Friday Q&A: Your Parenting Horror Stories

0:00Hey, we're Nick and Jack, hosts of The Best One Yet. Behind every episode, there's research, email, spreadsheets, and our shared Google Doc, the Headline Hammer. With Google Workspace with Gemini, Google's AI is built right into the premium versions of tools we already use, like Gmail, Docs, and Sheets. No new tools or extra logins, just personalized AI for the way we work. That means less time on the work around the work and more time finding the stories worth talking about. Get AI tools for work. Upgrade to Google Workspace with Gemini at goo.gle slash workspace with Gemini. That's G-O-O dot G-L-E slash workspace with Gemini.

0:34I'm Claire Buckley, and this Halloween on my podcast, Pretty Scary, we are going to cover the stories that keep you up at night. Real crimes, ghosts, and aliens. Plus, the scariest movies to watch this spooky season, with the lights off. So, as the nights draw in, the pumpkins are carved, and somewhere in the dark, something is scratching at the window. It's probably just the cat. Get the candles lit and search for Pretty Scary with Claire Buckley.

1:13Hello and welcome to Made by Mamas, the podcast. I'm Zoe Hardman. And I'm Georgie 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. 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.

1:46You can also find us on Instagram. We're on at Made by Mummers. But for now, George, should we get into it? Welcome to our Halloween special. We're not dressed up this time. To be honest with you, it's been all tricks and no treats my end. I'm not going to lie. What an absolute shitter of a couple of weeks. I feel like, firstly, I haven't seen you for such a long time. And secondly, how hard is it to try and juggle everything? I feel like, I think I've said this before on the podcast about how you feel like in these moments where you're trying to work and you're trying to hold your shit down at work and you're also trying to be the most present brilliant parent that you've got like eight tentacles coming out and everybody is pulling you from opposite ends of the room it's really difficult I mean love my kids more than anything in the world and all they want is to be with me and there's this dichotomy of kind of trying to make sure that I'm hitting all my deadlines make sure that I'm showing up for work and presenting properly make sure we're like doing the podcast and then also every time they say mommy I just go I know yes don't I know wow yeah I know exactly I mean the scene currently is I've got my office door locked with the code on it and they're in the house and Axel kept saying to me are you not are you not going in there to record are you not going into their like are you not going in the office to record now so trying to usher me out of the house which is never a great thing so there must be something going on in there that they don't want me to know oh a hundred percent a hundred percent he asked me about 45 times when are you going to record so I'm not sure what they're doing um but I'm sure I'll find out when I go in maybe they're making you Halloween biscuits I mean no I I would say I banned the PlayStation for half term and why would you do that because I mean um and I would say that Gigi has told him where the controllers are they're going to get them down they've probably got to stop like stop watch to work out how long you'll be till I come back out again and that is what they're doing right now so you know what's so funny and I'm sure people can relate to this when because I have this conversation I can't get YouTube off the tellies which is doing my nothing it's like I've tried a million times anyway so I I have to sort of, it's like a code of conduct, like a conversation of faith, which obviously is complete bullshit between me and the kids.

4:17So every time I have to go and do a podcast or whatever it looks like, and then they can hear me coming down the stairs. And then how I know is they've obviously managed to change the channel. And then they both run out and give me a cuddle and go, hi, mommy. It's like they're sort of being extra nice and extra kind because they know they've done something bad. And I'm like, are you watching YouTube? They're like, no, no, no, no, no. Axel has a lying face as well. But it's actually really handy because Gigi doesn't. She can lie like straight and look you in the eye. Whereas Axel has like an obvious face.

4:48So I'm always like, like literally don't bother because that mouth thing that you do, I can see straight away. That would be a terrible traitor. He couldn't be a traitor. No, no, no, no, no, definitely not. So obviously it's the day before Halloween. It's the Friday the 30th that you guys are getting this. So we thought we would do a kind of parenting horror story special. So all of those moments where you've literally felt like someone was pranking you and we'll just kind of share the reality. So we're going to share some of your stories. We're going to answer some of your questions and kind of delve into like the real kind of evilness around parenting.

