Rob Beckett and Josh Widdicombe's Parenting Hell - S8 EP16: Shaun Keaveny

Episode Date: March 1, 2024

Joining us this episode to discuss the highs and lows of parenting (and life) is the radio DJ, presenter and broadcaster - Shaun Keaveny. Shaun Keaveny’s Daily Grind is available to listen to on all podcast platforms Parenting Hell is a Spotify Podcast, available everywhere every Tuesday and Friday. Please leave a rating and review you filthy street dogs... xx If you want to get in touch with the show here's how: EMAIL: [e-mail] INSTAGRAM: @parentinghell MAILING LIST: parentinghellpodcast.mailchimpsites.com  A 'Keep It Light Media' Production  Sales, advertising, and general enquiries: [e-mail] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hello I'm Rob Beckett and I'm Josh Willicombe. Welcome to Parents in Hell the show in which Josh and I discuss what it's really like to be a parent which I would say can be a little tricky. So to make ourselves and hopefully you feel better about the trials and tribulations of modern day parenting each week we'll be chatting to a famous parent about how they're coping or hopefully how they're not coping and we'll also be hearing from you the listener with your tips advice and of course tales of parenting woe because let's be honest there are plenty of times where none of us know what we're doing hello you're listening to parenting hell with Polly, can you say Rob Beckett? Mm-hmm.

Well, go on then. Fog better. Can you say Josh Whittakin? Josh Whittakin. You were better at Josh Whittakin than you were at Rob Beckett. Try Rob Beckett again. Fog better. Good job, Pals.

Right, that's a brilliant one. Scotland. Loved it. It will man. Loved it. Loved the Scottish accent. Glasgow? Yes. I always find it really funny when little kids have got pronounced accents.

This is from Bonnie Glasgow. So is she called Bonnie? No. No. Oh, no, no, no. Oh, no. You stink of English. I do stink of English.

Send me down. Sue me. Sue me. Yeah, I'm English. I stink of England. Born in Scotland. I love the Scottish... I love the Scottish...

The Scottish. You sound like Rishi Sonak, but under pressure. So what are you going to do for the English people? Love the Scottish. Iron brew. I'd like a drink of that. Hi, this is my five-year-old Holly, smashing Josh's name but struggling with Rob's.

She is the youngest sister to Joseph and is mental. Love my journeys to work on Tuesdays and Fridays. Laugh all the way to my P1 class. What's P1? P1 class. Here we go. Oh, primary, P1 class. How's that primary?

P1, primary one. So I think year one of school. Keep doing it and bring the next tour to Glasgow, please. In brackets, I don't doubt by now that Rob has impersonated myself with my daughter to make it sound like the hardest, roughest mother and daughter that ever existed. Hey, no, I didn't. I just said born in Scotland.

It was not like that. Hey, we're mad. Love, Nicky. Yeah, we're mad. Love, Nicky McHutchinson. McHutchinson. That's three Scottish names in a row there. McHutchinson. That's three Scottish names in a row there. McHutchinson.

That's a lot. Very Scottish. Yeah, I am coming to Glasgow on my tour. We're just trying to sort a date out because it's always a bit fiddly getting dates. King's Theatre? Probably, yeah. I'm doing Edinburgh and Aberdeen

and probably will add Glasgow and Inverness at the moment are the ones we're looking at. There we go. There we bloody go. Do you want to do a bit of correspondence josh yeah go on i've got some boomer and what do you want i've got some boomer i've got some uni drop-off stories i've got some parenting let's do uni drop-off we don't do that enough here we go hi rob josh and michael on a recent episode you spoke about university drop-off stories when our mum dropped

my older brother off at uni a few years ago she got a text about a week later asking her how do you wash a t-shirt she responded she replied just follow the instructions what does it say on the t-shirt to which he replied foo fighters it's good stuff that's good stuff isn isn't it? That is really good. That's my kind of humour. That is... To the surprise of literally nobody... To be fair, if he likes the Foo Fighters, he probably doesn't need to bloody wash anyway.

Hey! Do it, do it, do it. They're not really smelly ban, though, are they, Foo Fighters? Now, to the surprise of literally nobody, he was back home each month with a huge bag of dirty washing, and we've never let him live it down. Anyone in my family asks about instructions directions or how something works we all just say foo fighters as a default how'd you uh change the uh how'd you change the uh the thing on the the the hoover foo fires god it took me a long time to think of a thing there didn't

it it was painful it was painful halfway through going the thing the thing I thought it might it might life be easier if I just die now

now keep up the great work of the podcast I've listened to every episode and can't wait for Michael to look after your children

thanks Carly from Kent P.S. I live next door to a town called Marden and wondered if Michael is from there or ever been there, I think you've got a bit of an admirer there Michael, have you ever been to Marden?

No I haven't been to Marden but I'm aware of it because I once missed a train, you know when you're sort of waiting on a station and the ticker comes across with all the locations I saw it came up as Marden so I was trying to get a picture of it to then send like a funny tweet and I spent so long trying to come up with the wording for the tweet

that I missed my train that was coming in on the station and it was an hour wait for the next train It's near you Rob Marden It's near Staplehurst Do you want me to pop down there Michael and have a look for you? Well I always wanted to go and get a photo next to the site, like, welcome to Marden. I'll get that for you.

Right. Josh, what do you want now? Harsh nicknames? Yeah, go on. Hi, Rob and Josh. When I was a kid, my dad used to call me Pugsley from the Addams Family because I was overweight. Oh, my word. And then he would sing the theme song. Oh, no, yeah, we all know it.

Yeah. Da-da-da-da-da-da. Yeah. Da-da-da-da. Da-da-da-da. Click, click. Until I cried. This bloke's a bastard. Oh, fuck it, now. It's your dad.

He also used to call me Dusty, Dustby Bin. I assumed because where all the waste food goes. Fuck me. Trish B in Buckinghamshire. Poor old Trish. Poor old Trish. He sounds like... That's not...

Do you know what that is awful Awful to do to your kid and not funny. And that's from a parent and a comedian. So I know. And also someone got bullied for his weight. So I'm probably a bit

more oversensitive. The next one's ice skating accident, Rob, which is quite exciting. Yeah, go on. Hello, you two sexy and relatable pair. After listening to your episode

with Scott Bennett... And Josh. Oh, nice, nice. You like that? Here we go. This is good stuff talk about ice skating i thought i'd write and share with you my experience i was born in france and when i was around eight years old my parents let me and my sister 11 go to local ice rink plastic not

real ice back then what bloody french have you i've never seen a fake ice rink have you uh yeah sometimes they're in sort of like on tour i've been in the town center and i walk past an ice rink and it's sort of just plasticky and you sort of just shuffle around it it's like ice skating on top of like um you know them uh ice like air hockey yeah yeah yeah that's sort of that kind of thing right so i remember we had a fake snow ski slope in plymouth that was you know you get the snow dome now yeah but it would be outside and it was basically like just brush. A dry slope. Yeah. Yes.

Just like white brushes that you'd ski on. A dry ski slope. Yeah. It was deadly. Yeah. Awful. It was not compulsory to wear gloves then, especially as it was not an ice rink. So wearing gloves to keep warm, not safe, was not a thing then.

