will be empty nesters.

Alona Pulde:

Wow. Wow. That must be Bittersweet?

Chris Spencer:

Yes. I love my wife, but, you know, now I know when I'm gone for too long, I got to get back soon because there's nobody here to hang out with her. Yeah. The dog is cool, but he don't speak English.

Alona Pulde:

All right.

Chris Spencer:

The goodness

Matthew Lederman:

is your wife wants you back, though. Well, we'll see. It's just 40 days. We'll know.

Alona Pulde:

That's awesome. So what's your role? I know professionally you're a comedian, but what's your role in the family? Is it the funny one, too?

Chris Spencer:

Well, the whole house is funny. I come from a long line of funny and my wife's family is funny. So the kids are already funny. So it's not like I'm there as, am I here to amuse you? You know what I mean? Like everybody can entertain each other. And so, but disciplinarian, I think that would be her role. Although I do some discipline, but you know, I'm daddy. And so daddy, because daddy, did you hear what she said? And I'm like, babe, why would you say that to him? I'm the one that they sneak. She won't give me any money, and I'm going to just take it and go.

Alona Pulde:

Is she going to hear this? Does she know this?

Chris Spencer:

They're gone now, so it doesn't matter.

Alona Pulde:

That's too funny. So humor is just part of the family dynamic. Can you think of a time when humor helped you guys diffuse what other families might find as a tricky or challenging situation?

Chris Spencer:

Humor is used so often. You know what I mean? So I'm trying to think of a specific circumstance. My son one time was in the back house where I'm at right now and he had a little girl over here. And so I was like, you know what? I should have had this birds and the bees conversation with him by now. He was like... 15. And I was like, you know what? He goes to private school. He's a nerd. They're probably back there watching Frozen for the 18th time. So I cut my hair. There's a little bathroom here. And I come back here to cut my hair and I knock on the door, give him privacy because he has a little girl over. And he opens the door and he has hickeys all on his neck. Like, remember those little candies like this you eat? That's what it looked like. That's how many hickeys were on his neck. And I had never been so pissed and so proud at this And so I was like, yo, but I got to be a dad. I was like, get your ass on here. And he came out, what's up? I was like, uh-uh. I said, yo, your neck. He's like, yeah, yeah, do me a favor, Pops. Go put two tablespoons in the freezer and then a couple hours, bring them back to me or I'll go get them. I go, what does that do? So I'm not sure if you know, doctors, that the cold spoon will, I'm going to use the wrong word, decoagulate the blood and that's how they use it to get the hickeys off. Oh.

Matthew Lederman:

I did not know that.

Chris Spencer:

And I said, what if your grandma found out about that? He's like, grandma told me about the spoons. I'm like, oh, I got two hoes in my house.

Alona Pulde:

That is too funny. The

Matthew Lederman:

next time you walk back in the room now, grandma's in there with a guy or something. I'll be like,

Chris Spencer:

I'll put two spoons in there for you guys.

Matthew Lederman:

Yeah, so everybody's funny. I don't know if that was my humor in that situation. I think humor is great because it also gives you a little bit of space. We always talk about that little space between reactivity and actually responding with intention and care. Use humor to disarm. It can create a little bit of space so that you're not just reactive.

Chris Spencer:

I can tell you a situation with a comedy writer friend of mine. His brother just died from congestive heart failure. I'm going to read what he said. We're all, man, we're sorry. He writes back. This is a comedian. He goes, I heard my brother had a great spades hand, he was cutting hearts. I was like, Jesus Christ, he just died an hour ago. And then I told him, you know what, I don't have the heart to give him a joke. And I felt bad that I said

Alona Pulde:

that. My dad passed away many years ago suddenly. And I remember my uncle, who is a pretty funny man, came to visit. And he came, you know, we were all sad and there was a lot of tears. And he came in and he related stories about my dad and my dad I was younger. And in the midst of that sadness, the whole family was laughing and sharing in these memories. And I remember thinking, wow, that is really healing. I would have imagined that a couple of days after my dad died, I'm sitting here laughing. And it actually feels really tender and wonderful and healing. And I remember being very grateful to him for that. So I imagine... your heart, you didn't have a heart, was received well.

Chris Spencer:

Yeah. Tragedy plus time equals comedy. Yeah.

Matthew Lederman:

Do you ever find that comedy or humor also gets in the way of being vulnerable, like really getting down to the heart? So that I know when I used to use humor to avoid getting more, you know, getting to more of the tender, sensitive spaces, and I would joke, you find that that happens for you?

