#IMomSoHard comedy duo visits GDLA

Welcome back. Middle school can be a wild ride for kids. Let's be honest though, for their parents as well, maybe even wilder. The comedians behind I Mom So Hard, Kristen Hensley and Jen Smedley are here with their survival guide. Welcome. How are you guys doing? Well, thanks for having us. This is so nice to be here. Of course. You definitely are surviving. It's clear. We're surviving. That's the baseline. That's what we want everyone to feel like. That's not really all the book says is that it's survivable. You feel like you're thriving now. You have a pulse. You have a pulse. You have a pulse. You have a pulse. You have a pulse. You have a pulse. You have a pulse. You have a pulse. You have a pulse. You have a pulse. I mean we're here and we're awake and everybody is where they're supposed to be so I think that's a win you look surprisingly rejuvenated you know what I mean for being each parents of two kids this is delightful are you kidding we're around all of you thank you for being our cynical and funny touchstone we really appreciate you of course um you have a new book you do that's out tell us about it well it's the middle school mom survival guide and there's really no advice in there like i said it's just so funny proof that you can survive it or at least fake it through it's like survival for the kids and for the moms because it's hard on both ends yeah and we we talk about not only them being in middle school but like what our own experience was like in middle school and also how important it is to have your mom friends around during this time so that somebody reminds you you were cool you know you can't rely on your kids to tell you you're cool because they won't tell you they don't know what they don't know what's cool How are you two connected? Well, we're both from Nebraska, but we did not meet in Nebraska. We met in L.A. at different times. We were doing comedy, met at a comedy show, became instant best friends. And then a few years later, we had kids and husbands and all of that. So you became friends before kids. Oh, yeah. So you force your kids to be friends. Well, they really like each other. We're very lucky. Our husbands really like each other. Our kids really like each other. It made getting together and do comedy together. You guys are like soulmates. Yeah, we are soulmates. It was crazy that when we finally met, we lived across the street from each other. No way. We drove the same car. Not the same car. We drove matching cars. The same type of car. The same type of car. We had so much in common and so much that was similar. And that's kind of what we do at I Mom So Hard is we just speak this common language that all women and all moms get each other. What were you guys like before the kids? Oh my gosh. So fun. Thin, flirty, all the things. It was so fun. I mean, we had a blast. We were like making our way in LA and doing comedy. Who had kids first? Um, I did. She met her husband on a Thursday and was pregnant by Tuesday. So, um, and then my husband drug his feet. There was a difference in pace when Jen met her husband. I always say that I was like lucky to date them both but not in a weird way they just like brought me along because I was a little baby bird without anybody and so it was worked out great and then they were together for like a couple years and then I met my husband and like ghosted everybody and end up five months pregnant at my wedding I feel like I need to read your survival book because I have a middle schooler as well so what's the number one key thing to surviving these uh these grades you know what I think it is, is really just have a sense of humor about it. Even if it's not directed at them, remember it in your head and find a way to laugh. Because the slang they use is ridiculous and the wanting all of this expensive makeup is ridiculous. And them having all this self-criticism is also ridiculous because they're just coming into their own. It's kind of a wonderful time if you can just step back and not take all the stuff that they're directing at you personally. trying to find a reason to laugh that's and that's when you call your friend and you're like you're not going to believe what they said they said i'm a bad dancer and your friend's gonna be like are you kidding you're a great dancer and you're like exactly that's all we want to do right these dance videos oh yeah and it's like the lamest dance moves too i know that's a dance move now you're like let me show you yeah let me let me show you she does no it's wild what they're doing now though she's ignoring you i know she is i think the other thing that is important to remember is they know a lot of things like they know way more math than i will ever know but they have zero knowledge right they can't apply anything that they know to like everyday life they need us they don't want to but they do baby yeah they need us for the money they're like babies with a little thin mustache you know how are they like in public like when you go to their schools or like are they embarrassed yes yeah of course how do you reconcile that in your heads because i have a four-year-old he's gonna be five next month and i'm like please just stay my little baby forever but he's not we know this so how do you guys manage that piece of it we take all of these experiences that we're having and then we put them on a live stage and we go on tour and we perform for women and we go this is what they're saying to us and they laugh too because they're having this shared experience and we have the best time ever and then we come back and we're better moms for it that's what we do that's all you need to know is you're not alone mom juice on stage yes yes it's so fun you have to take little breaks with women who get it get where you're at and understand it because you're all we're all suffering together yes yeah it is a shared experience and when you're around other women that are going through it whether even if they're not moms they're just going through the experience of being a woman and you're sitting next to each other and you're laughing collectively something happens that's like it's healing it's like magical it's it fires you up you feel good you're like your smile is the best it's ever been and then you kind of go back home and you're able to handle things a little bit easier right right yeah speaking of suffering i mean you also talk about perimenopause oh what's that like as i'm calling 15 different pharmacies looking for my estrogen right it's terrible science that like your kids are gaining all of their hormones at the same time you're losing all of your hormones It's an odd jealousy kind of thing that can happen Yeah, you're like, you're just wasting your estrogen. Like, it's going to be there forever Yeah, it's tricky And also, on top of that, at this time of life, you're also dealing with aging parents. So there's a lot happening. And the fact that, like, we're not our smartest selves right now because, like, our hormones are going crazy and everyone expects you to do all this fancy like scheduling and right is insane so that's again reasons why we try to find places we can laugh at it because it's such a ridiculous formula that there we have to find uh it's unfair comfort with each other it's so unfair but no one cares if you say unfair right you have to say something else fair life's unfair yeah i'm like looking for my son's halloween costume that i asked him to order like weeks ago but really what i want to do is figure out solutions for my neck but there's no time there's no time you have to mom just another open tab that you have in your head right yes that's the best way i've ever described is like you have like being a parent is like having a bazillion open tabs just constantly yes and then i have another tab and it's the my favorite kind and it generally involves a pub yeah i can have a tab one of your patches your tabs one of my those are good too look i've got a hormone patch and i'm at a pub I'm a happy lady. That's a good day. It's a magical combination. Ladies, thank you so much. The Middle School Mom Survival Guide is out now. For more on this and to listen to Kristen and Jen's Crashing Out Tour, get all the info there. Head to imomsohard.com. I like that title too. Thank you. I'm so hard. Thanks. This was so nice. Thank you so much for having us. Thanks for having us. Love it.