Andy: This is The Secure Family Podcast.
Welcome friend, I'm Andy Murphy, the host and the founder of The Secure Dad.
This show is all about empowering parents to protect themselves and their family.
I believe that security is the foundation of happiness.
I want your family to be safe and happy.
If that sounds like something that resonates with you, subscribe to
the show because there's always something new to talk about.
The information that I share on this podcast is for general
information purposes only.
My goal is to empower you to make safer decisions for yourself and
your family because our safety is our own responsibility.
Today I get to chat with one of my favorite guests, Patrick McNamara.
We'll talk about his new project just for kids.
All of that and more coming up on the Secure Family Podcast.
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Today I welcome back to the show, Mr. Patrick McNamara.
Mac spent 22 years in the military doing special ops work.
After his retirement, he continued to improve himself and others
through specialized training.
Currently, he teaches marksmanship, combatives, and security.
He has his own podcast and is the author of a fantastic book entitled Sentinel.
You may know him from his popular social media posts about Basic Dude
Stuff, but today we're gonna be talking about his latest project.
Here's my conversation with Patrick McNamara.
Hey Mac, thank you so much for being on the show again today.
Remind everybody who you are and what you're up to.
Mac: Great.
Thanks for having me.
Glad to be here again.
So my name is Pat McNamara.
I work for my own, I'm my own BA man.
You know, I work for my own company called Tmax Inc. Uh,
I do a lot of different stuff.
Basically an entrepreneur, I. Um, I'm a retired military guy.
I did 22 years in special ops, uh, retired in oh five from that to start
other ventures, you know, and, and, and along the way I had no idea that I'd
become a social media influencer, but.
It landed in my lap, you know, with between stuff like, uh, Sunday
Sentinel sermons, driveway workouts, basic dude stuff, that kind of thing.
You know, it's, it's um, it's kinda grown exponentially, you
know, over the past several years.
And I think I'm still relatively new to the whole social media
thing, but I mean, it's, the platform's pretty, pretty big by now.
It's pretty big.
Andy: Yeah, man, you've, you've done a great job in kind of
mastering social media, especially with like the Basic Dude Stuff.
By the way, you also forgot to mention you were the author of the book
Sentinel, which is still one of my favorites for, um, self-defense and
understanding how to protect your Yeah, that's it right there, man.
If you have not read this book, please go and buy it is worth every penny.
Um, but yeah.
Yeah, like you've, you've done really good for yourself in all of the
stuff with social media, and I think part of it is, is you know what, you
know, and you were just wanting to share that with other people, right.
Mac: Right, right.
Uh, especially with, uh, stuff like, um, basic dude stuff,
that, that was a, an accident.
It just happened one night, you know, um, just chit-chatting with my bride.
Uh, it was the end of 19 and within months I felt it necessary.
To do that right there,
Andy: Yeah.
Mac: to get a trademark on it.
I mean, because it grew, you know, it became a worldwide, a
worldwide brand over overnight.
I mean, and, and, and one of the things that I, um, didn't expect is I
would, uh, grow quite a, uh, following.
In with the, with youth, you know what I mean?
Tons of kids.
Uh, so then I got, you know, I was reminded, wow, kids like this, so I
gotta make sure it's clean, you know,
Andy: Yeah.
Right.
Mac: make sure I keep any, uh, keep any cuss words out of it, uh, um, and keep
it just pure and fun, you know, and, and make sure there's no like tobacco
or booze in it and stuff like that,
Andy: Sure.
Mac: So, uh, but yeah, it, it, um.
It, it grew, uh, it grew quite a bit and, and it, it's fun to do because
it's very wholesome content, which is hard these days to be popular with
Andy: Sure.
Oh, yeah.
Mac: on the internet because what sells on the internet is angry, scared, and stupid.
And those three things right there, that's the me that's media worldwide, you know?
And it's a shame.
I mean, we, uh, we human beings are devolving rapidly and we're slipping
further and further from our primal being.
Our attention spans our crap.
You know, we have an attention span less than that of a goldfish, and
it's trickling down to our kids too, you know, which is a shame.
Andy: Right,
Mac: So, you know, I, I, so I've really been trying to find ways
to, you know, influence, um, youth.
Like with the, with the basic dude stuff, it's the Gen Zers, which is great.
Uh, because I get a lot of response from them.
You know, Hey, thanks for doing this.
I had no idea I should know how to change a tire or tie a double
Windsor knot in my tie or whatever.
It's, you know, cook a meal, uh, you know, change a, um, a light fixture.
Uh, so, um, it, it's, it's been real fun having a positive influence on
the, the younger gens, you know?
And, um, my, uh, my business partner, I, my friend, uh, cj and I. CJ Ortiz
and I have a, uh, uh, podcast as well, university of Badassery, and we try
to, um, do the same there as well.
You know, try to influence the younger generations to, uh, just be
better people, you know, and, and, and our, I think our nonsensical
adolescent banter is very palatable.
To, uh, the, to the younger gens.