Yeah. A short while into our session, I fell down and didn't bring my hand in. Oh. Oh. Unfortunately, oh, my God. Another skater didn't manage to avoid. I don't know. I haven't read it.

Managed to avoid me in time and skated over my fingers. Little old eight-year-old me felt something was quite wrong in my hand, but didn't want to look at first. I then braced myself and looked at my hand, and this is when the pain hit me. He'd skated over my middle finger and ring finger but thankfully they were not cut off just very sliced. To make matters

worse, the skater looked back at me but didn't stop. Hit and run! Oh, I told the Lord Dean. Another skater came to me and carried me Tonya Harding, carried me to the side whilst my hand was dripping blood all over the ice rink.

Oh, I'm running out of, it's Stephen Mowern, I'm running out of ice skating people. You can imagine the harrowing phone call my sister had to make to my parents when she asked the reception if she could phone our house phone as this was pre-mobile phone era. My parents arrived quickly enough in an ambulance ride, eight

stitches later my fingers were mended. Oh! As you can imagine. That's a lot of stitches for a little kid. Yeah, off ice skating forever. And soon following this, it became compulsory

to wear gloves when you ice skate. Keeping up the good work and keeping us sane and feeling better. Our parenting much love, Chloe. Blimey, O'Reilly. God.

So she just sent them down the ice rink, the plastic ice rink in France on their own. Sicko. Yeah, there you go. Do you want a revenge story? Yeah.

Hi, Rob and Josh. When I was at secondary school in the 80s, I was badly bullied. This continued until I left school. I'm sorry to hear that. Now, fast forward five years. I was out clubbing one night in my local town. I was waiting in the queue for the ladies when my school bully came out of the cubicle i went in after her and started to have a wee i then heard the bully say she had left her cider

in the loo oh yes i looked down and there was a half drunk cider on the floor well i had to top it up for her oh yes this is amazing i walked out the cubicle with my head held high as I washed my hands. I watched in the mirror as she went into the cubicle to retrieve her drink. Serves her right, the dirty cow. It was the best feeling ever. Love your pod from the start. Fucking brilliant. Absolutely brilliant.

Somerset Cider, girl. That is great. I knew it was Somerset. Yeah, great work. There's not many. I don't want people from Somerset to take this the wrong way, but I wouldn't say there's many nightclubs where in the women cubicles they are drinking pints of cider.

And I am saying pint because you can't really get a cider in a small... No, you can't get a half of cider. No. They're Thatcher's Gold in the toilets of time in Envy, Plymouth. That's not in Somerset. What's your big club in Somerset? I'm not... Right, this is unbelievable.

Where are you? Are you... You're Cider, aren't you? Devon. Devon and Somerset are different places. Which one does Cider? Well, all of them, really, but Somerset, I suppose... It's basically the same.

It's sort of like an arbitrary line. Isn't all places an arbitrary line in a way? Open borders, baby. that's what i said let devonians have a piss in a cider cup whether it's somerset or not that's all i want for people freedom of movement from your penis of china to the cup exactly massive respect out there to all those uh cider pisses um I've got another revenge here. Yeah. All right, yeah.

And then we'll bring on our radio legend. Yes. Hi, Josh and Rob. My partner and I love listening to your podcast. When we heard about Rob's secret eating, we wanted to share our story when I recently got caught out. Okay, so secret eating, not revenge. My partner and I are on a mission to shape up for our impending wedding.

Knowing my lack of self-control, she got rid of all the sweet treats in the house I've got the kind of sweet tooth that could rival Willy Wonka

and desperate times cause for desperate measures so I resorted to secret eating easter eggs in the car oh my word now we all know

easter egg chocolate is top tier what's your view on easter egg chocolate Josh I don't really have one it's fine isn't it no but like

people say that they like the egg chocolate. I don't think it's as good. It's cheaper. I certainly wouldn't say it's better. If I'm having a bit of choccy of milk, Josh, I need texture, whether that's a crumbly biscuit or a bit of nut. So what's your chocolate bar choice, Rob? Chocolate for a Rocher.

I know it's not a bar. It's a bar. But if I got anything, I would treat myself to the three-pack of the Rocher. I know it's not a bar. It's a bar. But I would get, if I got anything, I would treat myself to the three pack of the Rocher. Oh yeah, nice. Kinder Bueno maybe. I can't believe that chocolate has such a big position in the shop because I so rarely buy it.

I'm not a big chocolate buyer either. Crisps and a fizzy drink. The thought of buying a fucking Mars bar. Are you kidding me? Do you know what? I know a Mars bar. I don't eat a Mars bar. Like kids don't.

Who eats Mars bars still? It's mad. Last time I had a Mars bar, I couldn't believe how rich it was. Right. You're on a long drive back. Talk me through this. You're on a long drive back, Josh.

Okay. From a gig. It's late at night. You've not had dinner, so you can guilt-free eat something from the garage what crisp chocolate drink sandwich are you going for so have they got a cost or anything well obviously no it's just garage so like like you know say it's a sandwich is fucked your sandwich is all right um well sandwich um ideally rob this is quite a guilty crap sandwich.

I like the one that's like cheese and spring onion, where it's like just kind of all mashed together. You know that one? Fuck's sake. Yeah, the war sandwich. The one you could make on rations. Cheese and onion. You've got free reign guilt free

and you've gone for cheese and onion mashed up. Well, I don't have free reign. Like a fucking nan that ain't got no teeth no more. I don't have free reign because the veggie sandwiches are so shit everywhere. Gum, gum, gum, gum, gum, gum, gum, gum. If there's a prayer. Cheese and onion, gum, gum, gum.

I don't like all that ham. I can't get my teeth through it. Not my mouth. You're just gulping it down. Anyway, you've got your cheese sandwich what you what next crisp do you think ed and

james are worried um you're gonna get the smith's ones the smith's ones with a little bag of salt because i find i find salted too salted it's too much salt so i

want to be i want to i want to choose the salt pickled onion monster munch pickled onion monster munch okay respect has gone back up respect actually you're back in the game

keep talking or salt and vanilla squares. Like it, actually. Respect that. Come on, keep going. And chocolate bar and drink? Chocolate bar. Crunchy. Crunchy, okay.

Do you suck the honeycomb? Do you bite it and suck the honeycomb? No, I don't suck the honeycomb. You need to start living, boy. Bite a bit. Suck the honeycomb. Get your tongue in there. Give that a workout. And then the chocolate all melts your tongue in there give that a workout and then the

chocolate all melts and collapse in your mouth i i don't i don't hate a double decker anyway not for me um drink uh i like a whisper as well chocolate wise um drink um i'm just not fussed about anything that isn't fizzy water or tea. I can't... It's too sugary for me. I don't like... I find it... It's overwhelming. It is.

Give him a little, he'll be on his asthma pump in a week. In a week. I'm tired. Anyway, he's eating... We started talking about chocolate. He's eating chocolate in his... I'll tell you my garage pics next week. Oh, that's something to look forward to.