5:24Yeah, I've got to kick off with this one because I think there are so many stories like this. In fact, one of my best friends did this sort of thing. the school whatsapp after a particularly painful school whatsapp debate about whether the christmas party should have cucumber i sent my husband a voice note saying if louise mentions the bloody crudités one more time i'm moving schools i sent it to the group louise replied i think this was meant for someone else i now volunteer for everything i'm basically deputy head that that is the worst thing in the entire world so I'm on a group I'm on a group with um the like a particular I won't say which one but a particular show that I'm part of that I present on and because there's such a running narrative on that group it sometimes sits at the top of my whatsapp you know list yeah so I have to archive it on many occasions because I'm so paranoid that I'm going to write something about how often people are conversing on that group but it's got all the heads of that particular TV channel on it and it's got and I'm like so paranoid so I just archive it that's the only thing that you can do when you're doing stuff like that that's like it's it's kind of your foolproof way of getting out of ever writing anything nasty yeah no I was gonna say that that yeah it's day it's dangerous territory one of my friends did this I think she just agreed to be um like school class rep or like something like that for that year and then she was sending a message to her husband to be like for fuck's sake why am I why do I have to do this everyone else is so incompetent blah blah and send it to the whole class so she didn't just offend one person she offended the whole entire class um we've heard stories as well of people accidentally putting nudes no that was in mine oh that was in mine yeah yeah I felt as embarrassed as the person who did it oh my god so oh my god so I basically um I love that I'm sharing this over the weekend on Friday when I went to my friend's house I basically chat GPT the new pair of boobs um on me in a bikini shot just to see what I look like in 2027 with my new tits and I accidentally put it I didn't send it but because I realized just before that I was putting it on the what's the school whatsapp group and it's just me in a bikini with like a double d so I just put juicy underneath it it's like just at the last minute I was like oh my god I think the thing is, don't do it.

7:55No. Just don't write anything nasty. No, I think just don't write in it. Yeah. I think that's safe. Keep quiet. Just keep quiet. Use it as like a newsletter tool, not as like a conversation. I like this question. How do you explain to your mother-in-law, we don't do that anymore, without her replying, well, this is what we did with my kids? Because I think I have that with my mum. And we've spoken about this before, that the horror of trying to sort of unpick what your parents thought happened when you were a kid to try and almost passively, aggressively have a go at you. Like my mum was trying to be really judgy about someone whose kid was still in nappies.

8:36And she was like, well, you know, you at nine months old, you pulled off your nappy and went, no more nappies. And I was like, that just didn't exist because I was nine months. I couldn't even speak at nine months. Like, what? Do you know what I mean? yes I do know what you mean yeah I think with those things you've got to be really really honest because so I'm learning so much at the moment that it is not about somebody's reaction it's about you speaking your truth if we don't speak our truth our throat chakra closes up our fucking anxiety goes through the roof regardless of what your mother-in-law will say to you you have to sit her down and have the conversation yeah I was gonna say and if you can speak to your partner as well sometimes it lands better from them you know like if they're the ones to say depends how serious it is as well I guess like if it's like you know they're giving them a sugar sandwich or something once a year yeah not you know not that serious but if it like if it yeah we don't do things like that anymore um but you know if it's like some yeah I don't know if they're having your kids all the time and they're like I don't know saying or like saying things that you know isn't appropriate to say anymore or using words that aren't appropriate to say anymore then I think that's a different you know that's a different thing and I think yeah I mean I definitely had this with in-laws like in the past they say things that just are not like not appropriate at all to say and then but I'm like bad because I feel like I make jokes about it I'm like oh Jesus is it 1920 or like you know are we still what you know I I kind of say things like that and like trying to try and embarrass them in a way what embarrass your parents no the in-laws like as in if they say something that's really outdated or like really you know it's serious to me and I can't just sit back I won't be like don't you dare say that I'll say something like Jesus I didn't realize it was you know 1970s still why are we what are you saying those things yeah but I don't actually know if that's the best thing to do because I don't actually think it's many We're just essentially saying just mock them to their face.

10:42Yeah, don't do that. We'll be right back after this short break.

