Friday Q&A: Staying True To Yourself & Being Caught In The Act!

0:02Zoe and Georgia will be here in just a moment with Made by Mamas. They've got the usual brilliant honest chat about those tricky parenting moments. And when you finish this episode, there's more of that with Danny Miller, Brooke Vincent and Wingman on their podcast, You Don't Know You're Born. They're using the skills they've picked up from starring on Emmerdale and Coronation Street to act out their parenting dilemmas. It's very funny and so relatable. search for you don't know you're born and get the show lined up to play next

0:34hello i'm sarah cox i'm claire hamilton do my serious voice there claire we've got 30 seconds to tell everybody about the team commandments podcast come on uh it's basically about well being parents of teenagers we've got five between us yes sometimes it can be tough it can be horrific yeah it can be it can also be very funny so we talk about that as well we also go back in time and confess a lot about our own teenage years. A lot of nostalgia in there. It's rather gorgeous. It's every Monday and Wednesday. Come join the phone. Listen wherever you get your podcasts.

1:06Hello and welcome to Made by Mamas, the podcast. I'm Zoe Hardman. And I'm Georgia Dayton. And this is your parenting safe space where no conversation is off limits. With five kids between G and I, we have seen a lot. We really have.

1:20Georgia Dayton: Each week we'll be joined by some famous faces and experts and we'll chat about the brands and products that have saved us along the way. In short, we're the parenting podcast for you. Before we get started, hit subscribe or follow so you're the first to know when each episode lands. And they're on Tuesdays and Fridays. And it really helps if you leave a rating and a review. You can also find us on Instagram. We're on at Made by Mamas. But for now, George, should we get into it? Happy Friday, bitches. Hello. I don't feel like that today. I feel like absolute chaos. I've got the dog barking, the kids coming home from school, slamming the doors and my Wi-Fi is playing up.

1:59Georgia Dayton: So there we go. And we've got to share with the listeners that you just said, fuck you, Quincy, which is to her dog. And I fucking lost it. That was so funny. Seriously, really winding me up. You know, like we were trying to record and then he starts barking. I know. I'm like, are you actually joking? Dog is seen and not heard. also you're happy it's like you've got a gremlin living in your wi-fi don't don't move to the countryside guys ever actually never in fact check the wi-fi connection before you buy a house that is my top tip it's funny isn't it because you think it's 2026 everyone's obsessed with screens and technology but then there's still some areas which are these dark spots and you can't like they're like black holes yeah i can't even get any phone signal it's like we're living in the dark ages oh well listen we've made it happen we're here today so welcome to Friday's episode of the podcast um annoyingly we're not together which is frustrating because I always love being with you but we do have a ton of questions to get through and we're going to do an ask us anything so loads of like I mean the variety in the questions has been brilliant some of them are very funny I know you want to kick us off I'm yeah I'm like scared to start reading them out because you never know what's going to come up with.

