Camping with the Mediocre Dad

Camping tips, tricks and advice from a fairly average parent and a reformed dad blogger

Menu
  • Home
  • About
  • Camping
  • Family Days Out
  • Sponsorship
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • Why celebrate mediocrity?
Menu

Fatherhood²: Are Celebrity Parenting Awards an Insult to Regular Parents?

Posted on February 20, 2013January 7, 2018 by Henry Elliss

Showbiz_7-1_jpg_666497tIn what has become a highlight of absolutely nobody’s year, the announcement of the shortlist for “Celebrity Mum of the Year” was made today – and this year’s shortlist is another cracker. Amongst the names on the Foxybingo-sponsored list – a list apparently made up of “the most inspiring celebrity mums” – are perpetual favourites Katie Price, Victoria Beckham, Colleen Rooney and Amanda Holden.

Nobody knows quite what goes on behind the doors at the “Celebrity Mum of the Year” awards judging – the process is one of the industry’s most closely guarded secrets. But the following is a small sample of the tasks the celebrity mums are rumoured to be asked to complete:

  • Swiftly and calmly changing a nappy which looks like the result of a bomb attack at a sewerage works at 3am in the morning, without resorting to swear words.
  • Preparing a nutritional and filling meal with the contents of a fridge which hasn’t been filled for almost a week, and which mainly consists of cheddar cheese, a leek and some week-old ham.
  • Giving a convincing response to the question “What do you think of my model?” when presented with a toilet roll sellotaped to a cereal box for the seventh time in under an hour.
  • Making up a good answer to the question “How does the TV remote control work?” without any knowledge of infra-red, without making themselves appear stupid.
  • Reading ‘The Tiger Who Came to Tea’ for the 100th time, whilst managing to still sound lively and energetic and not questioning why the hell the father appears to have more beer in the house than water in the taps.

The paucity of talent in that list is one thing, but what really got my goat when browsing through the list was the inclusion of the following women: Fearne Cotton, Kate Middleton and Sarah Storey.

Now don’t get me wrong – I’m not questioning any of those three women’s parental abilities – they may well be excellent mothers… WHEN THEIR CHILDREN ARE BORN! Yep, all three of those celebrity “mums” are currently pregnant with their first children –celebrity-dad-of-the-year-2011.ImageRef.image1.Single.ImageRef so how does anybody in the world profess to have any knowledge of how inspirational they are as mums?!

Not that it’s an honour they’re going to be gagging to receive mind you – previous recipients of one of the many “celebrity mum of the year” awards include Katie Price (2012, 2009, 2007), Stacey Solomon (2011), Kym Marsh (2009), Sharon Osbourne (2006) and Kerry Katona (2005, 2002). I don’t know about you, but as a regular parent I don’t find much inspiration in that list – but maybe I’m missing something?

Don’t worry though dads, us men aren’t left unrecognised – the “Celebrity Dad of the Year” awards are another regular fixture on the awards calendar, and the winners on that list provide even more inspiration to us than the women. Last year’s winner was pop star Gary Barlow, who pipped previous four-time winner Peter Andre to the title in a tightly-fought “battle-of-the-dads”.

Whilst I suspect I’ve probably put more thought in to this post than the entire nomination/judging panel of these awards have done in over a decade, I hope I’m not the only one who is insulted by this sort of award.

Should the average, hard-working parent really have these “celebrities” representing the apparent pinnacle of success in parenting? Can’t we all revolt and force them to choose some actual deserving people?

Who’s with me? Anyone? No. Oh well…

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Reddit
  • Pinterest
  • Email
  • WhatsApp
  • Print
  • awards
  • celebrities
  • celebrity dad
  • celebrity mum
  • of the year
  • parenting awards
  • vaccuous
  • 6 thoughts on “Fatherhood²: Are Celebrity Parenting Awards an Insult to Regular Parents?”

    1. Luschka says:
      February 20, 2013 at 3:32 pm

      Love this post. You are so right. I’m afraid if KP or PA are what parenting is all about, I’m happy to be doing it all wrong. Colour me jugemental :p

    2. neal call says:
      February 20, 2013 at 6:10 pm

      The real Catch-22 to this idea, for me, is this:

      I’m most impressed with a celebrity parent who drops out of the limelight to focus on parenting. But then they’re not really a celebrity anymore. And they don’t make it onto lists, because they don’t make good headlines.