Here we go. Easter eggs in the car after the gym. I thought i was the master of secret snacking sneaking in those easter eggs and discarding the evidence on the way to the gym the next day i even questioned why i wasn't losing any way little did i know my downfall was as innocent as dropping a receipt in a cruel twist of fate i dropped a tiny slip of paper and my partner being the diligent detective she is scooped it up and there it was in black and white

dairy milk easter egg let's just say I was caught egg handed and now my partner insists on calling me when I leave the gym word of warning for the secret eaters

out there always discard your receipts keep it sexy and relatable Luke and Leanne Essex oh my god but Luke if you don't want to lose the weight

that's fine there's no point doing the boring diet if you're't want to lose the weight, that's fine. There's no point doing the boring diet if you're then going to eat the eggs, secretly. Yes, correct. Yeah. But Luke's got enough on his plate. He's just done a workout.

Well, he hasn't got enough on his plate. He's got it on his lap in the car. Right, Josh, time for our guest now. Here are the airwaves. Sean Keaveney was the voice of Six Music for a decade. Now he's off doing his daily podcast he doesn't need them holding him back here he bloody is it's sean keaveney i think we should we should start here sean sean keaveney welcome to the podcast because

we're talking about uh kids and obviously having kids aging will happen as they get older and you're saying about your uh your your hair or your beard my i've got my hair isn't receding as such but it's it's going even if you have a good head of hair it still creeps back slowly just at a slow rate you lose a bit the front ones and i've always had a big mole on my hairline that's slow now i'm becoming molehead man to have a thing that marks it is the worry isn't it because i can convince myself my hair's remaining the same position yeah even though i know these sides are going back my kids went to me what's that i was like it's a mole that no one

can see because my hair covers it uh actually oh no you can see it now um oh yeah that's a shame is it you have it's like a watermark isn't it? It's like a watermark, isn't it? Yeah, it's quite a big one as well. A tide mark. Yeah, so it's gone out to sea and I can see what's going on. Welcome, Sean, to the podcast. Before we start, how many kids do you have? What's the lowdown?

Talk me through the sitch. It's three at the moment. It's three. And I don't see why i say at the moment because there's obviously you know there's no more traction there's no more no more games in on that front really how old have you just been pulled up well i went back into the burning building guys so i we have a blended family uh i am i have i'm once divorced so far. And so I've got a nearly 16-year-old and a 13-year-old and a four-year-old. Right.

So the four-year-old's from your new relationship. That's right. You didn't pop back. When you said back in the building, you didn't have one with your ex and then... Imagine. No, no, exactly. It's really blended. Yeah, precisely.

So, yeah, it's quite a good old stretch, you know. I must say this at the beginning, actually, no, exactly. It's really blended. Yeah, precisely. So, yeah, it's quite a good old stretch, you know. I must say this at the beginning, actually, guys. Congratulations on the pod. I think that is the technical term these days. Because, you know, ostensibly you might think, it's just a sort of dizzy walkthrough, sort of parenting from, you know, some of our most beloved entertainers

but you you cut quite deep actually you do sound sometimes like almost psychologically trained even more so right i kind of almost kind of expected it you know a little bit from josh but rob you've you've got you've got chops man yeah you do have some very incisive questions yeah we're gonna really cut down to the core of you we're the new pax men You've got chops, man. Yeah. You do have some very incisive questions. Yeah, we're going to really cut down to the core of you. We're the new PAX men. The PAX. The pod men. So, how different?

The youngest, though, was born in lockdown. We've got one compliment, Rob, and we've gone. But I'd say let's go there first and then move on to the gap between the older ones and young ones because you're Sean Keaveney, okay? You're late 40s at this point when the baby comes, 47? 47, yeah.

Right. It's 47. You're Sean Keaveney. You're on the radio. All of a sudden, you can't really go and do your job anymore because it's sort of locked down and it also has to happen at home. You can't go out and sort of dj and do any events like that

you've got two teenage kids that are sort of now locked in a house and you've got a newborn baby and you're 47 i'd say maybe the energy is not the same as it was mid 30s how's march 2020 going basically is this one of your um facilities stroke techniques is to reintroduce ptsd to the interviewer our youngest at that point she was really young so she was virtually i mean she was about five or six months old um so we weren't going out that much anyway you know what i mean it wasn't it was a great big loss for the older kids it was traumatic and nightmarish obviously it was really weird and and as you you know what would they have been then like 12 and 10 or something like that i've i've never really guys had in the interest of full disclosure i've never been a very authoritative person

i am not i'm the kind of person that couldn't get a dog to sit you know what i mean even even a canine looks at me with a kind of well i can get away with anything with this dickhead you know kind of expression on its face and the kids are no different the kids just know that they can undermine my authority in 15 seconds really you know what i mean i just haven't got it whatever that is that steel yeah my wife has got it she's unbelievable i mean she finds the shit out of me so me trying to enforce any kind of uh you know sort of authority sit at the kitchen table and make sure you get that you know work done uh i was on a hide into nothing you know and also i'm too empath at the kitchen table and make sure you get that work done.

I was on a hide into nothing, you know. And also I'm too empathetic. That's my problem. I'm far too empathetic. I've got attention deficit disorder. It's one of the things I'm already in the teenage kids' minds thinking this is a very difficult time for them. This is extremely difficult. And it's, you know, this is generationally problematic.

We'll look back on it in 80 years' time and think, look at what we all went through. So I'm cutting them slack left, right and centre. And were you cutting that slack anyway? So you say, have you tried to enforce Keeveney's law? Or are you, like, do you just not bother trying to be a kind of authoritative figure no i try i really i'm honestly always trying i'm you know very trying to live with for all kinds of reasons so i i am always attempting it but always failing um and you know i guess we're

getting onto this quicker than i expected but like with with kids at the age that mine are now, the older ones, the colossal elephant in the room, the major issue above nearly all others, the sort of 15 and 13, is technology and social media and stuff like that. There comes a point where you sort of, you realize that you're co-parenting with the ghost of Steve Jobs. You know, it's as simple as that. And I know there will be parents who listen to this who will be going, it's not like that in our house. They know boss.

We switch the internet off. We just switch it off and then that's that. And there's no argument. There's no fucking argument. We just sit down and then we read. And then we read. And then we watch Laurel and Hardy DVDs. That ain't the way in our house.

It's very difficult, and I'm always trying to enforce the boundary, and I sometimes win, and, you know, there are some things that are non-negotiable and stuff, but I think that, again, you start to realize as the kids get older, once you give a child a smartphone, and it's usually around the age of 11 that when they go to secondary school this seems to be almost like a sort of universally agreed thing unspoken it becomes almost like a human right to them and that's kind of understandable because of the yeah the way that things are in in in you know the culture that we live in and adults have got

phones glued to them the whole time anyway so it's hard to say no while you're holding your own yeah phone keep on down i'm doing an email you know it's impossible but it becomes you become cognizant with the idea that you either end up entering into a world where you're constantly having an argument about it or you kind of give up you kind of acquiesce it's almost and and i i'm not i haven't done either yet i've got friends who've said to me i've given up i don't even bother trying anymore you know what i mean yeah yeah it's just it's gone too far and there's nothing i can do so are you in london do you live in london yeah so you're how where do the kids spend their time they split between the older ones between your house and the mum or is it 50 50 like how does it all sort of work

because it's hard to say these are the rules but then if you're not there all the time both sides of it that it's hard to enforce with the best ball in the world you know all the players on the pitch it's very difficult because it's difficult for the kids because you know life's hard anyway and and yeah you know all the all the parental figures are trying the best but you like you say you you've got two houses there were there's about 35 ish percent of the time let's get get my number crunch you're right um but but you're right i mean you've got effectively you've got two doing slightly different things so it's a bit more difficult to enforce than if you're all, you know, under one, huddled under one roof, having an argument all together, you know.