3:15Georgia Dayton: I'm going to kick off with this one because this is quite like a broad one. What was something you swore you'd never do as a parent that you now do daily? Put the middle finger up behind their back when they're not looking when I'm really close with them. No, do you know what? I actually, probably this is going to sound so bad, but sometimes, and I know everyone's going to tart and go well no wonder her kids swear if she swears in front of them but sometimes I swear in front of them and it's weird because I thought when I had kids I would treat it like a radio studio because I've never ever ever sworn so I was like I'm gonna go into it with that mindset but sometimes when you're tipped so far over the edge with irritation and a lack of um you know like patience sometimes I I don't swear at them I would never say like fuck you but I sometimes go oh fucking hell like and then they go all pound in the jar and then obviously I raid the jar and need to pay for the gardener but like you know I just I just I think I do that probably more than I thought I would what about you I was thinking about this I don't know I think it's not so much what I do that I never thought I would do it's more what I don't do as in like you know brushing teeth like I can't always be bothered to have that argument whatever you know reading a bedtime story I said you know I always thought I would do that every night I definitely don't um actually I'll tell you something I do do I go on my phone and like ignore them and I definitely probably thought I would be like oh no I'll put my phone down as soon as the kids get back from school I definitely don't do that but the kids have just walked in and we're recording and it's 3 30 in the afternoon we're still in the middle of our work day and I think sometimes there's this whole you know as soon as the kids get back you have to give them 100 of your attention i think that's just setting us up to fail like they've got my parents downstairs so i definitely don't need to yeah and also i also think it's okay for kids to just be be told calmly i'm gonna come to you in five minutes i've got to finish sending this email i don't really feel guilty about that they don't they can't always just click their finger and we're like i'm here for you i was listening to katherine ryan the other day talking about her style of parenting and she said that she is like basically they attend to their kids needs straight away like any need they attend to it straight away like you know they sleep with their kids i think they you know that any time of day they literally attend and she was like i feel like we've really stitched ourselves up doing this because it's so used to like having everything straight away now I definitely don't think I'm like that I think I'm like I do make them wait and stuff like that and then I thought you know what I think this is a better way to be like they might moan but actually you don't get everything with a click of your finger and you do have to wait for things and not every one of your you know needs and wants is met straight away oh my gosh you're talking so much sense and actually this is the one thing that I learned in couples therapy we're sort of digressing slightly but one of the things that Michael taught us was that you have to ask permission before you weighed in with like there's something that I need to talk to you about it's like is this a good time and I realized that they're only 12 9 and now 8 happy birthday kit um but at the same time in life they're not just going to be able to barge over to somebody and be like they're gonna have to go is it okay like mommy are you and then i you can't reject them a second time but i think sometimes it's okay to say to them look could you just wait a minute darling i'm just finishing this i don't feel bad about that no i don't and also sometimes particularly axel i say i love what you've got to say yeah but you're just talking a lot please just stop talking axel and luna are exactly the same person okay um be honest how often are your kids eating beige food and you're just rolling with it that's from martha i love that now um i i really try and make a big effort with feeding my kids and i do cook 90 % of the time but me too Gigi has McDonald's once a week oh interesting yeah so you know I'm here you know making my own bread and making my own chicken nuggets and doing pasta and you know making curries and all that all the time but once a week without fail on the way back from gymnastics she has McDonald's well I love that what sort of a mom are you that you're not an almond mom what are you then no i'm really not sure crunchy mum a crunchy mum i don't actually know what that is so i might be really like a kid a mum that only gives their kids crunchy nut corn but that's balanced right that's that's four days out of 31 or 30 yeah that's what i mean yeah exactly it's once a week and she loves it and every other night of the week when she sits down for dinner And she goes, I don't like this.

8:23Georgia Dayton: This isn't my favourite. And she has to persevere. So I give her, you know, one night a week. Yeah. And Axel refuses to eat it. Oh, really? I love that for him as well. Yeah. So how about you? Well, I mean, I think we should sort of specify what people mean by beige food. You're talking about like fish finger wraps and stuff? Fish fingers, chicken nuggets, chips. Oh, like probably three nights a week. Three nights a week, yeah. Yeah, like, but I mean, you know, cod that's sourced responsibly sometimes, Bernard Matthews runs, you know, just all sorts. But I don't, you know, they've always got vegetables on their plate.

9:05Kit never eats them. I really do love cooking and I've tried to get into it a bit more. I mean, like two years ago, I would have said I absolutely fucking hated it. So I'll always do one spaghetti bolognese a week. I always do one roast on us like on a Sunday we'll always have a roast and the girls absolutely love a stir fry chicken stir fry is one of our favorite things so but if I'm tired and I've been working all day and I'm on my knees and I might have done a breakfast shift or whatever it is convenient to just do it and I also just really don't I don't hold any shame around that either it's a balance

9:35Georgia Dayton: you actually don't need to because essentially it's like one like one small part of the day for you you know however many years that they're really going to be doing it it's not it's not that bad like it's it's really I don't make multiple meals like I know loads of people will go oh well I make this for this kid and this isn't like this I don't do that so sometimes my kids probably hungry because I'm like well this is it like I'm not I'm not doing anything else yeah um but yeah no I think we've got the balance right there George or at least it's our podcast so we can say that I mean someone has actually put your kids actually eat what you cook or are you running a backup menu every night like the rest of us well do you know what um in answer to your question yes they eat what I give them but that's because you know I know what they like and what they don't like but they will always have like some sourdough or some Weetabix or you know I don't know bananas and peanut butter or some sort of snack before they go to bed as well so and actually when we had those performance canteen lovely girls on they said if your kid is hungry before bed they're not trying to delay bedtime they're actually just hungry so you should feed them they do so much sport and so many activities I'm fine with that so there is a sort of backup meal but it's it's generally like an hour later yeah no I was gonna say exactly the same my kids quite often have two dinners like they might have a dinner with my mum and dad in fact actually we should really be asking my mum how often because she's not like me.

