Remember when your parents could send you outside for hours with absolutely no way to contact you? Or when calling your crush meant calling their HOUSE and potentially having to speak to their mom first? 😂

This week, we're looking back at all the completely normal parts of our childhoods that feel slightly insane now — from smoking sections in restaurants and printed MapQuest directions to sharing one family computer, Blockbuster runs and waiting weeks to find out whether any of your vacation photos were actually good.

Plus, before we get nostalgic: Sophia has some completely useless fun facts, we have some thoughts about the “best TV shows of the 21st century,” Bradley is ready for Christmas in September, and Sophia discovers the greatest parenting hack of all time: actually resting while your child naps.

In this episode:

• The childhood things Grayson will probably never understand
• Smoking sections... right next to the non-smoking section
• Navigating with printed MapQuest directions
• When the entire family shared ONE computer
• Encyclopedias, libraries and how ridiculously hard school projects used to be
• AIM/MSN and calling someone's actual house phone
• Going outside for hours while your parents had no idea where you were
• Why every parent told us turning on the car light would basically kill the entire family
• The absolute JOY of a Friday night Blockbuster trip
• Disposable cameras and waiting weeks to see your photos
• And the very different childhoods of Sophia... and Bradley, who apparently spent his with a badger

Connect with Us:

👉 Join us in Side Chat with the Roses for the aftershow, where we keep the conversation going and answer even more of your Dear Roses questions.

http://relatablewiththeroses.substack.com/subscribe

👉 Follow us on Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/bradandsophia

👉 Submit future questions, topic suggestions, or respond to listener prompts:

directtobradandsophia@gmail.com

How exactly do you explain the birds and the bees to a kid who was conceived through IVF? 😂

This week, we're talking about how we'll eventually explain to Grayson where he came from — and whether the usual “when a mummy and daddy love each other…” story needs a little rewriting when a test tube was involved.

Then, Couples Court is back! You sent us your relationship disagreements, and we're putting on our completely unqualified judge hats to decide once and for all: who's right?

In this episode:

• How do you explain IVF to a kid?
• The very different ways Sophia and Bradley learned about the birds and the bees
• Our potential IVF versions of “the stork brought you”
• A sweet listener interaction that made Sophia's week
• Should your mother-in-law have a key to your house?
• Who gets control of the bedroom thermostat?
• If only one spouse can fly business class… who gets the upgrade?
• Should a 9-year-old have to finish the sports season if they want to quit?
• And the big one: would you lend your brother-in-law £10,000 if you weren't sure you'd ever get it back?

We need your rulings! Tell us where you agreed with us — and where you think we got it completely wrong in this week's Substack.

Connect with Us:

👉 Join us in Side Chat with the Roses for the aftershow, where we keep the conversation going and answer even more of your Dear Roses questions.

http://relatablewiththeroses.substack.com/subscribe

👉 Follow us on Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/bradandsophia

👉 Submit future questions, topic suggestions, or respond to listener prompts:

directtobradandsophia@gmail.com

This week, Sophia needs Bradley’s advice… on a few decisions she made YEARS ago. 😂

There are a couple of moments from Sophia’s past that she still thinks about — situations where she had to decide whether to speak up or keep her mouth shut. So she’s finally bringing them to Bradley to find out: did she handle them the right way… or did she completely mess up?

Including one involving a close friend, a wedding, and something Sophia wishes she might have said nearly 20 years ago.

But first, we catch up on life lately — and somehow end up debating the definition of “home-cooked,” discussing Bradley’s bathroom habits from his younger years, and sharing a Grayson story that nearly ended with Sophia brushing her teeth with something truly disgusting.

In this episode:

• The debate over what “home-cooked” actually means
• Bradley reveals a VERY questionable story from his younger years 😂
• Sophia’s unexpected Instagram interaction after giving a stranger a New York recommendation
• Our latest food allergy test drama
• Bradley’s current gym frustrations
• The Grayson incident that almost ended VERY badly for Sophia’s toothbrush
• A decision Sophia made nearly 20 years ago that she still thinks about
• Should you tell a friend if you’re worried they’re making a huge mistake?
• We revisit a real situation where Sophia and Bradley completely disagreed on whether to speak up
• And the bigger question: when is saying something the right thing to do… and when should you just mind your own business?

