Living Parallel Lives with Dustin & Melissa Nickerson

Summary

Podcast Summary: Laugh Lines with Kim & Penn Holderness

Episode: Living Parallel Lives with Dustin & Melissa Nickerson

Release Date: October 21, 2025
Guests: Dustin & Melissa Nickerson
Theme: Navigating Aging, Parenting, ADHD, and Life’s Parallel Tracks—With Lots of Laughter

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Overview

In this lively and heartfelt episode, Kim and Penn Holderness welcome comedian Dustin Nickerson and his wife, Melissa, for a conversation about the wild ride of midlife, sending kids to college, raising neurodiverse families, and finding humor in chaos. “Living Parallel Lives” spotlights the uncanny similarities between the Holdernesses and Nickersons—from lost luggage and ADHD quirks to travel youth sports, perimenopause, and department store nostalgia—anchored by candid reflection and big laughs.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Dropping Off the Oldest at College: The Parallel Parent Experience

• Kim and Melissa connect deeply over the emotional journey of sending a child off to college. Both admit to recent crying spells and share how pride for their thriving kids brings comfort.

  • Memorable Quote:

    "There was something about the three week mark for me that like kind of the heaviness of just missing him so much eased a bit. Like, I guess acceptance... But also he's doing so well."
    – Melissa Nickerson (17:32)

• Dustin and Penn bond over sports as the main conduit of connection with their sons, layering in emotion as sporting milestones intertwine with milestones of independence.

  • Memorable Quote:

    "That is an intermixed emotion with me and my son because I called him and he was tracking the game and we had watched it, and so... I don't know what your guys's TikTok feeds are, but mine right now is showing a lot of baseball fans, particularly Seattle Mariners fans of like a father and their young kid."
    – Dustin Nickerson (18:09)

2. ADHD: The Comedy, The Chaos, and The Coping

• Losing Things Is Part of “The Club”

  • Both families detail their knack for leaving essentials behind: suitcases left in airports, Kindles forgotten in seat pockets, Dustin’s now-ritual of checking bags to avoid losing them overhead.
    • Penn’s Story: Once left bag in the boarding area, bought cheap Marvel shirts at Target, and lucked out meeting an AstraZeneca rep for an inhaler replacement.
    • Dustin’s Story: Packed all his return-to-America documents in one bag, lost them all, and was let back in by a border agent:

      "To be that stupid, you must be American."
      (27:43)

• Pain & Gift of ADHD

  • The group recognizes the hardships (losing things, interrupting, impulsivity), the guilt and relationship strain, but also the creativity, humor, and resourcefulness that come from neurodivergence.
    • Memorable Quote:

      "They’re kind of one and the same. And the stuff that makes me want to write jokes... create... is the same one that crashes at the same time every day."
      – Dustin Nickerson (28:10)

    • Melissa adds:

      "It's not a character flaw of yours... but it's gotta be annoying being married to people that lose as much... and want to interrupt you..." (29:33)
      "We just have to use our creativity to find solutions." (31:49)

• Celebrating Strengths

  • Both families urge parents to celebrate neurodivergent strengths when school and social systems tend to focus on deficits.

3. Marriage & Midlife: Hormones, Humor & Getting Through It Together

• Parallel Changes: Perimenopause Meets Midlife Crisis

  • The women commiserate about perimenopause while Dustin cracks about andropause, highlighting the “biological benefit of the doubt” spouses must give each other.

    • Memorable Bit:

      "My wife is losing every chemical that her body gave her to be able to stand. So I’m going through a midlife crisis, and she’s going through perimenopause, and the only thing we have in common is we're both thinking about me dying."
      – Dustin Nickerson (34:11)

  • Coping Tactics: Heat flares, sugar cravings, sleep cycles, and giving each other grace.

    • Melissa:

      "The other day, he touched my shoulder and he’s like, ‘Why are you a thousand degrees?’" (36:19)

• Balance of Challenges: Both couples openly acknowledge their trade-offs—forgetting everything, hormonal mood shifts, depression bouts—and how laughter and partnership pull them through.

4. Travel Youth Sports: Survival and Sanity

• Teamwork in Parenting
  • Melissa explains how single-parenting youth sports travel due to Dustin’s touring comedy gig is only feasible by leaning on “networks” and choosing teams wisely.
  • The group discusses coping methods for overstimulating sports environments (loops for ears, managing schedules, supporting kids through the ups and downs).

5. Nostalgia Game: Bring It Back or Pass

(45:32+)
The foursome riffs on trends and gadgets from their youth, affectionately poking fun at generational divides:

• MTV music videos:
  • Split opinion—YouTube has taken over, but the nostalgia of “world premieres” is missed.
• Double denim:
  • Overwhelming support—“Live your truth.”
• Airline Skymall:
  • Fondness for in-flight magazines and backup barf bags. (“Barf bags, bring them back, guys!” 57:29)
• Frosted tips, The Clapper, cassette tapes, mixtapes, department stores:
  • Warm memories, laughs, and a mutual frustration at too much modern choice (“We’re not meant to have this many choices.” – Kim, 52:27)
• The madness of Costco:
  • Melissa:

    "I don't know where anyone is going to go in that store... gridlock... it's torture." (52:46)
    Dustin:
    "It's exposure therapy for people with anxiety." (53:12)

6. Listener Call-in: ADHD Travel Hack

• A listener, Phoebe (from Germany), shares the flight attendant hack of putting a shoe in the hotel safe with valuables as a failsafe reminder.

7. Continued Parallelism and Closing Reflection (“Penn’s Three-Piece Nuggets”)

• They wrap with nuggets learned:
  1. Everyone struggles to take pictures of their second child (“We are not alone.” 57:14)
  2. Bring back barf bags.
  3. If you accidentally stop Zoom, you can start recording again without disaster—find the humor in technical fumbles.

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Notable Quotes & Moments (with Timestamps)

• On Parenting and Goodbye:

  "I'm sad. But he's, he's doing fantastic, so I'm proud of him."
  – Melissa Nickerson (17:32)

• On Sports and Connection:

  "That is an intermixed emotion with me and my son because I called him and he was tracking the game and we had watched it."
  – Dustin Nickerson (18:09)

• On ADHD’s Double-Edged Sword:

  "They're kind of one and the same... the stuff that makes me want to write jokes... create... [is] the same one that crashes..."
  – Dustin Nickerson (28:10)

• On ADHD Relationships:

  "It's not a character flaw... it's gotta be annoying being married to people that lose as much stuff as we do..."
  – Dustin Nickerson (29:33)

• On Midlife and Perimenopause:

  "The only thing we have in common is we’re both thinking about me dying."
  – Dustin Nickerson (34:11)

• On Youth Sports:

  "My biggest hack was getting my other daughter to join because then they were both playing."
  – Melissa Nickerson (41:09)

• On Department Store Nostalgia:

  "There are too many choices. We’re not meant to have this many choices."
  – Kim Holderness (52:27)

• On Costco Chaos:

  "It's exposure therapy for people with anxiety."
  – Dustin Nickerson (53:12)

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• ADHD Listener Hack Call-in: (09:15-10:42)
• College Drop-Off Conversation: (17:06-20:12)
• ADHD Fails and Coping: (22:32-27:45)
• Strengths & Humor of ADHD in Family: (28:10-33:04)
• Perimenopause, Hormones, & Midlife Marriage: (33:40-39:14)
• Travel Youth Sports Challenges: (40:05-42:19)
• Nostalgia Game (“Bring It Back or Pass”): (45:32-53:14)
• Closing Reflections & “Penn’s Three-Piece Nuggets:” (56:32-57:39)

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Overall Tone

Joyful, candid, and self-effacing—unflinching honesty mixed with warmth and plenty of comic relief. Both couples model how laughter, teamwork, and compassion get families through midlife’s messiest, most meaningful transitions.

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Where to Find the Guests

• Dustin Nickerson: dustinickerson.com
• Podcast: Don’t Make Me Come Back There

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For listeners navigating similar ages, stages, and challenges, the Holdernesses and Nickersons deliver both validation and comic catharsis. Laughter, it turns out, really is the best parallel path.

Transcript

[Penn Holderness]

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[Kim Holderness]

This show is sponsored by Midi Health.

[Penn Holderness]

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[Kim Holderness]

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[Penn Holderness]

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[Kim Holderness]

I know you're being silly, but stats don't lie. In fact, even today, 75% of women seeking care for perimenopause and menopause issues are left entirely untreated.

[Penn Holderness]

That sure is a lot of women not being heard.