10:51Hey, we're Nick and Jack, hosts of The Best One Yet. Behind every episode, there's research, email, spreadsheets, and our shared Google Doc, the Headline Hammer. With Google Workspace with Gemini, Google's AI is built right into the premium versions of tools we already use, like Gmail, Docs, and Sheets. No new tools or extra logins, just personalized AI for the way we work. That means less time on the work around the work and more time finding the stories worth talking about. Get AI tools for work. Upgrade to Google Workspace with Gemini at goo.gle slash workspace with Gemini. That's goo.gle slash workspace with Gemini.

11:26I'm Claire Buckley, and this Halloween on my podcast, Pretty Scary, we are going to cover the stories that keep you up at night. Real crimes, ghosts and aliens. Plus the scariest movies to watch this spooky season with the lights off. So as the nights draw in, the pumpkins are carved and somewhere in the dark, something is scratching at the window. It's probably just the cat, right? Get the candles lit and search for Pretty Scary with Claire Buckley.

12:07Welcome back to this episode of Made by Mamas. Now, where were we? My son told his teacher we keep weapons in our bedroom. We were called in. He meant my husband's massage gun and my straighteners. He said... He said... Is that what we're calling them now? They both make mummy scream. When daddy uses them wrong, somehow the explanation made it worse. do we really believe that it's daddy's i don't think it's or is it the straightener i hazard a guess that that's something else but that is confronting the horror of um the things that the kids say to their teacher in front of you like mommy's favorite juice is wine like i've had that so many times oh yeah mommy drinks wine every day i'm like that shut up firstly and it's only been in the last couple of weeks um and but yeah you can't really get yourself out of that situation you have to kind of laugh along with them and maybe give the teacher a bit of a wink i was gonna say and also they've definitely heard it all like they've heard it all that they will have done they've been so much worse than that and it's only because they said weapon that they had to call you in like they know they literally know they know they know it gives like where i can't remember if it was axel or gg and they had like this thing about like a picture of like what your parents hobbies are and what they're interested in and all of this and james's was like oh my my dad plays paddle and football and my mom goes on instagram is that what they said that's what he said literally on the thing and i was like then i felt like i needed to explain myself but oh jesus and my mom goes on instagram that's our business actually thanks very much yeah this ties in with do you remember my ultimate fear which is when the kids used to creep into our bedrooms in the middle of the night which doesn't happen any longer because my fear is a little girl ghost isn't it that's like the little girl ghost that that plagues my nightmares I woke up at 3am to find my daughter standing beside the bed completely silent wearing a plastic horse mask she whispered I couldn't find my slippers as that explained any part of the story I had to take her back and then I didn't sleep for the rest of the night um that is so funny I remember one time in the middle of the night Doza and I were sound asleep and all we could hear was this baby crying in the house and we didn't have babies at the time, they were three and five and I woke up Doza and I was like oh my god can you hear that baby crying I was like wah wah went into the bathroom and you know they had those weird little dolls that they used to take into the bathroom one had turned on in the night and started crying I mean I didn't sleep for a week after that that is horrific isn't it it's like actually I don't know if anyone else has this but when you have a newborn and you go in the shower you can always hear them crying even though they're not why is that?

15:13that's really weird isn't it? like why does that happen? but it happens to everyone I think you get in the shower and you can just hear crying no they use it don't they as a form of torture babies crying do they? Yeah, when they're taught, I mean, this is pretty dark. Great. They put babies crying through headphones when they're trying to get information out of you. It's like a well-known torture format. Oh, God. They should put dogs barking as well. That's equally annoying.

15:44Where should we go? My daughter has invited her entire class to a birthday party. We're not having. Oh. parents have started asking you about dietary requirements how do i cancel an event i've only just found out about okay in short you fucking can't yeah i think you've got to have the party i think as well up until they're about five that's kind of rite of passage as in they just have to go through that can i just say that it does get better we now do parties where there's between sort of six and eight of them and then that's it they just start getting a bit more selective but I think when they're little they kind of have to do that yeah and if she's arranged it all then you know who are you to scupper plans no if you actually really don't want to have the party then I would just tell everyone that you weren't actually having one and she's got it confused but then I can your daughter's heart yeah don't do that it's difficult just have a party I think you're gonna have to have the party yeah I agree with you the only good thing about that is that you do get 35 presents.

