Quote · Parenting Hell with Rob Beckett and Josh Widdicombe
S12 EP52: I am spent
Where this was said
Cat Update: Beryl Returns, and the 4:30 AM Velux Wake-Up
At 22:07 · chapter starts 22:05
The segment opens on a pastoral note — Josh confirms that Beryl, the cat who had vanished in a previous episode, is back and fine. His working theory is that she had a territorial fight, retreated to a bush, and licked her wounds for a day. Rob's instant response — 'we've all had those days' — sets the tone for what follows. The real meat is Rob's Velux disaster: Lou had deliberately left a skylight blind open so that natural light would gently rouse her in the morning. In June, 'gentle' turned out to mean 4:30 AM, full daylight, Rob blinking awake in what felt like an emergency. He went downstairs expecting a crisis, found Lou on her phone on the sofa. Her demeanour was serene. His was not. The episode of morning coffee on the garden loungers that Rob proposed was declined — Lou was fine on the sofa scrolling — leaving Rob to sit there marinating in low-level fury. He was awful company all day, went to bed at 9:30 PM, and slept eleven hours straight. The Velux is now closed.
Rob's wife Lou left a Velux skylight blind open so natural light would wake her, resulting in Rob being roused at 4:30 AM during summer when it was already fully light.
Lou left the Velux blind open for a natural light wake-up. In summer. Rob was blasted awake at 4:30 AM by full daylight, went downstairs, found Lou on her phone, sat there with a coffee feeling furious, and was in a terrible mood all day. He slept 11 hours that night.
After being woken at 4:30 AM, Rob went to bed at 9:30 PM the following evening and slept until 8:30 AM the next day — eleven hours straight.
