Parenting Hell Podcast #3

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What did everyone think to the discussion about which age is the hardest on Fridays episode? I was totally team Josh and agreed with all his points. I think Rob has been out the trenches too long!
 
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I think even if my kids went private and had longer off I’d still naturally refer to it as the 6 weeks holidays
 
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I'm not so sure the things Rob has said definitely means his kids are at a private school. My kids are in a normal state school and have instrument lessons, fencing lessons, opportunities to do kung fu, gardening, forest school, choir, dance clubs, amazing performances.... it's endless. Even if they are I don't care either way tbh, I don't think he's being disingenuous, you don't have to be 100% truthful about all things all the time especially if he is not asked outright... if I could afford it I would consider it too. So what. He has said that he's bringing up his children a different class to how he was. Also, private schools are more likely to be a bit more flexible with the kinds of opportunities and time off they might like to take advantage of, for eg his Australia tour next year when he's taking the kids out. If you are paying for school there's a bit more leeway there, in my (limited) experience.
 
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Finding Rob quite disingenuous at the moment. “The kids have had six weeks off” - his children are at private school. They’ve had 8. He should come out and say it and be honest imo and own that privilege. That’s why they were out in Halkidiki (read: Ikos/sani) mid July, before prices are peak holiday disgusting. Own it!
But why does it matter? I genuinely don't understand why you say he's being disingenuous. There's probably a fair few listeners with kids at private school so it's not a dirty secret (why should it be?).
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What did everyone think to the discussion about which age is the hardest on Fridays episode? I was totally team Josh and agreed with all his points. I think Rob has been out the trenches too long!
As the parent of ages 11,18,20 and 20 (step siblings, not twins) I actually found it quite patronising from Josh that he thinks he has it the worst. I could see what Rob was trying to say but I don't think he got his point across very well.

Give me sleepless nights with a newborn over the horrendous time I had with my school-refusing, traumatised eldest aged 11-17.

Basically, each age has its hardships. In my experience ages 4-10 were joyous. I hated being pregnant (severe sickness) but loved the newborn stage each time. I had PND with my youngest and still that wasn't as hard as dealing with my eldest during her teenage years.

I just found Josh a bit "my kids are so hard and I've got it worse than you" shtick a bit annoying if I'm honest.

As my other contributions to this thread show, I'm not one for slating the joys generally.
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I've just realised my PND and my eldest being tough were actually the same time 😂 funtimes! PND had to come second to her needs! Can laugh about it now.... 🤔
 
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I just think it’s better when successful people take the Katherine Ryan approach to life. Don’t downplay what your success has bought you to remain “relatable”, basically.

I say this as a private school customer. There is nothing wrong with using the

And yes - when your kids have private school holidays you are very aware of the extra 2.5 weeks off!!! It’s a looooong old slog
 
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I think Rob does do that in general. He just doesn’t do it when it would infringe his children’s privacy.
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I'm not so sure the things Rob has said definitely means his kids are at a private school. My kids are in a normal state school and have instrument lessons, fencing lessons, opportunities to do kung fu, gardening, forest school, choir, dance clubs, amazing performances.... it's endless. Even if they are I don't care either way tbh, I don't think he's being disingenuous, you don't have to be 100% truthful about all things all the time especially if he is not asked outright... if I could afford it I would consider it too. So what. He has said that he's bringing up his children a different class to how he was. Also, private schools are more likely to be a bit more flexible with the kinds of opportunities and time off they might like to take advantage of, for eg his Australia tour next year when he's taking the kids out. If you are paying for school there's a bit more leeway there, in my (limited) experience.
Maybe not so much what they do, although some of the extra curriculars are a bit niche for most state schools. But the class sizes he mentions are too small for state schools (certainly ones in outer London, not rural primaries) for one thing.
 
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What did everyone think to the discussion about which age is the hardest on Fridays episode? I was totally team Josh and agreed with all his points. I think Rob has been out the trenches too long!
I agree. I have all bases covered at the moment (kids are a mix of teens, under 10’s and a 2 year old) up until we had the 2 year old. We were always taking about how much easier life was with them being older (and the youngest at that point was only 4) but now I can confirm it’s definitely easier for us as they get older, yes there are different challenges, especially with teens🙄😂 but those challenges are not constant and relentless like looking after an under 3 year old is.
 