16:50That's not good. That's awful. I hate that. Oh, do you hate that? Yeah. It's so annoying. Where do you put everything? It's always like, oh, no. Look at me. I'm such a hoarder. I'm like, where do you put it? She decides, yay, you get 35 presents. It's not for you. Oh, damn it. Oh, my God, this is so funny. I've made a mum friend I really like, but our children absolutely hate each other. Can we keep the friendship and arrange childcare? that is brilliant is it that is so difficult to do by the way because there are there are kids and it's so annoying that don't get on with one another but you absolutely love the parents so we we like used to go on holiday with a particular family and we've had to stop doing that because our boys cannot stand each other that's mad i've never spoken about this she's one of my closest friends but our boys don't like each other to the point of like wrestling like fistfights and it's really weird because they don't have that relationship apparently with any other boys it's just these two it's just these it's just our just our sons um so we've had to stop doing family holidays with them that's i've never like i've never been in that situation before where like the kids just don't like get on i mean we've had it where you know my friends have got kids at different ages and sometimes that's difficult because you're like oh you know like that they just not got the same interest that's why but never that they just don't get on like but obviously that would happen because not everyone gets on in life so why does it have to be this particular friendship because it's such an important one to me the only thing what we've started doing now is doing stuff with the girls because our girls get on really really well and then if we do hang out we put the boys into clubs or they can hang out with the dad separately so that's kind of what we've had to do but I think it'll be all right they're both eight so I think it'll grow out of it I hope so have they got a shared interest at all or they don't like the same things oh not really yeah maybe that's what it is because I think with boys being very stereotypical usually there is a joint interest isn't there like they they like football so then they just go in the garden and play football even if they're different ages or whatever or they like playing FIFA or they like you know whatever and they can kind of they don't really chat to each other at that age I don't think so if they haven't got a joint interest I know that's difficult like we went we went somewhere I wasn't on this particular trip and it was just dozing them and I said to Kit what was your favorite part of the holiday and he went um throwing sand at his back when he wasn't looking oh my god have you asked him why he doesn't like it why i mean yeah i know why you do know why yeah yeah just i think just his physical presence or each other's physical presence you know they just wind each other up constantly but every time i'm like we're hanging out with him again he's like yeah but has he changed at all and i'm like yes i hope it doesn't work it's wild so in answer to that person's question you absolutely can have a relationship with yes i would just leave if you you know if your partner's not on the scene or whatever just get somebody to look after your kids and go out for wine with your mum mate just do it because those don't let that yeah exactly don't let that get in the way yeah definitely what's the etiquette when your child's best friend comes for a play day and turns out to be a tiny dictator i've been told my snacks are wrong and my house is boring.

20:25Do I still have to invite him back? No, you do not. Do you know what? Get the music tater out of your house. I find this really hard. Like when Axel was younger, I used to find him having his friends around really difficult. I used to actually hate it. But I really did. They used to wind me up so much. Like how some of them can't just sit down and eat. like they have to stand up and move around and how they'll like flip over the sofa and like all of that used to literally wind me up so much I'm not like that now I think maybe because they're older as well they actually converse with you and it makes it a lot easier but I yeah I don't I don't know I don't I don't know what I do in that situation because I I get it it's so difficult when you've got a child in your house who's being a dick and you're like can you not you could pull them up though i mean if if there's anyone here that's rude that doesn't say please or thank you i'm i'm really happy to to say what do you say or have you forgotten your manners or i won't have any of that we had it with one particular friend of luna's but they've but she's kind of seen the light with her that actually she wasn't a particularly pleasant child and actually they they don't really hang out any longer but i and i and i kind of i didn't say anything i would never say anything to lou about that she had to figure that out herself um but i think if a kid's been being rude I have no issues being like that's unacceptable and you need to stop and then I'll have a chat with the parents I'm quite and actually I would appreciate it if somebody did that to my like if my son went to the house and was like your house is boring yeah I would want to be told that my son had been a little shit yeah no I was gonna say so would I I would really I would really appreciate it if someone said to me oh I had to I had to like say something to him or her because they did this I think you're so with it like well within your rights just to like flag it to the parent um it's I've been I've been having like a thing with some of Gigi's friends at school as I've been having a thing Gigi's been really upset at school and I feel bad because I don't think I've picked up on it very like quick enough she mentioned it maybe a month ago but yeah she doesn't really say things like that and so I just sort of was like oh you know play with people who make you feel good and yeah friends shouldn't make you feel like that and kind of left it and I didn't check in with her because probably because I've been preoccupied with Axel like the last month or so and then the last day before they broke up from like from school she was crying and she basically explained the whole situation and what's happened and I felt well she's also there's another thing started wetting the bed in the last month which is really unusual I've even spoken to the doctor because it's not happened for like I don't know two years or three years or something yeah so I was like oh god I'm gonna have to book a doctor probably now I'm like oh it's obviously this like it's definitely related to this um and so then And yeah, I obviously hadn't realized.