Chris Spencer:

Oh, absolutely. Yeah. Yeah. It's almost a mask. I mean, that's why a lot of these comedians are comedians is because there's some deep-rooted pain. And to deal with that, they joke. I'm not sure if it's ever a permanent relief, but there's a temporary relief in laughing at my pain, which was the title of one of Kevin Hart's specials.

Alona Pulde:

You know, I think it also really makes it relatable, right? Because you as a comedian take the liberty to call out and name pain that many of us are feeling. But We keep it hidden or bury it. And you're putting it right out there. And I think it provides not just relief for the comedian, but relief for the audience as well as they process and feel through that same pain.

Matthew Lederman:

There's an authenticity that humor allows you to get to that you can't get to without humor. You can name things that everybody's thinking, everybody's feeling, and ultimately would like to be able to talk about, but they don't feel comfortable And then humor gets you there. So I think that's, what's interesting to me about humor is that it can do so many things, whether it's just a little bit of immediate relief, it can help you bring you together. It can actually distance you from vulnerability, which may be a welcomed relief, but also might get in the way of healing. It can also help you get to be more authentic and get to authenticity easier. So it's like, I know people think about humor and it's just joking and how fun, but there's, I think it's such a powerful strategy for connection in so many different ways.

Chris Spencer:

Yeah,

Matthew Lederman:

I totally agree. Yeah.

Alona Pulde:

Does humor play a role in your relationship with your wife?

Chris Spencer:

Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. We laugh all day long. I remember one time, this is personal, we were doing the do, and I caught a cramp, and I think we laughed for days. How do you catch a cramp? I was like, baby, give me a banana, please, something. I can be in my quads, do something, help me. No, we're always laughing. We laugh and everything. And that's probably why we've lasted 19 years, because we find humor in everything. My wife, her humor's a little darker than mine, too. Sometimes I'll go, you can't say that. She'll be like, I already said it.

Alona Pulde:

Is that one of the things that attracted you guys to each

Chris Spencer:

other? Absolutely. And I was telling my kids and my wife, not too long ago, I was trying to figure out, like, growing up, there would be some people I tried to be friends with, and then it would never happen, right? Like, I remember I lived in South Pasadena. There weren't many Black kids. And this one Black kid came to town. And I was like, oh my God, I got a new black friend. And he did not want to be my friend. And I remember another time, another person didn't want to be my friend, wasn't black. And I was like, what's the common denominator? What is it they didn't like about me? Why didn't we click? And I was like, oh, I'm funny and they're not funny. Or maybe they wanted to be the funniest person in their group or whatever. And then I looked at all my whole friend group and everybody in my friend group today and all my life have been funny people that's like there's a certain connection with funny uh that has always been around me and i guess the people who aren't funny have chosen to not be around me or we just didn't click

Alona Pulde:

right

Chris Spencer:

let me tell you how fraternal i don't know if that's the right word comedy is right so i was doing a show at the caroline's comedy club in new york and i was on the second show just Jeff Garland was on the first. You guys know Jeff from Kirby Enthusiasm. And I forget the wife's name on the show. Jennifer Cheryl Hines is doing a movie with Robin Williams. So they bring Robin Williams to the show. Robin Williams goes on in front of Jeff Garland. I don't know why the hell he did that. Robin, I've never, the paint was peeling. The mannequins on the wall that were like pictures of dead people like Mae West and Richard Pryor and famous comedians, they were laughing. And so then Jeff Garland goes on after and dies the death of a horrible, of a thousand, whatever the phrase is. And Robin Williams comes backstage where all the young comedians are, right? Because my show is next. And word got around that Robin Williams was at Caroline's. It was like the Pied Piper. All of a sudden it's packed and Robin Williams is holding court and he loved it. He literally sat there while Jeff Jeff was on. And even after Jeff was finished, Jeff came back and just enjoyed being around comedians. And I said to Robin, I was like, yo, how come you don't go to the comedy store no more in Los Angeles? He goes, oh, well, one time I pulled up and these two black guys came up to me and said, yo, what the fuck are you doing here? And he was like, excuse me? Yeah. He said, oh, I'm performing here tonight. And they were like, get the fuck out of here. And so I left. That was slang. That's what I'm talking about. I said, when they said, what the fuck are you doing here? They were like, they couldn't believe it. He was like, really? I said, when they said, get the fuck out of here, did you not see Donnie Brasco? Get the fuck out of

Alona Pulde:

here. That's

Chris Spencer:

cultural. Italians say it, Black people say it, Jewish people say it. He was like, oh. The next, that was Saturday, Monday, headlines read, Robin Williams returns to the comedy store after 28 years.