Um, and now I've, I've ventured into this world of even younger,
younger people, you know, which there's a storyline behind that too.
Uh, and, um, I, I can't wait to get into that because it's been, it's been fun.
It's been fun.
Andy: Yeah.
Well, let's go ahead and talk about that.
So who is Mr. Mustavio and did you come up with that name?
Tell me about all of
Mac: uh, when I moved into this neighborhood in, uh, 2017, and my wife
and I keep to ourselves, we're not like, you know, go to the neighbor's house
for barbecue and bring a fruit brat basket over when somebody moves in.
You know, I, I, I don't, I, I, I just like my privacy and MySpace and,
uh, when, um, uh, during, uh, ation.
2020 when we were all locked down, we met our neighbors and we were,
oh man, our neighbors are cool.
Uh.
Lots of little kids in the neighborhood, and the little kids in
my neighborhood play like little kids.
They have, they have, they're barefoot, they're tanned.
They play in the woods.
They ride dirt bikes, you know, they build forts, they climb trees.
Uh, they're athletic, you know, they're, they're, they're, they're, they're long
and thin little kids, you know, which is, which is such a, um, it, it, it's.
It's so refreshing to see nowadays, you know, because kids are, are
meek and slight and pasty and, you know, they're under this safety
umbrella from their parents.
I don't know what they're protecting them from.
Parents are protecting 'em from the sun.
Are you kidding me?
We need the sun.
Uh, but, um, in meeting some of my neighbors, uh, uh, a,
a friend of mine, um, he, uh.
His, one of his daughters started calling me Mr. Mustavio, just
out of the blue, Mr. Mustavio.
I said, I said, what does that mean?
She goes, I don't know.
well, you don't know what Mr. Mustavio means.
She goes, I don't know.
I just like the name.
So she started calling me that and then it caught on.
So every little kid in my neighborhood calls me Mr. Mustavio.
They don't even know my name.
And that's what I answer to.
answer to Mr. Mustavio, that's who I am.
Uh, they don't even, I. You know, uh, miss a beat with it.
You know, they'll, when I'm mowing the lawn or something,
they're coming home from school.
Hey, Mr. Mustavio, are you doing basic dude stuff, Mr. Mustavio?
Can we pick some of your blackberries?
Like, yeah, come on up.
Pick blackberries.
Andy: That is
Mac: that's what I've been answering to for the, the kids in the neighborhood
to, I've been answering at, uh, to Mr.
Mustavio.
Andy: Very cool.
You know, you talked about this earlier.
You've done so much with like all your driveway workouts with basic
dude stuff, you've got the podcast.
What has inspired you to start a YouTube channel for kids?
Mac: Well, um,
the past several years I've been, uh, more and more just.
Disheartened and full of almost it, it's sa uh, it's very saddening
to see the, the what kids are.
What kids are doing these days and parents forcing devices on 'em and things like
that, you know, they're just disconnected.
I, I, I just see a lack of imagination, lack of curiosity.
Uh, and, and, and, you know, it's not the kid's fault, you
know, it's the parent's fault.
They'll go out to restaurants and, and you'll have a family of four.
Everybody will be on a device and everywhere I go, I see parents
bringing little devices for their kids.
You know, and, and they could be sitting outside.
So they're, now, they're myopic, they're in this world, this 45 degree
syndrome, and they're just stuck in there with headphones on out in public.
So they have no idea what's going on around 'em.
And they live in this world of wonder.
See that?
And that's where the, the, the name came up too, is I'm, I'm, I'm I, I'm saddened
that kids are no longer full of wonder.
Kids should be full of wonder and kids should be bored.
They have to be bored.
They have to be bored because that encourages imagination, creativity,
expeditionary mindset, you know, the uh, the willingness and the want and
need to explore, um, to, to figure things out, you know, to exercise
deductive reasoning, all that.
And we're robbing them of that.
We're stealing it from them.
You know, those young, fragile eggshell minds were, they were
completely destroying them.
You know, it's so detrimental to their health and upbringing.
Uh, and Rebecca and I,
was going to school, social work.
went for two years.
Two years she got her degree.
It was, um, she'd come home every day in distress.
Andy: Mm-hmm.
Mac: Especially when she started interning counseling kids and watching
what the counselors were doing.
'cause right now it's medicate, medicate, medicate.
You know, it's, it's, it's, they're medicating kids.
Four years old.
You know, if your kids are active, you got, they gotta have
a problem, you know, they have a DH or a DHD or a DD or whatever.
Hey, show me a kid that doesn't have that, and I'll show you a really messed up kid.
Andy: Hmm.
Mac: Kids need to be like that, you know?
And they need to be outside.
They need to exercise, they need to explore.
Um, and, and she would come home in distress every night.
And one night she come, come home in tears and I don't even talk to her.
When she would come home, I'll give her two hours and then I'll let her.
Tell me, and then I'll let her just, uh, uh, gu gush, you know, I'll let
her dump on me and I'll just listen.