23:31But now, I don't know how I'm going to handle it after half term. I've sent an email to the teacher. So can you talk about what's going on? Yeah, yeah, yeah. I can talk about what's going on. So every year in her school, they mix the classes. So it's always been a good thing, like where every year you get, you know, you get mixed up with other people. Fine. So this year she is in a class with, yeah, like some of her mates, but not all of them. Fine. But she's kind of got into a group of three. Yeah. So, yeah, which is always tricky. It's always a tricky dynamic. Now, she's got a good friend in the other class and they see each other a lot outside of school.

24:14But actually at school, they don't play together that much and they are really naughty together. So I don't think they'll ever be in the same class, which is fine. but this this her good friend from outside school doesn't like one of these girls and they just don't like each other no I don't think any dramatics happen they just don't get on so Gigi started hanging around in this three and essentially Gigi was playing with someone else one of the girls said to her stop playing with them come and play with us she said no and then this girl for the last month didn't realize has been like you know when they she said oh they whisper point at me when I walk over they turn away and don't talk to me um one of them was the water bottle monitor and brought everyone's water bottles in and left hers outside um you know just all these small things that to like a seven-year-old is a huge deal to anybody's a huge deal if someone did that to me it's awful and you know that like the thing is you know what it's like I can picture it and And, you know, they whisper when she walks over and all of that stuff.

25:20So she's been hanging around at lunchtime with some of Axel's old mates who are in year six. Oh. I know. And so, yeah, I don't know how to handle it. Can I say something? Can I interject? And this is where I think Dozza has actually given me a feeling of empowerment when it comes to the kids. Now, I'm not suggesting there's nothing kind of physical, obviously. But I would, I say to my kids now, if anyone's doing that, that they should go over to them and be like, don't you ever treat me like that and stand up to them. Because people listening to this might think that's not the way to go. But it's happened twice with R2.

26:00They've done exactly that and it's sorted it out straight away. Because they need to know that you're not mucking about. They need to know that you're not going to put up with it. If they see that they're winning, that feeds the beast constantly. So she should, if she can, have the confidence to be like, don't you ever make me feel like that. We're going to fall out. There's a problem. And I think probably it would snip it in the bud. But also, interestingly, the girl who is, you know, sort of instigating it wasn't there on the last day of school. And the other girl wanted to be friends with her then and was really nice.

26:34And it's so interesting, isn't it? But also, like, it's difficult with a parent because you don't know how that parent is going to act. Like, if Gigi goes into her and says, you know, don't do this to me and blah, blah, blah, blah. And then that parent goes home and says, that girl goes home and says, oh, well, Gigi shouted at me today or whatever. Why are you worried about the parent? Well, because I just want it to land properly. I want the parent to actually know because this isn't the first instance of this with this particular child. It's happened with other friendships. Could you speak, are you friends with the parent?

27:08No. Okay. I know. You could, you could get ahead of it and find out who the parent is or parents. Yeah. Have a conversation with them and just say, listen, this is a bit of a delicate subject, but this is what's been happening. Gigi's been really upset. I'm not pointing any fingers, but could we have a chat about it so that we're all on board with kindness? Yeah. And could you please have a conversation? That's another way of doing it. Yeah. That takes it out of the playground that it puts into your hands. Yeah, no, definitely. Or it could be like a double prong attack. I'm really sorry for her.

