Parenting Hell with Rob Beckett and Josh Widdicombe
S12 EP43: Multi-generational Bad Parenting
02 Jun 2026
Transcript generated automatically by AI and may contain errors.
Chapter 1: What parenting challenges do Rob and Josh discuss at the start?
Hello, you're listening to Parenting Hell with... Rubin, can you see Josh Widdicombe? Josh Widdicombe. And Rob Beckett. Rob Beckett.
Oh, there we go, Rob. That was absolutely flawless. Was his name Rubin? Rubin. Rubin. It sounded like she said Rubin. Is it an accent? Can I hear it again, please, Josh?
Rubin, can you see Josh Widdicombe?
It's Rubin in a Scottish accent. But then it sounds like Ribin. Rubin. Ruben. Ruben. Josh, can I pick up on your energy? Yeah. I feel like you are relaxed because you've been at home for a few days, but a little bit absolutely depleted because it's been an intense week and you're like happy, chilled, but no energy.
As of the time of recording, Rob, we are doing this in the midst of packing. Oh, okay. For a little week holiday. We're going on holiday for half term. Nice.
We're recording this Sunday of the bank holiday weekend at 9.30 a.m. Hardcore for your ears. So you little saps don't go, or they don't put much effort in anymore. We're here, front line, Sunday. I've got the kids in the office downstairs drawing on the walls. Exactly. Where's Lou? She's in France for a friend's 40th. Oh, lovely. Oh, lovely. I'm loving being at home. She needed a break away.
I needed normality at home with the kids.
Yeah, exactly. So I am quite relaxed, but I don't enjoy packing. And it was my son's birthday yesterday, a party. Let me just read out this Ruben thing. Yeah, let's get Ruben. Get Ruben sorted.
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Chapter 2: How do Rob and Josh handle holiday preparations for their kids?
This is Ruben, aged 28 months, from Livingston, Scotland. 28 months. Is that two years? About 30 seconds after this clip, I had to play Lego with him and pretend to be Josh and Rob. Thanks, Chloe Jacobs. Oh, thanks, Chloe. You might also have noticed the quality of the sound of that production, Rob, because I've got a new phone. You've got a new phone? What have you gone for?
Finally upgraded to just the newest iPhone, obviously, because I don't know what I'm talking about. So I just go, can I have this? Can I have the same one, but the modern version?
I'm going to get a Google Pixel for personal and then keep my iPhone for business.
Yeah, you talk about this and I don't know what that means. Well, I'll tell you what it means, actually. How do I contact you on our WhatsApp group? No, so that'll be my work one. But what I'll do is... What if I want to indulge in some fun banter?
Well, that's exactly what the new phone will be for. So what it'll be for is, Josh, I'm going to give a personal number out to friends and one of the agents and say, only in an emergency call this number. This is like Scorsese's got his trousers down at Claridge's go there and do your worst Rob. No. So I'll give on my personal phone. I won't have social media.
Oh, right. So I was going to say, if I'm honest with you, the work stuff's not the thing that drags me into my phone addiction.
No, exactly. But I only really need social media for work. I'm not a big fan. It doesn't bring anything to my life socially.
No, you do spend a lot of time. I don't know if it's changed. You do spend an inordinate amount of time kind of doom-scrolling TikTok.
Hours. Hours. So you're trying to lose that. Trying to lose that. So this is what it would be. So then I'd use my work phone from like 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. or 5 p.m. in the week, yeah?
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Chapter 3: What funny anecdotes do they share about kids' birthday parties?
Then I'd put that in a drawer and turn it off. until the next morning and then I do have my other phone and on my other phone is Ringo if I'm driving anywhere for the parking I'll have a WhatsApp and iMessage but it'll be a new number and I'll only give this number out to friends and family that won't contact me about work and you'll know that you've got Rob personal Michael
Michael can have it because sometimes we have banter about football shirts. If he doesn't want it, that's fine as well. I'll give people the choice and I'll have my calendar on it, but I won't have any emails on it. No emails and no social media. I'm excited for this. Yeah. And I'm just going to float around like a businessman in the 80s. It's just like, well, email should be email.
