The Only Child Diaries Podcast
Episodes
191 episodes
I Bought Halloween In April And Now My Porch Is Mad
Your neighborhood tells the truth, even when nobody says a word. On a simple walk around my block, I start noticing the full range of “home life on display” we all live with: the perfect place that looks untouched, the normal houses with leggy ...
The Brochure on Mastering Burnt Toast
One burnt piece of sourdough can teach you more about adulting than a stack of self-help books. I’m Tracy Wallace, and I’m trying something small but surprisingly hard: cooking at home just one night a week instead of defaulting to DoorDash and...
The Brochure on Creating a Social Security Login
Two weeks. One missing document. A login process that somehow requires a selfie, a scanned ID, and a phone number the system insists is “linked” to you in a very specific way. I’m Tracy Wallace, and I’m taking you along for a painfully real tax...
The Brochure on Easter Memories
Easter can be sacred, sentimental, or just plain sweet and I’ve felt all three at different times. I’m sharing the kind of memories that stick: going to church as a kid, the odd tradition of buying Easter lilies, and the absolute thrill of waki...
The Brochure on Spring, Flowers and Gardening
Spring hits, and suddenly it seems like everything blooms at once. I’m talking about the kind of spring gardening that feels like a reset: wandering a gorgeous local plant nursery, getting pulled in by rows of color, and convincing myself I’m o...
The Brochure on Making the Most of Your Birthday
Your birthday can be your favorite day of the year… until real life shows up with heat, exhaustion, and someone you love struggling to walk. I’m Tracy Wallace, and I’m sharing a birthday story that starts with a simple belief: my birthday is MY...
The Brochure on Health Maintenance (Again)
Life has a way of crowding out the basics, until your body forces the issue. I’m sharing what the last several months have really looked like for me: supporting a friend through loss, handling the ripple effects at home, and then helping husban...
The Brochure on Daylight Savings Time, Bobcats and Water Leaks
What happens when the clock jumps forward, your diabetic cat needs precision, and a bobcat picks your block for a fly-by? We open up about a week where tiny shifts—sixty minutes, a pawstep on pavement, a chirp from a toilet—reshape everything f...
The Brochure on Letting People Down and Being Let Down Myself
What happens when your best intentions can’t outrun a crowded life? I open up about a week where everything hit at once: a demanding remote job, caregiving my husband, lingering duties after a friend’s loss, and a stack of guest pitches I could...
The Brochure on Loving the Olympics
What makes the Olympics feel so personal that you end up crying on your couch for athletes you just met two weeks ago? We open up about the real reasons the Games hit the heart: the grind behind those brief highlight packages, the unglamorous m...
The Brochure on Have To Vs Want To
Ever feel stuck between what absolutely has to get done and the few things you ache to do for yourself? That’s the tightrope we walk this week as I navigate my husband’s pain plan, an onslaught of rain, and a to-do list that keeps multiplying b...
The Brochure on an Expiring Nerve Block
What do you hold on to when progress backtracks overnight? I open up about living with uncertainty after my husband’s nerve block—celebrating the good PT days, bracing for sudden flares, and learning to treat every pain-free hour like a win. Th...
The Brochure on COVID Recovery, Gardening, and Weather
Some weeks feel like a collage: a cough that won’t totally quit, a cat who ignores dinner when the heat rises, a dog who thinks every block is a parade, and a lawn that finally answers back with the thinnest line of green. This conversation sit...
The Brochure on No Chocolate?? And a Life Lesson on Gullibility
The Covid cough won’t let me laugh yet, and somehow chocolate lost its spell. What in the hell happened to me??? That’s where this story starts: a real-time look at COVID recovery that trades drama for honesty. I talk through the positive test,...
The Brochure on Covid and Coughing
A scratchy throat, a stubborn cough, and a little denial—then a swab that changed the story. We open up about the week with a confirmed COVID case, the scramble to start Paxlovid, and the practical steps that made each day a little easier. From...
The Brochure on Rain, Walks, And A Little Dog
Rain soaked Los Angeles, the Rose Parade turned soggy, and my holiday lights kept tripping like they were on a timer from the weather gods—so I used the mess as a nudge to start fresh. I share how a wet week, a sick spouse, and a very determine...
The Brochure on Holiday (Decoration) Blues
A holiday decorating contest turned into a masterclass in rolling with the weather. The atmospheric river drenched our front yard display, shorted the circuits, and left our ten-foot Yeti with gravity-defying soggy fur. We didn’t take home the ...
The Brochure on Los Angeles Rain
Holiday cheer meets home reality as a Southern California storm rolls in and puts a target on outdoor lights, inflatables, and carefully planned yard magic. I talk through the tradeoffs of beauty and safety—what happens when circuits shut down,...
The Brochure on....Easy?
Joy doesn’t always arrive in a big moment; sometimes it shows up in a box that claims “25 minutes” and actually takes four hours, a friendly text from a great PT, or a yard that glows just enough to make strangers slow their cars. We set out to...
The Brochure on Caregiving (Again)
Caregiving rarely looks like the neat checklist people promise. We open the door on a week of small wins and stubborn setbacks: a partner recovering from bulging discs, the push to trade bed rest for hallway laps, and the work of finding motiva...
The Brochure on Caregiving, Boundaries, And Small Wins
Caregiving isn’t a tidy checklist; it’s a constant recalibration of energy, emotion, and logistics. In this episode, I'm talking about life after back-to-back hospital stays and what it takes to keep a home running when helpers still need help,...
Dry Turkey, Wet Humor - Re-releasing The Brochure on Thanksgiving
Dry turkey on one side of the family, rum-soaked pudding on the other—somehow neither tasted like home. This week it's a re-release of my favorite funny Thanksgiving episode, and I'm pulling you into a holiday world where salt was outlawed, bay...
The Brochure on Being in Your Own Bed Again
Twelve days in the hospital can blur into a single, sleepless memory. After an ER stretch that felt endless, we finally brought my husband home—but not before the big question families everywhere wrestle with: skilled nursing facility or recove...
The Brochure on Managing Pain & The Power Of Advocacy
The healthcare system doesn’t hand out a manual or a how-to brochure for that matter about how to deal with health issues. After a hospital discharged us with no pain meds and no clear plan because we declined surgery, we faced a stark choice: ...