So, yeah, I have found that really difficult as time's gone on and still do. But back to, back in March 2020, oh my God, you know. I mean, they were relatively more innocent days in comparison to now, you know. I think they probably still did jump days in comparison to now you know I think uh they probably still did jump a little bit when I barked whereas now they just go what you can see it you know and so with the phones and stuff are they on everything are they on social media they're on tiktok they're on instagram how does it work can you stop that I don't even know what you can do yeah if you're if you're a like a good parent i think you've got really good shots if you're really on it and if you're really sort of

you know disciplined with yourself and with everybody else there probably are ways needs you know but as the as time goes on you know the the sort of the child becomes more sophisticated anyway with with how to sort of work the way around these things you know and sort of unless you you devote a great portion of your life to policing it which you probably should you you know it's going to be difficult to be fair the lads are they're pretty good you know i mean my eldest is is quite uh so two boys the eldest two boys two boys yeah yeah yeah um and the oldest is doing really well you know with with exams and stuff he's got well focused on it uh and he's quite you know committed to to getting good grades and everything and the younger ones doing pretty well as well but it's just that um as we all know it's

the thing about the black mirror the thing about the phone it's right next to me of well as well but it's just that um as we all know it's the thing about the black mirror the thing about the phone it's right next to me of course as well and like you just said rob we're each and every one of us in this culture now with very few exceptions everything's on that phone you know everything that's useful as well as everything that's useless every everything that's essential as well as you know ephemeral it's all there and so it's trying to get trying to get the point across to to a teenager that this is i'm trying to do this for you has there been problems then that have arisen out of it though like are they sort of getting upset about things they've seen online or they exhibiting like naughty behavior and stuff like that have

you seen an impact from it it's more about um being able to to function without defaulting always to picking up the phone and of course back when i was like you know i mean jesus christ i was born in 1972 for fuck's sake you know what i mean all we all we could do was read the back of the shampoo bottle when we were having a shit you know until i was in my late 20s yeah because i remember that as a kid i'm quite it sort of feels like quite an important period of time that we were straddling the back of the shampoo bottle for a shit yeah but then 100 years ago people would be going i never had a shampoo bottle yeah you just use soap you can't read soap can you i don't know you're born reading all those

fucking ingredients hydrop poxy clocksy whatever the fuck it is i had to just imagine what was on soap hairs once you've read pairs you've got another 10 minutes to go you know you can't reread that but it's true it's like i saw some comedian ironically enough i think it was on was some guy talking about how I, you know, accidental, I'm an accidental guru, you know, I was born in the 70s, I grew up in the 80s and I was just like, I used to just sit on a bus for an hour and watch the rain go down the window pane. You know, somebody would pay, you know,

£80 a fucking week to have that talk to them now, you know, or like get an app to do it or something, you know, and it's absolutely true. You can't reverse engineer this stuff. It's like the atom bomb, isn't it? And by the way, before, you know, caveat, there are loads of positive and great things about, you know, the internet and about social media and about, there really are, you know, there are loads of fantastic things about it it's balance isn't it but he's trying but trying to you know you end up smaller things happen like um my kids are very musical and when they were younger and more biddable you know we got on

guitar lessons and drumming lessons and stuff like that and we're very enthusiastic showing a talent for it and everything but there comes a point when the phone replaces that and there actually comes a point with older kids like my my kids age where it sounds ridiculous but it used to be that i was happier when they were watching the telly than when they were on their ipad or when they were on the nintendo because i was like well that, that seems kind of analogue now, watching the TV. It's almost like, it's like having a green smoothie, you know. You're actually watching a whole programme for 30 minutes. Congratulations.

But now it's changed again, where it's like, I'd rather my kids be on their Xbox than be on the phone. Because at least when they're on their Xbox, they've got their headsets on and talking to their mates, and it's kind of social, and they are engaged in doing something. Whereas when they're on the phone, as we all know, when we're on our phones, it's a dead time, isn't it? Because I think playing Mario Kart with your brother or sister,

that's a fun thing you can do. There's no difference between doing that and playing Monopoly, apart from the boards now on a screen. In the same way, I imagine when Monopoly come out, go, what are you fucking about with all them little figures and all that money for? I've got to stick an oop out here, you fucking... Come on!

It's going to pollute their mind. He's just won a beauty contest and got £50. You can't do that. That's a terrible way to live your life. He's gone to jail. This is terrible. It's true. But actually,

you bring it up Monopoly. That's one of the great analogue ancient pastimes that we do all play from time to time. Do you? Yeah, yeah, we still play it.

I fucking hate Monopoly as well. I hate it. Because I always, I'm always the first one out. Always. It doesn't matter how hard I try.

It's luck. You just buy everything you land on. The problem with Monopoly is after three laps... Here we go. New talk coming. Go on, give it to us, Josh. This is your warehouse. I did me towing, but this is Winnicombe.

I used to have a bit of Monopoly. That's not this bit, just to be clear. I used to have a long bit of Monopoly. Of course I fucking did. And Cluedo, of course I did. Oh, my God. No, but the problem with Monopoly, this is just a general view,

you know who's won after three laps, but it takes six hours for that to kind of play out. Do you know what I mean? A bit like the next general election. Yeah, exactly. There's no ebb and flow to Monopoly. It's just a grinding fist of capitalism, grinding you down when you don't own Mayfair, basically.

True. That's it. It is. You're right. It's the ultimate iteration of hypercapitalism in a fucking board game that all your kids can... Now you can learn how to become the next billionaire. Yeah.

Did you ever play the game of life? I remember the TV advert, never actually played it. What was that one all about? It was fucking mental. Is it like you could get divorced and you could, you know, you could go to jail for tax evasion? But it was like the person with the most money at the end wins. It was fucking mental.

Getting them ready for life, mate. It was like points for how many kids you've got, how big your house is, how much money you've got. It was fucking mad. That is the full sort of Reagan, Thatcher, 1980 ideal board game, wasn't it? You know what I mean? But yeah, anyway.