Yeah. And then you've got a gig in the evening and you haven't got the address because the address isn't an email.
Yeah, but I will have my work phone then because I'll still be at work.
oh i see yeah yeah fine yeah okay i'm saying this is like for holidays weekends now you know but then it is yeah so that's the plan i think it's a good plan i like it i like it i like it i'm just exploring the plan i'm exploring the plan explore the plan i'm opened up dig yeah okay so you're lying by the pool on holiday are you taking your work phone and putting in that little safe you get in the hotel room yeah and i'll check it for an hour in the morning
So what are you doing by the pool? Are you going to have podcasts on this phone? I'm going to have podcasts on there.
I'm going to have music on there.
I'm going to throw some apps out and I want you to say whether they're on the work for, on the personal phone. Personal phone. Yep. Okay.
Banking. banking amazon can i tell you something and this makes you feel like a 70s house husband you know like those dads and men that still have their clothes bought for them by their wives and they pack them you've never bought anything online i have never had an amazon account what i've only ever just used logged into lose on her phone No, I will use a login on my phone. Oh, right.
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Chapter 4: How do Rob and Josh cope with the heatwave during parenting?
So what I'd like to discuss with you, Rob, other apps. I'm going to go through my apps, actually. Yeah, go on. Are you going to have stuff like Netflix? Yes.
Maybe, maybe not, but I wouldn't install it immediately. I'd see if I need it. Maybe for on holiday and on the plane, I'd have Netflix. iPlayer. iPlayer, Netflix, stuff like that. Yes, I probably will on the personal. Deliveroo? On the personal one, yeah. Yeah. One second. You're right. I'm just recording. Oh, you need the internet. Oh, sorry about this. I should have done this before.
Chapter 5: What experiences do they share about their visits to Diggerland?
I knew there was something. Oh, no. Can you stop playing with Baby Yoda? Oh, God. Hang on. It's all right. I'm just going to log my... The kids are with me, Josh, at the office because it's half term.
Just give them your personal phone, Rob, or your work phone.
What's that? Well, no, they brought their iPads, but I forgot to log them in. Oh, no. Right. Oh, no. It's a long one as well. Oh, no. You all right there? You okay? Do you want to share it? Hang on. Let's see if... Oh, yes, it shares. Sorry about this, Josh. It's all right. Bring the iPad up and I can get you online. Sorry, Josh. Michael. Give me some more apps while I'm doing this. Okay.
It's a new iPhone. It's massive.
No, it is a bit bigger, actually. But I didn't go with the big one. I fucking hate those big ones that people go for. So all of my other ones are like just those things that you just accrue. Do you know what I mean?
Yeah, but you need banking, you need parking and stuff like that. Yeah, all that. So it will work, Rob. It'll work. Yeah, I think it's a really good idea. So that's the plan. I think it's an excellent idea. All done. They're online. But yeah, that's the plan. I'll let you know how I get on. Yeah, good idea.
So what are you up to for half term?
So half term, I'm off for most of it. I've got to do two days of work in the middle. So Lou's coming back Tuesday, December.
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Chapter 6: How do they discuss the importance of family and parenting roles?
So we've just been chilling in the garden. The weather's so good. Did you get the call up from that job you were covering on Friday? No. Basically, there's jobs in TV where when there's a TV show on and there's a big cast, sometimes they pay people to be on standby. And you don't get paid the full fee, but you get paid a decent fee to sit at home next to your phone like an emergency plumber.
Either phone. And it rings. Well, no, that would be work phone there. I wouldn't even have a personal one out because I take standby seriously. Yeah, of course. Actually, but some people don't. Some people just like live their life with the phone. I'm like, no, I'm in. And I've got the phone there.
I sit at my kitchen table with a glass of water and phone in front of me and I do not move until I get the call.
And you think of jokes that you could come up with were you to get the call?
Yeah, and I'm dressed in my outfits. Yeah, of course. My comedy outfits. And I've got my squirty feather, squirty flower. I've got my red nose. And I'm a clown on standby. Yeah, exactly.