Alona Pulde:

That is

Chris Spencer:

So you brought... I was responsible for that and got no credit.

Alona Pulde:

That wasn't a subtitle in there? Thank you, Chris Spencer.

Chris Spencer:

Never. I was the black Forrest Gump. Ah, that's funny.

Matthew Lederman:

Do you lose interest in people when they're not funny?

Chris Spencer:

No, I just put them in compartments.

Matthew Lederman:

Yeah? Yeah.

Chris Spencer:

You're like, oh, you're not the funny guy. I cannot be their friend. I just, you know. And everybody, when they're around me, they try to be funny anyway. So, you know.

Alona Pulde:

Does that ever put pressure on your relationship? with other people, whether for you, like where you, you know, sometimes, I mean, yes, you're funny, but I'm sure there are times when you don't feel like being funny.

Chris Spencer:

Yeah. And everybody wants to be funny when they come up to me. Hey, you know, I'm like, you know, they want to tell me a joke. They want to pitch me a script, pitch me a treatment or just are doing too much at the wrong time. I'm eating with my kids, you know, I'm at the airport trying to get on the plane and Hey, I remember the time he did this. Like, yeah.

Matthew Lederman:

Well, even your family, there might be times where they need your presence more than a performance.

Chris Spencer:

No, they know when I'm not being funny. You know, although funny people are funny, we know and our families know and our people know around us. Like, we're not court jesters. You know what I mean? Like, we know when to turn it on and off. You know what I mean? And they know when daddy's mad or daddy's being serious or when daddy's being humorous.

Alona Pulde:

Do they ever try and pass that off? So if you've been listening

Chris Spencer:

to us for a while, you know what I mean?

Alona Pulde:

know we get a lot of questions about what to do in tricky parenting or relationship moments.

Matthew Lederman:

Yeah, and if I'm being real, I'm asking Alona those same questions all the time. I get into those same tricky moments as everybody else does. As much as we wish we could be there for each other in those exact moments, we just can't always be.

Alona Pulde:

Yeah, that's why we partnered with the amazing team at Connecton to create something we truly believe in, an AI coach called Amari. And we didn't just lend our names, we helped build it and train it and brought in everything we've learned about emotional healing, connection and communication. Yeah,

Matthew Lederman:

we spent years training and learning and we've created Amari who's so calm and grounded, listens deeply and responds with warmth, clarity and compassion. There's no judgment, no reactivity. In fact, we tasked our children with trying to get Amari reactive and they still haven't succeeded. It's just steady support when you need it most.

Alona Pulde:

We use it ourselves all the time, especially when we feel stuck or overwhelmed. And Amari's really helped us pause, reflect, given us insight that helps us come back to each other.

Matthew Lederman:

We designed Amari to help you strengthen the relationships that matter most, starting with the one you have with yourself.

Alona Pulde:

And we are so excited that you can try it now at WeBeParents.com and What was it like growing up for you, Chris?

Matthew Lederman:

Were your parents funny? Did they encourage it? Or was that... My... My mother's humorous.

Chris Spencer:

My dad is hysterical. Literally, my dad just told me a joke earlier today. He said he was on the bus when he was younger, and this older woman kept staring at him. And finally, he's Jamaican. He goes, excuse me, man, why do you keep staring at me? She goes, you remind me of my fourth husband. He's like, oh, well, how many times have you been married? And she was like, three. So if I called him right now, he would have a joke. Like, he lives his life on jokes. Like, literally, he's giving me a booklet because he wants me to help him write a book of all of his favorite jokes. And I just haven't done it yet. Jokes my dad told me. I actually used to post that on Instagram. And it was very healing. And my dad was like, when I would be out with my dad, people would be like, yo. And I'd be like, yeah, how you doing? And they'd go, no, not you, your dad.

Alona Pulde:

That's

Chris Spencer:

awesome. How old's your dad? 86 in September.

Matthew Lederman:

So right from as early as you can remember, jokes, humor, that's a way for you to connect with your dad.

Chris Spencer:

Yeah. Literally, I'll call him right now. I got one for you. And then he'll call me. Matter of fact, a lot of his jokes I've heard a hundred times. But he's so good. Like, I don't have to fake laugh. Like, literally. I'll give you another one. You want to hear another one of my dad's jokes?

Alona Pulde:

Yeah.

Chris Spencer:

He says, King Arthur was going off to battle. And he goes, bring me Sir Galahad. He goes, Sir Galahad, you're not coming this time. I need you to take this key. This is the key to my wife's chastity belt. If we do not return from battle, then you may open the chastity belt. But that is only if we do not return from battle. Yes. Yes. i understand all right we're off they take off all of a sudden you hear a voice king arthur king arthur we're talking hundreds of horses they're like king arthur sir galahad approaches halt everybody stops he goes Sir Galahad, what is it? What do you want? He goes, Sir Galahad goes, you gave me the wrong key.