Bring it back so what we do at the end of this podcast Sean is we get out the game of life and we ask you what your life

would score against their point system we should do that that's quite funny actually I know they're on their phones a lot

but what are they looking at what do they like to do you lads what are they into you said they're into music is it just gaming

now or sport or what kind of stuff do they like I'm damning them with I mean Christ hopefully I don't know how many 16 year olds listen to Parenting Hell or spool or what kind of stuff do they like? I'm damning them with, I mean, Christ,

I mean, hopefully, I don't know how many 16-year-olds listen to Parenting Health. Yeah, they're normally just wanking. Hopefully that's not your... That's it, yeah, not your demographic, is it? It's a deeply erotic listen. They are still into music. It's that thing that, and again,

a lot of this is really healthy is is that a good bond for you because obviously you're within the music industry to like so have you been able to go oh you like the arty monkeys i could take you to a gig and we'd be in a box or whatever have you been able to be that dad i've done that yeah that used to be my calling card that used to be the one moment in the year when I would get a few dad points you know what I mean yeah like back in 2019 I took just us three just went out to before the youngest was born I took we all went out to Croatia to watch the Foo Fighters Wow we ended up some we ended up back stage you know chatting to Dave and

Taylor and the boys it was quite amazing you know so that was a proper dad points trip but then of course the the tragedy occurs because um you you inculcate your children with all your taste obviously whatever it might be films music or whatever you know poetry uh naturally course, a little bit of Proust here and there. But then as time goes on, your influence is slowly, completely replaced by the peer group, isn't it? And so there comes this point. I don't know if it's happened with your kids yet,

probably perhaps a bit young, I don't know, but like there comes a point where you realize that you've kind of lost them for a while. The elder two now are just massively into... Kendrick Lamar, actually, is probably the bit that I can sort of still have some relation to. Yeah. But they love a lot of, like, you know, sort of drill,

you know, sort of all the kind of hip-hop stuff that I'm not party to because I'm just too old, you know. So it's, it's kind of, there comes that point where you just, you're the sad dad again. It's like, it's like, I'm like listening to Perry Como in comparison to what, you know what I mean? They're listening to Elvis Presley and I'm listening to Frank Sinatra, you know, there has to be that generational gap because that's, that's really healthy, isn't it? That's the way that they'd. Because it's weird if they're really into your stuff, they're a little bit old before their time and they're not experiencing current youth culture and if you're already into it it's quite tragic that you're there you know i mean

that's precisely it that's it yeah you know show it shall we go to the gets concert together a little bit later on this week yeah you can't you cannot you can't you can drop us off you have to be two miles away yeah um so yeah there is that that you know it's a shame in a way i i i often wonder if it'll come circle back you know perhaps it probably will you know but then i was listening to one of your podcasts the other day and you were talking about this somebody was talking about the fact that by the time they're 10 years old, you've spent like 90% of the time you'll ever spend with your kids already with them. That started to ring fucking true.

Has it? It's like, Christ almighty. That's one of the reasons I went in for another pop, you know. I was like, okay, I'm really going to suck it up this time because I realised just how quickly that early time evaporated. And you definitely got your wish 24 hours a day, seven days a week in a house. When your kids were small, your older kids,

were you doing breakfast, breakfast radio? Yeah. And how did that work then? Yeah, not well, not well, not well at all um you know hence uh the failed marriage and it's got the bullshit so it's on public records everybody gets it on it was it was it was horrific because when i look back on it again um those early days um again i think one of you recent guests like three kids under three or something ridiculous

something absolutely punishing and cosmically punishing number it wasn't that bad but we did have like like uh two under under three and a breakfast show in the house you know trying to escape from the house at six in the morning when you've probably only just got at least one of the kids back to sleep because they've

had you up most of the night is almost like Harrison Ford cinema worthy you know that's like that's like Raiders of the, that scene in Raiders of the Lost Ark when he's being chased by the boulder. Yeah, it's like, it's actually fucking impossible, is what I learned.

I would always end up flicking the door behind me and hear one of them wake up. There'd be some kind of anguished scream from the top room and then I'd just be off. You know, I'd be in the taxi on the way. It's like I've got to get into work mode now. So 10 to 6 seems quite, so what time was your show starting? It started at 7, yeah. Well, anybody that was a devotee of that show would say that

rings true because it wasn't all that well organised, really. I should have probably got in quite a lot earlier than that again looking back on it that's one of the great regrets but sorry about that listeners but it was it was just exhaustion becomes so much a part

of your life that you normalise it there came a point it wasn't all that long ago probably about 2015 2016 where i realized most of my waking hours with the kids i was either asleep or on the way to being asleep i'd be bathing them and i'd be asleep on the fucking toilet yeah you know dad dad oh christ you know nearly went under then it's like that you realize how you can't really take

information in in that state you kind of life's just kind of passing you by you know but then that is isn't that parenting anyway and then i mean it does put a strain on the you know then it does put a strain like you said on the marriage where there's no time to sort of look after the kids properly because you gap up and out early and then you go to bed early because you're knackered and trying to go on like date night as well as that and then get babysitters. It's full on. It's not going to happen, is it?

No, it didn't. I can confidently confirm that. It's not a good lifestyle choice. It is not a good lifestyle choice, you know. Take the afternoon slot at Century in Manchester instead of taking the National Breakfast

Show is what I would say I don't think Century exists anymore Sean were you living in the noughties

but now so now you're doing Sean Keaveney's Daily Grind which is a daily podcast which means you can do whatever time you want well Well, now you're doing Sean Keaveney's Daily Grind, which is a daily podcast,

which means you can do whatever time you want. Well, you would think, wouldn't you, Josh? Yes, I thought that as well, and it turns out I was wrong. Is it seven days a week? No. I'm glad you pointed that out. That would be, I mean, that would literally be like, you might as well just hurl yourself off a cliff, hadn't you?

I've given myself the weekends off, mostly. Yeah. But it is good. It's the big sell here. There's a great freedom to it, really.

It's, it's, but it is, it is a little bit like a radio show, but in a podcast format, in a sense. i guess that's what we were trying to achieve and also you can say whatever you want because look we've all done

radio on commercial or the bbc you are boxed in to a certain degree with certain views on music or on advertisers or things you've got to do and not say where and this is why i love doing this podcast you can literally say as you do on yours whatever you want whatever your opinion is of something and you've got the freedom for that and you know like it's basically the best of of a radio show where once you take all that out where you've got to upsell the other shows or upsell a gig that's on you really you're just pumping out on this podcast the actual proper gold of a broadcast without the waffle that you needed to do when you were on a station that's right it is it's just um it's it's all it's all lean no fat if if you think if you consider

the the absolute bilge that i come out with as gold uh then it's all gold uh it really is not we we call it nose to tail broadcasting me and my producer because we sort of, we, we sort of use most things, you know, we sort of leave it all, you know, but it, but it, it is a,

it is, it's brilliant because we can do, we do a lot of stuff out of the studio. We fuck off to like a couple of, I see behind you though, Josh, you've got a tasty looking telecaster there. I have.

Yeah. I didn't realize that you were a player. I'm not very good. I'm not very good. He can play guys. Can I, I'm not very good at music stuff, but can I didn't realise that you were a player. I'm not very good. I'm not very good. He can play. Guys, I'm not very good at music stuff, but can I join in? Because you two are like music guys.

You know, you're a music guy. Josh is a music guy. Has anyone been to the Gibson shop in town? Here we go. Have you been? I've been, actually, yeah. Have you not been yet? You've not been yet?

Come on, Josh, get your finger out. Come on, Josh, pull your dick out your arse and get down to Gibson. Why have I been to the Gibson? Well, I just knew it was opening because Noel Gallagher, to launch it, has signed 20 guitars. The Les Paul that Johnny Marr gave him,

some replicas of those, he signed they're for sale going to the Teenage Cancer Trust. And I've been down to Gibson. I went down, I saw, I actually saw Miles Kane doing a sound check for a little gig he was doing down there. You're not gone, Josh?