But I didn't get the call up. But some people will do it for a whole series of something. So they'll often get the call in that situation. Because if there's like 10 episodes, they'll probably get a dropout. But it does mean that some people are like... I don't know on standby for the whole series of what I lied to you with, with their lies. Do you know what I mean? Oh yeah.
Yeah. Yeah. This one wasn't as much prep, so that was all right. But yeah, no, I didn't get a call up. So I was just chilling at home. Then I managed, I got the call up at half 10 to tell me I was released because basically some of them, once everyone arrives at the studio, you're good as gold.
So I'm not going to name the show because I think that's a bit unfair, but you know, on some shows you have to prepare what you're going to talk about. You bring a topic or you'll bring, you'll be doing a bit or whatever.
Yeah.
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Chapter 7: What parenting lessons do they learn from their kids' interactions?
So someone had to come in. Your daughter's here. That noise. No, there's some weird noise.
What's going on? One second.
Oh, God. Oh, no. Oh, no. This is a classic old school app. This is a classic old school parenting hell app. Do you know what? I'm going to celebrate by dancing my teabag with my fingers while Rob's not there, because he won't see it.
One of them just used the toilet, and that's the toilet making a noise that it does for a bit after someone's been to the toilet, but normally I'm here on my own. You've never been to the toilet? Well, I have been to... It stopped. I have been to the toilet, but not normally during the pod. Yeah, of course, of course. That would be awful. Yeah, horrible.
Just like, oh, don't worry, I'll move the camera. Now. Yeah, go on. My son's birthday party yesterday. Yes, Diggerland. Diggerland. How was Diggerland? Have you ever been to Diggerland?
No, I haven't. It's a bit far, but it's not the kind of one you can do for a day from London.
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Chapter 8: What travel tips do Rob and Josh share for family holidays?
So there's quite a few Diggerlands in the UK. Oh, okay. So this is the Devon Diggerland. Yeah, well, just look at HS2. Bloody the whole country's a digger land, am I right?
Oh, here we go. Here we bloody go. Get him on LBC. Yeah. Just to get to Birmingham 20 minutes quicker. Come on. Here we go. Here we go. HS poo, that's what I call it. Ideally, I'd get to Manchester slower, am I right? Because I don't want to bloody be there, et cetera.
Oh, my word. Here we go. What? Are you all right? Yeah, can I come in? Yeah, quickly. You've got to look. Yeah, come in quick. I found this. Yeah, okay, I'll better take that, thank you. Okay, so they're in my office, so they're finding stuff that I've not really pre-checked. Oh, no, it's not a porno, is it? No.
no it's readers wives it's creative sweary cats right oh no and it says fuck off on it yeah so she said i've just found this and i don't think we should have it and it's got fuck off written on it then the next page is so what is this well i think tom elliott the guy who's the tour manager he bought it for me as an end of tour present because he used to do coloring in and it says zero fucks given arsehole and it's a picture of a cat with its arsehole and it's a coloring book
yeah bollock bullshit yeah damn you are they not too bad dickhead fuck face fuck off fuck this shit fuck you um come oh oh no oh no oh that noise oh we're better than that aren't we oh come oh that's a shame limp dick motherfucker nipple dick piss off slut twat waffle wanker and that's it yeah so yeah well well thanks for giving it to me
Do you know what? Good on her. Good on her. Yeah. She's definitely had a good... I'll read her that. Yeah, yeah. I hope she didn't go, oh, come, that's a shame. That's a real shame. C-U-M. That's not how it's spelt, Dad.
We've all let ourselves down here, haven't we? I mean, that's not great parenting, is it? I've taken her to work. She's found a book with come written in it. And she said, Dad, I don't think we should have this. And given it... Who's parenting who? She's not wrong. She's not wrong.
She's not wrong. And then I told her off for coming up. Anyway, sorry about that. So we went to Diggerland. Yes. It is brilliant. It was so hot. It was the hottest day.
Was that yesterday?
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