I Get It From My Mom: Authentic Conversations Between a Mother and Her Daughters on Parenting and Growing Up

Dear Dads: This One’s for You (Love, Your Teenagers)

• Elissa, Ava and Maggie Klein • Season 1 • Episode 15

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🎧 Dear Dads: This One's For You (Love, Your Teenagers)

This Father’s Day, we’re turning the mic toward the men who made us—and made us laugh. In this heartfelt episode, Elissa, Ava, and Maggie reflect on the dads and grandfathers who shaped their lives, from delivery room heroics to softball sidelines, Broadway nights to backyard BBQs.

You’ll hear funny stories, sweet memories, and a top-10 list of why their dad, David, is a true MVP—from concert planner and gift-giving king to grill master and family sarcasm lead. Plus, the girls honor their Papa and remember their Grandpa with love and laughter.

Whether your father figure is a dad, a grandpa, a coach, or someone who just shows up, this episode is a tribute to the everyday love that anchors a family.

Hit play for a feel-good listen full of real talk, teen perspective, and a whole lotta dad energy.

Share it with a dad-figure you love and follow us on socials for behind-the-scenes content on TikTok @elissa-igetitfrommymom and Instagram @i.get.it.from.mymom 

Speaker:

Welcome back to, I Get It from My mom. The show where we laugh, reminisce, and sometimes get unexpectedly teary as we talk through the moments that shape us as a family. I'm Elissa, your host, your mom, and the producer of many family memories, both beautiful and chaotic.

Speaker 2:

And I'm Ava. I'm 19 and in Full Daughter mode today.

Speaker 3:

And I'm Maggie. I'm 16, and today's episode is a little different. We're turning the spotlight on the dads.

Speaker:

It's our Father's Day special, and we're celebrating the incredible men who've helped shape our family. Your dad, Papa and Grandpa. From baby snuggles to softball fields, from Broadway shows to barbecues. They've shown up in big and small ways and we're honoring them with stories, laughter, and lots of love. Let's get into it. So let's start with your dad, David.

Speaker 2:

Yeah. We obviously know our favorite things about him now, but what was he like at our births and when we were babies, like times before we could remember?

Speaker:

Sure. Dad was as nervous as and excited as I was during the pregnancies. He took good care of me. Helping to do as much physically he could in terms of lifting things, making people, giving me seats on the subways. We still went to shows and concerts and had weekends away, but he couldn't take away the heartburn and the lack of sleeping and the sweats and the difficulty breathing. Did I ever tell you, Ava, what he did when I discovered I was pregnant with you? I don't think

Speaker 2:

so.

Speaker:

He was away on a golf weekend when I kind of had a sense that I might be pregnant and we had been trying a little bit, and so I had bought myself a pregnancy test and sure enough I was alone and took it and it was positive and then I was like, oh my God. So I ran out and got two other brands. And took those two. And they too were positive and daddy was away with his friends. And so I took a photo of it and sent it to him, showing him the positive. And he was obviously so excited he couldn't wait to get home to celebrate, but didn't tell his friends. I was like, don't say anything, it's too early. When he came home, I don't remember the exact timing, but I was sleeping and he woke me up and he gave me a kiss and he's like, I just wanna let you know you're definitely pregnant. And I was like, what do you mean? And he says, well, I peed on a pregnancy stick, and it came out negative'cause I wanted to make sure they're not all broken and gone about automatically be positive. So sure enough, I was pregnant and he was not. Oh, good to know. He wasn't pregnant. That's, yeah.

Speaker 3:

Was he in the delivery rooms when we were born?

Speaker:

Yes, for Ava. I tried a few hours to deliver naturally to no avail, but dad was there holding my leg up and trying to help the baby come out the best he could. Although I do recall he took a break from holding my leg and swapped out with a nurse and dad went to the couch and fell asleep in the room while I continued pushing for a few more hours, but eventually was a C-section, and he was there and because they held the baby up first, you know, he even got to see. Ava before I did. And, for both of you, Maggie, you were, you know, a c-section as well, but we didn't push this time. So he went over immediately was watching as you were, you know, getting cleaned up and he was counting your fingers and toes and all that while I was still strapped to the table.

Speaker 3:

Did he do diapers when we were babies? Yes.

Speaker:

Even before I did, I was, you know, sore from the C-sections. And so in the hospital he did everything. And once you were home, he did everything diapers bottles, swaddling. He would've nursed too. I think if he could have, I remember one night, and I'm pretty sure it was Ava, just because of the screaming. It was like middle of the night. She had been up so much. I had nursed her. I was exhausted and so he's like, let me try to take the baby. And I must have fallen asleep, but he came back like an hour later, just tears both of you crying. You, Ava and Daddy, and he had taken you outside to try to get you to calm down and everything. He's like, I can't do it. I think she just wants to be nursed and so he was really super hands-on just trying to comfort me and you.