No. What's going on? Sean, actually, I think me and you have got more in common than this little child. We do. What do you think of the Gibson shop, Sean? I'll tell you what, it's funny that you mention that, Rob.

I actually went to the launch. I think it was on Thursday, wasn't it? Yeah, yeah, yeah. I invited, I couldn't make it. That's a shame. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I mean, you know what you can do. I thought he was into music.

Yeah, go on, Joshua. You can actually... Sorry, mate. You can actually get your own bespoke, like Paul. make it yeah that's a shame yeah yeah yeah i mean you know he's into music yeah you can you can actually sorry you can actually get your own bespoke less paul they they were they were showing me actually you they've got 200 different pieces of maple yeah and you can choose the exact one that you want and then they'll make the guitar out of it for you i mean obviously you've got to be a fucking millionaire to do that yeah yeah it's insane but you can build it and, you've got to be a fucking millionaire to do that. Yeah, it's insane. But you can build it, and then they've got all the guitars going around on like a Yo Sushi, like, travelator. And then downstairs, the music venue is great. Josh, you're way behind, mate.

I am way behind, yeah. Listen, we'll get you on the mailing list. Don't worry. Yeah, you chat shit, Josh. No, I was walking back from a meeting, and I saw it, and and i went in and it was just before i opened but they let me in to have a little look about but it's amazing if i'm not really that into guitars like i love that music but i'm not i could never play and if i can't be that guy buys one and just has it on the wall and don't know what to do with it i can't do it come on rob we know you're talking

about that you can play a bit to be be fair. I literally cannot play at all. But it was really, I was like, this is the coolest shop I've ever been in. It's beautiful, isn't it? It's unbelievable, yeah. Where is it? It's at a museum. It's on East Castle Street,

which is sort of Fitzrovia-ish, you know, sort of near Charlotte Street. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Go in at your peril is all I will say, Josh, because it's very beautiful. But the thing is, though, it's so, for someone who's not into guitars to be that impressed by it, the worry is when middle-aged guitar men go in there,

they will jizz on sight. There is that faint smell of pollen and bleach. Yeah, they're constantly cleaning. Yeah, up against a leather gusset. Can I get that sap-covered maple wood? Sorry, that isn't sap-covered. No, that's just not been cleaned. That one, that's not available for purchase.

Well, I've got, you know, I hold my hand up to that. Again, I'm going to sort of show myself as somebody who, despite always going on about social media, who's often on it, I saw some on Instagram was like, oh, my God, the man in your life got to that age where he started posting guitar, him on his guitar posts on his Instagram stories. And I was like, look, that's me. That's where I'm at. I've got a small collection of delicious looking guitars.

I realize I'm never going to be a rock star. Nobody's ever going to give a fuck about the little tunes that i make up but i you know when all the kids are in bed when i've had two cans of very strong craft ale and i've finished watching my music documentary sometimes i'll get the lighting just right and i'll film myself playing a little bit and i'll post it to instagram and that's my that's my ultimate sad expression of where I'm at musically, you know? And it's me just cleaving back a tiny little bit of my teenage years, you know?

And what do your children think? What do your children think of that? I don't... Do they follow you on Instagram? I don't know, I've not even checked. I don't know. I know that little about it. I don't really know how to work it properly. That sounds disingenuous, but it's true. I don't know. I've not even checked. I don't know. I know that little about it. I don't really know how to work it properly.

That sounds disingenuous, but it's true. I don't. I don't know. But, you know, it's a strange mix of revulsion and sort of begrudging respect sometimes that I get from the kids. And I think you'll know what I'm talking about. So a couple of years ago, for instance, I'd at the bbc and i was doing all kinds of as i still am you know sort of panhandling for change oftentimes trying to get things going and i was doing i was doing

this this podcast called the lineup at the time and it was brilliant uh like fancy uh your fantasy festival lineup and one of the um one of the guests was Andrew Garfield, the actor who was one of the Spider-Men. And I don't know all that much about Andrew's stuff. I've seen a couple of his films, but when the kids found out, they lost their fucking shit, you know,

because it was, it was literally just before that Spider-Man came out. And what was, what was even more perfect about it was that the whole beginning of the podcast was Andrew sort of eulogizing about my show and telling me how great it was and how it had gotten him through some hard times. And the eldest was like, are you fucking real?

Spider-Man listened to your radio show? And he just couldn't countenance the two things at all you know it was like and so there's this kind of big real begrudging sort of wow i think he sort of sees you in a slightly different way at that point you know like okay well some people think that you don't you're not completely full of shit that's that's impressive you know so there are those moments, you know, as far as the music's concerned, you know, the middle one's still clinging on. He still, he still has the guitar lessons and everything.

So there's, you know, there's still hope in my heart for that. But, you know, the really sad thing, one parenting wise thing I would say is that as time's gone on, especially if you live in London, in a big sort of city centre sort of thing, one of the sad things, I think, about kids growing up is that they haven't got the space,

they haven't got the physical space and they haven't got the sort of brain space to just discover and do things like we used to do in an analogue way, you know what I mean? And so in the olden days, you might pick up a guitar, you wouldn't have fuck all else to do, an analog way you know what i mean and so in the olden days you might pick up a guitar you wouldn't have fuck all else to do so you would actually learn it anyway

you wouldn't even lessons because what else would you do and also you'd probably find another couple of people at school who played somebody would have a front room free on a saturday you'd have a band practice and off you go none of that is really around so much anymore so if you want your kids to be in a band you sort of have to pay for them to be in a sort of easter band camp or something like that and that you know which is which is phenomenally expensive but also you can't do that all the time you know so the chances of them coming together to do those things seems to be a bit more difficult these days there's so many there's so much about like how many public school how many of the biggest bands have gone to public school and stuff it's

because they can afford to etc yeah exactly you know do you find because obviously you grew up uh on the outskirts of manchester and your kids are growing up in london i'm presuming yeah how do you feel about like like how did you feel about your kids growing up in London, I'm presuming. Yeah. How do you feel about, like, how did you feel about your kids growing up in London? Because part of me is like, this is so removed from what I was growing up in that it's quite weird for me to have my kids growing up in London. Yeah.

It reminded me, it's like the South West. Oh, South West, yeah, yeah. So obviously it's very different to Manchester. Plymouth to Hackney. But similarly, that's the autobiography, the title of the first volume. talking for you. Yeah, yeah. So obviously it's very different to Manchester. Plymouth to Hackney. But it's similar. That's the autobiography, the title of the first volume. Yeah.

Yeah, I agree. I think it's the same principle though, isn't it? You know, that sort of, you know, for us it was, it's interesting more than anything else. I think the great thing for my kids is that we've still got a really extremely strong bond. You know,

I go up all the time and I've still got, I'm very, very lucky that you could hardly believe it. A man of my age, I still have both parents alive and well, you know, which is just such a great blessing. And so we,

we still go up all the time and all we've, we've got one of those almost comically stereotypical extended Northern families. Like my auntie Jane and uncle Paul live next door to my mum and dad. Their kids live across the road and the opposite end. And my auntie and uncle Frank live, they're outliers because they're about 15 minutes walk away. So we've got this whole bunch of people. And a lot of my friends are still there as well so it's great

we can plug into that oh that's nice and we could and still get all that you know what i mean so yeah i think that the kind of double agents in a way the older kids they're kind of like they have this kind of sophisticated urban London upbringing, which is good in a lot of ways, but also I think it sort of accelerates. It makes them less innocent quicker, I think. You know what I mean? Yeah. But they can still get that proper bit of northern. They can get a bit of northern reality and realness.

