How Hard Can Single Parenting Be? | Full Episode | I Want My Mummy, Episode 15

[Music] what have you done you didn't eat that on a sofa harry is napping he's changing i think he might have done a poop changing a dirty nappy on a park bench i love it no not near the eyes [Music] [Applause] [Music] what happens when two hard-working mums down tools and go on strike for three days leaving their homes and children in the hands of their husbands which dad will cope best with the challenges the mums have set domesticated bob who shares the child care with her mrs or branch manager neil who gets home when the kids are in bed parenting advisor anna rayburn will be watching to see if they make light work of the challenges ahead [Music] dads often say how hard can it be to stay at home with the children well they're about to find out first let's meet neil and the rest of the twine family [Music] there's full-time mum of four allison who also runs their own business two-year-old triplets george harry and lauren and their big brother seven-year-old jack and then there's footy mad husband neil who wears the trousers in our house um i would probably say i do i go to work and i've got my job and i run my branch and she looks after the house i quite often say it would be nice to to see neil step into my shoes and you know and get a real feel for actually what it's like we often have conversations about who has the hardest job and i have to admit that i have the hardest job before mom packs her bags she wants to find out how much neil really knows about family life neil what's jack's favorite food meatballs and spaghetti george harry and lauren all have the same wellies who appears on them the tweenies appear on those on the children's wellies what size feet do george and lauren have [Music] i don't know who's jack's best friend at school aaron a high scoring dad with three out of four but mum's not giving up the chance to spend three days at a spa danielle i'm going on strike because i've had enough of cleaning up after everybody dealing with all the tantrums and trying to run my own business from home now's your chance to see what it's really like in my world i'd like you to take the kids to a toddler group thank you gary oh wow and don't forget to clean the house from top to bottom here right p.s any watching of sports on tv is strictly off limits so i get to watch sport anyway do we jack yeah allison settles into a new life of luxury three days at the bristol marriott royal spa my god look at this it's fantastic i tell you what i'd love to jump on it but i don't think i'd get me legally and what the dads don't know is that mums will be watching their every move it's half past eight in the morning and time for neil's first task get jack ready for school in the triplets off to play group well jack have you cleaned your teeth have you got your homework coats on and shoes and um me and then we're ready to rock and roll no harry and george are already one step ahead [Music] what's your fingers come on no get in the back thank you harry i love those get in the back get the back george clown this way that way stop it don't be silly that's harry's chair right come on george get in your chair yeah we're ready to go what's up we need to go and ask marilyn where we're going whilst daddy doesn't know where we're going oh dear it looks like neil might be in trouble already i'm not too sure where we're going i got i've got an idea where we're going but our neighbor she goes i'm sure well she may have already left but uh it's down the methodist church so um i know i've got an idea where that is but [Music] don't think she's in with no idea where he's going neil sets off in search of the play group like walking the dogs have you been here before george yeah do you know where to go do you know where to go lauren i thought methodist church i might be there then how can i sit there um is this it harry yeah all right this is it more by luck than judgment neil's found the right place what does our parenting expert anna rayburn make of his first morning neil has had an eventful morning he set off with the triplets for play group without any idea of where he was going triplets are a handful at the best of times and i really think he should have thought about this before now let's meet our second family the mulkahs there's mum karen who works full-time teenage daughters amy and natalie [Music] three-year-old ollie who likes to get his own way and salesman bob who works from home and does try to do his bit if you ask him to do certain jobs he will go and do them but he has to be asked men do do their best but i think that some of them just do it and do it and see it in a different way so hopefully i can try to do things that that she won't pick holes in when she comes back but before mum packs her bags she wants to know how much bob really knows about managing the house who do we have our travel insurance with pass when one of the major appliances goes wrong who'd you call british gas who's my favorite singer natasha bettingfield has to be what am i projecting at gcse in drama fairly high hopefully well one and a half out of four and mum's already writing her goodbye