11:05Georgia Dayton: She will let them have chicken nuggets and chips and fish nuggets and chips. So I'm sure actually they're getting their feel there. That's amazing. We'll be right back after this short break.

11:19This week on Help, I sexted my boss. I'm going to, Jordan, I say this with love. That's the gayest thing I've ever heard.

11:28The only picture I can find, what I want to show to Ollie, my barber, is this AI version of Pep Guardiola. And he's like, stop sending me that. And I'm like, I want my hair like that. He's like, is Pep Guardiola AI? Ellie, I think that's very enterprising. Give up applause for Ellie. We've no advice there. You've nailed it. And anybody else listening, I think that's a great thing to do. Listen and watch wherever you get your podcasts.

11:53Welcome back to this episode of Made by Mamas. Now, where were we? This one's quite poignant. Do you ever feel like you've lost a bit of yourself since becoming a mum? And how do you deal with that, George?

12:04Georgia Dayton: I think, you know, nearly 10 years into it, I would say no, I don't. Because, you know, this is 10 years on from first becoming a mum. And I feel like this is who I am now. And I'm very comfortable with that. I do think that when I first had Axel, I probably felt like I, particularly actually when I wasn't working I felt like I'd lost a little bit of my like sense of self and like I don't know I think probably a lot of people feel feel like that when they hold a lot of their identity in their work so yes I do but now 10 years on I don't feel like that I feel really comfortable and I'm actually there's loads of positives like I think now I'm truer to myself I say no to things I don't like more I don't try to pretend to like something I don't yeah um you know this this yeah I don't like thinking of it like you've lost a bit of yourself I I sort of like thinking it thinking of it how you've what you've grown into George what about you you've gone deep and I like it yeah I think we both battled with that lack of identity when we when we had our first didn't we yes like you just said I think the first one you sort of still trying to fight and figure out if you can hang on to all aspects of your old life but actually as the time goes on there is an acceptance and a comfort in giving into it and actually going this is where I belong now and that doesn't mean that you don't get back some of the old stuff that you used to do or but I think you ultimately do feel completely changed um as in not every part of you but the core of you is changed forever and I am absolutely so comfortable in that space now um the thing that I miss sometimes is the freedom and also the priority the prioritizing of me like I've been going through some stuff over the last couple of weeks which I'm not ready to share on the podcast yet but I will do where I've really looked inside about how I am like how am I truly feeling because for such a long time I have been focusing on my children my husband my career and I feel like I've completely left myself out onto the sidelines and that feels quite sad for me so I've had to sort of look quite deeply and when I'm ready I'm going to talk all about what I'm planning on doing but I'm just not there yet um but yeah I haven't even talk to you about it.

14:44Georgia Dayton: No, I was going to say, no, you haven't. But when I'm ready, I will. But I feel like, yes, I feel like I am finding myself again. Oh, that's good. That's a positive. It is a positive. Yes. How do you actually juggle work, kids, life, or is everyone just winging it?

15:10hmm well i'm gonna let's start honestly um we've got a nanny and i don't think people say that enough out out loud um i think that's like a societal shame uh and it's and it's so difficult for women now to be able to you know to say it because it's like oh god what you've got a nanny what someone else is looking after your kids why would you have kids if someone else is looking after them and i just i hate all those snidey comments i think they're utter bullshit so we've got somebody that comes in helps us with the house she comes in at 12 o 'clock she does a couple of hours around the house like tidying doing the kitchen changing the kids beds uh sheets and then she goes and does the school pickup and she does that monday to thursday and then she leaves at six o 'clock sometimes earlier sometimes a bit later and that's how i do it yeah and that's what

