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Private Notes
The Coliers of Cleveland, Georgia, are a blended family on the brink. Dad Jason coddles his three young sons under the age of 5, but is hostile to his 13-year-old stepdaughter, Madison, whom he adopted last year. Jason showers his little boys with affection but his relationship with Madison is frosty and contentious - she doesn't call him "Dad" and says he doesn't seem like one; he counters by saying she's a pathological liar and carries on "like a moron." Jason also spoon feeds his three-year-old and holds the older boys back from gaining valuable life skills by doing everything for them. Stay-at-home mom Dawn feels caught in the middle when Jason clashes with Madison and undermines her time-out attempts with the toddlers, but Jo pushes the couple to closely examine whether or not they want to continue in this marriage. Can "Supernanny" set this family on a better track?
Debra and Tracy are pushover parents with two sets of twins, ages four and seven, who call all the shots and eat a diet packed with sugar and unhealthy food choices. Four-year-old Parker calls Mom a "butthead" with no consequences; Debra hides in the bathroom to eat a meal and get a moment's peace. Dad Tracy works from home, and when his rambunctious children need disciplining, he meekly implores them not to misbehave. They respond by locking him out of their bedroom! Can Jo Frost help this family?
Jo Frost travels to the deep South -- Hayden, Alabama -- and faces off with Amy Phelps, who defends her right to spank her three boisterous boys. Dad Jimmy is open to change, but Amy won't budge, and this issue is bringing their marriage to the breaking point. Jo is adamantly opposed to corporal punishment - can she show these parents how to get even better results the Supernanny way?
A Florida family with four children ranging in age from two to twelve is ruled by the crown prince-Zachary, an impulsive, tantrum-prone four-year-old. Jen, a beleaguered stay-at-home Mom, cowers to his every whim, and doesn't enforce any kind of discipline. Her approach is to gently enfold the children in hugs or eventually give in. Roy, a painting contractor, would rather work on the computer at the end of the long day than help Jen with the kids, but when he does try to impose rules and consequences, his short fuse and yelling intimidate the children and have driven his wife to threaten divorce. Jen tearfully tells Jo in her submission tape, "This is our last shot." Can Jo show these two parents the tools to not only tame Zachary but repair their relationship?
Bill and Tammy McGrath of Hamlin, New York, have three beautiful young children, and their middle son, Aiden, 5, was recently diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes. Managing his illness is very anxiety-provoking for Tammy, because she saw her father die of diabetes at just 46 years of age. She sees Aiden's diagnosis as her worst fears realized, and mealtime has become a battlefield. Aiden makes power plays, refusing to eat, which not only threatens his own health and frightens Tammy, but causes problems for both parents in adjusting Aiden's insulin levels. The other kids, Liam, 4, and Paige, 9, feel their parents' distraction and are frustrated by it -- Paige hides out in her bedroom and Liam acts out aggressively. Jo pinpoints Bill and Tammy's problems communicating effectively and enforcing discipline -- their versions of timeouts are useless. Can she help Bill and Tammy regain control of their family?
Nicole and Nate Beck are classic tag-team parents. Nate works full-time and Nicole stays at home, works part-time AND is a full-time student. Add to the mix three boys -- Hunter, 9; Pierson, 5; and Bronson, 3 -- who offer huge challenges. The youngest has just been expelled from pre-k, spits at Mom and calls Supernanny a curse word; the oldest has attention-deficit disorder, and homework time hangs like a black cloud over each day as the yelling just escalates; and the middle son is extremely stubborn and contradictory.
Christina and Joe Heredia both work full-time and have four children under five years of age: triplets who have just turned two -- Samantha, Taylor and Ryan -- and older brother Brandon who is four. Christina is a well-meaning perfectionist who always tried to please her dad. Now, as an adult, she frets that strangers will judge her mothering skills, but in fact she's her own harshest critic, brought to tears by what she feels is her inability to deal with the challenges of raising these little ones. The simplest tasks are three times harder with the triplets -- they cannot be trusted to obey Mom on a short walk through the neighborhood without straying; Brandon tries to get attention from his parents by acting out; and all of the children disrupt mealtime, barely eating.
Christina and Joe have four children, Brandon (4) and triplets Samantha, Taylor and Ryan (2). The triplets were premature births, and need to eat properly for growth, yet barely touch the food on their plates. Brandon often feels left out with all the attention given to the triplets, and Christina is a perfectionist who is very self-critical of her parenting skills.
A mother of two who spends her time surfing the Web, watching TV and texting friends expects her mother to raise her children.
Mark and Melissa Mann have four young children -- Naomi (5), whom they call the "mistress of mayhem," and triplets Norah, Nathanial and Madeleine (3). Since the triplets' birth, Naomi has come to rule the roost with her defiance, screaming and tantrums, and the chaos spreads to the younger ones. The parents' discipline technique involves telling the children to "trust and obey" while paddling them with a wooden spoon, followed by a hug. But this isn't working at all, as the kids constantly push the boundaries, and Dad says he's "downright desperate." He feels incapable of caring for the kids solo on occasion -- a simple outing to the local beach is a disaster, with the children running off into harm's way, and Mom is stung by angry comments directed at her by Naomi. In addition, getting the kids to bed is a nightmare.
Kate and Roy Johnson thought it would be great to create a family business that all of them could enjoy. They spent much of their life savings creating The Coffee Park, a unique coffee shop and play-place for families to come and enjoy coffee while letting their little ones have a great time. Unfortunately, the Johnson children -- Denver, 4, Logan, 3, and Jack, 18 months -- have made it nearly impossible for anyone there to have a good time. The kids run around like they own the place, hit the customers' children, and are constantly disrespectful to the staff. As a result, Mom is left with the kids to do paperwork and bookkeeping from home, which is antithetical to the whole reason they built their "family" business.
Ashley McKinney can't balance being a single mother of two, a student, and a full time employee at a local bank. Her biggest wish is to have quiet time in order to get her school work done and become an accountant. Yet her two children make it impossible for her to do homework or maintain any semblance of order in the home. The kids have no sense of structure and keep Mom up into the early hours of the morning. Kaiden swears at his sister and mother, breaks furniture and toys, and constantly steals food from the refrigerator. His older sister, Kayla, defies Mom too. Ashley feels as if the kids are running the household and wants to reclaim power before it's too late.
She's crisscrossed America, including Alaska and Hawaii, in her six seasons as the voice of reason for parents worldwide. Now Supernanny Jo Frost revisits some of her most memorable families in celebration of her 100th episode to find out how they're doing today.