And one night it, her, her stories brought me to tears as well, you know,
of little kids being counseled by a counselor in a, in elementary school
and the things they were telling them.
And, and, um, and then I just said it to ourselves, Rebecca, we
could be, we could be part of the problem or part of the solution.
I have an idea.
Um, I have an idea for a kid show, uh, and I didn't know the name yet.
I, I knew I wanted Mr. Mustavio in it, you know.
Um, and I just winged it.
I totally just winged it.
I brought it up to, uh, uh, my buddy cj.
I said, what do you think about this concept?
Sent him a rough draft and, um, he started in on the, he, he and his,
uh, kid Joe started in on the editing.
Um.
And then I realized, man, this is, this is easy filming.
Andy: Mm-hmm.
Mac: You know, because I, I, because I have not lost the little kid inside of me.
You know, I'm, I'm still the, the guy who the little kid turns rocks over.
Andy: Mm-hmm.
Mac: like that, you know, or, or examines leaves, uh, when I'm in the woods or
when I'm walking around and is curious to, what flower is this right here?
What is this bug called?
What, you know, kind of, uh, plant.
Is growing here growing?
You know, I, I, I'm just always interested.
I have not lost the child.
The curio, the curious child inside of me is still present, so it's
pretty organic for me to make to content, you know, kids content.
Um, and then came.
Kind of the challenge of formatting, you know, how do I format this?
And I, so I reached back to an idol of mine is childhood in
childhood, childhood idol of mine,
Mr. Rogers.
Andy: Right.
Mac: Rogers nothing but wholesome.
Andy: Mm-hmm.
Mac: So I wanted to be wholesome, but still, you know, get you
some, you know, a, a gruff,
Andy: Sure.
Mac: uh, uh, gnarly, edgy version of Mr. Rogers.
So, Mr. Rogers would come inside every day with his sport jacket on,
take his sport jacket off, put his sweater on, take his loafers off, and
put his, uh, uh, house sneakers on.
I start every day by going outside, take my shoes off, walk in the grass.
So the format, you know, without, you know, the puppets and things like that, it
w it was kind of Mr. Rogers, um, inspired.
Andy: Mm-hmm.
Mac: they're loud, they're bright, they're shrill.
They're, they're just so much in your face.
They're artificial.
You know, you could almost taste the artificial in them.
So I just wanted to be real wholesome and I thought, well.
If parents are going to force a device on a child, I may as well give them
something to watch on that device that encourages them to get outside.
Whether that outside is, it could be on their back porch.
It could be in their backyard, it could be in the school playground,
it could be in a park, it could be in a wooded area, wherever.
It's, regardless of the scope and size of that area, there's
always something to explore.
Um, and the, and the big one, two, there, there's underlying, underlying
message, message messages here.
Um.
Observation skills.
In other words, situational awareness.
Look left, look right, look up, look down, be aware.
Don't see, just look, look around.
Be curious.
You know, get out and look at stuff because we're robbing kids because
we're, we're of, of, of, of stuff, like intuition, observation skills.
So if I could get a kid into birdwatching.
Flowers.
So with Mr, we look down at the smallest bug and up at a bird of prey.
You know, we look today, I film lichens.
Andy: Okay.
Mac: You know, uh, so we'll film lichens and then snapdragons, you
know, everything in the plant world.
Um, I've taken them camping, fishing, uh, showed 'em, snakes, birds, bees.
Uh, I've got a Beaver Dam across the street and that's
something we visit every day.
Uh, my co-star is my dog, grace.
Andy: Yeah, she's good.
Mac: Uh, yep.
She's a perfect CoStar.
She has no idea.
She doesn't need to rehearse.
She's
Andy: perfect every time.
Yep.
Mac: right?
She's just, yep.
Right after this, I've gotta go film her, um, because I've got number
nine, uh, coming out pretty soon.
So I, I'm almost done with number nine.
The episodes are short, you know, and, and I'm listening to kid feedback.
Uh, because the kids have been giving me feedback.
For instance, they love grace.
They wanna see more of her.
They wanna see her do tricks, they want, um, they love the exercises.
I do exercises at the end too.
At the end of every episode we do an exercise and they're like,
jackal lane style exercise.
So I'm bringing way back.
Andy: Yeah.
Mac: and sixties, you know, to the, uh, jackal lane esque style exercises.
Andy: That's
Mac: But it, it's, it's a lot of fun.
I just walk around, you know, and, and I mean, today I filmed
several different bugs, a couple frogs, a lot of different plants.
Um, I mean, you know what's funny?
I told my wife this the other night.
I came in and I said, you know, I went out looking for content and I didn't find any.
And the reason is is I'm not looking through my child's eyes.
I'm looking as an adult,
Andy: Sure.
Mac: know, I'm trying to see, I'm trying to see instead of look.
Andy: So when you were talking about, you know, your idol, Mr. Rogers and you,
uh, coming and taking your shoes off and going out into the grass, like I saw
that when I watched the first episode.
It was like, that is, so Mr. Rogers right there.
And I think that's great.
I think it brings, uh, parents into it as well.