[Kim Holderness]

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[Penn Holderness]

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[Kim Holderness]

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[Penn Holderness]

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[Kim Holderness]

This isn't one size fits all care. This is care uniquely tailored for you.

[Penn Holderness]

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[Kim Holderness]

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[Penn Holderness]

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[Kim Holderness]

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[Penn Holderness]

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[Kim Holderness]

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[Penn Holderness]

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[Kim Holderness]

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[Penn Holderness]

For sure. Yeah. And there's something to celebrate when you start today. You, your first fragrance set is free.

[Kim Holderness]

It's the perfect time to discover why everyone's switching to Pura. But hurry. This offer is for a limited time only. Go to pura.com and claim your free set before it's gone.

[Penn Holderness]

Well, what's the point of cabinets? Like, really? Do we really need to close all the stuff that's.

[Kim Holderness]

We need to hide our crap, honey.

[Dustin Nickerson]

Someone's gonna come take those beans.

[Penn Holderness]

Yeah, I know that YouTube exists, but.

[Dustin Nickerson]

Just like, are you guys familiar with videos on the Internet?

[Penn Holderness]

Yes.

[Dustin Nickerson]

I mean, we would make puppets of them as a k. Advice.

[Penn Holderness]

There it is.

[Kim Holderness]

Maybe that's why Dustin.

[Penn Holderness]

Yeah, we get older every day. Got more wrinkles. That's okay.

[Dustin Nickerson]

Yeah, we're laughing.

[Penn Holderness]

When we age, life is like a comedy stage. And that's why we got laugh lines.

[Kim Holderness]

Hi, everybody. I'm Kim Holderness.

[Penn Holderness]

And I'm Ben Holderness. This is Laugh Lines. We're so glad you're here. If you're one of those people who got a bunch of free CDs or cassettes on the Columbia House, like, records deal and then got collection notices from lawyers and had to explain it to.

[Kim Holderness]

Your parents, but it was only 99 cents for 10 CDs.

[Dustin Nickerson]

Right.

[Penn Holderness]

You're in the right place. So, Kim, I had the funds to buy those first seven CDs.

[Kim Holderness]

You had 99 cents.

[Penn Holderness]

I had 99 cents.

[Kim Holderness]

So we had to explain this to our kids, by the way.

[Penn Holderness]

Yeah. Like, for those of you who don't know, first of all, good for you. You're younger than us. Congratulations on being younger than us. But, yeah, all right. It came in all of the magazines, right?

[Kim Holderness]

Like commercials.

[Penn Holderness]

Okay, There were commercials. Most of the order forms were inside of, like, Rolling Stone, Sports Illustrated, anything, Highlights, like, whatever. Like, they were preying on the people who were like, I have 99 cents. And Columbia House was like, look, you just give us 99 cents.

[Kim Holderness]

We're send you 10, 10 cassette tapes, I think.

[Penn Holderness]

And there's some fine print. Don't worry about the fine print. The fine print was you have to buy the crappiest CDs of all time at an inflated price in the next two years or they come after you.

[Kim Holderness]

Joe did they come after you. Are you speaking from.

[Penn Holderness]

I got a collection notice letter for this, and, like, I had to show it to my mom, and she was like. Like, she was up, like, you know, as I was 12. And then they send me this thing.

[Kim Holderness]

Did you, like, okay, quick cue. Did you write a check or did you just put, like, a dollar in an envelope?

[Penn Holderness]

If I remember correctly, I. I put a dollar in an envelope, but that may not be right. Or I may have written, like, I may have been like, hey, mom, can I put 99 cents on a credit card? I don't. I don't. I don't remember how this happened anyway.

[Kim Holderness]

So if you remember that, welcome, yeah. To the Laugh Lines, where we celebrate all the fun things that happen as we grow older. You know, we've been trying to come up with. Pen is very passionate about this. Just like, feeling 30 years later, outing the Columbia Records kind of snafu.

[Penn Holderness]

Yeah.

[Kim Holderness]

We're having trouble thinking of, like, what this song is.

[Penn Holderness]

Oh, is it video?

[Kim Holderness]

Yeah, as a video. So if you have any ideas, send them our way.

[Penn Holderness]

Yeah. Without. I mean, I think explaining. It just takes. It took a second there.

[Kim Holderness]

Right. And I. I just picture you singing with, like, a green screen, but there's, like, CDs, like, there's. There's just lists of songs going by. I don't know. We're gonna workshop it.

[Penn Holderness]

Okay.

[Kim Holderness]

Okay.

[Penn Holderness]

I love crowdsourcing it. It's a great idea.

[Kim Holderness]

We are time traveling right now.

[Penn Holderness]

Yes. We're coming to you from the past.

[Kim Holderness]

We're coming to you from the past. But now, future. It is a week after our children's book all you can be with ADHD has been released into the world. You can still go to all you can be with ADHD.com to find out where you can buy.

[Penn Holderness]

It's possible that the response has been great.

[Kim Holderness]

It is possible that we are on every major news outlet.

[Penn Holderness]

It's possible that people are loving the book and sending wonderful reviews. If so, thank you so much.

[Kim Holderness]

Oh, my gosh.

[Penn Holderness]

We just don't know yet.

[Kim Holderness]

Or it's going to be really. I'm not even going to put it into the universe, but, like, it's not controversial. What could they say?

[Penn Holderness]

I mean. Okay, I'll tell you what the normal naysayers say about. Okay, this sort of thing, they would call it toxic positivity. And we ran into this with our original book.

[Kim Holderness]

True, true.

[Penn Holderness]

If you read the book, it handles some tough stuff. Right?

[Kim Holderness]

You want to read us a line of the tough stuff there?

[Penn Holderness]

Sure. Can I yes. So look, it's fun. There's like Albert Einstein and Bill Gates in a tree. There's ninjas and sharks and all that stuff. But we also address, like, it can be lonely. I've said to myself, why can't I be normal like everyone else? Sometimes we're squirmy, sometimes we're forgetful. We interrupt friends, that makes us regretful. And then the whole thing about the name, like, the name's terrible. Look what it stands for. The name is so long. The name made me feel like something was wrong. That's how I felt when I was a kid when I heard adhd. So all this to say I get, like, not wanting to be too positive. But for the most part, ADHD carries a very negative stigma, not just for adults, but especially for kids who hear these really long words. Deficit hyperactivity disorder. When they're like six years old.

[Kim Holderness]

It's big.

[Penn Holderness]

And it did make me feel like something was wrong. It will make them feel so they have to understand that it's not the end of the world.

[Kim Holderness]

Our guest today, Dustin and Melissa Nickerson are so funny and you guys are just like in for such a fun show. Destin is a very well known comedian. He famously has adhd. They've talked about it on their podcast, so I can't wait to get kind of their take on it because, I mean, they've said on the podcast they don't love watching all the ADHD contact content because it seems very positive when it really just sucks. Yeah, so we'll get into that.

[Penn Holderness]

Yeah, we try not to make any content where you don't see both.

[Kim Holderness]

Right, right.

[Penn Holderness]

Where both don't exist. It is interesting. Dustin and I have already put some of our same like, systems in place. We've both lost our wedding rings so many times that we got a tattoo of our wife's name. Maybe it wasn't his wife's name, but we got a tattoo on our ring finger.

[Kim Holderness]

Could you imagine if it wasn't his wife's name and it was just Nancy?

[Penn Holderness]

No, that's someone else's name.

[Kim Holderness]

Just like a random name.

[Penn Holderness]

Sue.

[Kim Holderness]

Sue. He got it before he got married. Just assuming, just in case he would need it. Okay, anyway, before we get to the interview, let's get a laugh line.

[Penn Holderness]

What's on your mind?

[Kim Holderness]

Okay, we have a call from Phoebe about an ADHD hack.

[Dustin Nickerson]

Hi, my name is Phoebe and I'm actually from Germany, but live now with my husband.

[Kim Holderness]

Four kids in the States and I used to be a flight attendant.

[Dustin Nickerson]

When you were Talking about ADHD hacks.

[Kim Holderness]

In the other episode, I was thinking.

[Dustin Nickerson]

That many flight attendants, because they switch hotels in different countries all the time in our new environment, what they do when they put their passport or valuables.

[Kim Holderness]

Into the hotel room safe, they also.

[Dustin Nickerson]

Put one of their shoes with them.

[Kim Holderness]

So when they leave the room the next morning with their uniform, one uniform shoe is missing. And they remember to check the hotel safe with their valuables.

