Gemma Atkinson has candidly shared parenting challenges when her partner, Gorka Marquez, is not around.
The ex-soap actress confessed to Christine Lampard on ITV’s Lorraine about the difficulties she faces, particularly during the morning rush to get her kids ready and out the door when Gorka is away.
Discussing her new children’s book, Let’s Get Ready, Gemma revealed: “I realised having two children simple things like, ‘Come on, let’s get ready, ‘let’s leave for school,” ‘let’s leave for the day,’ can take so long. So we thought if we could find a way to make it fun.
Echoing Mary Poppins’ wisdom, she added, ‘In every job that must be done, there’s an element of fun’. You find the fun, then it’s a game. So that’s what we wanted to do with Let’s Get Ready, make it more entertaining.”
The mum-of-two further elaborated on the handy tips included in the book to assist parents. Gemma shared: “My kids went through a stage, Mia especially, of putting her coat on, and they taught her at nursery.
“She puts it on the floor, and she flips it over her head, and it’s a great way to encourage children [to have] a bit of independence. So it teaches them a bit of independence in getting dressed and stuff.
“So it’s great for kids who are at nursery or preschool, going into that school phase because, you know, when you send them off to school, it’s things like getting ready for PE and stuff. They do it by themselves,” reports Wales Online.
Christine then asked: “What is Gorka like in that morning madness routine? Is he a calm dad?”
Gemma responded: “He’s a FaceTime morning madness routine at the minute. He’s on tour, so he does this thing, bless him, where he’ll FaceTime just as we’re ready to leave. So I’m like, ‘Ahhhh, can you do it a bit earlier, please, or a bit later?'”
The TV star continued: “But no, in the mornings he is here, he’s fabulous. He’ll get breakfast prepared and do all that while I’m upstairs, getting them dressed.
“We’re such a good tag team, and we’re at the stage now, we don’t have to say, like, ‘who’s doing what?’ But he’s definitely the chef in the mornings. He prepares everyone’s breakfast, which is brilliant.”
“Do you miss that when he is away?” Christine probed, to which Gemma joked: “I am starving when he is away.”