Supernanny
 

Anyone see it last night? I rarely watch it, but I was flipping through channels last night & noticed that these people had 7 KIDS :eek: (all girls, I believe) between 1 year old & 15 years old and they were pretty much all out of control. I couldn't turn it off.

That mom? Wow. Did you even want kids, or was it just something to do? Never playing with them, sitting on the couch for hours, watching TV all night, letting all of them call each other assh*les & bitches. :shocked: Wow. And that explosion late that night with the cameras on? Shocking. I was actually scared for the kids. That woman was on the verge of verbal abuse.

Jo did a great job making the parents "see the light" and try to improve their home. I hope they (esp. mom) did, for their kids sake, since dad was leaving for Iraq.

^^

yet another family that can be used a evidence in my "you now need to apply to have children" campaign :p

Damn, I usually watch that show! I thought it was on on Fridays, though. :confused: Although I did catch a bit of another Train Wreck Can't Look Away show that I watch somewhat regularly - Wife Swap. It's horrifying as well.

But yeah, I'm continually shocked at the families Jo goes to see. :shocked: Also, I now pretty much know how to raise my kids, should I have any. :laugh:

Wow, 7 kids? And she doesn't even hang out with them? What is she, I fricking Pez dispenser? :rolleyes: That means she's been pregnant like, six years of her life. Gross.

The mom said to Jo "I'm not used to this, I'm never outside with them. I feel stupid, just sitting here staring." Jo said "well, you don't have to sit here & stare - go play with them."

Sheebus. :(

My.God. See, same thing happens on Wife Swap. They are both train wrecks. I have to take breaks when I watch them, it's so appalling to me.
Also, I don't understand why people have so many kids, if they don't have the skills and time to raise them. Sure, one, or maybe two - but four? Or seven? When you know you work all day?
Then, why don't the parents notice that their kids are total brats? I don't mean that in a bad way, but some elements of discipline seem obvious to me. Sure, maybe I've watched some Dr. Phil or whatever, and have common sense (:shocked: ) but still. If I noticed that my discipline tools weren't working, I'd, you know, buy a book, or look some **** up online, or watch supernanny or dr. phil. lol. But really, it's all right there. One Dr. Phil book, a few Supernanny episodes, and you can have the tools. You just have to do them. Which I do, with my friend's kids. Like, my bosses daughter loves to sit on my lap and "work" when she comes in. She is three, a little behind on talking, but very cool. She wrote on my hand (or something), I asked her not to. Then, she did it again straightaway, as kids will do to test their boundaries - I immediately took her off my lap and transferred her to her dad, while saying "I told you not to write on my hand". Problem solved. She doesn't get to have work fun on my lap unless she follows the rules, and now she knows that. I wasn't short or anything, I didn't yell at her - there was just a consequence for her action. That is simple, a consequence for a child's action. She didn't even cry or anything, she knew. (Sometimes she cries when she has to leave my lap to ride around with her dad on errands).

Is that really that complicated? You don't have to "be mean" to discipline your child (although a little fear of the parent may be healthy, lol), you just have to stick to your routine of consequences for inappropriate actions. :shrug: You can, in fact, be pretty calm and pleasant while doing so. Which is probably healthier for your kids, not talking to them too harshly. I've never heard my friend raise her voice, or have much tude, while disciplining hers, and they are great kids. She just says, like "Geneva, unless you raise your math grade, you aren't going to such and such". Or like (calmly, without expression) "Gavin, you need to put your toys away and find your shoes. Do you want to go to fireworks with us? Then get your shoes. Stop whining and use your words."
In turn, her kids are calm and reasonable. :shrug: Obviously, there are more tantrums and whatnot when they are 2-3, but those tools still work in a way. Especially the "stop whining, use your words" thing. And of course, if you are calm, the energy transfers to your kids and they tend to calm down. And she has worked it this way through her B.A., her Masters, and now her PhD, with working full time that whole period. Plus sundries. There is a middle kid, I just didn't use him for an example, lol. He's really cool, though.
My point is, it can be done.

The people who try to reason with their 3 year olds are my favorite. :rolleyes:
Hello, they are three, they have very little ability to think beyond what they want. Seriously, that happens all the time on SuperNanny - the mom is all "honey, please get dressed for school" and the kid is all "no! waaahhhh!" and then somehow the mom then is cowed by the child, and does what the child wants. WTF?


What makes me even more appalled is that these people think it's fine to have all these kids, and raise them this way. I have doubts that I'd be a good mom, so, you know, I don't have any kids. Hello? In spite of the fact that I'm pretty sure I'd be a better mom than all these yahoos.