27:35I know. That's heartbreaking. I'm so glad that it's half turn this week because now she's got like a little bit of a break from it. Yeah. Yeah, friendships. God, Jesus, man. It's got so much earlier with the girls now as well. I know. Ugh. I know. We'll be right back after this short break.

27:57Hey, we're Nick and Jack, hosts of The Best One Yet. Behind every episode, there's research, email, spreadsheets, and our shared Google Doc, The Headline Hammer. With Google Workspace with Gemini, Google's AI is built right into the premium versions of tools we already use, like Gmail, Docs, and Sheets. No new tools or extra logins, just personalized AI for the way we work. That means less time on the work around the work and more time finding the stories worth talking about. Get AI tools for work. Upgrade to Google Workspace with Gemini at goo.gle slash workspace with Gemini. That's goo.gle slash workspace with Gemini.

28:31Hello, I'm Giovanna Fletcher. And I'm Marco Bortella. And this is Boots Off. We are friends who have spent a decade together, walking up mountains, across deserts and along coastlines with some seriously awesome groups of humans. And something happens when you're out there, feet on the ground, surrounded by nature. The conversations just spill out of you. This series is about the adversities that lead to adventure. The adventures that lead to adversity. And how life can be one big adventure in itself. Listen every Thursday. Just search for Boots Off.

29:09welcome back to this episode of made by mamas now where were we oh god how do you handle your child saying i hate you for the first time i know i'm supposed to stay calm but did i buy the wrong yogurt so clearly i've ruined his life oh i mean listen again i just go that doesn't upset me I was set to announce them it used to upset me now I'm like say whatever you want that's not very nice but it doesn't upset me your words don't upset me so we're not having any of that and I just literally almost laugh inside my head just going this is this is a fucking joke yeah it's like you're living in a spa and you say that you hate me so you can say whatever you want I know it's hurtful but you cannot take it to heart no kids will say things and like launch out at you and be rude and say x y and z pull them up on it so that's not the language that we have in the house and also that doesn't upset me because I know you don't hate me really and that's it walk away make it small that would be my advice yeah I was gonna say don't add fire to it I know that's really hard and like saying stay calm when they're saying something like that but I kids know the reaction that's the thing like they know the reaction if they don't get one then they won't do it again the buttons to press the one thing that stayed with me actually and that really triggered me but that's because of my schooling my time at school was when Kit said to me how have you got to 43 and you don't know anything right because he was talking about maths and maths and science and he's like you have to use chat every time we do my maths homework he was like that's so embarrassing and I just I was like oh my god a tiny little man is telling me that I'm stupid like we're gonna fall out here so I had to really take a big deep breath speak to those about it and um he he thought he thought it was acceptable to speak to me like that so there were consequences.

30:54I explained it to him, but I did shed a tear because I was like, I've been told I was stupid so much at school. Yes, don't need it. Yeah, yeah, exactly. And also I know everything, so be quiet. I don't. Especially now the chat is around, I'm so glad. God. Oh, this is so good. I told my children if they didn't go straight to sleep, I'd cancel our weekend trip. My youngest looked at me dead in the eye and said, you won't, you've already paid. It's absolutely devastating to be financially profiled by someone who still needs help wiping his bum. That's so funny. Yeah, those are the empty threats that we always do.

31:35Yeah, that's 100 % me. The problem is, is that I give the empty threats all the time. So do I. And then I can't follow through with them because like, for example, now I know they're probably watching YouTube on the telly, but I'm in the office recording this podcast. So there's nothing I can do about it, even though I was like, you're not watching YouTube for the rest of the holiday. and it's like they clearly are now. Yeah. Yeah, no, I am dreadful. I really need to get more realistic threats. Do you know what I mean? I need to like think of some more realistic ones because I do completely unrealistic threats and then I completely set myself up.

32:08Think if they were like smaller threats, then maybe I'd follow through with them. So we've got a bit of an issue with the kids and swearing again at the moment. Okay. It's not funny. I don't know why I'm nervous laughing because for whatever reason, they've spent some time and another set of freight, like who swear. Anyway, so every time I hear them swearing, I take a pound out of their GoHenry account and I tell them and I watch them and they hate it. So in the last three or four days, they haven't worn once because I've taken seven pounds out of each of their accounts. Oh, that's good. Do you know, I still haven't, I still haven't done pocket money.

