Parenting Hell Podcast #5

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I know there are lots of reasons people can be “picky eaters” but I do struggle with full grown adults who say they’re picky eaters. Nine times out of ten it just seems to be that they won’t eat vegetables?
 
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Just seen that Lou is on Saturday Kitchen (with Rob) this weekend...
I honestly can’t believe this. Aren’t they embarrassed? It’s like bring your wife to work day. So she has to have Rob there while she talks about her book or no one will know who she is. Watch this space. 2 years and she’ll be on telly herself presenting something. 🤦🏻‍♀️ I never used to mind her but this book is really bad taste.
 
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I know there are lots of reasons people can be “picky eaters” but I do struggle with full grown adults who say they’re picky eaters. Nine times out of ten it just seems to be that they won’t eat vegetables?
I find it such an ick 😂 To be fair to Lou, I’m pretty sure she has some quite serious gut / IBS / Crohn’s issues that maybe it’s more about avoiding triggers for that than being picky?

Having said that, for someone who reckons they love food Rob only ever seems to talk about the blandest stuff so maybe they do all have very beige tastebuds in that household
 
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I find it such an ick 😂 To be fair to Lou, I’m pretty sure she has some quite serious gut / IBS / Crohn’s issues that maybe it’s more about avoiding triggers for that than being picky?

Having said that, for someone who reckons they love food Rob only ever seems to talk about the blandest stuff so maybe they do all have very beige tastebuds in that household
Oh yeah soz Lou, forgot about the condition 🤣.
 
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Lou seems nervous on Saturday kitchen but she looks really good, love her hair. Can't blame her appearing alongside Rob I'd be much happier being with my husband.
 
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Lou seems nervous on Saturday kitchen but she looks really good, love her hair. Can't blame her appearing alongside Rob I'd be much happier being with my husband.
Yeah but thats not the reason they're on together is it 😂 it's got nothing to do with support! You think the bbc would put her on Saturday Kitchen without him?!
 
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She looked absolutely terrified, bless her! I can’t imagine anything worse than being on live TV for that many hours!
 
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I was on live tv once for a really short piece about work, and I thought I was going to vomit the entire time. If I'd had to eat and perch on a bar stool, I'd have been totally useless. She's doing really well, she's settling into it.
 
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Oh dear! she couldn’t put any less on her fork if she tried 😂 surely to go on a cooking show you’d have a be a foodie it’s strange.
 
I wonder what the opinions of this and the book are on “X”. That’s the only one thing I miss about being on it is seeing what others are saying about TV shows.
 
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I have no sympathy for her…no one is making her go on tele…she could simply stay home and be the ‘default‘ parent 🤷‍♀️
 
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I have no sympathy for her…no one is making her go on tele…she could simply stay home and be the ‘default‘ parent 🤷‍♀️
Yes! Watch her do a massive promo schlep over the next couple of months, with Rob by her side! Funny how you could do that if you’re never able to be so much as an inch away from your kids and the kitchen sink. She’ll be moaning about being the default parent and not a single person will query how it is that she was able to leave the house at the crack of dawn for most of the day Saturday? If Jack Monroe is to be believed (😂) you have to get up at 3am to do SK!
 
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Yes! Watch her do a massive promo schlep over the next couple of months, with Rob by her side! Funny how you could do that if you’re never able to be so much as an inch away from your kids and the kitchen sink. She’ll be moaning about being the default parent and not a single person will query how it is that she was able to leave the house at the crack of dawn for most of the day Saturday? If Jack Monroe is to be believed (😂) you have to get up at 3am to do SK!
Default parent out on the road, dragging the other parent along…. The real default parents are the grandparents! 🤣
 
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The Times article headline …’There’s a sense of embarrassment when I say I’m a stay at home Mum’ Wow! really?
 
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I've been a single mum on benefits at college; a full time working single mum (40+ hours a week, driving up to 400 miles a week, young daughter in childcare 6am-6pm and a resulting nervous breakdown leading to 2 years off work! So a stay at home mum), a part time working, single mum and eventually what I am today / married, part time, sole trader.

I think I've "done it all" as far as different parenting options are concerned. I truly believe the stay at home life is bloody hard. There are lots of perks to it, don't get me wrong, but it can be soul destroying too. It never fitted for me - though both times I've done it was never through choice (job loss and health issues).

What used to wind me up was when I was a single mum and friends would go on about how hard things were for them when their partner worked away, or worse went on a lads holiday "oh I'm a single parent this week" duck OFF. yes you'll have a hard week being on your own but he's coming back so wind your neck in.