[Penn Holderness]

She said shoes.

[Kim Holderness]

Yes.

[Penn Holderness]

Oh, yeah. Amazing.

[Kim Holderness]

Yeah.

[Penn Holderness]

Like put something in there that you cannot forget.

[Kim Holderness]

Here's the thing.

[Penn Holderness]

Okay.

[Kim Holderness]

You have walked outside without shoes on.

[Penn Holderness]

That may not work for me.

[Kim Holderness]

What would it be that you would be putting in the safe that you.

[Penn Holderness]

My cell phone.

[Kim Holderness]

Oh, but then you'd have to, like, leave the room with a cell. Like, you know, I mean, I'm not.

[Penn Holderness]

I'm not going anywhere without my cell phone. Like, I've my. I don't even bring my wallet unless I'm going on a plane anymore. Because I can Apple pay it. Like, it's like my cell phone now contains a payment form. It's my car key, and it's my phone. Like, it's the only thing I need. I. My world has been so much easier since I got a car where I can control it with my phone and a cred that I could pay for with my cell phone. You can't do that with a passport, though. You know what I do with that? Give it to you.

[Kim Holderness]

Which is honestly working on that.

[Penn Holderness]

Well, you ask me to give it to you.

[Kim Holderness]

I do. I just.

[Penn Holderness]

You like to control the passports.

[Kim Holderness]

That is my. I do like to control things. Anyway, should we get to our guests?

[Penn Holderness]

Would love to. And I. And I bet he's going to have some similar hacks. Dustin and Melissa Nickerson are a husband and wife duo who share their lives with equal parts honesty and humor. Dustin is a nationally touring stand up comedian bringing relatable laughs to stages across the country and screens like Netflix and Comedy Central.

[Kim Holderness]

Melissa is the steady, witty counterbalance co hosting their podcast don't make me Come Back There, where the two open up about marriage, parenting, and everything in between. Together, they tackle the beautiful chaos of raising three kids, including navigating adhd, living on the sidelines of youth sports, and adjusting to the bittersweet milestone of sending their oldest to college. Dustin is also the author of the book how to be Married to you, Melissa, a hilarious guide to a happier one of a kind marriage. Please welcome Dustin and Melissa. More on this after these words. Penn, what do you think is my most used phrase it's definitely I'm fine.

[Penn Holderness]

Either I'm fine or it's fine, right?

[Kim Holderness]

Everything.

[Penn Holderness]

Everything's fine. That could be it too.

[Kim Holderness]

Yeah, you're probably right. And honestly, I do want to be fine. I want to be good. I want to be pretty good. And that's why I'm using Headspace.

[Penn Holderness]

Headspace is the app that helps 100 million people with their mental health and well being with guided meditations, mindfulness practices, breathing and calming exercises, and so much more. Reduce stress, boost your mood, sleep better.

[Kim Holderness]

Headspace combines scientifically proven benefits of meditation and mindfulness with modern practices, and you learn from experienced meditation teachers. The app has customized and personalized approaches to help you navigate through all of life's moments, big and small.

[Penn Holderness]

And whether you're a total newbie at this or you've been meditating for years, there is always content for what you're going through. I promise it feels like it's made just for you.

[Kim Holderness]

When I'm short on time, Headspace has these quick on the go programs that help me get in the right Headspace in just a few minutes.

[Penn Holderness]

Plus, with over a thousand hours of mindfulness exercises, it's got the most complete meditation library I've ever seen. So you can always find something that works for you.

[Kim Holderness]

For me, actionable daily tools are huge. Headspace has TIP Tools, temperature, intense exercise, pace, breathing, and progressive muscle relaxation. TIPP that are easy to do, exercises that regulate your nervous system through intense moments.

[Penn Holderness]

Feel good and mean it when you say it. For a limited time Get Headspace absolutely free for 60 days go to headspace.com.

[Kim Holderness]

Laughlines that's h e a d s p a c e.com laughlines to unlock all all of headspace free for 60 days headspace.com laughlines this episode is sponsored by Gab.

[Penn Holderness]

As we know, the youth mental health crisis is all over the news, and we know that social media is a huge driving factor.

[Kim Holderness]

Did you know the US Surgeon General warns that kids who spend more than three hours a day online are twice as likely to have depression and anxiety?

[Penn Holderness]

Yeah, we are huge advocates for prioritizing mental health, and that includes monitoring the time that we and our kids spend spend in front of devices.

[Kim Holderness]

I personally keep my phone out of the bedroom at night so I don't spend hours mindlessly scrolling rather than getting a good night's sleep.

[Penn Holderness]

Here's the good news though. A company called Gab has solved that problem by doing something no one else is doing. Their approach is tech and Steps.

[Kim Holderness]

Tech and Steps works by providing kids Safe phones and watches tailored to every age. Offering the right device at the right time.

[Penn Holderness]

From GPS tracking enabled watches for young kids to increase features and parent enabled apps. Apps on the phones for tweens and teens. Each device grows with your child.

[Kim Holderness]

Bottom line, you don't have to give your kids a device that was made for an adult. Get them gab which keeps them socially connected safely.

[Penn Holderness]

Use our code to get the best deal on something that'll make parenting easier and give you some peace of mind. Visit gab.com holderness and use that code holderness for a special offer that's g.

[Kim Holderness]

A b b.com Holderness.

[Melissa Nickerson]

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[Penn Holderness]

So we have got Dustin and Melissa with us now. Hello you guys. Thank you so much for joining us. I just need to tell you that we've been talking for 20 minutes.

[Kim Holderness]

20 minutes.

[Penn Holderness]

And this ADHD expert did not press record on the video. So we've just been doing a podcast for nobody for the last 20 minutes.

[Dustin Nickerson]

We've been getting to know each other.

[Penn Holderness]

I'm so sorry.

[Kim Holderness]

That was like us on a double date with no pressure. Thank you for your patience.

[Dustin Nickerson]

I'm glad it went well enough in those 20 minutes that you didn't decide to be like, you know what, we're.

[Kim Holderness]

Good, we can actually wrap now.

[Dustin Nickerson]

Yeah.

[Kim Holderness]

I saw Ann Marie, who's our producer, who's a big fan, she's also a stand up comedian. She came and looked her head. She. She was on all fours.

[Penn Holderness]

Yeah, she crawled around the side of.

[Kim Holderness]

The coffee table and she looked up, she looked up like this around and I was like, oh, there's no little record button going. And she like made big eyes to Sam. Anywho, it's been great getting to know you. Let's do it again.

[Dustin Nickerson]

Yeah, let's do it. And I just maybe that audio content you can release to some super behind the scenes people. Because in true ADHD fashion, there's no way I will give you the same Answer.

[Kim Holderness]

Honestly.

[Dustin Nickerson]

They don't contradict anything we just said. But, you know.

[Kim Holderness]

Well, okay, I will say this. I can give you a summary, folks, of the, of the experience so far is that we are living parallel lives.

[Penn Holderness]

Yes.

[Kim Holderness]

And Dustin and Melissa have also just dropped their oldest off to college. So how, like, when is the last time you've cried and how are you doing?

[Melissa Nickerson]

Yeah, I cried this morning, so.

[Dustin Nickerson]

But I knew you cried last night. I didn't know you had a morning cry too.

[Kim Holderness]

Yeah, oh, I cried today.

[Melissa Nickerson]

There was something about the three week mark for me that like kind of the heaviness of just missing him so much like eased a bit. Like, I guess acceptance, you know, set in. But also he's doing so well. He's like five, six weeks in and he's just thriving. And so that makes it a lot easier. Just, you know, I'm sad. But he's, he's doing fantastic, so I'm proud of him.

[Penn Holderness]

Dustin, same question for you.

[Dustin Nickerson]

Yeah, I cried last night. It was mostly because the Mariners made the playoffs and that's happened six times in my 40 years of being a fan. However, I will, if I'm truly honest, and this is why I'm such a gigantic sports fan, is that. That is an intermixed emotion with me and my son because I called him and he was tracking the game and we had watched it and so it was. He's like, do you think we can go to a game? And the play, it was. And I don't know what your guys's TikTok feeds are, but mine right now is showing a lot of baseball fans, particularly Seattle Mariners fans of like a father and their young kid.

[Penn Holderness]

Yeah.

[Dustin Nickerson]

And like. And the lineup of the team that they cheered for then. So like, and then, and then like them. And then the lineup of their cheering for now. So I'm already on kind of crying baseball talk.

[Melissa Nickerson]

Yeah.

