Let’s Do Medium Maycember with Rachel Feintzeig

Let’s Do Medium Maycember with Rachel Feintzeig

From Laugh Lines with Kim & Penn Holderness by Kim & Penn Holderness

May 12, 2026 · 45 min · Season 10 · Episode 18

About this episode

The episode discusses the chaos of Maycember and features an interview with Rachel Feintzeig about underachieving in parenting.

If your family calendar currently looks like a game of Tetris designed by a sleep-deprived raccoon… welcome to Maycember. It's called Maycember because it's busy like December without any of the fun twinkle lights. But here’s a little secret: Penn and I are almost out of Maycember… and it’s kind of amazing. We talk about what it’s like to finally reach the other side of the chaos and why, for those of you currently crying in a school parking lot while hot-gluing a costume together, there really is a light at the end of the tunnel. Penn and I also talk with award-winning journalist Rachel Feintzeig, whose New York Times essay about “considering underachieving” made parents everywhere feel deeply seen. Should we all be shooting for a Medium Maycember? We say yes. We introduce our GPA scale (General Parental Anxiety) and rank Maycember activities from “totally manageable” to “absolutely not” - and somehow we end the episode talking about a Beastie Boys parody song about charging cords. As one does. If you’re deep in Maycember right now — hang in there... one day you will have a chill May. We promise. We love to hear from you! Leave us a message at 323-364-3929 or write the show at…

People in this episode

Hosts: Kim Holderness, Penn Holderness

Guest: Rachel Feintzeig

Topics covered

  • parenting
  • chaos management
  • self-improvement
  • family activities
  • underachieving

Keywords

  • Maycember
  • parental anxiety
  • Rachel Feintzeig
  • underachieving
  • family calendar
  • chaos
  • self-improvement

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: New York Times, Holderness Family

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