It was like, oh wait.
Yeah.
This is very familiar to me.
So that's, that's awesome.
You, you kind of touched on this a second ago.
Um.
What skills do you feel like kids today are really, truly lacking?
What is, what is it that needs to be worked on you think?
Mac: Well, um,
Motor skills like drawing.
So we're gonna draw in a couple episodes, big whiteboard outside.
All my stuff is outside.
Nothing's gonna be inside.
Everything's gonna be outside.
Uh, drawing, writing.
I have the whiteboard.
So my thing is whiteboard.
So every episode I show the whiteboard with words written on it.
Um, and, uh, if I could, could, can encourage a kid to get a
whiteboard, you know, and take it to a restaurant and draw.
You know, a little whiteboard or right stuff.
Instead of putting a pad in front of them and watching something goofy,
you know, something, brain numbing.
Then success block another one.
Today, what I filmed was cardinal direction,
Andy: Very important.
Mac: so I said, uh, I said.
Let's take a walk.
Which direction should we go?
Should we go north, south, east, or west?
And I, I said, oh, you don't know direction, or some of you do.
So I talk about how to find direction.
Then I told him a field expedient way, like with the, uh, li liking on the
tree, you know, north side of the tree.
And then I showed him a compass and I said, we're gonna go west today.
That's where the beaver dam is.
Um, but I think all core.
Primal skills without being like, there's people who know me, you
know, and know Basic Dude Stuff.
They're like, oh, you gotta teach, show kids safe, uh,
firearm safety or making a fire.
It's like, no, no, no, no, no.
This is a 6-year-old bro.
You know, this is four to eight.
Yes.
I don't need to, and, and because what I am very, very careful.
I don't wanna ruffle parents' feathers.
I want them to see this like, uh, for instance, um.
Every episode I do, I wear a black t-shirt,
Andy: Mm-hmm.
Mac: solid black.
Now, every once in a while I'll film something and I'll have on a
t-shirt, like, you know, uh, but even careful about what I am wearing.
Um, I don't want to, um, you know, mix in anything that can be even
impossibly thought of as political.
Andy: Mm-hmm.
Mac: Or biased or anything like, and you have to be so careful with verbiage
because you know, a parent might hear something and think, oh, you're trying
to subliminally manipulate my kid?
Andy: Mm-hmm.
Mac: And, and, and it, and, and that could be troublesome.
Now, I did something today that's a little edgy, and I did, and I took
a book, a page out of Mr. Rogers
Andy: Mm-hmm.
Mac: a couple months ago.
I got, uh.
Six new chicks, and we've been going on a journey with the chicks growing up.
One of them, a sneaky little guy is a rooster.
I showed the kids that to me, I said this one, I said, you're not fooling anybody.
You're a rooster.
You're a boy, not a girl.
So that could be, even nowadays,
Andy: True.
I see where you're going.
Yeah.
Mm-hmm.
Mac: But Mr. Mr. Rogers did that episode.
You know, boys are boys and girls are girls, blah, blah, blah.
There was a whole song about it.
Um, so even that, I was like, eh, do I put that in?
No, I'm putting that in there because it's a rooster, you know, it's a, it's a
chicken, it's a, it's, but you know, it's, it looks different, you know, it's got a
massive comb on its head and everything, so, you know, you're not fooling anybody.
You're a rooster, you're a boy, not a girl.
So, uh, you know, uh, and, and every once in a while, I
think, Hmm, should I say that?
But most of the time I'm just identifying bugs
Andy: Mm-hmm.
Mac: birds.
You know, uh, I think birdwatching is one of those skills.
I even recommend it for adults, you know, to, to exercise.
Um, uh, not only situational awareness, but observation skills,
you know, color contrast, movement, you know, things of that nature.
Uh, and, and it could, I think it, it may, I, and I know it has because
it's already encouraged parents to.
Bring their kids outside and explore little things.
So if there's a trickle down effect, man, I'm happy now.
Not a lot of growth.
Right.
I mean, I've got eight episodes out and it's slow.
Slow
Andy: sure.
sure.
But yeah.
But you are, you're starting in like this kind of a saturated
market, but like that's cool.
I mean, kids content, if like kids latch onto it, it will grow.
I mean like, yeah.
Yeah.
Just, and, and one of the things you were talking about with birdwatching, I think
also patience is a big part of that.
And I think if you
Mac: Patient.
Oh yeah,
Andy: patience in this Yeah.
You're, you're good.
Mac: Yep.
Well, I talk about patience.
'cause when we walk around and look for stuff, I say, Hey,
sometime you gotta be real patient.
You're not gonna see it if you're, if you're loud and running around, we've
gotta be quiet and we've gotta be patient.
Andy: Very
Mac: So, you know, parents will appreciate that.
Andy: Uh, yeah, for sure.
Yeah.
Um, so, so far I know you've only done a limited amount of episodes.
What's been your, your favorite one so far?