[Dustin Nickerson]

And then so the mayor's call and you're watching that I call my son. It's really, it's. And I've noticed it also kind of goes intertwined that I saw him because he's in the Bay.

[Melissa Nickerson]

Yeah.

[Dustin Nickerson]

And it's just worked out with my touring schedule that I was in the Bay a couple of weeks ago and I'm in the Bay again in a couple weeks where he came and visited and I was like, wow, this is the first time that I've sensed you wanted to spend time with me. Like, truly in that like he had many opportunities to leave and he didn't. And he said a thing that like you say in college is like, no, I think I'll stick around for your show. I was gonna go to a rave tonight instead, but I was like, okay, don't tell me any of those details.

[Kim Holderness]

You could still go out after because they go like, they're just starting to get ready to go out at midnight.

[Dustin Nickerson]

So that's true. Hack. If you can get it when your kid goes to college, make them be a distance runner because they have to get up and run eight to ten miles at 7:30. Six out of seven days.

[Penn Holderness]

Oh, well, I could. I could see that making a difference. Like, I am getting emotional listening to Dustin talk about this because, I mean, we talked about parallel lives. That's. That's me and my son, like, our. We talk mostly about sports.

[Kim Holderness]

And to the point where I have.

[Dustin Nickerson]

Said to them both, Panthers fan. I'm sorry to interrupt.

[Penn Holderness]

He is. He is a huge Panthers fan. As. As am I. And like, that's so. But not dissimilar from the Mariners, buddy. Like, no. When's the last time. When's the last time they went to the World Series? Oh, yeah. They're the only franchise never to go to the World Series. Yeah.

[Dustin Nickerson]

Don't you feel guilty? I wish. I'm like, cheer for a different team, son. You can't.

[Penn Holderness]

But doesn't that, like, that's part of our bond, right? Like that, that. That hope and that, like, feeling of coexisting in this misery. So when they do win, it's so great. I know. You were about to say something and we interrupted you.

[Kim Holderness]

No, no, no. I was just saying because now that my daughter's gone and I. I'm just a passenger listening to a lot of fantasy football, a lot of Panthers, and my. My son has this sort of memory where if he hears a sports stat, he will remember it. Like, he could probably tell you Mariners facts. And I have just pointed it out that there are other things in the world we need to talk about. So I'm challenging him to have convers. And it's actually very cute because he's like. You can tell he's got been on like, chatgpt or something because he's like, mom, tell me about the book you're reading. Like, he's just been really sweet about trying to talk about not sports, but it's hard. That is going to. I didn't even think about that.

[Penn Holderness]

Yeah. When PC leaves, I do think that this first child is going to be a different experience from the second child and maybe the next one. Just based on how We've been with our kids. Right. Dustin has this bit that he did. We've got an Instagram clip about the difference between the first kid and, like, the younger kids.

[Dustin Nickerson]

When you have your first kid, you do all the stuff that's unnecessary. You don't realize it, but it's unnecessary. You know, you baby proof the whole house, you buy the best car seat, you feed them regularly. Unnecessary. You look at your youngest kid sometimes. Like, I don't have any pictures of you. How long have you been here? You're like a rumor around here.

[Kim Holderness]

We were just saying.

[Penn Holderness]

We were just talking about this.

[Kim Holderness]

We had way fewer pictures of our son to the point where he asked, like, where's my baby book? And we're like, give me a minute.

[Melissa Nickerson]

Yeah.

[Kim Holderness]

And after a couple years, I put one together for him. Okay. Another way we are living parallel lives is. Dustin, you talk a lot about this, that you have ADHD and you've talked about things, you've left places, things. What is. And we can compare airport things you've left in airports and airplanes. What sort of things have you left on airplane Air. Like, airplanes, airports, while you're traveling?

[Dustin Nickerson]

I mean, if you can leave it. I've left it. The most egregious is that my. My luggage. I've left. I've left planes without my bag 10 times. Like, to the point. To the point that I will. I very. If I can check a bag, I often will because it's easier for my brain to remember to go get my bag and baggage claim than to remember to grab it up there. And I. This is not an exaggeration. I fly every weekend.

[Kim Holderness]

Yeah.

[Dustin Nickerson]

Like, I. I tried. I. I did 48 weekends on the road last year. So I. It's not like my brain should catch it, but. Yeah, I've left my laptop in that thing a few times. AirPods. I've never left the phone. That one. And I think I just. Yeah. For whatever reason, my brain just won't allow.

[Penn Holderness]

You're addicted to it. It's.

[Dustin Nickerson]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Penn Holderness]

So. But you're not addicted. I'm not addicted to my Kindle. And So I've left three of those. In the front jacket, I've left one laptop, one iPad, two Kindles, two iPads. I have. I've left my. My bag in the. In the. In the overhead. That's not as bad as leaving. Leaving it in the boarding area, which I did one time, twice, because he's done it and then gotten to the destination. The first. The first time we got to the destination you want to tell the story?

[Melissa Nickerson]

Okay.

[Kim Holderness]

It was a very last minute trip to Florida. Like a fun. Like, we booked the tickets two days before, so we were all scattered all over the plane. And I am a martyr. So I'm like, I'll sit by the bathroom. So I was sitting, like, in the way back. So they were waiting for me to get off the airplane. And they're all. And it's a weekend trip, so it's carry on. So the kids are sitting there with their luggage and they're all looking at me with like, oh, crap. Like, they're just looking at me with a look of like, what is her reaction gonna be? And Penn goes, hey, so remember my suitcase? So, yeah, it's still in Raleigh, so I'm just gonna need to Uber to a Target and figure that out. And I was like, okay, okay, I'll take the kids to the hotel. And so he shows up with a Target and he felt so guilty about spending the money that he bought all of the xxxl, like, Marvel clearance shirts. So. Because he.

[Penn Holderness]

But I fit right in at Disney.

[Kim Holderness]

Oh, he fit right in at Disney.

[Penn Holderness]

Yeah.

[Kim Holderness]

So, yeah, it was. He lost an inhaler in there. And he randomly met a woman who had an inhaler.

[Penn Holderness]

She was an AstraZeneca rep. And. Yeah.

[Kim Holderness]

But I'm like, this is how life works out for Pen. And then he just left it on the airplane, but was able to like, have a flight attendant go get it.

[Penn Holderness]

But that was bad because I think they probably shut the airport down because, you know, they say, don't leave unattended bags, and there's a blue bag that looks a lot like a bomb just sitting in the middle of the boarding area. So I also heard you say that you. You check your bags now. Have you ever checked your bag, forget that you checked it and driven home while it was just rolling around on the baggage claim carousel? Because I've done that too.

[Dustin Nickerson]

Yeah, I don't know if I've done that. I've taken the wrong bag once or twice.

[Melissa Nickerson]

Like two hours.

[Dustin Nickerson]

Yeah, yeah, that was a while ago. At this point, I am pretty. I'm pretty locked in on travel. I like, I forgot a shoe recently. Yeah, that's a little. That's a slightly more complicated thing because I'm currently in a walking boat. I have to take that shoe on and off when I'm driving. And so as you know, Ben, that's like getting out of normal rhythms. That shoe never had a chance.

[Penn Holderness]

Right. Working it's working memory. Once it leaves your site, it exits your working memory. We don't have those little tabs that we can leave open in our brain.

[Dustin Nickerson]

My most egregious one. And I'm not going to do the whole story because it is. If you guys come to my show on Raleigh, you can hear it because it's a five minute bit, but I. And you're going to know exactly how this story ends. The second that I set it up is I left the country knowing I would lose my passport, because that's what I do. And so I brought back up, I was driving, so I had my license and then I had my passport and then I brought my birth certificate, just in case. And then I put them all in one bag.

[Kim Holderness]

I was gonna say, please tell me you didn't put them all in one bag. Dustin.

[Dustin Nickerson]

The punchline of the story is, I'm trying to go back in the country and this is gospel truth. I'm driving back into the States and, you know, the border agents are a representative of the country that you're trying to get into. So it's an American. And I tell him this and he goes, you've lost everything. And I go, yes. And I swear he looked at me, goes, to be that stupid, you must be American. And he let me just drove back across the country.

[Kim Holderness]

That is very classic.

[Penn Holderness]

Okay, so we've been, we've been ragging on ADHD for a reason. It's, it's, it's brutal. I, I have a mantra here on laugh lines and on any content we do, we can laugh about this stuff, but we also have to acknowledge some of the good stuff. Do you acknowledge over there, Dustin, that your sense of humor, your creative way to find these solutions, comes from this same brain that loses all this stuff?