note dear bob i'm going on strike wow oh let's i know you think pretty good around the house well now is your chance to find out exactly how good when i come back i want to see the house spotless cars will need washing too [Music] i can see myself sitting here glass of champagne bubbles excellent bob cracks on with his first task getting his girls off to school but 15 year old amy has got a surprise up her sleeve i have a trip tonight to where london to see what the history boy do you know what it's about actually sounds sordid but anyway i'm going and i'm staring at poppies tonight what's that group of strippers called oh dad shut up [Laughter] no anyway i have a trip tonight and you have to pick me up tomorrow i will have to talk on telephone also don't ruin me tonight though because i'm not getting back to about midnight all right how are we doing i do do you know where your shoes are yes excellent it's in here let me just wipe your face who wants to go to school then you would right off we go bob has a tricky situation he has two teenage daughters and a three-year-old son it will be interesting to see how he balances their competing demands coming up will the water babies get the better of neil and how will bob take to getting a soaking [Applause] hard-working mums allison and karen are on strike they've left their husbands to juggle the kids in the chores while they relax at a luxury spa for three blissful days what the dads don't know is the mums are watching their every move oh look at them with the triplets home from play group dad neal lets them play in the garden for the first time this year [Laughter] oh [Music] that's naughty where is he i'm not sure it was georgie [Music] and lauren's keeping quiet did you just get harry wet yeah right come here harry would you say to harry no don't say thank you what'd you say to him please sorry go on then say sorry [Music] yeah you did it so with the triplets cleaned up and jack and a friend home from school it's time for tea i could see how when awesome when the weekend comes along how alison's glad that i'm home to give her a break thank you hooray dad i'm hungry all right it's just coming jack it's half past five the kids are content and so's neil now he's got a drink in his hand we're nearly there bath time in a minute and then it's um that'll be bedtime oops way too much quick quick quick okay just have a cuddle just have a cuddle harry that's it well that went quite well so what about bedtime lie down there hey right now night come on lauren let's go lie down georgie that's enough come on george is tired all right nine night well quickly then come on lauren we got to give you a quick kiss no no messing about now come on that's enough off you go no night get into bed no no more no [Music] [Music] this is when you start to get really frustrated no sometimes it is quite hard getting them to bed when you've been on the go all day and then they're kicking up a first like this you just want to go to bed and settle down so that i mean jack needs to go to bed yet what do you want right you lie down and i'll go get your drink i should have brought their drinks up because they sometimes have a drink during the night so i need to just snip downstairs and get a drink [Music] it's five past seven and they've been on the go for 12 hours and so have i uh constantly um and it's been uh i wouldn't necessarily it's been stressful say it's been stressful it's been just demanding all the time just demand demand um but it is nice now they're in bed i can have a beer what will our expert anna rayburn make of neil's day neil is looking tired and i'm not surprised after putting the triplets to bed he's had a busy day and i was particularly impressed with the way he dealt with the water fight go on then say sorry if you can get children to sort this sort of thing out for themselves it's a great way of teaching them how to resolve disputes a few miles down the road and with his teenage daughters safely at school our second dad bob plans lunch for his three-year-old son ollie darling what would you like to eat daddy get some spaghetti or something let's go in the kitchen and see what we've got to eat shall we that's a good idea come on nav let's see what we've got ollie's not really up for lunch just now yes i want to play music daddy i'm not interested eating that's his all-time favorite is nothing i don't want anything to eat if oliver wants to eat he will eat and he will ask for food too so if he doesn't want to eat it at lunch time he will stand in his chair pull the thing off and say all right finish now time please but bob is keen to impose a bit of order now i'm gonna climb all over daddy i'm not interested in food i'm gonna do my own thing i'm my own person oh dear we'll try again in a few minutes so ollie dictates the pace first it's a run around the garden [Applause] that's good isn't it then when he's ready it's time to eat molly can you eat it at the table please what have you done he didn't eat that on a sofa naughty where's the other one there ollie do the jobs that's it only help look at you you do the job more than daddy good boy thank you for helping it's four in the afternoon and time