The Hump! Podcast Ep. 35: Sandwich Generation

Welcome to The Hump! Podcast … In episode 35 of The Hump! Podcast: Sandwich Generation … After teasing it the last few episodes Brent Bowen and Chad Beland chat about what being a part of the Sandwich Generation means and what it has meant for Brent the last few months. This includes chatting about Brent’s mother-in-law and their kids’ futures.

The fellas continue season three, recording from home for now but are looking forward to being in person soon… chatting all things inane and profound (have you actually listened to the show).

And this episode’s Triple D: We’re calling out the people who let their dogs poop in your yard and don’t pick it up.

The Hump! Podcast Episode 35 Show Notes – Sandwich Generation

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In Ep. 35 of The Hump! Podcast, Brent & Chad Chat Being a Part of the Sandwich Generation, Mothers-In-Law & Their Kids.What Craft Beers Are The Fellas Drinking?

Chad is feeling a little under the weather so, he is just trying to stay hydrated and is drinking some water.
Brent is drinking Du Claw Sweet Baby Jesus – a chocolate peanut butter porter.

After dancing around it the last few episodes today the fellas are talking about being part of the Sandwich Generation.

What does the Sandwich Generation represent?

Brent describes it as the currently middle-aged generation that is taking care of their children as well as their parents. Chad talks about how it is similar to Willy Wonka/Charlie and the chocolate factory and how Charlie’s family operates. Brent also discussed two studies he had found on the subject.
A 2013 Pew Research study on the age group states that nearly half of adults in their 40s and 50s have a parent age 65 or older and are either raising a young child or financially supporting a grown child. Additionally, about one in seven middle-aged adults is providing financial support to both an aging parent and a child.
According to The Wall Street Journal, this trend of caring for both parents and children is only increasing. Those caring for both parents and children has more than doubled, up to 26% in 2015 from 12.6% in 1999.

Sue’s situation

Brent’s mother-in-law, Sue, has Parkinson’s. It has been getting worse over the past few years. Neither Brent nor his wife Becca knew about it until almost a year after she was diagnosed and had a bad fall.
At the beginning of COVID, she was living on her own and other than doing some grocery runs Brent and Becca never saw her for fear of getting her sick. However, in July she started falling quite a bit and was in and out of the hospital. They knew they had to change how they were going about her situation

3 options

They considered doing full-time in-home care (very expensive), moving her into assisted living (also very expensive), or for her to move in with them. None were ideal options. This was especially hard considering Brent and Becca’s home didn’t have a bedroom on the first floor and stairs were becoming difficult for her.
The decision they finally came to was to sell both his mother-in-law’s house and their house to find one that would fit both their needs.

Independence

Moving in was hard for her. She had spent the last 77 years independent. the last 10 years mostly alone and getting to travel and see friends all the time. Last year she already went through the shift of limitations the rest of us had to with COVID restrictions.
Brent talks about how while they were already struggling to help his mother-in-law come to terms with giving up her independence and move in with them, they were dealing with much more. Brent and Becca found out they were accidentally messing with a “legal hornet’s nest” they were not aware of in Sue’s past. This all had to be fixed before they could move or sell Sue’s house.
This intense shift completely changed their life. Brent lost clients, Becca had to pull back from work and this is part of why season 2 of the podcast ended so abruptly.
Becca and Brent had to give up a lot of their independence as well. Brent talks about not getting to hang out with friends as much and the lifestyle change it has been since she moved in. However, now he sees it in a more optimistic light and says they are crashing gracefully right now and just doing their best.

Chad, you’ve had some adventures with your MIL. How did that go?

Chad’s mother-in-law decided to move from South Carolina to Colorado mid-pandemic. Chad talks about helping her move but without putting themselves at risk.

How are the kids whom we’re supposed to be raising?

Since the bottom half of the sandwich is the kids the fellas’ launch into discussing them. Chad talks about how the pandemic has taken a toll on the kids, doing online learning and such. However, the vaccine has been a little uplifting for their spirits. Chad has a junior in high school and a junior in college. His daughter who is graduating college in December is having a tough time trying to map out her life going forward in the chaos of the pandemic.
Brent talks about a guest he had on his other podcast who says that parents should be focusing on what classes their kids are getting good grades in, not what they are getting bad grades in.
Brent went on a college tour at KU with his son, Grant. He discusses how his son already knows he wants to do filmmaking and broadcasting especially after seeing the journalism school’s broadcast studio. He got in contact with the professor in charge of it and will already be helping them out this summer before he even starts school there.
Chad says sometimes he used to think “if he can get to this point then it will be smooth sailing” but life will always throw you a curveball. This has been a tough week and Brent wants to give a shout-out to the families of all of the shooting victims in Boulder and Atlanta. Brent discusses how his family was actually personally affected by the Boulder shooting. Chad talks about he feels like a lot of Americans have almost become numb to gun violence. Brent says, on that heavy note let’s go into something a little lighter for Triple D.

And This Episode’s Game of “Triple D” …

To close out The Hump! Podcast … Brent and Chad play a quick round of Triple D.

What’s Triple D?

They throw out a scenario … and discuss whether it’s a DICK, DOUCHE or DUMBASS move …

This week’s Triple D move — What do you call someone who allows their dog to shit in your yard and doesn’t pick it up?“

Chad says where he used to live this constantly happened to him. Now he moved to somewhere that doesn’t have a sidewalk and doesn’t have to deal with it anymore.

Brent’s neighbors let their dogs out into the front yard and they run over and poop in his front yard. Brent says he has had some other experiences in his neighborhood that will be good sources for future Triple D’s!

Both agree on what D this was but listen to the show to find out what they decided!

You Can Catch The Hump! Live

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They’ll publish the replays on Facebook and places where good audio can be found (see below platforms — and not saying they’re good, but they’ll slum along greatness).