[Dustin Nickerson]

Yeah, yeah, I think I've come to grips with that. That, you know, they're kind of one and the same. And the stuff that makes me want to write jokes and perform as often as I do and get on stage and write as often in books and create. And create. Gray is the same one that crashes at the same time all every day and wakes me up in the middle of the night and, you know, struggles to sleep and, you know, all the ups and downs and yeah, I think I've come to grips with that. I've learned to cope, but it is, I. There are struggles of having an ADHD partner where you're just like, that's not a character flaw of yours. It's just, I mean, it's gotta be annoying being married to people that lose as Much stuff as we do and, and want to interrupt you and, and want to just like, impulse, like, do this constantly. And so I think that's the harder part is that there is an amount of like, guilt is. Guilt feels like I'm looking for sympathy or like, like I'm being a martyr, like, you know, or anything like that. But I, I, I'm trying to be better about acknowledging the fact, like, and trying to dampen it in as much as I can to be like, this has got to be a real pain in the arse to be in a relationship with, you know?

[Kim Holderness]

Yeah.

[Dustin Nickerson]

If that makes sense.

[Kim Holderness]

Yeah. So, Melissa, I mean, I am, I'm.

[Melissa Nickerson]

No easy person to be married to either. So. Yeah, no, I mean, I, it's been a, you know, it's been a whole journey and with our daughters and, but it's, it's what, it's what you said, Pen. It's like they are so creative and they are so fun and so funny and he works so hard, you know. Like, I, I always tell him, he'll, he's like, I'm going to run to LA and do this and I'll be back and I'll take, you know, the recycling out as I go. And if, if I did that, I would be like, everyone get out of here. I need time to prep. Like, I need to, I need an hour of me time. Like, I gotta make my list. Like, I, I can't like, perform on the spot and like, do the kind of stuff that he does. He'll just like, take a call with someone. Like, like, I need, I need space. I need time, you know, like, and he can just switch it on like this, this performing and, you know, like these big meetings and things. Like, he makes it seem like taking out the recycling, you know, like, so, so I think it's what you guys have discussed too, like the superpower and the, you know, the difficulties. So we always have just been like two goofy, funny people, you know, like, very unserious. We're just not serious people. And, and then when we found that both of our daughters too had adhd, it was tough. But I did conclude, like, well, we're just going to use our creativity to work with this endless creativity to find solutions. Like, we used to tell our littlest brush and brush. That was like, brush your hair and brush your teeth. And he was brushing her teeth and I was brushing her hair. Brush and brush time. And like, these are the ways that we survived, you know, having a Covid kindergartner.

[Kim Holderness]

Oh, wow.

[Dustin Nickerson]

With adhd and it's odd sprinkled in there. Just a bit of a. Bit of a jambalaya of diagnoses. Yeah.

[Melissa Nickerson]

But we found a way, you know, and. And she's a sixth grader now, you know, she wrote this essay yesterday and our jaws were like, almost crazy. I was like, you said facade.

[Dustin Nickerson]

She's 11.

[Penn Holderness]

Facade.

[Melissa Nickerson]

The mother stroked the daughter's hair.

[Dustin Nickerson]

And I was reading and I go, did you use AI for this? Which I felt was almost insulting because, you know, every once in a while, because I don't know if you guys feel this, but particularly with neurodivergence and adhd, like you can feel. I feel even as the parent, it's easy to focus on the things they're struggling in.

[Kim Holderness]

Yeah.

[Dustin Nickerson]

Like in science and these memorization based things. But when the hyper focus things, like, I'm like, oh, gosh, we got to keep her grades there. We got to keep her math grade up.

[Melissa Nickerson]

Turn in the homework.

[Dustin Nickerson]

Turn in the homework. And then you read this essay. You're like, oh, my gosh. Like, it's unbelievable. You know, like, you'll. Yeah, you'll be fine.

[Melissa Nickerson]

So celebrating the strengths and surviving the difficulties.

[Dustin Nickerson]

Shutting a lot of cabinets.

[Kim Holderness]

Yeah.

[Penn Holderness]

Well, what's the point of cabinets? Like, really? Do we really need to close all the stuff that's.

[Kim Holderness]

We need to hide our crap, honey, because.

[Dustin Nickerson]

Someone'S gonna come take those beans.

[Kim Holderness]

But I'm with you, Melissa. I'm. I've said this a million times. I am not a really fun person to be. I think I'm funny, but I don't think I'm fun. So I don't think I'm like, fun to be around. I think I'm fun to be married to. So. Yeah, he forgets his suitcase. But I. Oh, I'm like, I got a lot of anxiety. I had. I was really depressed this last month and I like took to the bed and like, I'm just not. Like, sometimes I'm like, I'm done. And I just go to the bed and read my book. Like, yeah. So I'm not a. Not a dream. So we kind of trade off.

[Penn Holderness]

And it does sound like another parallel that Dustin and Melissa have they begun to experience some of the. Of the hormonal changes that sometimes happen in a woman's life.

[Kim Holderness]

Are you speaking of perimenopause?

[Penn Holderness]

I. I am. Dustin had a. Dustin had. Actually, I'd love to play this. Dustin had a bit of a. On perimenopause that I thought was very funny on Instagram. Is it okay.

[Kim Holderness]

If we play that, of course I'm.

[Dustin Nickerson]

Going through a midlife crisis. That's hard. Okay. But not compared to perimenopause. That's much harder. Here's what I've learned about perimenopause. All right?

[Penn Holderness]

This is.

[Dustin Nickerson]

My wife is losing every chemical that her body gave her to be able to stand. So I'm going through a midlife crisis, and she's going through perimenopause, and the only thing that we have in common is we're both thinking about me dying.

[Kim Holderness]

We called Perry menopause. We called her Perry because I felt like I was a different person. So we could blame it on Perry. Like, no, Perry's the one that wants to throat punch you. Yeah. So I thought that was so funny because, God bless men. This is the only time you're going to get a compliment. Like, there's stuff shifting in a man's biology as well. It's called andropause. Like, it happens, but it's not as dramatic is what's happening to women.

[Dustin Nickerson]

Andropause. I don't know that.

[Kim Holderness]

Like, your testosterone falls. Oh, right. So, like.

[Penn Holderness]

But like this.

[Kim Holderness]

Like. Like a fair. You know, like those slides at the fair.

[Penn Holderness]

It's a green slope.

[Kim Holderness]

Yeah.

[Penn Holderness]

If you're skiing.

[Kim Holderness]

Right. Whereas black diamond or a bungee jump, because you're just diving down, and then you come back up, and then you go down, and it's just terrifying and screaming. So I don't really have space for sympathy for some, like, very slowly declining testosterone.

[Penn Holderness]

We just made that in the voice. Okay.

[Dustin Nickerson]

Also, that's not our. Our T dropping is not necessarily the worst news for you, too.

[Penn Holderness]

Yeah.

[Dustin Nickerson]

That might not be a video. That might not be like, oh, God. That might actually make a little.

[Penn Holderness]

A little.

[Dustin Nickerson]

A little more.

[Kim Holderness]

We're more equally matched.

[Penn Holderness]

There it is.

[Dustin Nickerson]

Yeah.

[Kim Holderness]

More equally matched. But. But how is that journey going in your household with the. You have teenage hormones with your two daughters that are still, you know, you still have. At home, you have perimenopause hormone. Like, puberty and perimenopause. It should be illegal to go through it at the same time, I think. And, you know, just all the joys of midlife. How's that going, guys?

[Melissa Nickerson]

A lot.

[Kim Holderness]

Yeah.

[Melissa Nickerson]

The other day, he, like, touched my shoulder, and he's like, why are you a thousand degrees?

[Penn Holderness]

I thought he was gonna say something sweet.

[Dustin Nickerson]

No, no, I was.

[Penn Holderness]

The way you said it, I'm like, honey, I'm. Honey, I'm here for you.

[Dustin Nickerson]

That's what I meant. To be.

[Melissa Nickerson]

And I'm just like steaming.

[Penn Holderness]

Yeah.

[Dustin Nickerson]

I think I could roast some marshmallow on you right now. It's.

[Melissa Nickerson]

I was like, I don't know what's going on.

[Dustin Nickerson]

Like, I think you did feel seen in it though.

[Melissa Nickerson]

I absolutely.

[Dustin Nickerson]

Because I was like, oh my gosh, you're so hot.