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To be honest, I find these sorts of discussions quite tricky, because if you have kids with any sort of SEN or health needs, this stuff is much harder to say. I’d probably take a return to nappies over coping with my teenager’s mental health needs for example. On the other hand, I totally get that this isn’t relevant to most people and obviously the less hands on care a child needs, the easier for most people!
It’s just always makes me feel quite jealous I suppose that my parenting journey is quite different to others. That’s my problem.
 
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What did everyone think to the discussion about which age is the hardest on Fridays episode? I was totally team Josh and agreed with all his points. I think Rob has been out the trenches too long!
As a mother of a teenage boy who is 17, I would happily go back to the hole toddler years. I think every age has it's challenges.
 
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I think you’re designed to block out how hard the younger year are or you’d never have more than one! 🤣
 
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We had two under 2 and neither of them slept well. I basically spent 6 years with 5 or 6 hours of broken sleep a night. They both crawled at 6 months and were never the sort of babies who were happy to lay in a pram and watch the world go by. I don't think I'll ever get over that experience!
 
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What did everyone think to the discussion about which age is the hardest on Fridays episode? I was totally team Josh and agreed with all his points. I think Rob has been out the trenches too long!
Rob is in the sweet spot with his kids, between the relentless baby/toddler years and the teen years which are equally hard but in a completely different way.
Age 6-11 ish is the brilliant time where they don’t need you for every single little thing all day long, sleep through (usually) and you can have entertaining chat and games with them. Plus they still think you as their parents are the best ever. Before the onset of the teen years which are so emotionally exhausting even if they’re not problematic kids.
 
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Publicly admitting to sending his children to private school likely wouldn't fit with his working-class schtick. (I don't personally begrudge him if he can afford it)

But considering he often expresses loyalty to a political party that claims to oppose private education and promote equality for all, it would also be extremely hypocritical of him huh?

'Do as I say, not as I do' - as is often the case with many self-proclaimed socialists.
 
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Publicly admitting to sending his children to private school likely wouldn't fit with his working-class schtick. (I don't personally begrudge him if he can afford it)

But considering he often expresses loyalty to a political party that claims to oppose private education and promote equality for all, it would also be extremely hypocritical of him huh?

'Do as I say, not as I do' - as is often the case with many self-proclaimed socialists.

Sorry but didn’t you think that tax pays for everyone’s university education a while ago?
 
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Publicly admitting to sending his children to private school likely wouldn't fit with his working-class schtick. (I don't personally begrudge him if he can afford it)

But considering he often expresses loyalty to a political party that claims to oppose private education and promote equality for all, it would also be extremely hypocritical of him huh?

'Do as I say, not as I do' - as is often the case with many self-proclaimed socialists.
Doesn't bother me personally, I think you'd be hard pressed to find anyone in his position that wouldn't want to give the best for their kids that they can afford.

I'd rather listen to him than some smug Tory wanker (Kirsty Alsopp) any day.

Edited to ask - why do you listen to the podcast if his politics don't align with your beliefs? Genuine question not being snarky. There's so many individual eps of podcasts I will ignore because the person being interviewed gets on my bits. I can't imagine listening to a regular podcast with a presenter who annoys me.
 
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Publicly admitting to sending his children to private school likely wouldn't fit with his working-class schtick. (I don't personally begrudge him if he can afford it)

But considering he often expresses loyalty to a political party that claims to oppose private education and promote equality for all, it would also be extremely hypocritical of him huh?

'Do as I say, not as I do' - as is often the case with many self-proclaimed socialists.
By that standard you could say the same about Josh who is very liberal but his daughter goes to a private school too
 
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I don’t dislike him and I’ve never said otherwise. I enjoy the podcast (though less so the Friday episodes)

People here were speculating about whether his children attend a private school and I pointed out that if that’s the case, it would seem a bit hypocritical considering the political views he's been outspoken about.

Everyone is entitled to support whichever political party they choose, we live in a democracy. You can still like someone without agreeing with all their views. I’ve also brought up Josh's politics, particularly his ownership of a second home which contributes to the housing crisis, again highlighting the contradiction of his supposed socialist values.

Personally I don’t support any political party because I don’t think any of them are fit to lead. However I do take issue with people preaching one thing then acting in a way that contradicts those beliefs.

For all we know, his children could be in a state school anyway!
 
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That playground shagger story was bleeping unreal. What a douche bag!
 
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