If you aren’t familiar with Room 101, then firstly you must be young and I am incredibly jealous, but secondly let me tell you… Because otherwise, this post is going to make little to no sense. Room 101 was a fast-moving chat show (1994-2007) where celebrities had the chance to shelve their worst pet hates. The celebrities would compete for the host's approval to banish their top pet peeve, annoyance and irritations to the depths of Room 101 forever. More often than not their grievances were quite jovial, humorous and relatable.
I’d forgotten all about Room 101 up until recently when I was chatting to a friend about the series. After feeling all nostalgic and having my sides hurt from laughter as we discussed what we’d banish, I thought I’d bring Room 101 to Your Baby Club. I'd love to know what you'd send into Room 101.
Here are 14 parenting things I’d put into Room 101.
Mum Guilt.
This one goes without saying, doesn't it! If I could, I’d more than happily banish mum guilt to Room 101 for all of us. There’s nothing more belittling than mum guilt.
Uneven pavements.
It’s only when you go out with a pram that you realise just how uneven pavements can be. In the last couple of weeks, I’ve had two crashes! And by crashes I mean the pram wheels getting stuck leaving myself and my toddler on the buggy board going flying straight into the baby in the pram. Tears for both children!
Glitter.
I have absolutely no qualms crafting with my daughter. I quite enjoy it in fact. But when she asks to get the glitter out my eyes roll so darn hard. She sees glitter as these amazingly colourful shiny flecks of wonder. I see glitter as the absolute worst thing in the world to try and tidy up. I challenge you to name something more difficult to clean!
The textbook baby.
There’s no such thing as textbook babies. Nor is there such thing as a ‘good baby’ or a ‘bad baby’. These terms 100% need to go into Room 101. The only thing they do is make parents feel bad that their babies aren’t doing what the textbooks say they’re supposed to be doing.
‘Just wait till they’re…’
We’ve all been there, haven’t we? Complaining about our kids only for someone to say ‘just wait till they’re’ completely diminishing your feelings. All aspects of parenting are hard, we just face different challenges at different ages. I’d quite happily banish the ‘just wait till they’re’ phrase if I could.
Playdoh.
My toddler loves Play-Doh. I hate Play-Doh. I think the fact my kid loves it so much makes me hate it even more. I hate the mess. I hate the texture. I hate the smell. And don't even get me started about when she mixes the colours together. Ew! There is nothing pleasurable about Play-Doh.
Lack of sick days.
The lack of sick days being a parent really needs to go into Room 101. With any other job you’re entitled to time off, daily breaks and sick days. Quite frankly it’s a travesty we don’t get sick days as parents.
Baby bogies.
There is nothing more annoying than baby bogies. You can quite clearly see them, but their poor noses are too small that they can’t be reached. Infuriating!
The comparison game.
This is a hard one! It’s only natural to compare your child with other children, but that doesn’t mean it hurts any less. If only we could all just stay in our lanes and get on with our own lives with our children without playing the comparison game. That would be bliss.
Annoying toys.
There is nothing more infuriating than those brightly coloured plastic toys which light up and sing the same songs on repeat. You know the ones that your kids love! Typical isn’t it! And they only usually want to play with them when you’ve got a headache or you’ve had a testing day.
Judgement.
Being a parent is the hardest thing to do and the easiest thing to judge. I’ve been judged on a number of things during my parenting journey.
Kids parties.
As a parent, kids parties are so blooming boring. Some months it can feel like you go to one each weekend. Not only can they get expensive, but they can be absolutely mind-numbing and not the way you want to spend your weekend.
Baggage.
Want to spend a night away with your little one? Want to leave the house with your little one? Let’s consider the amount of baggage they come with… And then decide whether it’s actually worth leaving the house. If I could somehow have some sort of Mary Poppins style bag and banish everything else to Room 101 that’d be massively appreciated.
Being fun all the time.
Gosh, how annoying is it being fun all the time? I know it’s a bit naughty, but sometimes I really can’t be bothered to play with my toddler. I’d love to be able to just switch off and be replaced by someone more fun.
Cocomelon.
Up until recently, I managed to wean my daughter off of Cocomelon. Last week however my Husband reminded her of JJ and the rest of his annoying family. Not only do I now hate my Husband, but my hatred for Cocomelon has now been reignited. JJ, TomTom and Yo-Yo can most definitely go into Room 101.