15:52Georgia Dayton: i was gonna say i think no one really tells you like their actual setup i follow someone i mentioned it um on another podcast I follow someone called the working mum life and I find it really interesting every week she actually shows her routine of exactly how her and her husband managed to both work full-time and juggle child care and they each have one day off a week of any child care responsibility so she gets to stay late at work or go out for dinner with friends whatever it is so for me yeah it's really it's really interesting but for me I have my parents close by now so that has changed everything but we used to have like an after school nanny pick the kids up from school otherwise there would have been no way to do it and also no way for them to be able to do all the clubs that they do because I can't be in two places at one time um so yeah we have my mum and dad they pick the kids up Tuesday Wednesday Thursday day and then we have Angela come on a Monday and a Friday and she does all of the washing she changes the bed sheets um does odd things around the house where that is twice a week for four hours but that is one of those things that we've looked at and been like listen we both work full-time we don't want to be spending our weekends doing washing and listen there's still washing to be done but it's manageable yeah and that that's how that's how we managed to both work full-time and have you know do everything else so yeah it takes a village right it takes a village and I know there's going to be people listening to this podcast who work full-time and they they might they they might not have help and they also might definitely not have anybody coming in and doing the washing and changing the sheets and doing all that stuff and that's also absolutely amazing I do not have the energy for it um I feel flogged and it's just my reality so I'd rather spend more money on that side of it and then make sure that I'm resting and recovering and being present with the kids and spending every single weekend getting on top of the housework and that's just yeah it's the same as exactly the same yeah yeah how has your friendship changed since starting the podcast and going through different parenting stages what a great question that is a good question well I feel like our friendship was born on maternity leave so So obviously it's going to be different because we didn't have anything else to think about.

18:19Georgia Dayton: We were just going to the gym, putting the kids in the crèche for as long as they'd take them for. Walking. Walking. And it was all, but actually we probably spoke, like we probably talked about the kids more than anything else. And now I'd say we talk about less than anything else. I love how that changed because it was so interesting, wasn't it? it was probably at the six month mark of being together you and I yeah two soulmates meeting that we started shifting our focus from solely having a newborn to let's start a business together yeah and I really I actually remember it vividly and the conversations and you could see the the other spark inside us was ignited again and it was such a beautiful meeting of two minds that we that we created that moment together and then and then it sort of just all opened up but I think on the friendship level I feel a deep deep connection with you I can share my like deepest darkest fears and the highs the lows and everything else in a completely like Georgia is so unjudgmental like you will hold any space for me you you you're always honest you will tell me how it is we've never had an argument in eight years of being friends and because there's never a like oh you should be doing it this way or I think it's like right I'm here for you I'm showing up what do you need yeah I'm so grateful for that George yeah I was gonna say like I feel like even more you know more so than some friends that I've had you know for 20 years I feel like I can tell Zoe anything like absolutely anything and whether that's because we you know we talk every week because of the podcast and we're you know obviously really open on here but yeah I think sometimes having a friend who is detached from your other friends yeah is amazing because you can literally we can tell each other everything we can you know we're here for each other through everything as well and there's like no other noise which I think is really good it's really lovely I love you I'm staring at a blank screen because I can't see your face but I'm looking at you where your face should be what's a parenting opinion you have that might be a bit controversial oh oh god oh god this is where i cut this is where i feel vulnerable i don't know um um oh fuck

20:54might be controversial maybe like like when a when a child is really mean um and the parents don't discipline them that that gets right up my nostrils i can't i can't you know like if some little johnny's being like a total fucking brat and then you see your they might be your friends yeah not be like how dare you speak to me like that when they go oh it's okay little johnny let's like talk our way through it i just think no that child needs to know that it's been a brat and that i can't get on board with that i'm sorry yeah i'm sorry no i'm with you no no i'm with you