Speaker 2:

Oh,

Speaker:

that's funny. Yeah, I mean he was totally into night feedings, tummy time walks in the stroller. Building you block towers to get you to crawl. Wearing the baby bjo and pushing you on swings, buying you endless pacifiers formula baby food. You know, he didn't miss a moment of either of you if he could and nor did I. He was as involved as any dad could be. It was great.

Speaker 4:

So to honor your very special dad, let's go through the top 10 reasons he's amazing. And we'll tell stories along the way.

Speaker 5:

I think one that comes to mind immediately was when he coached both me and Ava's softball team for years, and he was always our biggest cheerleader at every game in practice.

Speaker 6:

Yeah. I don't think I would've built a love for the game if it wasn't for dad being such a part of teaching me and being there for it all. I mean, I chose to be a catcher just like him.

Speaker 5:

And we both chose his number in high school baseball. Number nine, Maggie Klein,

Speaker 6:

number nine. Ava Klein.

Speaker 4:

Yes. Number nine. David Klein.

Speaker 6:

I mean truly, he always helped with every piece of equipment. He watched every single game. Even when if, if there were ever times he couldn't be there, he'd watch them all and like game changer. He would get emotional at every home run. He would give me tips for everything and was truly. Like my biggest supporter along the way throughout it, and like I really would not have had such a love for the game if he wasn't there to support me and wasn't loving me doing it as well,? All right. Number two, if you've ever gone on a trip with us, you know. Our dad is the planner.

Speaker 5:

Yep. He plans everything. The flights, the hotels, where we go, the cities, the dinners, the shows, every activity. It's his thing. He does it every time and he is very good at it.

Speaker 4:

Yep. We talked about it in our previous podcast on vacation, so feel free to go back and listen if you haven't. But dad plays this role and he plays it very well. We all know his motto. He does what he can to set us up for success.

Speaker 6:

It's not like he's a crazy itinerary man or everything. He's definitely super flexible. If it's not our moods that day or we wanna make changes, we do,

Speaker 5:

but it always ends up being the best trip when he's in charge of everything.

Speaker 4:

Do you remember that day when we were in Dominican Republic? Over COVID and we did like adventure day.

Speaker 6:

Yes.

Speaker 4:

And so what'd we do? We went to like Monkey Zoo where they were climbing all over us. Uhuh, well not on any of it, but the rest of us. And we did zip lining and then we went on that Jeep tour. Right? Like he just does things like that. Every boat trip, every, he's very good at that stuff. Yes.

Speaker 5:

And number three, how about that? He takes us to so many concerts and shows and is always the best at buying tickets for all of them.

Speaker 6:

Definitely when it comes to Broadway, he's as into it as much as we are. And maybe even more so.

Speaker 4:

What would you say are dad's favorite shows?

Speaker 5:

We know he loves Le Mis and has seen it a million times. Always Hamilton in a chorus line, the classics.

Speaker 6:

Yeah. I feel Les Mis is definitely number one. I mean, he also loves Chicago Book of Mormon recently, the Outsiders, which me and him have both been very obsessed with.

Speaker 4:

And then there's the concerts he's taking you to, even if they were much more for you than him.

Speaker 5:

Yep. Like the time he took me and Ava to an Ariana Grande concert with just him and not even mom. Or our first concert, we road tripped to Philly and went to see Taylor Swift like 12 years ago. And he got us tickets to Jingle Ball and Governor's Ball to see Olivia, Rodrigo and Sabrina Carpenter both so many times.

Speaker 6:

We've also done some concerts that he is into though we've done The Killers Green Day, Zach Brown Band.

Speaker 4:

Yep. Dad loves his live music and loves sharing it with his family and friends.

Speaker 6:

I personally think that, as dad likes to say, he should be in every Broadway show as the star. They should just pull him up on stage, for sure.

Speaker 4:

Okay, so then there's food. So I'd say reason number four, dad's awesome is because of his dinners on the barbecue.

Speaker 5:

Yep. He makes the best steaks and burgers and grilled chicken and co bob's. Nothing fancy but so yummy. He likes finding the right grill tools and marinades or special techniques, and he grills like a pro, like dad's steaks, are better than any restaurant.

Speaker 6:

And I feel like that kind of goes into number five and definitely kind of merges with it. Cooking on the Blackstone recently too, since we got that two summers ago up at the house, bacon and egg and cheese sandwiches in the morning. Unmatched.

Speaker 4:

I love his fried rice too, on the black. So yeah, it's definitely very good.

Speaker 5:

Okay, this next one I'm thinking impacts us a little less directly, but it's one of the things that kind of just makes dad, dad. So I think number six would definitely have to be his love for golfing.