Mac: Uh, the last one I did, which was number eight, there's just a,
uh, there's a variety, you know, everything from Grace to it had the,
the full, um, circle of, of, uh, all of.
um, the things that I want to cover.
Plants, flowers, birds, um, the gardening Grace and beaver dam.
Uh, I even, uh, went down to the beaver dam and you'll see on number eight.
It's great the timing.
I couldn't have orchestrated.
I am filming and I say, I see the beaver.
He's right there.
And I says, sometime Beaver will smash their tail on the water.
Uh, to, to, um, to warn us, you know, and smash.
I mean, the timing was perfect and I said just like that.
So it was great.
The, one of the things I wanna talk about too, I remember my kid when he was five,
he talked, he was cur very, very curious.
Um, and he was asking about what, what is a defense mechanism?
Andy: Good
Mac: So I did that one on number eight too.
With a p, with a P bug, a rolly polley.
I said, p uh, rolly pollies will roll up into a ball sometime.
It's a defense mechanism.
So I wanna keep mentioning that, you know, a skunk has smell.
It's a defense mechanism, you know, to, uh, teach kids a few
cool words like that so they know, you know, so they could maybe even
build their own defense mechanism.
You know, we could talk about that, you know?
Uh.
And, and I have no idea where it's gonna go, but right now I'm just gonna keep
doing what I'm doing the same format.
You know, the formatting is tough because, um, I just don't go out in an hour
Andy: Mm-hmm.
Mac: and film a bunch of stuff and come back and edit it.
I mean, it's, it's, you know, a week or two.
Of filming little things, just, uh, targets of opportunity.
And then I stole 'em into a folder and then I come, have to come back,
edit each one, crop it down, and then put 'em into sequential format,
you know, with the whiteboard.
Let's go look at a turtle, you know, and then I'll look for the turtle clip.
Let's go find some, uh, some birds, and then I'll look for my bird clips And, um.
And, uh, but, uh, in the mean, in the meantime, um, I'm learning too because
I downloaded a plant app, a bug app.
I know birds, so I don't have to download that.
But, um, you know, I've downloaded these apps, so I don't know what, uh,
you know what these, a lot of these bugs are really called, you know,
there's so many different variations.
Like, I filmed a, a dragonfly today and, uh, and, um.
Never, uh, never heard of it, the type
Andy: Mm-hmm.
Mac: uh, thankfully I had that planned app and I was able to talk about it.
Andy: Yeah.
So you're, you're learning right along there with the kids and didn't in an
episode, you filmed up in New York, right?
You shot with like a, a bird up in New York City.
Yeah.
Mac: Yep, yep, yep.
Bird and a squirrel.
I had a squirrel visit me in New York
Andy: That's what it was.
Yeah.
Mac: Yep.
Yep, yep.
So where, where, wherever.
You know, I could I, I mean,
I think the backyard thing is the most fun because.
Uh, uh, not all kids have a backyard, but most of them do, or at least they have a
school yard or a park they could go to.
You know, I mean, I'm fortunate I got woods across the street and
a beaver dam across the street.
I understand that some kids live very rural and some live very urban.
So I have to understand that and, um, you know, kind of.
Empathize with the fact that, you know, I have it pretty good because
I have the 16 raised beds, you know, so I may as well share it with them.
I have these magnificent birds that come to, uh.
Uh, to visit me.
Um, today I had, uh, uh, I, I got a rabbit now in the yard,
which, uh, is driving my dog
Andy: Oh, I'm sure.
Mac: but, uh, it's, it's a visitor now and I got to film
the, the bunny today as well.
So, uh, you know, but yeah, it's, it's, it's, lot of, it's a lot of fun.
It's a lot of fun.
Andy: Yeah, and I, and I
Mac: Yeah.
I'm just hoping, I'm hoping gets some growth, you know, uh, because that'll
encourage me too to, you know, to.
To dig up more content and go visit people who have, you know, uh, animals,
uh, farms, um, whatever the dog trainers.
I don't know.
Uh, parakeets, I don't care what it is.
Whatever.
It's, you know.
Um, I'm,
I'm, uh, one guy told me he's got a Spider Farm.
Andy: Oh yeah, no.
Mm-hmm.
Not for me, man.
You know, you,
Mac: is, but that's part of it, right?
So that I gotta film even the creepy stuff and, uh, spiders and bees
and, you know, things like that.
Um, I've gotta film that and talk about it, you know, Hey, these
are part of our world of wonder where it's cool to be curious and
I want that to be a buzz phrase.
So much, you know, so bad, Kat.
Andy: So you've, you've shared about some of the struggles that your wife
is seeing in her job and kind of the problems that kids are facing today.
What are some of the skills that you feel every kid needs to have to grow up?
Mac: Skills that are innate to a child, curiosity, imagination, things like
that, uh, kids like to look around, you know, we watch, um, I. I mean, it's
every day, you know, it's every day.
We watched, uh, outdoor venue, uh, food truck venue, uh,
parents bring a 2-year-old.
