Episode 93: Mom vs. Dad: Who’s Better at Getting the Kids Out the Door?

Welcome back to another episode of Babies and Business! In episode 93, real-life married couple and parents Avram and Rachel tackle one of the most relatable parenting challenges: getting out the door with little ones. If you’re a parent, you know the struggle is real.

What should take 10 minutes somehow turns into an hour-long adventure filled with forgotten snacks, missing shoes, and at least three potty breaks. Join the duo as they share their hilariously different approaches to family routines, plus some game-changing parenting tips that might just save your sanity when you’re trying to get everyone ready and out the door.

Show Notes

Key Highlights from this Episode:

• Avram and Rachel dive into the everyday chaos of getting out the door with little kids and how different their approaches are.
• From forgotten water bottles to missing shoes, hear the relatable moments that every parent has faced (and probably laughed about later).
• Learn how Rachel’s hour-ahead prep helps create calm, while Avram’s just-in-time style brings its own kind of logic (and surprises).
• Discover why the things we forget — like snacks or stuffed animals — actually matter more than we think.
• Get a peek into how different parenting styles can clash, complement, and sometimes lead to hilarious miscommunications.
• Pick up practical tips for smoother exits, like prepping in stages or using the car as a holding zone while you gather your life.
• Walk away feeling seen and reminded: every parent has their own way and it doesn’t have to be perfect to work.

Mentioned Episodes

Babies and Business Episode 69 – The Sales Technique That Makes Toddler Transitions Easier

Babies and Business Episode 89  – Mom vs Dad: Real-Life Morning Routine with Toddlers

Episode Transcription

Below you will find a transcript of this entire podcast episode. Enjoy!

Avram: There’s the actual amount of time that it takes to get ready and go out the door, and then there’s what you think it is.

Rachel: And they are never the same with toddlers and a baby.

Avram: Yeah. Rachel loves to make fun of me about this, and I receive it adoringly, that’s why we’re making an episode about it. Moms versus dads getting out the door. When you have little ones, you know, the pain. There are so many more steps

Rachel: Oh, yeah.

Avram: to get out the door.

Rachel: Oh yeah.

Avram: And, uh, we were laughing again the other day. Uh, she was laughing at me the other day, about how I get it done versus how she gets it done. And I said, okay, fine, we’ll record a podcast. I’ll be a good sport about it. Let’s talk about it.

Rachel: Okay.

Avram: So we did another, moms versus dad pretty recently, that was episode 89. Today’s episode 93, and there’s a couple different things that go into getting out the door.

There’s getting them clothed, there’s taking care of potty, there’s shoes. Not the same as clothing. Shoes are a whole nother thing, right? Snacks, toys, stuffed animals. Backpack, water, the actual amount of time needed to do it versus what you think. Let’s start there.

Rachel: Okay,

Avram: What is your perception of the difference between you and me getting out the door in regards to time?

Rachel: Well, my perception is I want a quick exit. How do I get that? I prep ahead of time.

Avram: Okay.

Rachel: So I’ll prep as much as an hour prior to whatever exit I want to achieve.

Avram: And then when you get closer, how much time do you need?

Rachel: 10 to 15 minutes.

Avram: Yeah, so what do you think about me?

Rachel: You know, it takes 10 to 15 minutes to get out the door, so you start at 10 to 15 minutes and oftentimes the only thing the kids have that I can guarantee that they have is clothing.

Avram: Yeah, everything else is kind of a crap shoot. They might not have shoes. They might not have any snacks either.

Rachel: So, so here’s the thing about you is when you get prepared to go out the door, we’ll just say it’s a walk. Your thought is, well, we’re not gonna be gone that long. You don’t need to get out of the stroller, and you automatically tick things off of the list.

You take them off because you don’t need all of those things for this very quick jaunt.

Avram: We don’t.

Rachel: And without fail, most times you need water, which you did not take. Sometimes you need snacks because you’re out way longer. So there’s a couple of different things that you’re missing.

Avram: I mean like just yesterday I took the boys out for a walk, in the morning time when you were gone for the gym and you called me on the way back from the gym. We were still out.