Lou needs a reality check pdq.
 
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I like Josh, but as he is an animal lover I’m surprised he didn’t know how to properly (slowly) introduce the kittens to Beryl. Jackson Galaxy has loads of videos on the topic, and I thought it was pretty well known you have to make the introduction very slow and methodical. No wonder poor Beryl ended up unwell.
 
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There is one side of my brain that thinks this: That no matter who you are and what your set up,if you love and care for your kids and are present and engaged in their lives, then there are certain parts of parenting that are hard, draining, tiring etc. That all experiences are worth sharing.

However, there is the side of my brain that sees things like the phrase 'rare escape' being used in The Times review that make me want to smack my head against the wall. 'RARE' escape? We see Lou regularly go on trips with her friends (Rob reference Lou booking trips to offset his time away), have theatre days etc. And fair play - I wish all parents could do the same and it shouldn't be seen as a bad thing to do. But acting like an interview with The Times is a 'rare' day off.

It's the dis-ingenuity of it all that I find difficult.

I think it's a bit sly to claim to be the 'default' parent (default to me meaning something that is assumed or automatic) if it was a choice you actively made so that your husband could go out and bring in a lot of money - and it's a choice you continue to make. I completely get people feeling frustrated that it's often mums that the school calls when something's wrong or mums who have to book the dentist etc - but of course that's going to be the case when your husband is on tour in Australia. And it's not the fifties, the fact that Rob earns a wedge doesn't mean he gets to handover all childcare and house management to Lou but it doesn't seem like he does? How many times have we heard things like "Lou's going to see Beyonce in Amsterdam because I've been away so much". It seems as fair as it could be given their lifestyle.

I'm not saying that even things we choose can't be uncomfortable and challenging at times, but nothing happens in a vacuum and they've made the choice for Lou to be the 'default' parent with a lot more options and resources available to them that other people have.

Also, if you're such an awkward and shy 'what am i like' wallflower then don't go on tv - again, you chose to go on! So just put your big girl pants on and do it.
 
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There is one side of my brain that thinks this: That no matter who you are and what your set up,if you love and care for your kids and are present and engaged in their lives, then there are certain parts of parenting that are hard, draining, tiring etc. That all experiences are worth sharing.

However, there is the side of my brain that sees things like the phrase 'rare escape' being used in The Times review that make me want to smack my head against the wall. 'RARE' escape? We see Lou regularly go on trips with her friends (Rob reference Lou booking trips to offset his time away), have theatre days etc. And fair play - I wish all parents could do the same and it shouldn't be seen as a bad thing to do. But acting like an interview with The Times is a 'rare' day off.

It's the dis-ingenuity of it all that I find difficult.

I think it's a bit sly to claim to be the 'default' parent (default to me meaning something that is assumed or automatic) if it was a choice you actively made so that your husband could go out and bring in a lot of money - and it's a choice you continue to make. I completely get people feeling frustrated that it's often mums that the school calls when something's wrong or mums who have to book the dentist etc - but of course that's going to be the case when your husband is on tour in Australia. And it's not the fifties, the fact that Rob earns a wedge doesn't mean he gets to handover all childcare and house management to Lou but it doesn't seem like he does? How many times have we heard things like "Lou's going to see Beyonce in Amsterdam because I've been away so much". It seems as fair as it could be given their lifestyle.

I'm not saying that even things we choose can't be uncomfortable and challenging at times, but nothing happens in a vacuum and they've made the choice for Lou to be the 'default' parent with a lot more options and resources available to them that other people have.

Also, if you're such an awkward and shy 'what am i like' wallflower then don't go on tv - again, you chose to go on! So just put your big girl pants on and do it.
Absolutely fantastically put. I do hope she does read and she does pay attention to your post specifically as it sums it up beautifully (and much better than my ranty attempt 😂)
 
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In a relatively ‘normal’ family, mum is the one right from the get-go, who will organise getting baby into doctors, dentists etc so naturally everybody has mums details. It is frustrating that everything lies with mum, and that women have to give up careers etc etc, but just because the world around us has progressed in some senses, doesn’t mean that the fundamentals have- babies biologically want their mums. Said it before, but I’m proud to be default parent. It’s literally, biologically what I’m made to be. Even with a fantastic partner, I’m exhausted because even when he organises something, I’m still thinking about everything anyway! I still have all the admiration in the world for single parents, and all other family types, but constantly being frustrated about ‘default parenting’ is eating into time with her family that is set up exactly how they’ve chosen.
 
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