for bob to clean the cars as instructed by the wife mums don't appreciate these things you know [Music] but something strange has happened to the water supply come on boy don't let me down now natalie thank you [Music] oh what's going wrong just doing some uh some chicken and and chips for the for natalie and oliver daddy might have uh a little something a bit more um elaborate with uh with some medicine that i've got for later this time ollie's decided to play ball well i've said i've dipped it in the wrong bit did i oh dear well i feel that i've done most of the things that i should have done hopefully she's going to be happy with me i'm looking forward to starting all over again and trying to um maintain the standards of a holiness bob has had fun with the kids but he struggled to get oliver to eat at the proper time it's important to make meal times regular and for children to understand that food is there for them to eat then it's day two and in bristol mother of four allison sends her husband a gentle reminder it's time for jack's weekly football training and this time the triplets come too whose charges are these harry's or georgie's so there's doing a poo come on smelly bun once you change one you have to change all of them and then you change change three nappies and then one of them does a poo so i have to change him again and then maybe the other one does a poo so change five nappies in ten minutes right now he's stuck over there thank you right have you done poo no no he's okay i actually think neil's looking quite calm i really do considering come on in the back yeah up and out but older brother jack's got his eye on the clock dad yeah i'm late i know you're late daddy's always late yeah i know [Music] jack are you going full bag yeah what's the ceiling he's not doing very well [Music] they're half an hour late but jack soon makes up for lost time again looking for space dollar time while neil studies the action from the sidelines the triplets decide to go exploring i've gone on the air and the change rooms [Music] come on out where's lauren come on out no out out now come on [Music] come on out harry's napping he's changing i think he might have done a poo as well changing a dirty nappy on a park bench i love it what's wrong with using the facilities inside the changing rooms oh you poor lad that'd be nice just to sit down and just watch jack have a little train rather than having to change nothing go around drag it away you got a bag of it yeah well then he's asking the guy in the kiosk if he's got a bag but i'm sure sure snapping oh he's taking it i love class i love you dirty nappy that was good wasn't it nila's had another busy day and found the conflicting demands of all four children quite frustrating not to mention the demand on the nappy supply he would normally have taken jack along to football practice on his own and children thrive on one-to-one attention day 2 and karen is sending instructions to husband bob buying new school shoes for 13 year old natalie it's every man's worst nightmare looking at boots they're not supposed to be buying boots at school shoes don't forget it's not going to be long before it's summer but natalie's got her own ideas very nice should we come back after to see see some other choices yes shop number two and three-year-old ollie's getting bored he's not uh learned the art of shopping yet [Music] so what are you doing i think we're going okay more purgatory aren't they exactly the same as the other ones no because the other one had two belts oh okay right you have to notice these things if you're going to pick out a one bolt or a two belt situation yeah dad you just hope this is shoe shopping good luck to me practical for school something like this good sturdy stuff that's what you need it's all i wore in my day in true female fashion the girls go right back to the first shot they tried winter boots not exactly what mum had in mind bob has had to endure the ultimate torture it's always the same with clothes with shopping you always end up with a very first shot that you started off at but he kept his temper so well done for that but he came home without school shoes next has neil lost all three triplets it just takes a second doesn't it for them to disappear and they're just gone oh dear i lost all my children and if bob thought shoe shopping was hard how on earth is he gonna handle a teenage sleepover and natalie the answer to your next question is no three days ago dad neil and bob were left to juggle the trials of family life while their partners alison and karen went on strike at a luxury spa it's been three days of pampering and both mums have enjoyed every precious minute [Music] i think the facilities are absolutely wonderful i'm just really enjoying the fact that i've got some space on my own away from the hectic life back home absolutely it's lovely isn't it just just me time is this having me time for a change don't have it do we at home that's right exactly the end of the challenge is drawing near but there's still time for neil father of triplets to take his kids to an adventure playground now lauren's just gone over there and george is over there as well harry's going