The Sky newsreader feels society is becoming less tolerant of kids

If you have ever cringed with embarrassment and been left to make the apologies for the noisy little loved ones in your life, spare a thought for Sky newsreader Samantha Simmonds.

The mother-of-three says she's spent the summer continually apologising to disgruntled strangers on behalf of her 'spirited' young brood.

But now the glamorous 42-year-old has decided to take a stand against the tutting and eyebrow-raising - as she believes children should be allowed to be children - even if it does mean they make a little more noise than strictly necessary.

Samantha Simmonds (left) with her husband Phil and children (left to right) Zevi, four, Zeabella, two, and Rafael, seven, says she will no longer apologise for her children's behaviour

Samantha, who lives in London with her husband Phil and children Rafael, seven, Zevi, four and Zeabella, two, outlined her new stance on her blog.

She said: 'When did we become so intolerant of children and their “normal” behaviour? Don’t get me wrong I have a zero tolerance policy when it comes to my children being rude, aggressive or ungrateful.

'I would be the first to apologise for that, as well as of course make them apologise too!

'But I refuse to apologise any more for my children being inquisitive, engaging, lively and yes occasionally overbearingly loud.

'My kids have enquiring minds. They love new experiences and want to know, well, everything. I think that is great. I would rather have kids who are engaging and engaged than the alternative!'

The newsreader admits her children are not ones to be seen and not heard and describes them as 'spirited'.

Sky newsreader Samantha says she's spent the summer continually apologising to disgruntled strangers on behalf of her 'spirited' young brood

She added: 'Others who are less charitable might say they are, well, just loud! As they battle to be heard over one another - the noise level often escalates to multi-decibel levels.'

But during their summer away in Marbella, Spain, Samantha says both she and her husband noticed a certain negativity towards her children.

'This summer as we’ve done more and more en famille, my husband and I have both noticed the increasing intolerance from strangers to not just ours but also other peoples’ children,' she wrote.

In her blog the newsreader goes on to describes the many anecdotes that have caused her to reel with embarrassment during her summer holiday.

Samantha describes a trip to a Spanish doctor when her four-year-old insisted on putting him through a medical inquisition, a raucous rendition of the Spitting Image theme tune at Marbella airport and a host of other cringe-worthy holiday moments courtesy of her three kids.

Samantha explained: 'Landing at Malaga airport after being cooped up on a plane for three hours my kids quite naturally needed to expend some energy.

'This manifested itself in them performing a rather loud and energetic rendition of the theme tune from – of all things – Spitting Image.

'I’m sure you remember the words “Throw a chicken in the air, stick a deck chair up your nose, fly a jumbo jet and then bury all your clothes…….”!

'Why? I’m not quite sure. How they know the words, I am equally unclear. But as they galloped through the airport you defintely couldn’t miss them.

Samantha admits that her children Zevi, Zeabella and Rafael are 'inquisitive, engaging, lively and yes occasionally overbearingly loud'

'We received some interesting looks from the other passengers – some grimace-ingly tolerant, others downright disapproving.'

In fact, there was only one passenger Samantha says showed any good humour - a lady who said she wouldn't be able to get the tune out of her head.

A few days on, Samantha found herself at an emergency doctor in the middle of the night after her four-year-old fell out of bed and cut his head open.

She said: 'As we entered the clinic the usual wall of noise that accompanies our family assaulted the doctor and his other patients. I instantly gave him a weary apologetic smile and asked if he was prepared.

'He raised an eyebrow and said in broken English “It depends”. As it happened he was very encouraging of their many, many questions as to what he was doing.

'What was that piece of equipment? Why were his gloves blue? Could he breathe through the mask? And so it went on…'

Samantha, pictured in her job as a newsreader for Sky, shared many amusing anecdotes from the summer on her blog

On the way home the family's plane was delayed and they found themselves stuck on the runway for three hours.

'My four-year-old was overtired and yes I admit, a little bit whingey,' Samantha wrote. 'Although I’ve often had to answer the classic “Are we there yet” from him, it was the first time, two hours into a journey, I had to explain to him that we hadn’t even left yet!'

As the minutes rolled on the lady behind us was busy conducting an eye rolling tour de force aimed at my kids, before finally hissing “I can’t take this any more

'As the minutes rolled on the lady behind us was busy conducting an eye rolling tour de force aimed at my kids, before finally hissing “I can’t take this any more”.

'I accept that whining children that aren’t yours in an enclosed space is no barrel of laughs (it’s often even worse if they are yours) but she’d have been better served channelling her energy at getting an unforthcoming explanation for the delay from the Ryanair stewards.

'Most of us of a certain age have had to deal with a tantruming child, and if we haven’t, then I can guarantee we’ve all been one once!'

Thankfully once the family touched down, Samantha said the taxi driver home seemed a little more understanding.

She continued: 'As we piled into the taxi my knee-jerk reaction was to instantly start apologising to the driver.

'As the noise levels inevitably started to rise I once more said “sorry” and "Shhhhh!" to the kids.

'But he chuckled and said “I’ve got three kids and three grandkids. I’ve seen it all before. There’s nothing better than the sound of children!"'

Samantha admits she was 'somewhat stunned' by the driver's accepting attitude, a stark contrast to so many others she had encountered over the summer.

'From now on, there won't be any more apologies from me, for my children,' she concluded.