But, you know know so we still we still have that connection which is so important to me you know because as previously established i've got absolutely no uh very little uh sort of influence a lot of time on my kids whereas sometimes my parents and the extended family will have you know so how old are your parents if she's on email i know can you believe it um she they're they're sort of the early 70s because they have me unbelievably young wow yeah it's my dad's my dad's i'm only 40 well i'm 38 40 in a couple i'm 38 and my dad's 80 because he had me late so a bit like a bit more your age because you're now sort of a slightly older dad because you've got 47.

They used to call him, they used to say to me, is your granddad going to buy him some sweets? And he'd be like, I'm their fucking dad. So how old, I can't do the maths, would your dad have been, Rob, when you were born, like 42 or something? 42. Yeah, if he's 80 this year and I'm 38 he would have been 42 yeah okay 42 and then he had he was 45 when my brother was born the youngest the youngest one and how's how how was that for you guys there

that's my weirdly my what my youngest uncle ala martin he's only two years older than me because a very similar thing happened. My gran had him when she was like 45. Ah, right. So growing up, my mum and dad, for instance, speaking about dodgy parenting, not dodgy, of course, mum and dad, completely understandable. On Sunday, they'd get a little bit of quiet time

by sending me off to church with my mum's mum and dad, my grandma and granddad. Right i i would always be like god people are going to think that my granddad's my dad and but he was and i was like but no i am that that age of a parent you know i am like i really am more like a granddad than a dad to my youngest so what was that like for you as a kid growing up yeah i think it's more because my dad did everything with us he'd play on the beach he'd run around it weren't like he was an old man that didn't do anything so actually as a parent there was i had you know i'd say he

did more physically of us than my mum did and she was 10 years younger but i've never seen my mum run do you know what i mean like but my dad would be like would fight with him it weren't like oh be careful of the old man because you know he's only mid-40s you're not that you're older than other parents but you're not actually too old to do stuff so on an actual interaction thing with my dad it felt like he was the same age as everyone else it's only at the school when you know that they're gonna well like you get they get obsessed with stuff at school so my kids are obsessed with height and my brother jo Joe is six foot three. So they're like, why is Joe taller than you?

I'm like, he just is. And I'm like, and then my youngest is at near enough the same height as her older sister. And she's like, but she's nearly taller than me and I'm older than her and all that. You know, they get obsessed. And then they go like, my dad's the tallest. And then my kids go, but my uncle Joe's taller than you.

They've swapped me out for him. But when I was a kid, it would be a little bit like, what's, you know, how tall is your dad or who's got a tough dad or how old's your dad? I would say, oh, my dad's,

and they'd go, what? Your dad's 45. And when you're a bit younger, there's a bit where I used to go, yeah, well, oh God, why is he a lot older? But actually, as long as the actual interaction,

he never felt older. No, it wasn't like when you find out fucking robert de niro's just had a kid do you know what i mean exactly but the only thing was as a kid other kids would go your dad's older and you'd be like all right yeah but and that was because i never noticed yeah it was only when other kids pointed it out but i think if you're doing all the stuff and you're involved i don't think it had any sort of different impact than someone having a parent that was younger. It's the only thing I remember at school

when someone was like, why is your dad older? And I'd be like, yeah, why is he? Also, you're a younger 47 in the sense of the job that you do. And also now it's particularly in London, I think, you know know people are getting older later do you know what i mean like back in the day if you were 47 in the 80s yeah you know it's like all those footballers you see that are in their 30s that look so old from back in the day like

do you feel when you go to pick up or drop off, I suppose you don't do that. Oh yeah, you do that for young kids, obviously. For the youngest, yeah. Yeah. Do you feel, fucking hell, look at these young people that don't remember the Smiths. That's true, actually, yeah. I bet you've never even fucking heard of the Blow Monkeys, have you? Eh? Have you?

Take them to get off their phones. It's true standing there in your rugs listening to Ariana Grande it's true there is a little bit of I think what you're saying is right Robert

I don't think it has much impact at this point I think the way it has a psychological impact on me but bearing in mind I'm the kind of person

who when I was four my mum caught me sitting on the stairs and her hand was on my jumper and she said The way it has a psychological impact on me, but bearing in mind I'm the kind of person who, when I was four, my mum caught me sitting on the stairs and her hand was on my jumper and she said, what are you doing? And I said, I'm just checking my heart's still beating. Right. Because I've been panicking about dying since I was about four. I've sort of swapped that out now.

I don't worry about dying now. I worry about the tiny little bit of runway of life I've got left. I've got to try and pack in as many nice things as possible, which has become its own stress. But you're only 15. Well, I'm 51 and a half, guys. I was 47 when the youngest was born, but that's the point. It's a bit like, and I'm going to bring it down now to my typical level,

which is just uh existential doom if you don't mind just for a second see why you and josh get on excellent uh quite right gets that gibson shot uh it's uh have you ever read have you ever read the road by carl mccarthy no i think it'd be too bleak for me yeah that's what i what I thought as well, actually. Don't do it. If you've not already read it, don't. Just don't read it. It's an incredible piece of work. Did they make it into a film? Yeah, with Viggo Mortensen. Yeah, I've seen that. Don't read that.

I could barely watch it. Come on, read it. So unbelievably bleak. And I remember, I still remember sitting on the bog, finishing it and crying. This is when the kids were young. And I read afterwards that Cormac McCarthy wrote it as a sort of a metaphor because he was an older dad. And the whole point of the metaphor was,

I've got to prepare this kid for when I'm not around anymore because I'm quite old. He was like, fuck me so like it's almost become a thing though where i'm like the really the only point of being i've just got to fucking stay alive like that's it i've got to stay alive it's why i've cut down on the drinking i'll go running more i'm like i probably will end up becoming one of the people i despise the most one of these ultra marathon bellends, if I'm not careful. Because I'm like, I understand the motivation of it.

It's like you're older when you're your youngest kid. You just want to cling on for dear life, don't you? You're always doing the math. You're always going fucking out. Right. If she's, can I, do you think I could make it to her 30th birthday? I'll be 77. I should be able to make it to a 30th.

You know, what about a 40th? You know, you start doing all this. It's totally natural. Also as well, it's just anxiety. Basically,

you know, you said you've obviously suffered with anxiety slightly. Like as a four year old, if you're checking your heart, it's sort of pre-wired. Anxiety will find anything to cling onto. And what you've done there is had another kid at 47 and your anxiety's gone fucking hell yes please open go here oh i'm gonna be on this fucker's case till he dies yes

i'm fucking in there's no do you mean it's like not what to do now yeah exactly i don't know i've not got to bring up the boiler might explode i I haven't got to bring up the gas bills. I haven't got to bring up jobs being, because that don't matter no more. I'm going to die young now. And she's going to miss it. And I'm in. That's all I've got, you know.