[Melissa Nickerson]

That is something, right?

[Kim Holderness]

Yeah.

[Dustin Nickerson]

Yeah, that is something. I'm not going crazy, right?

[Melissa Nickerson]

Yeah. So we're just. We're figuring it out.

[Dustin Nickerson]

It's a lot of these nerds. Gummy clusters getting through.

[Penn Holderness]

Yeah.

[Dustin Nickerson]

Malesman having. I. I keep finding little stashes of them.

[Melissa Nickerson]

Oh, I know you're having sugar.

[Kim Holderness]

I know. But I have to say. So I basically stopped drinking because anytime I drank, which. And I love a glass of wine, I love it. But I would have like night sweats and anxiety, so. So I've basically cut that out, which is very depressing. But the sugar part, it's. It's really bad and I can't do it. I feel like I would need a legitimate 12 step program to.

[Penn Holderness]

To quit sugar.

[Kim Holderness]

To quit, like watermelon Sour Patch Kids. Like, that is my right.

[Melissa Nickerson]

You gotta have a little something.

[Dustin Nickerson]

I mean.

[Penn Holderness]

Yeah.

[Dustin Nickerson]

No, you gotta live for something.

[Kim Holderness]

All the joy is being sucked out of my body. Might as well fill it up with some sugar.

[Dustin Nickerson]

I'm trying to. Because we. We mentioned earlier, like, we have the pairings. So Mel's the only neurotypical left in the house and I'm the only non hormonal female in the house right now. So we have kind of our one versus three pairing that we're going through. But I've been trying to. It's very easy to, you know, because you say you call Perry, like, it's. I joke about, like, it's like the Lego head, you know, it just turns very quickly all of a sudden.

[Melissa Nickerson]

Yeah.

[Dustin Nickerson]

And I'm just like. It's like a different person I'm seeing all of a sudden. But I'm trying, and I see with the girls too. To give what I call. I say the biological benefit of the doubt. Like, this is. What you just said has nothing to do with me. This is the fact that you're spiking or dropping or your body temperature just raised by 100 degrees for some reason, or you and the girls are just crossing hormonal path. And I'm just. I'm just gonna try not absorb this as best as I can in the same way that you've been giving me that with like, hey, why do you have to lay down? Why does Your brain just go to sleep out of nowhere for 20 to 30 minutes in the 4 o' clock hour every day, you know, and you're like, well, because the dopamine has left my body.

[Penn Holderness]

That's right.

[Dustin Nickerson]

And I feel like I just got turned down, you know, and it's not like a little after lunch snooze. It is quite literally, I can't, I can't move.

[Kim Holderness]

There is science behind the neuro, like the neurodiverse kind of sleep cycle, specifically with adhd, that it typically the ADHD brain would thrive on two different sleep. Like you would sleep chunks in the day and at night and not one full. That's probably what your body is. Would prefer to do. Like sleep some in the afternoon and then work until 2 o' clock in the morning and then sleep. Yeah. So anyway, but, but it's hard to do life. It's hard to go run carpool or go to like a volleyball game if you're like, I need to take a three hour nap, it's my siesta. Like, you can't, you can't do that.

[Penn Holderness]

All right, let's move on. And I'm just, I only have to say three words for this next one. Travel. Youth sports. Yes.

[Kim Holderness]

How are you doing, friends?

[Dustin Nickerson]

Yeah, that's a, that's a great. Her question because I'm gone on the weekends a lot.

[Penn Holderness]

Oh my gosh. There's one person in charge of this.

[Kim Holderness]

Melissa. Are you doing this yourself?

[Dustin Nickerson]

Not all the time, but a lot of it.

[Penn Holderness]

Yeah.

[Melissa Nickerson]

I have like my networks. We pick our teams very, you know, with a lot of study and networking. So we have other parents and friends that we can rely on. But yeah, our daughter is a volleyball player and actually both of them are playing now. But she loves it. It's a huge part of her life and she just thrives on the court. And so those are some long days. Those are some long days in gyms and whistles and it's, it's a lot.

[Penn Holderness]

Yeah, the audio part of it. Right. Because. Because they don't just go to a tournament and say, hey guys, there's just a couple courts in here. They're. They're really far apart from each other.

[Melissa Nickerson]

Wow. So I do have like the loop earrings that are, you know, ear pieces I'll wear to kind of mute the noise. And I mean my biggest hack was getting my other daughter to join because then they were both playing. But, but yeah, we, it's a day at a time, you know, the sports life. Like let them complain about the Coach on the drive home and then go, okay, but let's move on. Let's. We next. Tomorrow's new day, you know, like so and so and zoo and so and so. You're like, okay, all right. You know, the value of teams, a team sport specifically versus an individual sport with volleyball is you got six players on the court and three hits. So you can't be all those three hits. You gotta rely on your teammates and work together. So it's been amazing for her. Yeah, it's. It's been difficult, but it's been amazing. Yeah.

[Kim Holderness]

You have such a good outlook on it. Yeah. Our daughter was the bigger travel athlete. Although. Yeah. She was in tennis, which is. We tell everybody, like, just don't. Tennis is awful and brutal.

[Penn Holderness]

Oh, God.

[Kim Holderness]

Yeah. Out there by yourself, there's no clapping. Yeah.

[Penn Holderness]

I mean, it's quieter. The only thing is, it's quieter, but that's almost worse. It's like.

[Kim Holderness]

So, yeah, it's awful. And my son's a basketball player, so the whistling of the. I mean, I'm going to get like those ear loops. Loops, yeah. I'm going to get those because it's so overstimulating. Okay. Should we get to our game? We have a game we're going to.

[Penn Holderness]

Yes. I'm so excited.

[Dustin Nickerson]

I love the game.

[Kim Holderness]

More on this after these words.

[Penn Holderness]

What's softer than cashmere and warmer than wool?

[Kim Holderness]

Is this a riddle?

[Penn Holderness]

No. It's the softest sweater I've ever worn, and it's made out of alpaca fiber by Paca in Peru.

[Kim Holderness]

Paka makes performance apparel from alpaca fiber, one of the world's most sustainable natural fibers.

[Penn Holderness]

It's lightweight, but still cozy, doesn't stretch out, doesn't pill, and somehow keeps me warm when it's cold and cool when it's hot. So basically, it just adapts to, like, wherever life takes you.

[Kim Holderness]

This hoodie is built for real life. Thermoregulating, odor resistant, durable, and made to last.

[Penn Holderness]

Each one is handcrafted in Peru by artisans who stitch their name into the tag, a personal signature of quality and care.

[Kim Holderness]

I love my pack a hoodie. My personal favorite part is knowing it's made sustainably and ethically from traceable alpaca fiber while supporting the communities and artisans in Peru who bring it to life.

[Penn Holderness]

Right now, when you order your Paca hoodie, they will throw in a free pair of their alpaca crew socks, which might be the only thing better than the hoodie.

[Kim Holderness]

If you've been thinking about leveling up your Hoodie game. This is your sign to do it.

[Penn Holderness]

Now to grab your pack a hoodie and free pair of alpaca crew socks. Head to go packaapparel.com laughlines and use my code laughlines.

[Kim Holderness]

That's go P A K A apparel.com laughlines and enter code laughlines.

[Penn Holderness]

Knock knock. Oh, who's there? A boost Mobile expert here to deliver and set up your all new iPhone 17 Pro, designed to be the most powerful iPhone ever. You called that a knock knock joke. This isn't a joke. Boost mobile really sends experts to deliver and set up your phone at home or work. Okay. It's just that when people say knock knock, there's usually a joke to go with it.

[Melissa Nickerson]

Like I said, this isn't a joke.

[Penn Holderness]

So the knock knock was just you knocking? Yeah, that's how doors work. Get the new iPhone 17 Pro delivered and set up by an expert wherever you are. Delivery available for select devices [e-mail] terms apply. Are you guys ready for our game that we tailored just for you guys? Because we do feel like we're living parallel lives, right. With Dustin and Melissa. So we're going to get nostalgic. We're going to go back now. I know you guys are a little bit younger than us, but I think you guys are kind of millennials. We're sort of Gen X. We're all kind of in the same spot. We're going to, we're going to play a game called bring it back or pass. All right? So if this is something that we don't need anymore, we pass. If it's something that we'd like to bring back, we bring it back. I don't know why I had to explain that. It's the most OB explanation ever for a game.

[Dustin Nickerson]

Yeah, no, I got it right away.

[Penn Holderness]

So are there any questions? So.