Speaker 4:

That's a good one. Maggie. What dad does well is he loves the game and is excellent at it. But he never wanted it to get in the way of family fun. So he will purposely play very early on weekends, even when you were babies. So he could still enjoy a beach day with us and still be back to cook us a mean brunch. And he always said that once you had children, his handicap would only improve. It wouldn't go worse. And sure enough it has over the years.

Speaker 6:

Yeah, I think we all get that. It's his me time and how he unwind and has fun with his friends and I can't think of any time when he didn't come home happier or ready to be with us. Plus, when he chooses vacations with amazing golf, it means we wind up in gorgeous resorts in Maui or the Dominican Republic. So I'm not complaining.

Speaker 4:

Can we talk about Dad's other amazing skill? Oh, please. He is the best gift giver.

Speaker 5:

Yeah, I mean, you can mention, anything to him, even something small and he'll remembers it and he researches it and gets the perfect gift for it.

Speaker 6:

Yeah, he definitely looks things up that are trending to make our lives better, gets those kind of things. But yeah, he really never fails on a gift.

Speaker 4:

Yeah. I feel like there's all these like. Funny memes or tiktoks, maybe not meant to be funny, but sarcastic about like how dad's always surprised at Christmas when gifts were opening and he didn't know what the family got in ours, it goes differently. He buys, of the eight nights of Hanukkah, he gets like five of them, half of them, I don't even know. He just says we're all settled up. He makes a list of what's happening every night. They're all wrapped. They're all ready. So I play more of kind of like the slight consulting maybe sort of involved role, but he rolls it all. So what have been some of your favorite gifts you think that dad's gotten you?

Speaker 6:

I think, um, probably in middle school when I was obsessed with the office and on Hanukkah, he got me like a bunch of office like themed gifts. Like I got bobbleheads, I got like the teapot From that one episode I got like a DVD that had. Some extra clips or something like that, but it like wasn't something I asked for, but I mean I loved it at the

Speaker 4:

time.

Speaker 5:

Um, I don't know if I can think of a favorite gift specifically, but I just feel like his way of always searching it up and like finding the best option for what you want. Like I got a CD player for Hanukkah. This year and he made sure to get the right one that works well and sounds good and is perfect for what we want. He always makes sure to research it very well.

Speaker 6:

So to me, the eighth reason we love Dad is that he's funny. We're admitting it, dad. There you go. Sure. There's a lot of typical dad humor and jokes in there, but he really is clever with his jokes

Speaker 5:

and he doesn't mind when he's the butt of the joke either. Like he's always in on it and then plays into the quirk even more.

Speaker 6:

But we all agree. I'm still funnier than Dad. Right? I'm sorry. It's Father's Day. We just can't say that right now. I'm sorry. Aw. I will say that I definitely admire how hard Dad works. So number nine for me is that while he seems to enjoy his career in advertising, we know he works hard and takes it seriously to improve our lives.

Speaker 5:

And even though he works hard, I can't think of a time when he wasn't there for us or getting us what we need or not thinking of us. I would never think of him as someone who puts his career ahead of his family, at any time.

Speaker 4:

I agree. And the people who work with him always really liked dad, which I think is important. They say how highly he talks about us. Most importantly. Most importantly, yes, of course, and the dog, but that he, is good to work for and he shares and he's open and he is good to learn from.

Speaker 6:

I also think, I just love that Dad does something that also I'm kind of interested in too. So it's. Kinda awesome to have a role model who's in a very similar field and does so well in it and can give me so many tips and stuff like that too. Especially given like how successful he is and what he does. So that's also very cool.

Speaker 4:

Very cool. So I'd say number 10 is how Dad cares about everything and us so deeply.

Speaker 6:

Yeah, he's definitely a big crier when it comes to his happy emotions, which is always nice to see when it has to do with us.

Speaker 5:

And he's definitely always checking in on us and wanting to know everything going on and senses. If things are off, you can tell.

Speaker 4:

Yes. And he is very close to his sister and family, his parents, my family, his friends. This is a man who cares deeply.

Speaker 7:

So we went through all the things we love about dad, but we should also talk about Papa and grandpa, our grandfathers who shaped us in so many ways

Speaker 8:

so I don't know if you knew this Ava, but when you were first born and I was on maternity leave and home with you, my dad, Papa, would come into the city on his day off midweek and spend the day being with us. He'd watch you so I could get things done or help around the house or just shower you with kisses. And later on he'd take you out and eventually Maggie out in the stroller, or a baby Bjorn, he actually preferred the baby Bjorn. And hold your little hands and talk to you about everything in the city. He just noticed every dog, every store, every color, he'd show you off and he would just yap it up with you everywhere he went. He was so proud of you guys.