Alona Pulde:

That's awesome. I love that your dad still shows up with humor. And in that relationship, do you, is that the way that you mostly relate or is there, like, do you find it easy to step into vulnerability with him as well?

Chris Spencer:

Oh, yeah, no, because he's 87 now. There's some vulnerable times. And there's some times where this ain't funny, you know what I mean? Like he has, you know, a lot of ailments and he has a living nurse that he doesn't get along with. So I got to come in there and appease her and she's quit a thousand times and he's taking his walker and taking off, walking down the street in the middle of the night. And so, no, there's times when it's like, this is serious business.

Alona Pulde:

Yeah. Yeah.

Matthew Lederman:

I'm curious, Chris, there's different relationships we talk about on this show. We talk about about parents helping young children increase connection. There's helping increase connection between parents and their relationship. And then there's helping adult children connect better with their older parents. From your perspective, if you had to pick one of those areas, where could you use the most support?

Chris Spencer:

I mean, I'm so solid in all three.

Matthew Lederman:

Okay, well, let's just end the show then right there.

Chris Spencer:

I

Matthew Lederman:

don't

Chris Spencer:

need

Matthew Lederman:

any help. What's the key then? What what allows you to have close connection in all of these areas that are so important to having a,

Chris Spencer:

you know, I hear about other people not having, having this, but, and I don't know if it's a Caribbean thing, but you know, my family is Jamaican. Her family's Puerto Rican. I've never seen anybody closer than a Latino family that like her parents are over here. Twice a week. And so me watching how they are made me a better father. You know what I mean? Like her parents, I mean, like her mom will be mad if she hasn't seen them in two weeks. Like I haven't seen my mom in two or three months, but that's just how we get down. Like I could call her and it's like that. You know what I mean? I talked to her once or twice, three, four times a week, but they physically see each other. They come over here and cook and we have brunch and we go out to dinner and then, you know, that side her brother's kids come over and they're barbecuing and having movie night and so that has allowed me to be like when I see that it's allowed me to be closer to my kids and then my wife has already brought that from what she's grown up with and so I've learned to love like that from her and watching how they all get along and talk about everything has allowed me to open up and talk like that with my parents. So I blame the Puerto Ricans.

Alona Pulde:

I love that you bring that up because it sounds like a culture of authenticity where they are able to connect to one another in this really authentic and real way that allows for it to be joyful for them to come over twice a week. You know, you say that a lot of people's hair will stand on end. My parents in my house twice a week.

Chris Spencer:

They love me more than they love her. Well,

Matthew Lederman:

Well, also presence. I think that's something that to actually physically spend time with people is so important for connection. But these are things that can be overlooked, but there's just things that you happen to be doing. It's almost like the blue zones around nutrition where they didn't intentionally try to, that's just how they lived and it happened to be the right recipe for successful longevity. And it seems like that's what you're doing, which is, hey, I'm using humor. I'm still getting real, present, spending time, families over, physically involved. You know, we're authentic. We use humor to help us be more authentic. We use humor to disarm and give us some relief, but also talk about the hard stuff. We don't put that off. Some of these little things can go such a long way to increasing connection and making life more wonderful in the home.

Alona Pulde:

And I think you mentioned one thing that's sticking with me that I think to Totally. You remember, like when your kids come at you and give you, you know, hit you with something, you're like, that's stuff I used to pull when I was. Exactly. But that you can connect to that and then you share your, the way that you were brought up, which is also lots of humor that allowed for authenticity and space to kind of mess up and be you and have that received and it being okay, not the end of the world. And then you can vulnerable connect to that and say, oh, they're doing what I did. Okay.

Matthew Lederman:

How would your dad have responded if you asked him to put a couple spoons in the freezer?

Chris Spencer:

I would have been, if he would have been me in that situation. Yeah, yeah, yeah,

Matthew Lederman:

yeah.

Chris Spencer:

He probably would have gave me a different remedy. Well, in Jamaica, what we would do. It's not about cool. It's about hot. Put a hot knife on you.

Alona Pulde:

See? But you know what? You joke about it, but it's really valid. And I think it's really important because he wouldn't have said, get your brother. I'm not giving you spoons. You tell her to go home or whatever that was. You know, he'd lean in with you and he'd do that through potentially humor, but that connected you, that brought you guys together in a situation that could be really awkward or very painful in some families.