21:38Georgia Dayton: like there is like gentle parenting great fine oh yeah totally in all circumstances in those circumstances there is no room for gentle parenting like no way like I think actually the older the kids are getting the less on board I am with gentle parenting and totally with you I think gentle parenting has kept me calm I've sort of thought about it quite a lot during my own parenting journey and and learned quite a lot from the people that gentle parent and so I really do like that aspect of it but like you said george not in all spaces yeah so yeah that's that's but don't hate us we love you yeah no no no and i think differently different you know techniques last thing you googled in a panic as a parent oh i don't know um last thing oh my god what is mine was is it normal for a child to constantly shit in their pants like i even put in brackets skiddies who's doing that no i can't tell you it was oh we know i was gonna say i was gonna we don't need to we don't need to know um and to be honest i didn't really get a proper answer it's more about why it's more about yeah yeah when do they well no actual can now but that's because we've made a big thing of it yeah girls are just better at girls just not walk around with turd in their they wouldn't no way oh there's someone coming in oh i'm on a podcast and it's kit hi kit hi darling are you listening at the door then or no you just came in okay brilliant okay well done buddy love you do you think he heard the skinny comment he definitely did that is so funny like absolute busted what about yours so I'm just trying to think when what was the last thing I googled I really don't know but it's probably like how long you know how long can a child consistently have worms for before it starts eating away at their own sides it's probably something like that because i swear one person in this house has worms consistently i was about to say oh my god that's you that's georgia we'll be right back after this short break

24:12This week on Help, I Sexted My Boss. I'm going to add you, and I say this with love, but it's the gayest thing I've ever said.

24:21The only picture I can find, what I want to show to Ollie, my barber, is this AI version of Pep Guardiola. He's like, stop sending me that, and I'm like, I want me here like that. He's like, is Pep Guardiola AI? Ellie, I think that's very enterprising. Thank you, well, applause for Ellie. We've no advice there. Yeah, you nailed it. And anybody else listening, I think that's a great thing to do. Listen and watch wherever you get your podcasts.

24:46Welcome back to this episode of Made by Mamas. Now, where were we? I think that all rooms should, all bedrooms for grown-ups should have a lock on them. Because I feel like that's the only way to guarantee that you are able to have some space. Because, you know, if the lock's on the door, they just can't come in. Yeah. you know and there's been too many times when the kids have walked in and we've been up to all sorts and i just think like let's just preserve that space for them for you for everyone involved who kit was saying the other day um would you rather uh kiss daddy's butthole or kiss nana for his butthole who's does his mum so i was like this is so weird and twisted that this is where your mind's gone but obviously he's nate your boy so i was like oh god like what a tough question I'm just not sure where and he was like well it should be easy because I've seen you kiss daddy's butthole and I was like shut up I was like of course you haven't what are you talking about and he was like yeah I came in and you were under the covers with your head under the covers and I went I was not kissing dad's butt can I just say right now just if you think I was I absolutely wasn't but I was doing something and I said who have you told and he went my teacher oh my gosh

26:01Georgia Dayton: You're fucking dead. Oh, my God. You need to move schools. That's what he thought I was doing. So weird. It's so wrong. And that's why we need a lock on our door. Yes, you definitely do. I'd say double, double lock. What is it called? Where it all locks in? I'm absolutely mortified. Jesus. Oh, my God. Right, moving on. Last one. Do you and your partners parent in the same way or is one of you the strict one? Don't back and listen to every podcast episode for the last eight years. No, we don't. No. We do not parent in the same way. I'd say we are becoming more aligned 10 years later, but no, we don't.

26:50Georgia Dayton: James is way stricter than me. He's tough, like tougher on them than me. Like he is completely different to me. and I am soft like I they do not take me seriously when I even try to get angry they look at me like what the hell are you doing so we really need each other to balance each other out because either way like if it was if we were both either of us it just wouldn't work so we're definitely trying to meet in the middle James is a lot calmer now with them and I think that's weird because I think it's as they've got older, he's become a lot calmer because he can explain his frustrations to them rather than, like, just shout.

