#37 | "The Word That Broke Me in Popeye's"

Adam Parkinson came on this week. One of the Two Mr. Ps. Teaching assistant. Podcaster. Dad of two — a 10-year-old daughter and a 7-year-old autistic son called Max.

We talked about Max. We talked about the plane aisle moment his wife filmed without telling him, that went viral and started everything. We talked about siblings, and what it means to watch your daughter try not to look upset when her brother destroys her Barbie Dream House. We talked about online trolls, the dads' WhatsApp group, and the time a stranger told him celebrating his son's diagnosis was "like celebrating your kid having cancer."

And we talked about the moment in Popeye's last weekend when Max tried a chicken tender for the first time, looked up, and said one word he'd never said before.

Timestamps:

0:00 — SATs week, Popeye's, and a school uniform standoff

3:00 — Meet Adam and the family

4:00 — Spotting it during lockdown

5:18 — You're allowed to mourn the life you planned

6:23 — The plane aisle video that started everything

8:31 — Isla, sibling of the year

10:55 — When the Barbie Dream House got destroyed

11:53 — You can never relax

13:16 — What people don't understand until they live it

15:14 — The small wins nobody else sees

17:25 — Autism top trumps and 23 hours awake

18:30 — Handling violent moments differently after the community

20:07 — Verdict. Great. Outstanding.

21:25 — Are dads in the SEND world overlooked?

24:33 — Permission to talk

26:55 — The celebrating cancer comment

28:13 — Chubby Tommy Robinson and other DMs

31:51 — The dads' WhatsApp army

38:33 — Two Mr. Ps and how it started

49:17 — Pen licences and getting recognised in your swimming shorts

59:55 — Adam's advice to a dad at diagnosis