      Still, I’m having a hard time coming up with ANY famous dads who have minimized their line of work in order to focus on dadding. But it’s not nearly so hard to find actresses, for instance, who just stopped acting for five or ten years as they raised their young kids. It’d be cool to see a dad who put being a father above being a celebrity. Maybe they’re out there and I just haven’t heard?

    3. Terrie says:
      February 20, 2013 at 7:05 pm

      I’m with you! Whydoes parenting deserve any awards, it’s what we all do naturally to preserve the dignity and worth of the human race, besides whis, it’s mostly fun!

    4. Simon Cullum says:
      February 21, 2013 at 4:50 pm

      Indeed, it is insulting to us ‘non-celebs’ (& probably also to celeb parents that didn’t make the list (a blessing in disguise for them)).  It has to be the most pointless, pathetic tacky award in the history of awards, right across the universe!
       Now if the award was open to all parents, regardless of their fame & fortune, with a judging panel of suitably qualified representatives from society, then just maybe it would mean something to win.

    5. shelovestorant says:
      March 14, 2013 at 3:30 pm

      Love this post. I know some of them might actually be lovely parents but there are some very questionable one’s who get drunk on day time TV and are given awards for overcoming their bad behaviors. What about real parents who tow the line day after day knowing that someone is relying totally so they cant afford to slip even once.

    6. Pingback: Fatherhood²: Father of the Year Shortlist Presents Slim Pickings for us Dads

    Leave a Reply Cancel reply

    This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

    henweb

    henweb

    Pun-loving, 👨‍👦‍👦 dad-blogging, 📷 photo-taking, 🏰 Lego-making, 🎅🏿 beard-wearing, 👶 child-caring dad of 2. 💍 Husband of 1. 💩 Strategist

    View Full Profile →

    Instagram Gallery

    Obligatory snow shot ❄️ Obligatory snow shot ❄️
    A few photos from my slightly hair-raising morning A few photos from my slightly hair-raising morning walk. Some lovely sunrises, lots of ice on the canal and a couple of rivers and lakes that were quickly merging together, at the expense of the newly-laid track. At least my wellies stayed strong!
    Instagram post 18021846115464989 Instagram post 18021846115464989
    A photo from my Thursday morning walk. One good th A photo from my Thursday morning walk. One good thing to come from this week’s rail strikes (and the subsequent week WFH) was my daily sunrise walks - something I really miss when I have to go into London. Fingers crossed that 2023 allows for a few more of them.
    Merry Christmas, instagram family and friends. Ple Merry Christmas, instagram family and friends. Please enjoy this photo of our beautiful but low-key Christmas decorations, hung in the splendor of our delightful Tudor home.
    Good morning from Somerset #NoFilter Good morning from Somerset #NoFilter
    Load More… Follow on Instagram

    A little ad for some stuff




    Subscribe by RSS

    RSS Feed RSS – Posts

    Recent posts

    • 5 Tips to Make Family Travel Easier December 2, 2022
    • 5 Great Camping Blogs You Should Follow August 18, 2022
    • Summer Holidays in the Mountains? 4 Reasons Why You Should Go for it! June 7, 2022
    • Family Camping for Beginners – A Guide to Buying a New Tent May 31, 2022
    • The Best New Beauty Treatments to Prepare for Summer May 31, 2022

    A bigger ad for some stuff

    Recent Comments

    • Family Camping for Beginners - The Ultimate Guide for first time campers | Camping with the Mediocre Dad on Family Camping for beginners – Food, glorious food
    • Tiana on Fatherhood²: The Ultimate Octonauts Quiz
    • The best camping gadgets for your next trip with the family | The Mediocre Dad on Family Camping for Beginners – The Ultimate Guide for first time campers
    • Dynamite dad blogs | Samuel Windsor on Family Camping for Beginners – The Ultimate Guide for first time campers
    • Family Camping for Beginners - The Ultimate Guide for first time campers | The Mediocre Dad on Family Camping for beginners – Camping with Babies & Toddlers

    My Brimpton Village history website

    My Mastodon profile

    © 2023 Camping with the Mediocre Dad | Powered by Minimalist Blog WordPress Theme
    Find me on Mastodon