We need your ruling: did Sophia make the right calls?

Connect with Us:

👉 Join us in Side Chat with the Roses for the aftershow, where we keep the conversation going and answer even more of your Dear Roses questions.

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👉 Follow us on Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/bradandsophia

👉 Submit future questions, topic suggestions, or respond to listener prompts:

directtobradandsophia@gmail.com

We're coming to you from our first little family vacation at Center Parcs — where Grayson is living his best life with the ducks, Bradley has already accidentally woken a sleeping baby, and we're running on very little sleep.

Then it's time for another round of Dear Roses, and the questions are SPICY.

What do you do when you know your best friend is cheating... and her husband asks you directly? Should kids be forced to eat food they don't like or finish everything on their plate? And how do you tell your husband you don't actually want him to become a stay-at-home dad — even though your family can afford it?

We're giving our completely unqualified opinions on relationships, parenting, marriage, money, and the situations where there really isn't an easy answer.

In this episode:

• Our first family trip to Center Parcs
• Why Bradley decided to check on a peacefully sleeping Grayson — and immediately regretted it
• Grayson's current obsession with “quack quacks” 🦆
• If your best friend is having an affair, do you owe her your loyalty?
• What happens when the person being cheated on asks you directly?
• Should kids have to eat foods they don't like?
• Should children be expected to clean their plates?
• The childhood dinner that landed Bradley in the hospital
• Can you be supportive of your husband becoming a stay-at-home dad while secretly wishing he'd keep working?
• Gender roles, attraction, money, and what “work” actually looks like inside a family
• And why so many relationship problems eventually come back to one annoyingly simple answer: you probably need to talk to your partner.

Have a dilemma you want us to weigh in on? Send it in for the next Dear Roses — the spicier, the better.

Connect with Us:

👉 Join us in Side Chat with the Roses for the aftershow, where we keep the conversation going and answer even more of your Dear Roses questions.

http://relatablewiththeroses.substack.com/subscribe

👉 Follow us on Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/bradandsophia

👉 Submit future questions, topic suggestions, or respond to listener prompts:

directtobradandsophia@gmail.com

What actually counts as rude anymore?

This week, we're debating social etiquette rules around money, weddings, parenting, airplanes, dinner parties, and more — and deciding which behaviors are genuinely rude versus things we've simply been taught not to do.

Is it rude to ask someone how much they earn? Recline your airplane seat? Ask when someone is having kids? Decline being a bridesmaid because of the cost? Tell someone you don't like their baby name if they asked? Split the restaurant bill based on what everyone actually ordered?

We're giving our ruling: RUDE or NOT RUDE — and there are definitely a few we don't agree on.

But first, we're wrapping up our thoughts on Let's Marry Harry, including whether the marriage will last, whether prenups make sense, and whether reality dating shows are somehow becoming the new dating apps.

In this episode:

• Our final thoughts on Let's Marry Harry
• Would we have signed a prenup before getting married?
• Is it rude to ask how much someone's house, engagement ring, or salary costs?
• Airplane etiquette: reclining seats and who gets the middle-seat armrests
• Is asking someone when they're going to have kids inappropriate?
• Houseguest etiquette: should everyone take their shoes off?
• Dinner-party etiquette: early or exactly on time?
• Wedding etiquette and the rising cost of being a bridesmaid
• Is it okay to decline being in someone's wedding because of money?
• Can you tell someone you hate their baby name if they asked?
• Correcting someone else's child
• Announcing a pregnancy at someone else's event
• Getting engaged at another person's wedding
• Restaurant etiquette: splitting the bill when everyone ordered differently
• And why telling someone they look tired might be ruder than you think

Connect with Us:

👉 Join us in Side Chat with the Roses for the aftershow, where we keep the conversation going and answer even more of your Dear Roses questions.

http://relatablewiththeroses.substack.com/subscribe

👉 Follow us on Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/bradandsophia

👉 Submit future questions, topic suggestions, or respond to listener prompts:

directtobradandsophia@gmail.com

Are there things we’ve all collectively agreed are fun… even though nobody actually enjoys them?

This week, we each made a secret list of things we’re convinced everyone pretends to like, then went through them one by one to decide: genuinely enjoyable, or are we all lying to ourselves?