Speaker 9:

I remember on all my random days off of school, Papa would always take me to a museum and Ava never liked it that much, but I would always go with Grammy and Papa. And I've really been to every museum in the city because of them. I've been to the Met the Guggenheim, and they were all super fun to explore together. I mean, Papa's hilariously funny, which I, I'm sure we talk about, but it was never a dull moment with him. And while museums aren't the funniest place to be, he always made it such a great time and something I would want to go to as a kid going to a museum on my days off.

Speaker 7:

Yeah, I mean we also went to the Transit Museum, the Museum of Math, the Natural History Museum, and Papa and Grammy came to many of our softball games, every school performance award and graduation.

Speaker 8:

Yep. So what do you think makes Papa special and unique?

Speaker 9:

I just said this, but he is very funny. I think he does win the award for Funniest in the family. He has comments for everything. He has the best comedic timing. But it just makes him so much more fun to be around.'cause you know you're gonna be laughing and having a good time, even if it is those more serious moments. Sometimes you're just not in the funnest place or most fun place. He just makes it a nice time to be. He makes it funnest. He makes it funnest.

Speaker 7:

And you know, he has a story for everything. He remembers every joke and every situation, and frames them in such a way that makes you laugh more. I mean. All the stories hearing about like mom and, Aunt Danna as kids are always just the funniest thing ever and every voice and joke I feel like that we've had the same jokes with him since we were babies. And I literally still remember like the first time hearing them and losing my mind laughing.

Speaker 9:

Another big thing is his fear of being dirty. His house is always clean. He always needs to clean up after everything. We're not even allowed to clean up after family dinners'cause he has to do it his way. But it's just, that's always been a part of him. It's like the cleanest house I've ever been to.'cause it's always moed and scrubbed and shined every time.

Speaker 7:

And he is very tan And an amazing walker as well. Yes. So incredible Walker

Speaker 8:

and Papa's very generous with all of us when it comes to everything in life. So let's talk about Grandpa, Daddy's dad. He passed away two years ago, and I know we all miss him deeply.

Speaker 7:

Yeah, you know, grandpa too was always there for us for every little thing. For years. He came to the city with grandma watching us once or twice a week,

Speaker 9:

and he'd always come in saying, where's my girls? With a big smile on his face. And then grandma would drag him to the park with us. Or when we had half days in school during the week, they would always take us to get McDonald's after. And we'd climb all over him. Where's my girls?

Speaker 7:

And he came to every softball game, no matter how far. No matter the weather, he was always there in his chair with his newspaper calling out Aver Aver,

Speaker 9:

and he took us on so many big family vacations to the beaches of Maryland, to Disney, to the Dominican Republic. He would get in the cooler ocean with us and let us steal his baseball cap as we again climbed on him.

Speaker 8:

Yes. He was so proud of you girls and was beaming at your bat mitzvahs and every game and every award and dance, and just always wanted you to be happy,

Speaker 7:

you know? And while he was always maybe a little bit the butt of the joke with our cousins, he always took it with stride. And he played into his quirks for sure.

Speaker 9:

Absolutely. We were all extremely lucky to have him in our lives and has him as a support and an amazing grandfather as we grew up. Yeah. And he

Speaker 7:

would've loved us doing this podcast. He would've loved podcast.

Speaker 9:

Absolutely. And we miss him dearly.

Speaker 10:

Before we wrap, I just wanna say this because while this episode is full of our personal stories, it was really a celebration of our family. We know not everyone has the same experience with a dad or a grandfather or a traditional family.

Speaker 11:

Yeah. For some people, a father figure might have been a teacher, a coach, a neighbor, or even a mom who played both roles,

Speaker 12:

or a sibling or a stepdad, or someone who just showed up for you. Exactly.

Speaker 10:

This episode isn't about the men in our lives. It's about what it means to be loved, supported, and rooted for by someone or anyone who takes the time to care, right? So the ones who teach you how to ride a bike, drive a car, grill a burger, and laugh at yourself, the ones who show you what consistency and love looks like.

Speaker 11:

So if you've had someone like that, we hope this episode make made you, sorry. So if you've had someone like that, we hope this episode made you smile. Maybe even remember a moment you haven't thought about in a while,

Speaker 12:

and if you didn't have that growing up, maybe you are that person now for someone else that's just as important.

Speaker 10:

So, to David, to Papa and to grandpa, thank you for showing up for the diapers and the dad jokes, the burgers and the Broadway nights, the sacrifices and the laughs you've made our family better. Funnier and stronger

Speaker 11:

to all the dads and father figures listening. Happy Father's Day. We appreciate you

Speaker 12:

and if you're lucky enough to have a dad in your life who texts you funny, tiktoks and knows your Starbucks order, give him an extra hug today.

Speaker 10:

We'll be back next week with another episode of I Get It for My Mom, but this week let's give it up for the guys who do so much for us. Happy. Happy Father's Day.