And, um, they brought this 2-year-old, sat him down in like a highchair, and
the kid's looking around, you know, and the dad had a, and the really cute kid,
and were smiling and the dad smile at us and the dad put a device right in
front of the kid and the kid looked at the device and still looking around.
And Rebecca goes, that's right, kid.
Fight it.
Fight it because kids wanna look around, you know, they're curious.
They want to see people's faces, you know, and expressions, and they want to hear
noises, you know, they like murmuring.
You know, they, it's comfort to them, you know, comfort in, in, in mass.
Um, and we're just so curiosity, imagination are the biggest ones,
you know, and, and just to be full of wonder, don't freaking rob
that kid of being full of wonder.
Let that kid look around, man.
I mean, it's, it pains me so much.
I have no idea what they're gonna turn into.
A bunch of tralo, you know.
Kids are gonna turn into troglodytes, pasty flacid, uh, big brains,
but not functional at all.
You know, they're just gonna be walking around the streets, bumping into
stuff, um, with no sense of direction.
You know, we used to be able to, we human beings used to be able to hear direction.
We could feel it in our bodies.
Our primitive man knew without a compass, without the sun.
It could be Boreal Forest at night.
And our primitive human being would say that is north right there.
Um, but not, we're just, we're, and it's adults too.
You know, adults are robbing themselves of intuition, imagination, creativity,
observation, skills, situational awareness, all of it robbing themselves.
Uh, you know, it's, it's, um.
they're contributing to a, to the downfall of a race and that race as human
being, especially us first worlders,
Andy: Mm. Mm-hmm.
Sure.
Yeah.
That's important to, yeah.
Yeah, I get that.
Mac: Right.
Andy: I know that you have a lot of skills in your life, but what is a
skill that you picked up as a kid that you have used throughout your
life that you could share with us?
Mac: Um, two of them, and they kind of go hand in hand,
uh, birdwatching and drawing.
So I started drawing and I, my, my home is littered with
all the artwork that I've done.
My wife and I are both, uh, we both do artwork.
My kids are, uh, very artsy fartsy as well.
Um, so the drawing is probably, I think maybe age seven.
There used to be a show on, and, uh, and this is how I'm gonna
do my drawing when I do it.
There used to be a show on, uh, Sunday mornings, uh, called Captain Bob.
Um, so this was.
Late seventies ear?
No, no, no, no.
Early, early, early seventies Sometime.
I forget how old I am.
So I was born in 1965.
I was 60 years old in case, so it was early seventies.
Captain Bob would come on eight o'clock on Sunday mornings and it
was a how to, you know, drawing.
And my dad would.
On Sunday morning before he left the church, he would leave construction paper
and pencils on the living room floor so we could lay down the living room floor.
'cause you know, the little TV just sat on the living room,
Andy: Yeah.
Yeah.
Yep.
Mac: there.
Um, and we would draw along with Captain Bob.
It was all, all, all outdoor stuff.
So, um, the drawing.
Was a big one.
And the birdwatching, because birdwatching, I still do it,
but that's a skill, right?
It's an observation skill, and it's taught me how to be observant.
And it's helped me exercise my eyeballs to see things in full spectrum
from here to there immediately.
Um, the, uh.
But those are two really huge ones.
And then I was always into, I was a very gentle kid, but I was always outdoors.
I was always exploring.
I wanted to know what everything was, you know, and I. And, uh,
you know, my parents were busy.
They were parents of the seventies, you know, they didn't, they
weren't like, look, you know, look it up on the internet.
You know, if you wanted a book on something, you, you walked to
the library and you checked out a
Andy: Mm-hmm.
Mac: uh, on, you know, what are these plants.
What are these birds?
So, you know, before I had my own bird guide, I had to go to the library,
uh, and my dad would take me some time to the big library in, in the
middle of town instead of walking to, you know, uh, what was that one?
Jefferson?
Jefferson Elementary School was, they had a library, I had a library
car too in New Britain, Connecticut.
And, you know, it wasn't far.
It was, uh, half a mile away or something like that, maybe
under a mile, you know, away.
Uh, walked that library and check out books.
Um, and, um, man, because I think putting pen.
Pencil to paper is another massively diminishing skill.
Uh, have you ever seen a Gen Z write
Andy: Yeah.
Yeah, man.
Handwriting is, is degrading fast, and I have horrible
handwriting saying that.
Mac: They, they, they, I mean, uh,
but they'll justify and say it's an anachronism.
We don't need to write.
Uh, but dang man.
But what if you do?
What if you actually, what if everything does go down and you
need to draw somebody a strip map?
You know, or, or aren't you gonna ever write a sonic?
Andy: Mm-hmm.
Mac: You know, or, or, or, or jot down notes of a, of a song
lyric you, you, you came up with.
I mean, it's necessary to, to be able to write.
So I, I, uh, those are two, and they're not necessarily skills,
they're just innate, um, skills that kids should be able to do.
Uh, you know, and there's, there's, there, there are many more.
But, um, uh.
But we, uh, we coddle, you know, we're, we coddle kids and we protect them, which
we're not protecting them from anything, you know, we're doing damage to them.