That's it. That's the cosmic background radiation of my anxiety. Yeah. But that's true. And so I've, you know, it's all stuff that, you know, if the podcast does well, please subscribe if you like and leave a review if you like it. Others may too. You know, if I become a latter-day millionaire,

then perhaps I can afford the counselling to get me through the next 20 years. Exactly, yeah. But please subscribe and listen to the podcast, download it, and in that way, once the podcast is a mega hit, he'll only have his impending death to worry about. Yeah. And then you can really just focus in on that worry. But then you'll be thinking, why has this come so late?

Why? I can't believe it. Yeah, why did I have to wait until I was 54 to be able to order my own custom Gibson Les Paul 1959 reissue? I could have been enjoying this for the last 25 years. You'll probably get to about 110, right? And you'll be going, now I'm a fucking burden to her because I've lived so long. Classic me.

Fuck's sake. Now look what I've done. All those marathons I did to help my heart get stronger. I should have died at 79. I wouldn't have been such a terrible fucking burden. What a dickhead. I should have just died when she was born. It would have been easier for everyone. It's true, lads.

It's sad, but it's so true. But, you know, as I've noticed the people doing this podcast, I am finding it instructive and I'm finding it helpful. Thank you very much. It is like a sort of, I don't know, like a free counselling session in and of itself.

Oh, thank you. That's nice. I don't think it's that kind of thing of like, we don't really know what we're talking about, me and Josh, but I just think, but just by saying what you're worried about out loud to people that aren't going to judge or tell you, oh, don't worry about it, what are you worrying about that for? You know, not judging or dismissing and just letting it be i think it massively helps because once

you said it out loud it's not in your head and that's where it really gets messy up there do you know what i mean that's really true i'm not good at that i'm i don't think i'm a very good listener actually which is ironic because my job is partially interviewing people and listening but you know like i don't think my wife would say I'm a good listener a lot of the time. So just you saying that, and I've heard it, it's made me think back to at least 70 different occasions where I've done that kind of, oh, let me say it like this.

It's fine. Don't worry about it. What are you worried about that for? I've got my hand on my jumper, and you're worried about that, are you? I'm going to die. I've got news for you, Sean and you're worried about that are you I'm going to die we're all going to die you've had some great guests on you have a really

wide range of guests on Daily Grind from Romesh to the day before Ainsley Harriot that was a good week man that was Monday and Tuesday about two weeks ago. I did a real Nicolas Cage high kick, you know. Who did you prefer?

Oh, come on. Obviously, Ainsley. You know, Ramesh, he's sitting outside in the car waiting for... He's going to drive me into work. I'm going to do another interview with him in a minute. He's always got something to promote, hasn't he? He's one of the great talents of our time, Dimash.

Ainsley was a particular delight, partially because he's like a shaft of serotonin, isn't he? When you actually meet him and you spend time with him you realize it's not it ain't uh it's not tits and teeth it's not because oh now i'm on he's just like that he's making everybody's day yeah oh thank you very much for that cup of tea best cups of tea i've ever had that you know he's like he's just he's awesome but we do loads of other stuff we go out about we go out about a lot we don't like to be studio bound too often. Sometimes, like a few weeks ago, speaking of guitars,

we went to the Marshall Amps Factory in Bletchley. Yeah, I was there last week, actually. Great, isn't it? You've just come back from Nashville, haven't you? Yeah, big time looking at the old fucking banjos. Sean, we always end by asking if there's one thing that your wife does that is incredible as a parent that you can't ever measure up to

and one thing that she does that you haven't brought up but is an annoyance that if she heard this, it'd be a way for you to communicate it to her about her parenting. And feel free, you know, feel free to talk with your answer about your current wife but if you also wanted to go to your ex-wife you know that's not

demanded but it would be welcomed but that's that's on you to decide literally it's like you've put the bag over my head and you're walking me off the end of the plank here i mean this is terrifying i mean talk about poison chalice. What would you say about that? I mean, I would probably play it with a pretty safe bat, lads, to be honest, and I'd say that. Yeah, stick with your current wife, I tell you. Or wife, as you'd say. Yeah, current wife.

Well, it really is. Honestly, you had to live with me. You probably, I think that's advisedly used, the word current, because if anybody's going to dump anybody off, it'll be a bin in hay. I think we'll advisedly used, the word current, because if anybody's going to dump anybody off, it'll be a bin in me. I think we'll be all right, depending on what I say now. But I think I learn a lot from my wife about how you should parent, and that's the honest truth, because the thing that I've never been any good at,

as I've always said, I've said before on this very podcast, the thing that I've never been any good at, as I've always said, I've said before on this very podcast is having the courage of your convictions and sticking to what you, what you're doing, sticking to your guns and being clear. And I think if you start your kid off when the little with that idea, even if what you're saying shined,

right. I think if you set up that dynamic that, well, if mom says it, or if dad says it, I've got no choice that's what we're gonna have to do we're gonna have to go with it it's amazing the benefits that you can leave from that and i when i when i hear myself trying to parent especially the older ones i'm like fucking hell i wish i had this lesson 15 years ago, you know, because it would have made life a lot easier. So, you know, I've got little but props to show on my wife when it comes to that. I mean, yeah, she's annoying as fuck as well.

I mean, she's from Yorkshire, for Christ's sake, you know. So she's always right even when she's wrong, you know. I mean, I always say this, like, you know so she's always she's always right even when she's wrong you know i mean i always say this like you know i think the highest point of yorkshire is like 300 foot higher than the highest point of lancashire and she's literally always looking down on her and so you know she there are hills that she will die on parent wise that i wouldn't even bother with you know what i mean it's like well just just just let her have the cup of milk now why is it why does it matter exactly when she has it you know but i know in the in the middle of that what i'm just saying i'm proving my own point that i'm i i just give up too easily right

so i i grudgingly accept that she's right and that her way gets results. Okay, fair enough. But it pisses me off. And yeah, just fucking relax. So she always thinks she's right, but she normally is right and that's annoying. That's right. That's also annoying.

That's right. Okay, cool. Thanks, Sean. Good luck with the podcast. Thank you. It's Smashing X, a great guest. Dave Grind,

out every day of the week. Apart from weekends. Wherever you get your podcasts, subscribe if you like and leave a review. There you go. Cheers, Sean. Very week. Apart from weekends. Wherever you get your podcasts, subscribe if you like and leave a review. There you go. Cheers, Sean. Very good.

Cheers, Sean. That's so kind, guys. Sean Keaveney. Yes. Big fan of Sean Keaveney. I like Sean. Yeah. He's a lovely bloke, isn't he?

Do you like all my Gibson chat? Yeah, I love that. Oh, yeah. I'm a shapeshifter, mate. I can get into anywhere. Yeah, yeah. I can chat to anyone about anything at any time, mate.

You've got this big fluffy bit at the back of your hair. Have I? Let me have a look at mine. Lean forward a bit. Oh, that? Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah, I just pushed it up like that, hadn't I? Yeah.

Grabbed me hair long, didn't I? Like De Bruyne. Oh, nice. Anyway, we're back next week. See you, bye. One end. Bye. Bye.

Bye. Bye.