Rachel: Yep. That’s not common. You’re normally already back.

Avram: So that was not the plan. It was just yet another example of leaving the house unprepared we’re like over a half mile out from the house and Lincoln’s like, daddy, I’m thirsty.

I said, bud water’s at home. Do you wanna walk or you wanna jump in the cart with August? I want you to drive me, daddy. Okay, hop on in bud. So, clothing, right? Clothing. How do you do it? You get ’em dressed way in advance or?

Rachel: So if it’s the toddler, yes, I get him dressed way in advance. He is already dressed with what I want him to wear. I already have the shoes and the socks in the bag. I don’t normally put them on him prior. Sometimes it will, it depends, but I definitely have them gathered so that I can take them with me. I’m not finding them at the last minute.

Nothing that I take out the door is gathered at the time of leaving.

Avram: Sure.

Rachel: I already have it gathered. It’s either gathered in a bag and I’m waiting to take it out, or I already have it in the car. If I am waiting for August to wake up from a nap, I will often have Lincoln already in the car, everything loaded in the car, and August comes out and he gets right in his car seat.

I have a change of clothes for him wherever in the car, in the bag, whatever, and then we go,

Avram: Yeah, usually I have clothing done ahead of time. I’m pretty good on that one, but when it comes to the potty, I reign supreme.

Rachel: Yep. You do?

Avram: I’m the king. The first potty that we had outta the house was at Costco. It was me and him, and he nailed it, even with all the crazy loud noises in there.

Rachel: You prepped him for the noise.

Avram: Prepped him for all that stuff.< /p>

Rachel: So he wasn’t scared.

Avram: So potty has been really easy for dad, comparatively, for a while now.

Rachel: Oh yeah.

Avram: So you too sometimes have to fight.

Rachel: Like when I go out and we’re out and about, he’s pretty good because you’ve already helped him understand what that looks like out and about. So going out and going potty out there is not a problem. It’s the, “Let’s go potty before we go” that can trip me up. I’ll often just future pace him with Okay, first potty, then we’re gonna go get in the car and go on adventure time.

So I try to future pace him, and that’s really where I just hijack what he’s thinking, how he’s working through it, and try to get him excited about the next step and just get through it.

Avram: Great plug for past episode on future pacing sales techniques we use on our children.

Check out the show notes, babiesandbiz.com/93. You’ll see that in other resources we talk about today. So potties one, shoes this is where gets a little crazy. Sometimes I can’t find them.

Rachel: Yeah.

Avram: but we have a new system thanks to Rachel.

We’ve got buckets for shoes at the front door and the garage door exit.

Rachel: yep.

Avram: So now I only have to check two places for shoes. Unless somebody lets him come in the house and dump his shoes wherever

Rachel: he’s in the backyard playing and

Avram: get wet and they get left out there or

Rachel: they’re getting dried, that kind of thing. So yeah, shoes can be like, okay, where are your shoes?

Avram: I mean, I have taken him to his kid strong class without shoes ’cause he doesn’t wear ’em with a mat. But like, you know, I get the side glances from parents sometimes walking in. He’s got no shoes, no socks.

Like what has he done? Yeah, it’s hot out here.

Rachel: Yes.

Avram: Well, whatever we got here.

Rachel: Yes. Well, you know, so we, we talked about some of the things that we bring on a trip. I think it’s funny when we look at the perspective of like the different kinds of trips. So when we go over to your parents’ house, oftentimes we’ll split up who is gathering the stuff and then who is putting the things in the car.

So I have assumed for a while now and seen that that assumption is very bad is that you will always bring Fox with us.

Avram: Yeah. His stuffed animal.

Rachel: You never bring Fox.

Avram: I never bring Fox.

Rachel: You often forget Fox when we go to Grammy’s house or somewhere else. But Fox is if Lincoln gets frustrated or sad, he wants to hug Fox,

Avram: She says, forget. I purposely leave sometimes because I understand the devastation that would come if Fox was left somewhere and not brought home.

