Like you, Stanley Tucci has f*cking had it up to here with 'Peppa Pig'

Parents in lockdown, Stanley Tucci knows your pain all too well.

No doubt that parents are doing what they can in this strange time to keep their children in high spirits, motivated and occupied.

It can mean doing home schooling with them, possibly playing outdoors with them in your garden, or it can mean playing 'Peppa Pig' and hoping that distracts them long enough to have a moment's peace. Any parent will tell you that the show, while it may have a calm and soothing effect on the child, is like nails on a chalkboard for everyone else.

Is it the contrived nature of the show, how Daddy Pig just seems to lumber his way around the place? Could it be that nothing you do seems to calm a child as much as 'Peppa Pig' which leads to a sense of inadequacy as a parent and care-giver? Who knows.

What we do know, however, is that internet boyfriend Stanley Tucci is in the same boat. In a charming lockdown diary written for The Atlantic, Tucci talks through his cooking schedule with his wife and kids - but pauses mid-diary to drop in this little tidbit.

"There is no question that my wife and I, along with many parents, wish the creators of that irritating animated swine a slow death, but they are so rich, they have probably purchased immortality. And yet at the same time, said pig allows us respite for half an hour or so every day. May God bless those creators."

See, this is the crux of the problem with 'Peppa Pig' that parents know all too well. It calms kids down, but at the same time, it makes you want to pull your hair out. That's the real sacrifice of being a parent, folks. Sitting through grating children's TV so you can enjoy a little calmness.