In this episode:

• Our thoughts on Let’s Marry Harry — and whether you can really find your spouse on reality TV
• Grayson finally makes some little friends 🥹
• The diaper-free incident that ended with Sophia’s shirt being used to clean pee off the carpet
• Gender reveals: fun celebration or completely unnecessary?
• Why neither of us wants to talk to our Uber driver
• Sharing food at restaurants
• Houseguests and the 48-hour expiration date
• Bradley’s hatred of Valentine’s Day
• Children’s birthday parties when you don’t have children
• Bradley’s potentially cancellable opinion about kids’ theatre productions 😂
• And why concerts may simply be too loud for Bradley now

Connect with Us:

👉 Join us in Side Chat with the Roses for the aftershow, where we keep the conversation going and answer even more of your Dear Roses questions.

http://relatablewiththeroses.substack.com/subscribe

👉 Follow us on Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/bradandsophia

👉 Submit future questions, topic suggestions, or respond to listener prompts:

directtobradandsophia@gmail.com

This week, we’re getting a little ... judgmental. 😂

Inspired by Hugh Grant admitting that people with backpacks annoy him, we’re playing People We Irrationally Don’t Trust. We each came prepared with completely harmless things people do that, for absolutely no justifiable reason, make us immediately question them. Then we have to defend our irrational judgment and decide: is it valid… or are WE actually the problem?

In this episode:

• Sophia gets emotional after a visit from one of her oldest friends
• Grayson desperately wants to make friends — and Sophia’s heart can’t handle the rejection
• The five-year-old who introduced Grayson to his “power bubble” at the pool 😳
• Bradley’s very expensive cookware regret
• People who clap when the plane lands — valid or ridiculous?
• Can we trust someone who NEVER swears?
• What does ordering a steak well done say about you?
• Adults who drink milk with dinner… we have questions
• When does a voice note officially become a podcast?
• And one judgment we can unanimously agree on: bare feet on an airplane are NEVER okay. 😂

Connect with Us:

👉 Join us in Side Chat with the Roses for the aftershow, where we keep the conversation going and answer even more of your Dear Roses questions.

http://relatablewiththeroses.substack.com/subscribe

👉 Follow us on Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/bradandsophia

👉 Submit future questions, topic suggestions, or respond to listener prompts:

directtobradandsophia@gmail.com

Couples Court is BACK… but this time, we're keeping our own marriage out of it.

After realizing that some of our most popular episodes were also the ones most likely to make us start arguing with each other again, we've decided to put your relationship arguments on trial instead.

First up: Your ex-boyfriend is getting married. You've been friends for years and there's absolutely nothing romantic between you anymore — but you're invited to the wedding and your husband isn't. Do you go, or is attending an ex's wedding without your spouse disrespectful to your marriage?

Then, a pregnant listener wants a $2,500 designer bag as a push present. They can technically afford it, but her husband thinks the money could be much better spent elsewhere. After nine months of pregnancy and childbirth, does she deserve the bag… or does she need to let this one go?

And finally, we get perhaps our most important legal question yet: If you've had a celebrity hall pass for years and then suddenly have an actual opportunity to USE IT… does the hall pass still count?

Along the way, we also get into Bradley's current stye situation (and Sophia's unfortunate history with eye patches), whether AI is coming for our jobs, our upcoming family trip, the absolute state of our garbage bins, and Grayson's newest obsession: waking up every morning demanding his "nana."

Plus, we discover that Bradley doesn't know how to touch type, writes alarming amounts of things IN ALL CAPS, and apparently doesn't trust ChatGPT — so Sophia would just like it formally documented that she has always been nice to the robots.

Have a Couples Court case of your own? Submit the argument you and your partner simply cannot agree on and we'll decide who's right.

And make sure you're subscribed to our Substack, where we keep the conversation going between episodes.

Connect with Us:

👉 Join us in Side Chat with the Roses for the aftershow, where we keep the conversation going and answer even more of your Dear Roses questions.

http://relatablewiththeroses.substack.com/subscribe

👉 Follow us on Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/bradandsophia

👉 Submit future questions, topic suggestions, or respond to listener prompts:

directtobradandsophia@gmail.com