Rachel: Oh, well, I wouldn’t, I know how important that thing is. That’s not getting left anywhere. He comes with us and then I think it’s funny because oftentimes you will forget snacks and toys and water just because it’s not a long trip or, we’ve split the responsibility of who’s gathering stuff and something gets left and oh gosh, if food gets left at the house we have to turn around

Avram: Dads. Dads let me know. Let me know. Reach out. You forget all the important stuff. You get ’em there, right? You get ’em there. May not be a comfortable ride, you know, but giddy up. Let’s go boys. I think the, the, the greatest strategy though, that I’ve ever been taught about getting out the door and when you’re using the car in particular. Talk to me by your brother, Walker. He’s like, nah, man, you put the kids in the car first, turn on the ac, let it go. He goes, they can be in there 30, 40 minutes while you’re gathering all the stuff to go.

Rachel: Because they’re gonna see you at intervals. They’re gonna see you, you’re gonna talk to them, you’re gonna put stuff in car. Yes.

Avram: We went, uh, on vacation with them to Utah like a couple years ago and you know, we were sharing an Airbnb and we were getting ready to leave.

So we’d had all of our stuff all over the house for that week, time to leave. And I watched them do this. They just put the kids in.

Rachel: Yep.

Avram: And then hustled back and forth and back and forth and back and forth. But before I learned that you got a toddler on your heels, checking everything out.

Rachel: Watching ’em.

Avram: watching ’em, You know, they fall down, they’re screaming, you know, you gotta stop what you’re doing and then put stuff away.

But you forgot the snacks ’cause they had a meltdown. So shout out to my brother-in-law for that hot tip. Put the kids in the car first, and that makes packing so much easier, especially if you’re not as prepared as Rachel.

Rachel: Yeah. So getting out the door can be quite the chore, but for me, I prepare ahead of time, so I’m not actually stressed when I am interacting with my kids. You know, I can get everything gathered. I know that everything is prepared. I’m not running against time and forgetting things because I’m running against time.

So I know that’s something that helps me to prepare.

Avram: Yeah, you said that and I just realized like this is one of the areas in my life where I get caught unprepared more than many other areas. ‘Cause I am usually Mr. Prepared. I’m like the Boy scout in me has the checklist. We’ve got it all ready to go.

Rachel: Absolutely.

Avram: Something about the children and getting them ready is maybe just more chaos than an only child has ever had to deal with in his life.

Rachel: Well, I think it’s also the fact that there’s so many other things that they really do want to have with them, and you may not think about all those things as being like the comfort things that they want when going out of the house.

That’s all. And so it’s just perspective and, maybe we should have a list and you can decide at the point when you’re gathering stuff that this fits the trip or it doesn’t.

Avram: Yeah. That list we should put it on the backpack, right? And it can just be there on a little tag. I can look at it and be like, we’re good.

Rachel: Okay, we got it. But the, the thing that gets me the most, that I find the funniest is when, when we plan different, so I’m planning to get the kids out of the house and you are planning and we’re separate, like you’re doing it by yourself with kids and I’m doing it by myself. How different it looks like if we were a fly on the wall watching the other person, it would be hysterical because it’s so different.

Avram: I be like, Rachel, you’re putting all this stuff in one spot. This means that they can get it and they can pull it all apart. No.

Rachel: Yeah, but like the differences are comical.

Avram: They are. So we appreciate you for listening. If you’ve got some things that you wanna confide in me, you know, just hit me up, hello@babiesinbiz.com. Tell me husbands, dads, you get ’em there, right? Just help, help boost my, uh, boost my, uh, my ego on this, right? You get ’em there, you get ’em there.

Dad’s doing good. Right? We laugh, we joke. We appreciate you for listening. We’re gonna do some more Moms versus Dads episodes in the future, so we’re looking for inspiration. You got something that you and your spouse partner do really different, we probably do too. We’d love to do an episode about it.

So send us your ideas. hello@babiesandbiz.com. Also, check out our social media. We hav
e some amazing content coming out. Our team has been killing it. Go check us out on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and LinkedIn. Those are the places that we’re posting really frequently and all those places. You can find us @babiesandbizpod.

We look forward to catching you in the conversations over there, interacting with you. But for that, this episode’s done.

Rachel: Yeah, we’ll see you do the next one. Bye for now.