Show Notes
This week we’re tackling wine-fuelled book clubs and the headache of co-parenting gone wrong. Expect unhelpful answers, a little righteous indignation, and an AMA that exposes just how soft we really are under all the tough talk (we know, there's no tough talk...). 👉 Frustrated in Auckland writes about her book club of middle-aged mums that’s turned into less “literary discussion” and more “wine-and-whine night” - thanks to a couple of new recruits who never crack open the book. Do you lay down the rules, or let it devolve into gossip hour? 👉 Dad from Christchurch shares the pain of trying to co-parent with an ex-wife who paints him as the villain, manipulates the kids, and cancels weekends on a whim. How do you stay sane, protect your relationship with your children, and keep from being swallowed by her bitterness? Finally, in our AMA, Clayton admits the one trait he’d change to make his wife’s life easier, and Suran shares a moment when she felt utterly carefree and in love with life.
More from No Straight Answers
This week Clayton and Suran go back and forth with two letters about situations that are COMPLICATED. Mark has been having an affair for nearly three years. His partner says she'll leave her husband when the time is right, when things settle, when the kids are more stable. Will it ever happen though... A senior leader writes in about an accidental Tinder swipe. She matched with someone junior to her at work - he's been giving her a look and she has been catastrophising ever since. Clayton and Suran talk her down from the dating ledge. Plus Clayton asks Suran about the small things that bring joy, and Suran asks Clayton what people get wrong about him.
This episode deals directly with suicide and suicide bereavement. If that's not where you're at today, give yourself permission to sit this one out or come back to it when you're ready. Support details at the end of these notes.
Clayton and Suran are back, and this week the co-parenting wars come to the hockey pitch. Fraser's wife is a Black Sticks player with strong opinions about sportsmanship. Fraser thinks his eight-year-old was mid-cry and in pain. Both of them are a little bit right, which is the most annoying possible outcome.
Clayton and Suran are back, and this week things get a little ungodly. A listener writes in about the person she becomes the moment she gets behind the wheel, she's calm, patient, reasonable by day; full swears unleashed the second someone pulls out in front of her car. Her seven year old heard everything then went home and repeated it to Dad...