(festive music)
- It is time to get festive.
- Step one, we got to find the Christmas tree and
the decorations and they're up here.
Well we were thinking about getting a real tree this year,
like an actual real tree.
But I think we're going to hold off
and use this plastic one.
This will be the last time.
- This isn't a tree. This is just a..
- How can I help?
- Hold it.
You got it? - Yeah.
- Reverse a little bit.
- Wait, how do you want to do this?
- Reverse a tiny bit.
- What do you mean reverse?
- Go backwards. (both laughing)
The opposite of forward.
(Jenn laughing)
- It just sounds fancy.
- All right, good job babe.
- I'm doing one step at a time.
- Yeah, I know.
Feels like it.
- Pivot.
- Pivot!
(audience laughing)
Pivot!
- Lovely.
- So this tree needs to..
- Be demoted.
- Did you guys always put a Christmas tree up at Christmas?
- No. We started incorporating a Christmas tree
I think when I was in high school.
But I've never had a real Christmas tree.
What about yourself?
- We had the same Christmas tree forever, I think.
I don't think we ever changed it.
So it probably lasted about 40 years.
- Oh my God.
So when should we tell Lennon about Santa Claus?
Or are we going to-- - Oh no.
- Tell him about Santa Claus?
- Oh we have to go along with it, right?
For a while to some degree.
Because otherwise he's going to tell his friends
at school that my mommy and daddy said Santa's not real.
Then their parents are going to be annoyed at us.
- Like this is probably one of the first,
the universal lies we tell our children.
- Yeah.
- Or is it a lie or is it a story?
Or a story can be - This story is a lie.
This story is a lie.
- Yeah. Maybe we'll just say we haven't seen him.
- The notion of Santa exists but we have never actually
physically seen Santa Claus.
So it's up to him to make his own decision on
whether he believes that he's real or not.
- Yeah.
- Like who knows if he's real or not,
but we're still shooting our shot.
I love how just the ornaments are already attached.
- Yeah. It brings back memories of last Christmas.
- Yeah.
- Look at this one guys.
- This is an ornament that Stephanie got us.
This is our First Pandemic Christmas.
Wait, so when did you find out that Santa Claus wasn't real?
- It was Christmas Day
and I just couldn't find dad for ages.
And then the next minute I walk into the lounge
and there's a man dressed in Santa
with the same hair as my dad.
I don't think he even wore wig, because his hair's
kind of long and similar.
- It is very Santa Claus like, yeah.
- I kind of put two and two together
that he disappeared for a while
and then there was this really chill santa that looked
and sounded exactly like my dad.
(Jenn laughing)
- I found out kind of slowly, it was like a slow process.
I think I was maybe in first or second grade, too.
So I must have been like six or seven.
But there were rumors going around
at school saying Santa isn't real.
I knew for sure that he wasn't real
when me and my brother were playing video games
in my parents' room.
I was kind of playing around in the closet.
And in the closet we had found all these gifts,
And we're like, "What?
Like, this is crazy!"
- What do you most look forward to for Christmas?
- I think the food.
- Yeah, me too.
- The food, yeah.
- Yeah, me too.
- The food.
I think it's just any excuse to just eat in
excessive amounts is just..
- And this is the ultimate excuse
because everyone else is doing it as well.
- Exactly.
- Christmas dinner is my like last meal on earth.
Death Row meal, I think.
- Really?
- Yeah. With all the trimmings.
- What are your thoughts and feelings about gifting?
Do you find it therapeutic?
Do you find it
a fun chance to express your love for someone?
- My love language,
I think gifts is probably one of the lowest.
- Yeah, me too.
- I think stuff isn't as valuable as kind of the connection
of Christmas and the family coming together and..
- Gifts are still, I guess
part of the love languages for a reason.
So what is one of your favorite gifts to receive?
My favorite gifts are experiences.
- Mmm.
- Gifts that don't take up physical space.
- Mmm hmm.
- Like like a dinner or a trip.
- Yeah. - Or ice skating.
You know of something. - Yeah.
- Yeah. So it kind of fuses in quality time as well.
- I like the fact that the experience
is what you look back and remember, don't you?
- Yeah.
- You don't remember the the things.
- If you give me a gift that I use every single day,
like my water bottle.
I do think of you when I'm like,
"Oh yeah, this is the water bottle that Ben got me."
- Even a good book I think because..
- Ooh!
- The good thing about a good book
is you're not getting a book for Christmas,
you're getting all the knowledge that comes with it.
- Yeah.
- So if that book was enlightening to you
then that friend gave you access to information
that could change your life.
- That would be a good gift idea.
Just like getting your friends books that you think
that they might like.
- Yeah.
(tree scraping across floor)
- Oh remember we put.. oh there's one of the tinsel things
at the bottom here.
- Oh, maybe we should buy a skirt.
Like a skirt for the tree.
Does this look better though?
- What, this skirt thing?
- Yeah.
- I don't know. Does it look worse?
- I think you should just continue.
We'll evaluate once it's done.
Actually it's kind of cute.
Oh, this looks really nice.
- Wow!
- Honestly, do we even get a real tree next year?
This is so solid.
