That’s What The Job Is with Jenny Hagel

About this episode

Jenny Hagel discusses the complexities of parenting in a modern world, including moral dilemmas and practical strategies for raising children.

Jenny Hagel returns to Parenting Is a Joke to talk about the strange moral gray zones of raising decent kids while also living in the real world, from teaching a 12-year-old when swearing is funny versus when it turns aggressive, to bribing a five-year-old with 23 M&Ms to say “gracias” in Puerto Rico. Jenny explains how growing up in a strict etiquette-focused household shaped the way she now parents with more nuance, including why she refused to tell her son “we don’t use bad words” when there are already countless clips of her cursing online as a comedy writer for Late Night with Seth Meyers. Ophira and Jenny compare notes on raising boys in New York City, surviving messy apartments, losing keys for entire decades, and trying to create systems that stop family life from turning into chaos, leading to an unexpectedly passionate discussion about handwritten lists, highlighters, key hooks, labeled electronics baskets, and the packing spreadsheet Jenny has used for more than ten years. The conversation also circles around the emotional side of parenting advice — the judgment parents feel from each other, the pressure to raise thoughtful boys, and the fear of accidentally sending an…

People in this episode

Host: Ophira Eisenberg

Guest: Jenny Hagel

Topics covered

• parenting challenges
• raising boys
• moral gray zones
• parenting advice
• family chaos
• etiquette in parenting

Keywords

• parenting
• raising kids
• swearing
• etiquette
• New York City
• family life
• chaos management
• parenting advice

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Late Night with Seth Meyers

Books & works: Advice No One Asked For

Places: Puerto Rico, New York City, Las Vegas, Nantucket, MA, New Haven, CT, NYC

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