[Dustin Nickerson]

I don't.

[Kim Holderness]

Okay, here's the first. Here's the MTV playing actual music. Bring it back or pass?

[Melissa Nickerson]

I say bring it back.

[Dustin Nickerson]

I say pass. We don't need them anymore. Nobody's who has Cable, who's watching MTV? YouTube has replaced it. I'm all for music videos and I'm all for longer form music videos being big as opposed to, you know, the 32nd version of it.

[Penn Holderness]

Yep.

[Dustin Nickerson]

But you don't need it on MTV anymore. Let ridiculousness air a thousand more times.

[Kim Holderness]

Yeah, I, I, I pass. I'm gonna, I'm gonna pass. I agree. They're all on YouTube anyway. I think it'd be too hard to get them to watch. No kids that Are watching videos. Are watching mtv.

[Penn Holderness]

I'm with. I'm with Melissa. I say bring it back. Do you guys remember the world premieres? Like, all waiting around for the world premieres of a new video? Like, tell. I know. I know that YouTube exists, but just like.

[Dustin Nickerson]

Are you guys familiar with videos on the Internet?

[Penn Holderness]

Yes, I am. This next one's interesting because I think it's already back. But. But double denim. Bring it back or pass.

[Kim Holderness]

I'm wearing it. Bring it back. I am Britney Spears. Justin Timberlake. I. I love a double D.

[Penn Holderness]

You could just say denim.

[Melissa Nickerson]

I'm here for it.

[Dustin Nickerson]

Yeah, you're a denim girl.

[Melissa Nickerson]

Yeah. Especially like a black denim and a light denim. Yeah, do it, do it. Yeah.

[Kim Holderness]

Live your truth.

[Dustin Nickerson]

Sure. Yeah, I'm all for it. I've never. I've never tried it, so I think.

[Kim Holderness]

You should for this week.

[Melissa Nickerson]

Denim shirts.

[Dustin Nickerson]

Yeah, I. I tried to pull a jean jacket off once and I was like, it just doesn't. It doesn't. There's one headshot of me in it and it just.

[Kim Holderness]

Was it acid washed? Is light.

[Melissa Nickerson]

Light?

[Dustin Nickerson]

Yeah.

[Melissa Nickerson]

Sherpa collar.

[Kim Holderness]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Dustin Nickerson]

You know how sometimes you just pretend to be someone you're not?

[Penn Holderness]

Yes, constantly.

[Dustin Nickerson]

Yeah.

[Kim Holderness]

Doing it now.

[Penn Holderness]

We've got some fun ones coming up. Airline magazine, slash skymall catalogs. You travel, Dustin?

[Melissa Nickerson]

Yeah.

[Dustin Nickerson]

You know, sometimes every. All the Internet's down and you do want backup.

[Penn Holderness]

Yep.

[Dustin Nickerson]

I'm okay with that.

[Kim Holderness]

Yeah.

[Dustin Nickerson]

And, you know, some little local recommendation of something, a crossword that you kind of do as a group with the people that were there before you, and.

[Penn Holderness]

They'Ve already screwed up half of the words.

[Dustin Nickerson]

Yeah, Yeah. I also put. Put the puke bags back in there too, because I don't know why they don't put them there anymore. Maybe they just. They.

[Melissa Nickerson]

No one was using them correctly.

[Dustin Nickerson]

Yeah. I mean, we would make puppets of them as a kid, but there it is.

[Kim Holderness]

Maybe that's why. Dustin. Okay. Frosted tips. Hair specifically for men with frosted tips.

[Penn Holderness]

I look great with frosted tips.

[Kim Holderness]

When.

[Penn Holderness]

Or at least I thought I did when I was like 15.

[Kim Holderness]

Okay. I did.

[Melissa Nickerson]

I think we should leave it up for the teenagers.

[Dustin Nickerson]

Yeah.

[Kim Holderness]

Okay. The clapper.

[Dustin Nickerson]

Oh, the clapper.

[Kim Holderness]

I could use a clapper, if I'm being honest.

[Penn Holderness]

Is that the one where you and it beeps?

[Kim Holderness]

Yes. Like at night, I'm reading and it's like a bridge too far to, like, reach over. Like all the way over here to get my lamp. I could clap it.

[Dustin Nickerson]

Yeah.

[Kim Holderness]

Clap on, Clap off.

[Dustin Nickerson]

Yeah. I like it. And we're at the level now where it should be able to do more things than turn the light on and off. Like, if I could wake up and clap and it pours the coffee and feeds the cats and. Yeah, I'm all for it. Yeah, I'm all. Anything to make the morning and nights.

[Kim Holderness]

Go smoother and then we don't have to do anything for ourselves. I love it.

[Penn Holderness]

Okay, cassette tapes.

[Dustin Nickerson]

We need some version of physical media back. Yeah, I don't know. I think I still lean towards records. Okay, bring back physical media. At least give me something a little bigger. But that being said, I've seen. I mean, there was something to that. You know, anything that. That was a big era. Cigarettes, cassette tapes, that I miss a.

[Kim Holderness]

Mixtape on our first. I mean, you guys were high school sweethearts. Did you ever make her.

[Dustin Nickerson]

Totally made mixtapes. Yeah, See?

[Kim Holderness]

And mixtapes. When we very, very, very first started dating, I think you made me a mix cd and maybe you recorded something on a tape, but I missed that.

[Penn Holderness]

Oh, like, it was like, hey, Kim, I hope you enjoyed that last song.

[Kim Holderness]

No, you.

[Dustin Nickerson]

You were in it too.

[Penn Holderness]

Yeah, that's what I think you're telling me.

[Kim Holderness]

No, you made a mix.

[Penn Holderness]

I don't know. I don't remember. Oh, did I sing a song then?

[Melissa Nickerson]

You named the cd You.

[Kim Holderness]

You wrote me a song.

[Penn Holderness]

I wrote a song and I put it in there. That's what it was. I remember that song.

[Kim Holderness]

It was really good. I have that tape somewhere.

[Penn Holderness]

It was about a. Remember, it was about like a guy stalking. Like a guy stalking a girl on. On the TV news. So it got like a little.

[Kim Holderness]

Yeah, I was on the TV news at the time, but I. I chose to think that it was sweet.

[Penn Holderness]

Well, it was sweet. It was about you. But I. But I had this weird thing where I didn't want to, like, come on too strong. So I. I wrote it from the perspective of, like a pervert who was watching you at 2 o' clock in the morning.

[Dustin Nickerson]

That's weird.

[Kim Holderness]

Yeah, it really. It's not as weird as he's making this sound.

[Penn Holderness]

Late at night, I count sheep because when she's in my head, I can't sleep.

[Kim Holderness]

I'm in your head.

[Penn Holderness]

You're thinking, that was the hook.

[Dustin Nickerson]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. That's less perverted than I thought it would be.

[Kim Holderness]

Clear. Yeah.

[Penn Holderness]

Yeah. I guess it's not too completely about.

[Kim Holderness]

Yeah, yeah, we'll release it.

[Penn Holderness]

Yeah, I'm like getting sweaty thinking about it because it's not a good song. Like, I'm imagining Like, Dustin thinking your first stand up and then having to, like, pull that up.

[Dustin Nickerson]

Yeah. Yeah. It's tough. I remember the bit. I know the video's there. And you're like, nah, I don't want any piece of that.

[Kim Holderness]

The last one. Montgomery Ward. Bring it back.

[Penn Holderness]

Oh, the catalog or the store?

[Kim Holderness]

The. The store.

[Penn Holderness]

Okay.

[Dustin Nickerson]

I don't know what that is.

[Penn Holderness]

Yep, that's right.

[Kim Holderness]

Do you have a. Your West Coast? Do you have, like, a Best also?

[Penn Holderness]

They're, like, way younger than us.

[Kim Holderness]

Yes. Sears. Like, a sears would be JCPenney's. JCPenney.

[Melissa Nickerson]

I do miss the department store. I'll tell you why. Because I have to keep buying and returning homecoming dresses online, and it's. It's kind of. It literally shut down my debit card. Yeah.

[Dustin Nickerson]

Because our daughter keeps finding these dresses on this random website, and da, da, da, da. And you're like, gosh, remember when you would just go to the store and be like, These are your 10 dresses to choose from?

[Kim Holderness]

Oh, my. Yes. Oh, my God.

[Melissa Nickerson]

And it was kind of an afternoon with, you know, some people you loved.

[Dustin Nickerson]

I don't know.