- It's fantastic.
- It's freaking fantastic.
- Good job babe.
(hands slapping)
- [Jenn] Lennon, what do you think?
(soft jazzy music)
- [Ben] Hey, buddy.
- [Jenn] Yeah!
(soft jazzy music)
- Cheers, babe.
(glasses clinking)
Merry Christmas, my love.
- [Jenn] Cheers. Merry Christmas.
What are we making tonight?
- We are going to be making
a chickpea and cauliflower curry.
It was pretty good last time we made it, wasn't it?
- [Jenn] It was delicious.
- So adding cauliflower to this one.
- [Jenn] Yeah, and Lennon's helping. Lennon!
- Yeah buddy. That's perfect.
Thank you, mate.
Great. If you can just bang that into the door a little bit
and then go into that closet. Great.
Just do about half an onion, I'd say.
It's a delicious meal. You can use it as leftovers.
The chickpea, gives a nice bit of protein.
- [Jenn] Do you think cauliflower
is related to broccoli?
- [Ben] I feel like it.
They look like it.
- [Jenn] Yeah. It looks like an albino broccoli.
Is broccoli and cauliflower related?
- [Computer Voice] All of these vegetables are,
in fact, the same species.
- [Ben] The same species? - [Jenn] What?
I.. - [Ben] Shooketh
- Am shooketh!
- [Ben] Shooketh.
- Oh my God. It's so crazy.
We're just buying the same thing.
(upbeat music and spoon banging)
- [Ben] Fry this till it gets nice and soft.
Four or five cloves of garlic.
I'm going to add the cauliflower in.
I'm going to add in our garlic.
Then we're going to throw in our lovely chickpeas.
Garam Masala is a great one for the curries.
- [Jenn] Mmm.
- [Ben] We need about a tablespoon and a half.
Don't be shy on this.
Start really smelling those floral notes now.
And then we're going to add
a touch of curry powder for obvious reasons.
Because this is a curry.
A touch of cumin.
- [Jenn] Yeah, I'm a changed woman.
I used to not like cumin
- [Ben] And then we are going to add our
fire roasted diced tomatoes.
- [Jenn] Whoa!
- We're going to add a lovely coconut milk.
This just gets it creamy. Nice and delicious.
Whilst yet still nutritious.
But then we'll just let this cook,
let the flavors really get to know each other.
We're going to use a little bit of almond flour
just to thicken it up slightly.
- I'm going to have a little one-on-one
with the ladies here while Ben is
away back there
- And completely listening.
- A little hot tip for ladies who are not married yet
and are looking for a life partner.
Get a man who knows how to cook.
It is such an important life skill,
especially when you have children.
Because that's like a big chore.
Because you know you gotta freaking eat every day.
- You want them to eat healthy, you know?
And if you at least know a few recipes.
- Yeah.
- Or have some idea of a nutrition.
We went through a stage of once a week we try to
keep it like to a Sunday where we made a new recipe.
- Yeah. - You learned a new one.
And most recipes are actually quite easy.
You just gotta look it up, get the ingredients,
and just actually read it and do it.
- Cooking is just a habit.
And I think mindset is really important.
I think if you dread cooking you're never going to like it.
But I think cooking is really exciting
because it's almost like an engineering aspect.
Like cooking something from the beginning,
following a set of instructions,
and then you get to enjoy
and the people around you get to enjoy the end product.
- I agree. And put some nice music on.
Put some nice smells, candles on.
Whatever. Make it a fun experience.
- [Jenn] Ooh, wow!
The flour thickened it up.
- Gotta test it, you know.
- [Jenn] Well?
- Mmm, it's good.
- [Jenn] Oh, cilantro smells so good.
Do you love cilantro?
- [Ben] I do love cilantro.
- [Jenn] Me too.
- [Ben] Coriander as we like to call it.
Bit of mint there.
- [Jenn] A little bit of mint.
- [Ben] We're going to make a nice little
cool yogurt to go with it.
We've got some Greek yogurt here.
I'm going to add some water
just so it's a little more runny.
A bit of mint and cilantro.
- [Jenn] A lot of cilantro.
- [Ben] A lot of cilantro.
Very little mint.
Bit of salt.
Just nice small little bits of cucumber to go in there.
- [Jenn] What was your first recipe
that you felt comfortable making?
- Spaghetti Bolognese.
- (Jenn laughing) That's so fancy.
- I think it actually started when I was playing
in bands when I was young.
Because I'd be the only one that could cook.
So I'd make the food..
- To feed the band.
- Feed the band.
- Were you the friend that cooked?
- One of them.
- One of them?
- One of them.
- Who was the other chef in the--
- Simon.
Oh yes. Simon's a great cook.
- Yeah, he's a very good cook.
- Okay, let me do a little taste test of the curry.
Wow! It's..
- Not bad, huh?
- So good.
This is a lot of rice for a baby.
- [Ben] Not for Lennon, he loves rice.
- [Jenn] I know, he loves rice.
There you go, Lennon.
- [Ben] Wow, buddy.
- [Jenn] There we go.
- [Ben] Does he want a little yogurt drizzle?