32:44I really need to start doing it. Are you joking? My kids have got like 290 quid each in their, They haven't spent their pocket money for like two years. Oh, my God. So mine get money and they have cash in their drawers and then I just take it to pay the cleaner. That's basically how their pocket money works. So I don't think they've got any trust in any sort of finances or bunkers. That's hilarious. All jokes aside, I actually do need to get on top of it. I'm so aware that this time next year I was at secondary school. yeah i keep hearing like from all the mums of kids here in secondary school like now and they'll show you like what they're buying and it's so interesting like some of the kids are like buying absolutely nothing you know being really careful with their money and then some are just like cheese toasty soda droll whatever this drink is that all the kids are drinking begins with an hour i can't remember and it's like three pounds fifty hot chocolate cookie and it's just like ping ping ping ping ping coming up and I just know that unless I get a handle on it this year that's going to happen to me you've got to do it I know it takes two seconds to do the go Henry thing I know I do I'm going to send you the link yeah no I do I do need he needs to like do something um over the next year and George should we just do one more quickly yeah go on you pick it oh god okay how do you get your children to respect your privacy in the bathroom I shut the door but they bang and bang and bang until I open it.

34:13That is like a horror movie though. Oh, I know. I think this. It's so annoying. And now I've got a dog that follows me in when I'm on the move. Yeah, I was going to say that. The dog watches me do a poo every day. Yeah, I was going to say. And she's like gaslighting me because she's staring at me whilst I'm doing a poo. You can't concentrate. It's just like I just don't want another person looking into my eyes. Yeah. No, I know. I never wanted it. Yeah, sometimes in our downstairs toilet is not big. And sometimes there's a dog and both kids in there talking to me. Also, I find it mad when you're in the toilet and they ask you to do something.

34:50And you're like, hmm, I probably can't get that drink out of the fridge that you've just walked past on the way here right now. It's just all, yeah, I don't know is the answer to that. You have to get a lock on the door and you have to sit there with headphones in, even if it's just three or four minutes, you can't hear the banging. Yeah. I think as well, just probably as they get older, you've just got to have a chat with them. But I mean, I just don't know because sometimes I get in the bath at night and I'm like, oh, my God, this is so lovely, like lovely in the bath. And then Axel walks in and he puts his feet in and I'm like, what?

35:31What? And then I'm like, oh, but he's 10. I know, but this won't be like this forever. They won't want to do it forever. And I'm like, okay. Get in then. Listen, good luck this weekend. If you're out trickle treating, if you're getting dressed up, if you're going to any fancy dress parties, just remember if you are in the horror of parenting, it's only a phase. And we love you lots. Thank you so much for sending in all of your questions. As always, we'd love you to rate, review, subscribe, and please give off podcast a follow. Yeah, and if you've got any feedback on this episode or topics you'd like us to cover.

36:03We're always looking for new topics for these Friday Q &A, so please do send them across. We're on at Made by Mommas on Instagram, and we'll be back on Tuesday.

36:18Hey, we're Nick and Jack, hosts of The Best One Yet. Behind every episode, there's research, email, spreadsheets, and our shared Google Doc, the Headline Hammer. With Google Workspace with Gemini, Google's AI is built right into the premium versions of tools we already use, like Gmail, Docs, and Sheets. No new tools or extra logins, just personalized AI for the way we work. That means less time on the work around the work and more time finding the stories worth talking about. Get AI tools for work. Upgrade to Google Workspace with Gemini at go.gle slash workspace with Gemini. That's go.gle slash workspace with Gemini.

36:53I'm Claire Buckley, and this Halloween on my podcast, Pretty Scary, we are going to cover the stories that keep you up at night. Real crimes, ghosts and aliens. Plus the scariest movies to watch this spooky season, with the lights off. So, as the nights draw in, the pumpkins are carved and somewhere in the dark, something is scratching at the window. It's probably just the cat, right? Get the candles lit and search for Pretty Scary with Claire Buckley.