Matthew Lederman:

But in that reaction, even though he's using a joke, he's basically communicating that your needs matter and my needs matter, which is the essence of how we recommend parenting. You know, it's like the parent that comes in and says, I don't care about your needs. You're wrong. You're grounded. Get out of here. Send the girl home versus, hey, I'm a little bit uncomfortable or I'm not. This is a surprise. But, you know, hey, I get it. And let's let's let's care about your needs, too. And I think that response builds not only trust, but helps the kids realize that their needs matter, too. I really like that. And what I'm liking about talking to Chris is that it doesn't have to be conventional, nonviolent communication language. It's not about the words. It's about the intention behind the words. And I think that there's a lot of trust in his family around them.

Alona Pulde:

Yeah.

Chris Spencer:

Yeah. Yeah. We're pretty trustworthy.

Alona Pulde:

And pretty trusting, it sounds like.

Matthew Lederman:

So, Chris, if there was one thing that you said, hey, you know, to have successful connection in your family, make sure you do this. What would that be?

Chris Spencer:

I mean, I guess the cliche or obvious thing is communication. But that's really it. You know what I mean? Like, there's so many times people are misunderstood or or judged and it was all miscommunication. You know what I mean? Like you have to speak up, speak your mind and, and be willing to deal with the consequences, but at least everybody's on the same page. You know what I mean? So I think that's important. You have to talk.

Matthew Lederman:

This episode of We Be Parents is brought to you by We Be Calm, the child calmer designed by doctors and loved by parents.

Alona Pulde:

Struggling with bedtime routines or managing your child's anxiety? We Be Calm transforms deep breathing into a fun and engaging activity, helping kids find their inner calm. Perfect for bedtime stressful moments or any time your child needs a little extra help to stay calm. Visit WeBeCalm.com to learn more and bring tranquility to your family. We be calm because we be in this together. So Chris, what would you leave our audience with today? What one pearl?

Matthew Lederman:

Again, the audience is listening around connection, how to enhance connection, these different arcs that we talked about.

Alona Pulde:

Ala, you can veer if there's... Yeah,

Matthew Lederman:

if there's something that has nothing to do with connection, we'll understand.

Chris Spencer:

No, no, I think communication is the key, right? If your mama makes a casserole and it's always awful, I think it's time for you to tell her, mom, we think you should stop cooking. of flipping the castle roll. It might hurt her feelings, but at least, you know, you don't have to go to bed hungry anymore. You know, you see your daughter dressing provocatively. You know, I know there's parents today that they want to be their kids' friends. F that. Like, not that, yeah, you could be saving her life. You know what I mean? By telling her that she shouldn't be dressed like that. You know what I mean? Or saving her some disrespect at school. She thinks she's doing it to get respect, but it's possible that she's gaining disrespect. There might be one group going, hey, oh, look at her, hey. And there's another group going, how do you really feel about yourself? Especially with this social media today, like, you know, the way these kids and people are, you know, you want to be like the Kardashians. You want to be like, you know, whoever the hot singer, rapper, the Cardi B's. You want to have your ass out and your boobs out. And you think that's, you know, you see the attention into views and the plays that they're getting. You're like, I want that. It's just artificial.

Matthew Lederman:

Do you use humor to communicate that? If a daughter came down with Al, how would you say that? Are you intending for your underwear to be showing there? Are

Chris Spencer:

your ass cheeks cold because you're making me sneeze because I can see your booty? I would figure out. Luckily, I don't have that kind of kid, but I've seen people's kids and I'm like, you ain't going to say

Alona Pulde:

nothing. I think I think that's the one thing you're leaving me with today, Chris, is to encourage us to find the humor in a situation. I think it really lends itself to more authenticity and to that authenticity being received without shaming somebody else. It's tough and you put the fork in that. That's funny. And somebody is going to start laughing with you, not feeling laughed at. My

Chris Spencer:

jokes are usually you can laugh at yourself. I'm not trying to be funny to hurt you

Matthew Lederman:

or Chris, we really appreciate you spending time with us. This was great. And I love the reminder of how easy connection can be. You don't have to complicate it. And humor as such a powerful strategy to meet so many needs from authenticity to connection and building trust. I mean, there's just so many things it can do. And I never thought about it that way before. All right. Well, thank you everybody for listening. Please rate, review, and subscribe to this podcast It really helps other families find us and grow. Share your moments or questions with us at parentsofwebetogether.com. And then definitely join us next week for another emotionally

Alona Pulde:

rich topic. Yeah, we'd love to hear from you. Thanks for listening. Bye. Bye.