- [Jenn] Oh yeah.
- There's some cilantro there, buddy.
- [Jenn] Yeah. Not too much.
He gets very freaked out by green.
- [Ben] He doesn't like too much green.
- [Jenn] For papa.
- [Ben] Papa, nice big serving, please.
- [Jenn] Yes, I got you.
- [Ben] You know, a bit of cilantro.
- [Jenn] Wow, that's good.
- [Ben] Beautiful.
- [Jenn] That's freaking amazing!
Mama's serving.
Okay. How much would you pay for this at a restaurant?
This dish?
- [Ben] $20.
Papa's.
Mama's.
Spare yogurt.
Couple of forks.
And we can't forget
the one and only man of the moment.
(Lennon yelling)
- [Jenn] Lennon? - [Ben] Our little buddy.
- Wow, Lennon.
Oh, let me put on his bib.
- [Ben] Yeah. Yeah.
- [Jenn] All Right.
- [Ben] You ready, buddy?
- [Jenn] Bye, hasta mañana.
- [Ben] Hasta mañana, Norma. Thank you.
Come here. Give me a cuddle.
- [Jenn] I need a hug too.
- [Norma] Thank you. Hasta mañana
- [Ben] Thank you.
- [Jenn] Can you blow a kiss?
(kissing noise)
Very good!
- [Ben] Very good.
- [Jenn] Oh, you want your food.
You want your food.
- All right, buddy.
Let us know what you think.
It's like what we had the other day.
A nice chickpea curry.
You've also got cauliflower..
Straight to the rice.
- Straight to the rice.
- Straight to the plain rice.
(glasses clink)
Merry Christmas.
- Merry Christmas.
- Merry Christmas, buddy.
- Feels like Christmas now.
- It really does. Wow!
- We did a lot.
We set up all the Christmas decorations.
- Yeah.
- Made a lovely meal for Buddy
- And for us. - And for us.
- I actually like the simplicity of our decorations.
(Lennon coos)
- You don't like it?
Is "Uh" actually..
- This is unreal.
- Nothing to do with Google or me.
- The ingredients, the love.
- That's it. You've got to put love into cooking.
If it's a chore and you have to cook.
It's like anything if you go into anything
that you have to do and you don't want to do it.
You're never going to do it as well.
You can tell when someone enjoys what they do.
Mmm.
- Mmm. What do you think?
It's good, huh?
So Lennon is 15 months now.
- Mm hmm.
- This is such an exciting age.
- I was gone for nearly two weeks
and that's a long time when you have,
a 15 month, year old boy.
He changed so much.
Well, by the time I came back
like he points at everything he wants now.
- Now, like my biggest lesson as a parent
is letting him be upset.
- Yeah.
- And not immediately rushing to his assistance.
- Yeah.
- Sometimes when he falls, I need need him to figure out,
how to get up on his own.
- Or they're in that stage where they almost
have to make the mistakes for themselves so they can learn.
Like putting his hand, you know
he stuck his hand in the door.
- Yeah.
- But then the first seven years of a baby's life
they're in that fetal brain where they're
just absorbing everything for better or worse.
I think the fact that we understand some
of that stuff has made us more conscious to be
our best selves around him.
Try to and program him with
love and support and those little things.
Yeah, if he falls over and we freak out,
he's going to associate something
like that to a negative trigger.
- Right.
- Even when he falls over, we're like, "Oh, it's okay."
- Yeah.
So I think ultimately we're kind of
like the ultimate influencer for him.
When you become a parent, you are a role model.
- Yeah, the role model.
- You're the role model.
- It's not the teacher problem.
- I don't know,
it just like inspires me to be the best version of myself.
And I just feel so grateful that you're in the same,
you feel the same way.
- Yeah.
- All right.
So it's 7:45 PM, baby's asleep.
So I am about to tackle a task that I've been putting
off for several, several months.
In this basket, we have all of Lennon's clothing
and accessories that he has grown out of.
This makes me feel some type of way because it's just
like a physical reminder that time is progressing
and my son is growing up before our eyes.
Right now we're going to sort through it
and I'm going to create a nice little gift bag
for one of my friends who had a daughter.
She is, I think she's going to be like three months.
So she's looking for some gently used hand-me-downs.
I love this cycle.
I think if I ever have a second baby.
I'm going to go the hand-me-down route.
Now I know exactly what I need.
I think I'm going to do like a renewed baby essentials
because now I know things that I only know
because of hindsight.
Now that we are 15 months deep,
I feel like I've just really relaxed into motherhood.
I'm not like frantically searching about every little thing
on Reddit or any forums or any apps.
I'm just taking things as they come.
And I think that is literally what parenting is.
There is no instruction manual for parenthood
because every child is extremely different.
And I think the biggest lesson for me was that
you can't study your way into succeeding into parenthood.
You just have to feel it out.
Just like there's no instruction manual
on how to be a perfect wife or a perfect daughter.
Every relationship is just different.
And so you just have to be able to read the situation,
read the room, and readjust.
All right guys,
this is the end of this blog.
And I want to thank you for tuning in
and I'll see you guys in the next one.
Bye-Bye.
(relaxing music)