TransPanTastic: Transgender parenting, work, marriage, transition, and life!

When two kids go away for holiday break, the "leftover" child is even more special-needy than usual. Between dialing 911 from the kids club, dive-bombing George's new model train with GI-Joes, running wild with classmates at the museum, and just generally being a developmentally delayed seven-going-on-three-year-old, we had our hands full.  So did the interview up our game or jump the shark? Want...

Christmas on the custody calendar means we had our celebrations a little late, but this year was all the more fun with extra family living in town now. Between kids, family we're stuck with, and family we chose, holiday fun was inescapable!  So did the interview up our game or jump the shark? Want more guests, more personal narrative, more discussion of your favorite topic? Let us know at  http://...

In the second part of our conversation with George's cousin, we discuss marriage and family life as queers in the suburbs, and how different it is from the earlier history mentioned last week.    Jess did a little googling and found the Craigslist ad we mentioned at  http://www.craigslist.org/about/best/sfo/50077506.html .    Hey, look!! There's a new survey!!! If you liked this episode, or if you...

George's cousin came to visit, and we talked them into sitting down with us by a microphone for our first guest episode. As an AFAB, genderqueer, jewish, former pornographer, they fit right in with our crazy family!    Hey, look!! There's a new survey!!! If you liked this episode, or if you didn't; if you want more guests, or if you don't; if you like discussion of faith, sex, childhood, transitio...

Between birthdays and holidays, this year's schedule is full of opportunities for social awkwardness, gender-y and otherwise, and it has been all sorts of fun. Reviewing these events gives us an opportunity to discuss how George's introversion affects his social anxiety and how it has changed over the years, resulting from both experience and from transition.  We would really appreciate, if you ha...

Like  Jack Sprat and wife , we often end up on opposite sides of a meal, task, or situation. George eats the fatty parts of the bacon, Jess eats the lean. George builds things, Jess sews things. George cleans, Jess cooks. While this is just a function of our respective experience and aptitudes, it often ends up seeming terribly heteronormative.  We would really appreciate, if you haven't taken our...

George seems to have developed a twin. Or maybe he has recently become some other guy's twin. Either way, his colleagues at work have mistaken him for one of his colleagues more than once. This mistaken identity has made George examine and become more aware of his own masculinity as he "sizes up" other guys and reevaluates his self-perception.  We would really appreciate, if you haven't taken our...

It's been said that "the only good dog stories are naughty dog stories". Unless there's a problem to solve, there's no story. The story isn't generally amusing while you're actually solving the problem, but the worst problems make for the best stories afterward. You can hear and download the entire (accidentally-simmish) theme song at  transpantastic.podbean.com/mf/web/ugf7y2/TPT-ThemeMusic.mp3 ....

George's mom has gone to visit his sister for the holidays, and we are thankful for the lessened obligation. Even so, the responsibility is never far away, no matter how long the plane ride took.  We would really appreciate, if you haven't taken our quick and anonymous survey, if you would please do so by going to  poll.pollcode.com/15998381  or by clicking the link at  TransPanTastic.net .  We ca...

Transitioning later in life has both advantages and drawbacks. After one and a half years of medical transition, and almost two years since deciding to do so, George and Jess reflect on life as it is and how it has changed. Waiting until middle-age has made the process easier by far than it would've been at a younger age, but George still would've done it long ago if he'd known how beneficial it w...

A few weeks back, you may have seen a link to a casting call on our social media. We thought about this project that MTV is considering, and decided we are not the ideal candidate family. Although many trans-parented families might have some similarities, the extents to which our unique differences present themselves are a little extreme even for us at times, and certainly doesn't need to be on ca...

Between parenting our kids and parenting George's mom, we finally exhausted our reserves of responsibility, so we ran away from home. It's a very good thing to be able to get away, even if George is still recovering from minor surgery and even if the responsibilities do try to follow us!  We would really appreciate, if you haven't taken our quick and anonymous survey, if you would please do so by...