I think that the, like that, the huge one for me, it's heartbreaking,
is protecting kids from the sun.
That's a bunch of malarkey, you know?
Um.
We, it is so necessary that kids get sun on them, you know, especially for
boys, you know, especially developing boys to get sun on them for testosterone
development and, and, and, and just good connection between the neuroreceptors.
Um, uh, uh, and I think another one that I'm trying to get through, um,
is I'm doing a lot on the health side.
Like I grow my own vegetables and you know, gr you know, I say
let's pick some green beans and let's see if Grace likes one.
She loves 'em, she loves green beans.
Do you like green beans?
I love green beans.
Uh, like I think the last one I say, look at this broccoli.
I said, it's not for everybody, but it's really good for you.
I love broccoli.
You should at least try it.
You know, I said, I said that.
'cause I don't, I, I get it.
You know, I'm, I'm not,
I'm not gonna impose my will on a kid and say you should eat your vegetables.
Andy: Yeah.
I.
Mac: but I think it's important to, for kids to see that you
could grow stuff out of dirt
Andy: Mm-hmm.
Mac: and eat it later,
Andy: Mm-hmm.
Mac: you know, and that it's good for you and that exercise is good for you.
You know, and, uh, but there, there, there's just life skills galore
are going to be, uh, intermingled within the contents of Mr.
Mustavio's world of wonder.
Andy: Yeah, I'm, you know, I'm glad you talked about life skills and you talked
about your mom and dad a second ago.
What role do parents play in ensuring life skills for their kids?
Mac: Part of it is.
Man, don't force that device on 'em, please.
Parents don't force that thing on 'em, you know, um, there's a, a restaurant
here in town that has, uh, we donate coloring books to and crayons.
So parents could go in and, and ask, Hey, do you have a coloring book?
Yep, we could Sure do.
And here's some, you know, um, you don't need to force a device
on 'em just because they're.
Um, you know, uh, they don't have anything to do.
They're not occupied.
They, they'll find no, they could find stuff to do, you know, um, you could
tell, Hey, go look at that thing.
Come back and tell me what it's, go, go, go over there.
There's a tree.
Um, go feel.
I, I, I saw a little girl.
Couple weeks ago, she's probably three, nah, let's say two, just at that walking
age, you know, stumbling, bumbling.
And she was with her mom.
Her mom was right behind her.
And I love that her mom says, yeah, I'm just gonna, I'm just gonna give her a
long leash and see what she's up to.
And she ran over to a tree and hugged it.
And man, it just melted my heart.
And I yelled at the mom, I said, that right there is what it's about.
And the mom was cracking up, you know, but, um, what did you ask a question?
Did I just go off on another?
Andy: Well, I, I would just, I wanted to know your, yeah, well, I wanted to
know like, what role do, do parents play
Mac: Oh, right, right, right, right,
Andy: helping kids develop skills?
Mac: Right, right, right.
So, you know, limit, of course, the devices and then be active,
like with a show like Mr. Mustavio.
Um.
Help 'em plant something.
If, even if you don't have a, a backyard, you know, plant a tomato in a pot and
put it out in the sun and water it and talk about, you know, the cycle of life
from seed to medium to, uh, you know.
Uh, the, um, seedling and now it needs parental care, just like any baby.
We need to nurture this thing in order for it to develop and grow
and to grow fruit and to bear fruit.
Um, and, and it requires, uh, work and, um, you know, and, and
a little bit of discipline, uh, a little bit, a lot of patience.
Um, but parents also, you know, um, uh.
Be, be curious as well.
I mean, don't just say, yeah, there's a birdie.
You know, it's a birdie.
It's not a birdie.
First off, it's a bird.
You know, don't be condescending to your kid.
It's not a doggie, it's a dog.
It's not a fishy, it's a fish.
Um, you know, talk to your kids like they're human beings.
Andy: Mm-hmm.
Mac: At least your basics.
You know, that's a blue jay robin, a cardinal, a ran, a chickadee,
you know, a a, a morning dove, a pigeon crow, red tail hawk.
You know, the common ones, the things that we all should know,
the things that are everywhere.
Just know those because it'll encourage that kid to say, when he sees something
new, he says, that's not a blue jay.
It's not a robin.
It's not a cardinal.
This one is black with a white.
Red chest.
So what is that?
And it might get the parent going, you know what, let's look
Andy: Mm-hmm.
Mac: Oh, here it is right here.
It's a rose breasted grow beak.
And then you find something out about that bird that's a migrator.
You know, we're only gonna see those things in May, you know, or whatever.
It's, um, but I, I, I think it, it'd be real good for parents too, to help
parents interact on the most, um.
On the simplest level, you know, and that's mother nature.
You know, just be curious about what the earth has.
And what it provides.
There, there, there are some things that are gonna be tough for me to, um, because
my demographic, I says four to eight.
So, you know, a lot of people are talking about like survival skills and stuff.
It's like, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.