off that way so it's just uh trying to keep tracks of all of them all the time and [Music] quite difficult sometimes with so many people around that moment i can't see george i can't see any of them though you can't see any of them now oh dear i lost all my children hey harry's in there um where's george one that's good great lost two kids there's lauren oh he's over there he's over there one two three jack's over there playing football with uncle steve this just takes a second doesn't it for them to disappear and they're just gone so many people around it's just so difficult you've got to try and remember what color clothes they've gotten as well so you're looking for like an orange top i could just see them over there i can't remember much more of this [Applause] [Music] come on let's go wait for me lauren so with everyone accounted for it's time to head home and at the end of the challenge neil has realized a few home truths the housework um has gone out the window a little bit apart from i did a little bit of vacuuming last night that's all i've managed to do i don't know how she does everything uh look after these do her own business look after jack do all the cooking um in fact some most of the time when i come home she's cooked dinner as well so lauren just be patient please so to do all that um and to run the house as well i don't know hooray the message is sunk in now you know what it's like in my world she needs to have more more time to herself whether it's weekends or um or during the week because they do demand so much of your time all the time you just get no time to yourself i have an idea oh yeah what's that and when mommy comes home here we can just say sit down and you do all the work well me i've been doing all the work i have been doing mummy should take over no daddy's going on strike tomorrow a few miles down the road it's the end of day two for father of three bob but for teenagers amy and natalie the evening's only just begun [Music] they've invited a few friends around for a sleepover but dad's not really in the mood it's been a bit of a surprise having an entourage of people here tonight and it's a bit noisy i'm looking forward to some beauty sleep and starting all over again it's the last day of the challenge and time for our dads to meet up and compare notes so how do they rate their own progress hello i'm bob hello bob i'm neil hi so how was it for you then um yeah it was it was quite tough um very tough at times there's three little ones just absolutely no time to go whatsoever i'm looking forward to going back to work tomorrow to uh have some time to myself i know and to have a nice cup of tea on my own and have some sandwiches on my own i think the best part for me was when i sat down and had a whiskey late last night which was the first time i've sort of sat down had a bit of quiet peace and quiet for the whole few days while our dads tuck into their pub lunch alison makes a little inspection hmm not had a dust has he that didn't quite make its way into the dishwasher other than that i have to say everything's quite tidy in here time to welcome them home [Laughter] [Music] hello mommy you're matt you're gonna give me some cuddles hello i missed you [Music] i've been watching everything you've been doing probably yes yes i have and i've had lots of fun are you going to come off strike so what will our second mum karen make of bob's progress i've been drinking some whiskey to help him cope stairs haven't been cleaned i said just the top bit does the bottom bit doesn't do the bit in the middle overall he's done quite a good job but there's still room for improvement time for bob to face the music [Music] are you ready to come off of strike yet yeah um shall we yeah yeah oh that's good so let's remind ourselves how both dads have handled the challenge father of four neil had nightmares with nappies navigation do you know where to go lauren i thought methodist church and night time right no night come along let's go [Music] while salesman bob tackled tantrums and troublesome teens so which dad has made the greatest transformation bob has coped quite well he's kept his temper survived a riotous sleepover but i think he needs to understand that he must lay the law down a little bit more often and i'm sure he's very relieved to have mum home again thank you neil has had a hell of a job looking after four children coping with triplets is always extremely demanding and he's really excelled at it but he has renewed admiration for what a terrific job his wife does this and that alone makes him my dad of the day yes [Music] you

Channel: Origin

Views: 15,858

Keywords: bbc documentary, origin story, parenting, single mom, wellbeing, mindfulness, support network, shelter, nct, mums meet up, charity for parents, family lives, kensington mums, mind, mums group, mummy social, raising a child, snowplow parenting, inuit parenting, co parenting, weird parenting wins, bare minimum parenting, respectful parenting, daddy day care, i want my mummy, dads rules, single parent, reality tv, parenthood, child support, single dad, parents strike

Id: f_nkwMIvV8s

Length: 31min 38sec (1898 seconds)

Published: Tue Oct 13 2020