The Bobby Bones Show | Feeling Things with Amy & Kat

Episode: AMY: The Thing Amy Won’t Touch Without Protection

Date: September 13, 2025

Main Theme & Purpose

This episode of "Feeling Things with Amy and Kat" centers on creating joy in everyday spaces, the psychology of cleaning, and the emotional spectrum surrounding privilege and resentment. The main storyline follows Amy's laundry room transformation—with a deep dive into her love-hate relationship with the Magic Eraser (and why she won’t use it without gloves). The hosts candidly explore generational wealth, privilege, envy, and personal growth, culminating in a heartfelt listener voicemail about navigating resentment.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Great Laundry Room Makeover & The Magic Eraser Debate

• Amy’s Excitement Over Her Laundry Room ([02:18] — [12:38])
  • Amy shares her thrill with updating her laundry room: painting, organizing, new hardware, a sink, and cute wool dryer balls.
  • She emphasizes the satisfaction from small upgrades and organizing.
  • “I am just… over the moon thrilled about it.” — Amy ([12:37])
• Science & Safety of the Magic Eraser ([02:44] — [07:19])
  • Kat reveals a Magic Eraser is actually a super-fine sandpaper due to melamine foam ("gentle sandpaper").
  • Amy expresses concern about chemicals, particularly formaldehyde, and explains why she always wears gloves to use it.
  • “It's a super fine sandpaper with chemicals.” — Amy ([06:20])
• Deeper Reflection: Comparing the “risk” of chemicals in household products and Diet Coke, and the everyday practicalities of managing potential harms.

2. On Creating “Home” and Small Joys

• Making the Laundry Room Happy ([12:38] — [19:18])
  • Amy discusses how personalizing her laundry space (“I even hung pictures!”) has made daily routines more joyful.
  • She details organizing with inexpensive Amazon hardware, using what she has (e.g., glass jars), and adding small details for her kids, like a felt letterboard with reminders.
• The Invitation: Amy, the $100 Laundry Room Designer
  • Kat playfully asks Amy to redo her laundry with a $100 budget and existing household items ([19:19] — [21:08]), setting up a scavenger hunt style challenge.

3. Privilege, Help from Parents, and Emotional Complexity

• The “Dad Factor” and Family Support [15:29] — [18:44], [25:23] — [29:29]
  • The hosts talk about the value of having a handy parent or helpful family—Amy recalls the loss of her dad and the support Kat still receives from hers.
  • The conversation broadens to how acts of service (or lack thereof) from parents shape both gratitude and complex emotions like envy.
• Kat’s Genetic Testing Experience ([29:29] — [36:01])
  • Kat shares about a recent counseling session for genetic testing, including the odd moment where her counselor compares a rare genetic mutation to Helen Keller’s circumstances.
  • The exchange is light, but pokes at what information about our makeup evokes in us—curiosity, concern, intrigue.

4. VOICEMAIL: Resentment Around Money and Privilege in Relationships

• Listener Mackenzie Calls In ([36:07] — [37:34])
  • Mackenzie from Texas shares her struggle with resentment when surrounded by peers who come from financial privilege—receiving help with weddings, babies, and gifts she never had.
  • She wonders how to deal with these feelings honestly, without harming her relationships.
  • “Although I’m around it now and I like these people… I end up holding a lot of resentment and I’m just not really sure how to navigate that” — Mackenzie ([36:24])
• Amy & Kat’s Response: Deconstructing Resentment ([37:54] — [41:13])
  • Amy and Kat praise Mackenzie’s awareness and vulnerability.
  • Kat advises exploring the “thing beneath the thing”—what is truly prompting the resentment (envy, grief for what was missing, etc.)
  • They highlight that feelings like jealousy and envy, though uncomfortable, can help us clarify what we value and grieve.
  • “When we process things, we want the feeling to go away… a lot of times it just maybe shrinks a little bit, and then we find something else that’s there too.” — Kat ([39:32])

5. Real Talk: Money is Relative

• Amy’s Personal Story ([44:10] — [47:20])
  • Amy reflects on her own complicated financial upbringing—living in a wealthy neighborhood but witnessing both comfort and bankruptcy.
  • She explains how her current parenting tries to instill financial responsibility, unlike what she experienced growing up.
  • “I was gifted my first car and a gas card… I kind of wish [my dad] would have made it a little more difficult on me, quite honestly.” — Amy ([44:06])
• Meta-Discussion: Social Media Wealth and Perception ([47:20] — [55:10])
  • The hosts discuss viral socialite Becca x Bloom, and how reactions to “rich people on the Internet” reveal our inner stories about class and worth.
  • Kat admits to initial judgment, and they analyze why sometimes we’re fascinated or resentful of others’ privilege—even when it’s harmless display.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Amy on Trust and Learning:
  “You should have. And I should have trusted you.” ([04:59])
• Kat's Roller Coaster Metaphor:
  “I feel like I went through a roller coaster… I was right, then I was not sure, then I was right again, and then I was wrong.” ([06:44])
• On Resentment and Growth:
  “Resentment… might not ever totally go away. Rather than thinking we can process it into nothing, maybe it just shrinks.” — Kat ([39:53])
• On Privilege and Perspective:
  “Money is so relative… even if you have the opportunity to have clean water, you have more than some people.” — Amy ([47:32])
• Kat’s Permission for Intrigue:
  “This morning I got my genetic blood test… and do you guys know who Helen Keller is?… She was blind and deaf, but she was able to communicate. So that’s really exciting.” ([31:56])

Important Timestamps

• 02:18: Start of “Feeling Things” — Amy shares her sense of thrill, launching the laundry room story
• 03:44 – 07:19: The Magic Eraser science and safety debate
• 12:37 – 21:08: Amy’s delight in home upgrades, and Kat’s laundry room design challenge
• 25:23 – 29:29: The parent-help discussion and its emotional layers
• 29:29 – 36:01: Kat’s genetic counseling story and its odd connections
• 36:07 – 37:34: Listener voicemail (“Mackenzie”) on resentment over financial privilege
• 37:54 – 41:13: Amy & Kat’s advice on resentment, envy, and exploring the feelings below the surface
• 44:10 – 47:20: Amy reflects on money, upbringing, and conscious parenting
• 47:20 – 55:10: The meta-discussion on social media, comparing, and judgments about wealth
• 58:21 – 61:45: Revisiting what triggers resentment; discussing how we read others’ privilege and our own triggers

Tone & Style

The conversation is candid, humorous, and unfiltered, balancing playful banter (“I’m going to count to 10!” “It’s like a scavenger hunt!”) with more serious emotional honesty. The hosts are quick to apologize (“I’m yucking your yum and I’m sorry”), celebrate each other’s insights, and openly process feelings as they go.

Summary Takeaways

• Small joys in ordinary spaces matter: Upgrading a laundry room or organizing a cabinet can have an outsized emotional impact—especially when it’s customized to your personality and daily rituals.
• Safety and curiosity can coexist: It’s normal to enjoy powerful cleaning products, but it’s wise to ask what’s in them (and why gloves might be a must!).
• Privilege, resentment, and envy are complicated and human: A listener voicemail opens deep reflection on how we relate to other people’s advantages and how important it is to acknowledge, not suppress, our feelings.
• All money (and happiness) is relative: Social comparison is inevitable, but the most helpful approach is curiosity about our own emotional responses and stories.

Final thought:
“Have the day you need to have.” — Feeling Things mantra ([62:25])

Follow up:
Keep up with Amy and Kat for updates on merch and future episodes via their Instagram @feelingthingspodcast.