At George's one-year checkup after his top surgery, the surgeon and he decided that there were a few spots that were less than ideal, so they scheduled revisions. George was ready for fixing the way his chest looked, but he wasn't ready for all the other things involved with that process!  We would really appreciate, if you haven't taken our quick and anonymous survey, if you would please do so by...

Lately all of our responsibilities have had us feeling a little overwhelmed, so we decided to let loose a little bit in hopes of relieving a little of that stress. We would really appreciate, if you haven't taken our quick and anonymous survey, if you would please do so by going to  poll.pollcode.com/15998381  or by clicking the link at  TransPanTastic.net .  We can be found online at  http://Tran...

Jess has mentioned before that she has become frustrated with managing small people at work. It's her job as a teacher to do so, but it has become increasingly clear that her talents and temperament are best suited to a secondary or post-secondary position. As she searches for a better job, the issue of how to discuss her family life and how to be a good queer role model for her students have been...

Child#2 has been participating in boy scouts for a few months now, and while Jess still has reservations about their history with the LGBT community, George has been all about getting him involved with positive opportunities for male socialization.  We would really appreciate, if you haven't taken our quick and anonymous survey, if you would please do so by going to  poll.pollcode.com/15998381  or...

Doctor visits can be stressful. George's semi-annual endocrinologist visit is coming up, and that means blood work, and between that and all the other visits he's been taking his mom or his rear-end to, he's developed a case of "White Coat Syndrome".  We would really appreciate, if you haven't taken our quick and anonymous survey, if you would please do so by going to  poll.pollcode.com/15998381  ...

A new school year for our kids means new meetings and conferences with teachers for us, and with their special needs it's always an experience. As our children adjust to the schedules and routines, we adjust to the behaviour struggles that often accompany such transitions. We would really appreciate, if you haven't taken our quick and anonymous survey, if you would please do so by going to  poll.p...

The adult voices in the old Peanuts cartoons were all played by a muted trombone. We often feel like when we're talking to our kids, they seem to hear that same "Wanh-wah, wa-wa-WANH-wa" sound, hearing that we are speaking but not really listening or being fully aware of what's being said. Of course, that sometimes happens with adults too, whether it's between ourselves or with the nice officials...

While George finishes up the issues regarding his rear end, and the various interactions with doctors that we began discussing a few weeks ago, he can't help but find himself disappointed in the way his body responds to surgery and invasive medical procedures. This can occasionally become a dysphoria trigger, as he deals with just how unattainable and impractical any lower surgery would be. We wou...

When situations and circumstances become too much to deal with, or when we find that we are not dealing well with our situation, one way to get help coping is in therapy. Many trans folk seek therapy as part of the "Standards Of Care", an old model for medical transition, but it's good for much more than that. We would really appreciate, if you haven't taken our quick and anonymous survey, if you...

Sometimes things get misplaced. While we endeavour to find lost items promptly, it often happens that the hunt for missing objects is preempted by our busy lives. Back-to-school has made our lives busier than usual, so the to-do list has gotten completely shuffled and lost-and-found hasn't been a priority. We would really appreciate, if you haven't taken our quick and anonymous survey, if you woul...

More questions have been asked, so more answers are being recorded for your enjoyment, enlightenment, or timepassment. From the term "PrincessMan" to our favorite fandoms, from pod-stats to voice lessons, from Maryland to Kazakhstan, we've covered the topics you've asked about in today's episode. We would really appreciate, if you haven't taken our quick and anonymous survey, if you would please d...

Every once in a while, we have a problem that won't go away until we talk about it in a podcast episode. We've come to call this phenomenon "microphone magic". This time the problem is health-related, prompting a few visits to new doctors and the anxiety that can induce in trans folk. As discussed at about 11:50, we recorded the process of finding our doctor in episode #21 "Doctor, Doctor" (which...

From the moment a newborn emerges and the doctor takes note of their genitals, any child born into most western cultures is assigned a set of expections and cultural norms we refer to as "gender". It takes only a little experience to realize that the majority of these expectations are nonsense. We would really appreciate, if you haven't taken our quick and anonymous survey, if you would please do...