Care & Feeding | When a Good Idea Turns Into a Fail

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3.9 • 1.1K Ratings

🗓️ 6 November 2025

⏱️ 46 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

On this episode: Lucy Lopez, Elizabeth Newcamp, and Zak Rosen dig into a listener letter that hits close to home for Elizabeth. A military mom wants to know how specific she should be with her kids about her spouse’s upcoming deployment. They commiserate, and offer suggestions for how to keep the absent spouse involved even while they are away. But first, they share their latest triumphs and fails, where a day off for Lucy’s daughter goes haywire, Zak enjoys a peaceful morning, and Elizabeth learns about Italy’s bus system the hard way. Podcast production by Cheyna Roth. Video production by Micah Phillips. Join us on Facebook and email us at careandfeedingpod@slate.com to ask us new questions, tell us what you thought of today’s show, and give us ideas about what we should talk about in future episodes. You can also call our phone line: (646) 357-9318. If you enjoy this show, please consider signing up for Slate Plus. Slate Plus members get to hang out with us on the Plus Playground every week for a whole additional grab-bag of content — and you’ll get an ad-free experience across the network. And you’ll also be supporting the work we do here on Care and Feeding. Sign up now at slate.com/careplus – or try it out on Apple Podcasts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	This episode may contain explicit language.
0:07.7	Welcome to Carap Feeding.
0:09.0	We're here to talk about the ups, the downs, everything in between when it comes to parenting.
0:13.5	I'm Lucy Lopez.
0:14.8	I host another podcast, The Mamasita Rica.
0:17.3	I'm Mother to Amelia who's 15, Avery, who's 12, and we live in Miami, Florida, Maine. I'm Zach Rosen. I make another podcast, too. It's called Weirdly Helpful. And I am dad to Noah, who's eight, and Ami, who's five, and Yuki, who is three months, and she's being really loud, but she's really cute. Sorry, we're in Detroit. I'm Elizabeth New Camp. I write the homeschool and family travel blog, Dutch Dutch goose. I'm the mom to Henry who's 13, Oliver, who's 11, and Teddy who's 9. And I'm in my jammies because we made it to Rome. Wow. Mazel to. Yeah. Oh, my gosh. Pasta time. Pizza, pasta.
0:54.8	I have so much to tell you guys.
0:56.3	Can't wait.
0:58.4	Every week, we answer your questions, share our own parenting triumphs and fails, and try
1:03.3	to make this feel like the kind of conversation you'd have with your parent friends.
1:06.9	If you want to listen, find us on your friendly neighborhood podcast app.
1:10.7	But if you want to see us, head on over to YouTube. Just search Karen Feeding in the YouTube box. You will find us. It's kind of fun. You can see me in my jammies. And I even brought my little bear. We have our Karen feeding bear. So here's my little bear is joining us today. Well, today's listener question hits close to home for me
1:29.5	as a military spouse and as a mom. It's the kind of question that comes up a lot in military families,
1:34.6	and I'm interested to see if it comes up for you guys too, but basically how much truth do you share
1:40.5	with your kids when so much of your life is uncertain. Our listener today is a mom whose
1:46.7	husband is about to leave for a long, unpredictable deployment, and she's wondering what to tell
1:51.7	the kids. All right. And since I know you're traveling, Elizabeth, I am very curious to know if
1:57.6	this week we're going to get a triumph or a fail from you.
2:02.1	We are definitely going to be sharing those next. Am I right?
2:05.4	Yeah. Oh my gosh. It's going to be juicy. I already know.
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