[Melissa Nickerson]

It seemed a little fun. And. And this doesn't seem fun.

[Kim Holderness]

There are too many choices. There are too many choices. We shouldn't have. We're not meant to have this many choices.

[Dustin Nickerson]

Right, Right.

[Kim Holderness]

This is why Costco is overwhelming to me. Like, I don't. I can't have, as a human, that many options.

[Dustin Nickerson]

He hates Costco. I love Costco.

[Penn Holderness]

Let's unpack that. Yeah. Like, what. Why do you hate Costco?

[Melissa Nickerson]

I don't know where anyone is going to go in that store. Like, every cart is, like, running into me. Like, there's no order.

[Kim Holderness]

Yeah.

[Melissa Nickerson]

Like, so. And then when the samples come out, like, I. It's gridlock, and I. I can't control any. Like, there's no, like, lanes.

[Kim Holderness]

It's survival of the fittest, truly.

[Melissa Nickerson]

And hitting me. And with these huge carts, it's. It's like torture.

[Dustin Nickerson]

It's exposure therapy for people with anxiety. It's tough.

[Penn Holderness]

That's an interesting way to look at it. Yeah. I mean, does it also, like, when you see something that makes you think, like, way too far ahead in your life, like, oh, there's a coffin over there.

[Kim Holderness]

They do sell.

[Dustin Nickerson]

Yeah. There are very few places that sell. Sell cribs and coffins and free samples.

[Kim Holderness]

You guys have been so patient with us. You've been so fun. Dustin, will you tell everybody how they can learn more about your tour and where to find you online?

[Dustin Nickerson]

Sure. Yeah. Dustinickerson. Dot com. All my tour dates are there. We have a podcast called Don't Make Me Come Back There. A funny podcast about family. We were going to ask. I was like, I don't know if we, you know, we should. We'd love to have them on sometime. And. And now you owe us because we've had to record like 75 times.

[Penn Holderness]

We have. And this may not.

[Kim Holderness]

This may not have recorded. We would love to. We would be honored to be on your pod. And it was so nice to hang with you guys. And we'll come in January. Like, January.

[Dustin Nickerson]

Yeah.

[Kim Holderness]

January in Raleigh is very gray and lonely. So we will definitely come and need to smile. So that was so fun. Thanks to Dustin. Melissa. It's so fun to have a conversation with people who are in the trenches as well. To know that you're just not alone when you're feeling these things. Yeah.

[Penn Holderness]

100.

[Kim Holderness]

And what was it like hearing all the different things he's lost in airplanes and airports?

[Penn Holderness]

We definitely have the same type of adhd. You know how they say that it's just like a snowflake. There's no two types alike. Our snowflakes are similar.

[Kim Holderness]

Yeah.

[Penn Holderness]

So I mean, just all of the. It's the working memory. It's just the fact that you want to move on to the next thing. I don't think it's a coincidence that we have similar jobs. I think he's like a little better at. Still way better at stand up comedy than I am. But there. I mean, I also am glad that he acknowledged the fact that there's also some good parts to that.

[Kim Holderness]

Yeah. You know, and it is, it is just such a function of the brain because everybody else in front of you is getting their bags off too. So there's all these little reminders. But it was just, it was a good reminder as a mom to an ADHD kid that even with visual cues, sometimes it is not enough to kind of like trigger the brain. Like, oh, I should be doing that too. Like, it's just. It's not enough sometimes because you're so focused on, okay, I gotta get off the plane. I gotta go here. I have to be here. So. Yeah, it was really nice.

[Penn Holderness]

What about the whole, you know, kid in college thing? And can you imagine if, you know, there were like people playing tennis right next to your house? Because she had, she said she had like the cross country team that was running by.

[Kim Holderness]

I was more touched when he was talking about the sports bit because I know that's going to be huge when PC leaves We're going to have to get you some friends.

[Penn Holderness]

I have friends. I've just chosen to spend more time with my son than.

[Kim Holderness]

I know. I know we're have to get you some sports friends because although I am willing to play, we're gonna play pickleball and we're gonna macrame, whatever that is, and paper mache. We'll do all those sorts, whatever those retirement things are. I just don't see me sitting on a couch for eight hours on a Sunday. Fair, fair. So I'm gonna get you. We're gonna find a pen, a friend.

[Penn Holderness]

We'll do it.

[Kim Holderness]

We have a few years. We have a few years, though.

[Penn Holderness]

Anyway, let's end with Penn's three piece Nuggets.

[Kim Holderness]

Oh, okay. Awaiting sponsorship, here is Penn's three piece Nuggets from today's podcast.

[Penn Holderness]

Here are the three nuggets I really take away from today.

[Kim Holderness]

And we just to be clear, we're doing this in shape. There's nuggets that we're seeing. Pen. Pen's head is a nugget. Okay.

[Penn Holderness]

Nugget number Is my head a talking nugget?

[Kim Holderness]

Yes.

[Penn Holderness]

You guys, you're missing. The best part is we're always making Sam do stuff.

[Melissa Nickerson]

The distress I've been through in this episode.

[Kim Holderness]

Alone.

[Penn Holderness]

Yeah. Oh, with the recording.

[Kim Holderness]

Yeah.

[Penn Holderness]

But now I'm just saying. So turn my head into a nugget. That just kind of goes number one. Everyone struggles in taking pictures of their second child. We are not alone.

[Kim Holderness]

We are not alone.

[Penn Holderness]

Does that feel good? And look, we love PC. We're making up, you know, he's getting.

[Kim Holderness]

A lot of pictures now.

[Penn Holderness]

Yeah, he's getting a lot of attention.

[Kim Holderness]

A lot of pictures. And he's so happy about it. So happy.

[Penn Holderness]

Nugget number two. We still need barf bags on planes, y'. All.

[Kim Holderness]

Barf bags. Bring them back, guys. Bring back barf bags.

[Penn Holderness]

And I understand that some people use them as puppets or they write on them, but still, you can put them back in there and you can barf in them.

[Kim Holderness]

Yes.

[Penn Holderness]

Yeah. And number three, if you accidentally hit stop on zoom and then you hit start again, you can still have both clips. And so this episode was. Because I've always been nervous about that. Right?

[Kim Holderness]

Yeah.

[Penn Holderness]

So if you, like accidentally stop meeting, you can start it back.

[Kim Holderness]

We had a journey. We gave Sam and Anne Marie a heart attack.

[Penn Holderness]

Yeah.

[Kim Holderness]

We did it, guys. And thank you again to Dustin. Melissa, you want to take us out?

[Penn Holderness]

Sure. Laugh Lines is written and produced by Kim Holderness, Penn Holderness and Ann Marie Tapke with original music by Penn Holderness. It's filmed, edited and live produced in this room by Sam Allen and hosted by Acast. As always, we would love to hear from you. We have heard from you so much and you have helped drive this show. Please write to [e-mail] or you can leave a voicemail because we're in the 1960s. Actually they didn't have voicemail in the 1960s. We're in the 80s.

[Kim Holderness]

We're early 90s, early 90s. Yeah.

[Penn Holderness]

323-364-3929 and we will talk to you soon on the laugh lines.

[Kim Holderness]

Bye bye dude, did you order the.

[Penn Holderness]

New iPhone 17 Pro? Got it from Verizon, the best 5G network in America. I never look so good.

[Dustin Nickerson]

You look the same.

[Penn Holderness]

But with this camera everything looks better. Especially me.

[Dustin Nickerson]

You haven't changed your hair in 15 years.

[Kim Holderness]

Selfies check please with With Verizon, new and existing customers can get the new.

[Penn Holderness]

Iphone 17 Pro designed to be the.

[Kim Holderness]

Most powerful iPhone ever.

[Penn Holderness]

Plus a new iPad and Apple One.

[Kim Holderness]

With eligible phone trade in and unlimited ultimate best 5G source route metrics data United States 1H 2025 All Rights Reserve, Trade in and additional terms apply for all offers. See verizon.com for details.

[Penn Holderness]

Boost Mobile is now sending experts nationwide to deliver and set up customers new phones. Wait, we're going on tour?

[Melissa Nickerson]

We're delivering and setting up customers phones.

[Penn Holderness]

It's not a tour, not with that attitude. Introducing store to door switch and get.

[Kim Holderness]

A new device with expert setup and.

[Penn Holderness]

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[Dustin Nickerson]

To get you speaking quickly about the.

[Penn Holderness]

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[Dustin Nickerson]

B a b b e l com.

[Penn Holderness]

Acast rules and restrictions may apply.