27:35Georgia Dayton: And then I would say I am less trying to please. Yeah, I try to please them less now. And I can be a little bit more harsh with them and strict than I ever used to be. I'd say that's where I'm at. I love that. That's a growth from both of you. yes it is it is how about you um yeah I mean go back and listen to every podcast we've done in the last eight years again uh does is definitely stricter and gets he's firmer with them but like you said George they need both of it they need both sides of it because there are certain times where I just let them walk all over me and I don't know what I'm doing or you know what I'm saying but it's a bit of a joke to them they don't listen whereas does comes in says says like you know get it done and they just go and do it and I just think it's a master class but it's not it's it's weird isn't it because for me it's not about my delivery it's about how they how they respond to each parent differently you know not one more right than the other one just it's just a different response to a male and female energy but I constantly celebrate what he brings and what I bring because actually they do need both sides of it um i'm trying to be firmer in the moments and just get in there a bit quicker rather than being like can you just please go and brush your teeth can you can you brush your teeth and then by the sixth time i'm like i've asked you six times you know it's like why don't i just be like get your teeth done now please and then they're like oh she means business here yeah like what yeah i'm that's exactly what i'm trying to adopt as well that like just do it now yeah just get it done now oh what a lovely q a thank you so much for sending in all your questions before we say goodbye we're going to quickly do products that we're loving because we realize we haven't done this for a while so i reckon it could be quite interesting kind of like where we're at with the things that we're loving i'm going to kick us off with the cereal that georgia and i have invested in it's called cheeky peat so you can now buy it on amazon it's got low sugar low glucose um and they come it comes in four different no seed oils oils it comes in four different flavors um strawberries and cream big favorite in my house um but yeah i mean it's available if you haven't tried it yet please please please go out and buy it because it's brilliant we're loving it yeah and also we've seen loads of you buying it and trying it and tagging us so please keep doing that because we love it um second one on the healthy theme um lots of people keep asking about the electrolyte brand that i use it's called Arta and it's the cellular hydration I went for lymphatic drainage about a year ago and Victoria who did it recommended it I've got it on subscription I literally take it every single day without fail um but yeah so anyone asking that's the one I use brilliant and I'm going to carry on on the health and wellness vibe and I'm going to talk about some collagen that I've started taking for about been taking about six months it's called Corexico um and the lovely Lisa Snowden is one of the ambassadors for it.

30:39You know, like Georgia and I are massive collagen fans. I've probably been taking collagen consistently for about six years, but I'm really, really loving the Corexico one. I just take two tablets in the morning. It's marine collagen. And yeah, I love it for skin, for hair, for nails, for everything really. It just, yeah, I feel like it gives me a little bit of an extra glow.

30:59Georgia Dayton: Yeah, and I've just got that one as well. I've switched from the Beauty Pie one and I'm trying that one. Let's know how you get on. I'll let you know how I get on as well. This is a hair product that I am absolutely loving, and it is from the lovely Indy Clinton. Oh, yeah, Booth. Yeah, Booth. I've started using the growth serum like twice a day, morning and night, and I'm really loving it. So it's probably too early to say. Yes, you need to do it for about three months, I reckon, George. Yeah, but I am already noticing just, you know, when I blow dry it, it's you know it feels really nice just just the silly things and also I really need a cotton color and it's still holding but like holding well so yeah good reviews from me yeah and I'm going to finish off by talking about another hair product um have you heard of k18 I'm literally looking at it right now oh my god they've got there's a dry shampoo in there which is not a classic dry shampoo as in it's not like um you know it doesn't come out in like sort of like a spray yeah spray and make your hair white it's a foam that you put so you start off by just doing one pump in each section and then you massage it in it goes dry and clean in fact I'm going to do a tutorial on it because I was so impressed when I used it the other day I've been telling all my mates about it but um I just love all their products anyway but this dry shampoo is really I've never seen a foam that goes dry and cleans your hair at the same time I'm definitely gonna get that that sounds amazing yeah right i hope you like those products because i've learned something there as well um as always we'd love you to rate review subscribe and please give the podcast a follow yeah and if you've got any feedback on this episode or guests you'd like to hear from topics you'd like us to cover drop us a dm on instagram we're on at made by mamas and we'll be back on tuesday

33:00Welcome to the girls bathroom. The podcast where no topic is off limits, no matter how unhinged it may be. I'm Sophia. I'm Chinzia. And we are your girls. Talking love. I'm not his mother. Been there, girl. Live. I caught my boss slagging me off on WhatsApp to apply. Friendship and everything in between. This is thrilling. Watch and listen every Wednesday on YouTube and wherever you get your podcasts. We're waiting for you in the girls' bathroom.