But, but I would like to talk to kids about stars for instance, but I don't
have a camera that could, you know, capture the night sky, so I might.
But I wanna start talking because we are of the stars.
You know, we are people of the stars, and we should be curious and know
what's, what's up in our heavens.
Uh, at least general knowledge.
General knowledge, you know, the, the, the, just the big constellations,
man, you know, know what Orion is, know Ocasio P is, know what
SSA major is, know what PLE is.
You know, things like that.
I mean, all par, all human beings should know that stuff.
You know, we should, but we don't.
I mean, I, I, I was at a thing, uh, a couple months ago where
there was these adult men and, and, and the night sky, there was
a very little, uh, light pollution.
And I was talking about how great the stars looked, and I
was saying, yeah, check out, you know, uh, Cassio, Pia tonight.
And, um, and mentioning a couple stars, whatever, you know, Capella or whatever.
It was serious.
And they looked at me like.
And I said A, a, a and I realized, oh man, they don't know a a any
of the, the major constellations.
These are adult men.
And I, so I gave 'em a little, the easiest one I know was like finding
the north two ways to find North Star.
Two ways to find Polaris using either Ursa major or Cassio pia.
So I said, that's Cassio, Pia right there.
You can follow this down.
Boom, boom, boom.
And it also points to Vega, points to the Andromeda Galaxy.
You know, it's a, it's a, it's a, uh, kind of a, a little roadmap, um, direction
guide to the Sky and Ursa major using it.
You could find this and that, and this and that.
Um, but I, I, I, I think, you know, that's one of the things I want to
talk about too, um, just to, for.
I think it's important that we know how small we are and insignificant,
you know, and that Wow, man.
We should, we should, we should.
Be curious and, and, and, um, you know, try to make ourselves as, as, uh, good as
possible, as knowledgeable as possible.
Because, because we're, we're min, we're minutia.
You know, we're minutia.
Make yourself count.
Set yourself out for, you know, it's it.
The other thing is, um, I think it's really, it's brave to be different.
Andy: Mm-hmm.
Mac: And, and that's one of the things I want to talk about too.
I'm gonna talk about being different, you know, being
different and, and how it's cool.
I mean, I don't look like people my age, you know, and I do a lot of things that
are different, you know, a lot of things.
Uh, but it makes us all unique.
I.
Andy: Right,
Mac: Um, and I want to talk about that too, you know, like uniqueness, you
know, um, I just gotta find palatable words that, you know, kids could digest.
But, uh, yeah, I, I, it's, it's, um, there's, there's, I have so many ideas,
um, on where and how to take this.
Uh, and, and I'm looking forward to the journey.
Andy: Absolutely, man.
That's awesome.
I can, I can tell your passion by one watching the show, but two,
just hearing you talk about it and how excited you are to do future
episodes and, um, tell everybody who's listening, where can they find Mr.
Mustavio and what they can expect.
Mac: Find it on a number of places.
So, uh, my, I have, uh.
An Instagram account.
Uh, and a lot of people know that, so it's TMacs Inc. But there's
a, a link tree off of that.
But Mr. Mustavio has his own Instagram account too
Andy: Mm-hmm.
Mac: at Mr. Mustavio, M-R-M-U-S-T-A-V-I-O.
Uh, and then it's got its own YouTube Cham channel.
Mr.
Mustavio's a world of wonder.
You know where it's cool to be curious.
Uh, so it's on, it's on several different platforms, you know, several
different platforms and, um, I'm all about, uh, I am not adverse either
to those listening for suggestions.
Or volunteer work on it.
You know, if they have something in, if they're in my neck of the woods
and they have something unique, you know, that, uh, I could share on Mr.
Mustavio, I'll be there,
Andy: That is awesome man..
Mac: uh, yeah, to check it out.
Um, but, uh.
Yeah, man.
Um, I am, I am excited.
I, and, and already just because of the feedback I've gotten from parents, like,
they'll show me pictures of their kids doing exercises, you know, in the living
room, you know, bouncing on one foot or um, um, a lot of parents tell me the first
thing their kids wanna do now is take their shoes off and walk in the grass.
Andy: Good.
Mac: So I think that, you know, that connection with Mother Earth is so
important that grounding that earthing, you know, put your feet on the earth.
Instead of, uh, uh, having a, a cushioned made in China, rubber sole
between you and the earth, you know, put your feet on the earth bare feet.
Yeah.
So, yeah, it's been, it's been really cool, you know, and I appreciate
all of the support from those who have, uh, assisted, uh, those who,
um, get, have given me ideas and to, uh, team or tease for their editing.
Andy: That is awesome.
Hey man, I, I appreciate your time.
You know, best of luck in doing this.
I want you to be successful at this 'cause I want you to share what you,
what you know of nature with kids and help inspire the next generation.
That is, that is very much on brand for you sir and I appreciate that.
Mac: Right on.
Thank you.
And thank you for having me here and thanks everybody who's listening.
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Well, that wraps up this episode of the Secure Family Podcast.
Thanks to Pat Mack for being on the show.
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