The ones that don't play with their kids are the strangest, because they really should have known they didn't want kids. If you don't even want to hang out with children (I don't usually, that's how I know I shouldn't have kids right now) then you should really not have them. Which seems pretty obvious. It's like how I wouldn't have pets if I don't like to hang out with my pets. My friend actually has pets and doesn't really pet them or hang out with them (but the kids do) and that even bothers me. You know, pet your dog when you come home, and play with your kids, if you are going to have either. Otherwise, if they don't mean anything to you - DON'T GET/HAVE THEM!

Also, if you don't have that much money - maybe keep it to one kid, or two? It seems that the people don't understand the connection between how many kids they have, and how much they will then have to work to support those kids, and therefore not spend time with the kids. Simple ratios, people. It's like, every new kid equals less of your resources for the kids you already have. Not complex.

Am I out of line, here? Do these things seem just as obvious to everyone else?
I mean, I find it hard to believe that the things I said require genius brainpower, or are advanced evolutionary concepts. :shocked:
For Christ's sake.:mad: :confused: I guess they aren't teaching "The unexamined life is not worth living" in school anymore. So we go blindly forth, to destruction.

That woman obviously came from a neglectful family herself. Her husband was going off to Iraq, which is what led to Jo being called in. Apparently there was concern over whether the woman could "handle" the children while he was gone. The guy looked kind of older so perhaps in between stints in the military is when they managed to procreate all those children. Or perhaps it was a mixed family, I couldn't really tell. The fact that all the children were female means chances are good they will grow up to be mothers very similar to what we saw on TV... and so on and so on. Supernanny producers should start a scholarship fund to be used for counseling when they get ready to have children of their own. Or they could opt for free sterilization... not that I believe in a supreme race or anything. ;)

I agree with DD. Afterall, the Humane Society requires applications and education for adopting a cat.

This topic gets discussed a lot on this board, but really, how can anyone govern sex and therefore procreation? I mean, its a great idea in theory, but really...you would have to govern people having sex in the first place, whether procreation was the intent or not, you know, due to all the unplanned pregnancies in the world. Okay, I'll stop now.

Exactly. Although it may be my wet dream to have standards for parenting, it just ain't gonna happen. That is why people need to see how important education and resources for education are. And for counseling. And for free birth control options. And for more education, because clearly many people are dumbasses. There should be a mandatory child care class in highschool, really. Sure, people can say "no one will use that for college!" or something lame, but the reality is that every single person, boy and girl, could benefit from that class. :shrug: Am I wrong? Not usually. :laugh: I could even stretch it and say there should be two semesters - most people who leave highschool will become parents - am I wrong?
So if everyone is going to go and squirt out kids, I at least want them to know how to raise them, so I don't have to be in a society with a bunch of f*cking honyocks. Plus, people should know what their birth control options are, and those options should be free or next to free.
Abortions cost about $400. Tell me this: Would it be cheaper to pay for someone's abortion, or cheaper to support that child through the entire school system, and possibly their parent, including health care for life? Just to result in the very real possibility that by doing so, that kid will do the exact same thing their parent's did? And nevermind the cost of paying for the kid if it enters our jail system. :shrug: Possibly because their education was not good enough for them to see any different path.

It's simple math. Pay more now, pay less later. And of course, this includes education.
Seriously. Seriously. None of these are complex or specious answers. Anyone could come up with the same answers after 1/2 hour of research. A little math, a little knowledge of humans, and BANG! there's the answer. Kind of fishy how politicians/administrators can't seem to solve this problem. *narrows eyes suspiciously*

oh I love JoJo. she kills me showing up so formal on the first day and then letting her hair down, taking off her glasses and wearing the same damn shirt in every episode. she's really good at what she does and comes up with things I'd never think of. but some of these parents...geez.

Sara loves this show. I keep threatening her with Supernanny. And she keeps telling me that I don't need a supernanny. :laugh: I tell ya, kids test your patience. I found out when Sara was around 3 that I really don't have any. :o But, you learn to be gentle, and you try to be the best parent possible. I'm not a perfect mom, and I'll be the first to tell you when my patience runs out, I'm raising my voice. If I'm wrong for it, sue me. However, I do my best up to that point. I play with my child. We cook dinner together, and I help with homework. I didn't have a child just to send her off all the time so I can watch tv. I crenge everytime I watch this show, because, 99% of the time, supernanny comes to help the parents, not the children. Children only act the way you allow them to. Most parents are guilty of letting their kids get away with things. I'll be the first to admit that my child's not perfect, but she knows how to behave. What pisses me off is when my friend brings her kids over, and they think they can jump up and down on my couch. I have to get on to them every time they come over, but it's a common practice at their house. Sorry I'm rambling... but I have a lot to say about the subject.

^ I think it's totally normal to lose patience sometimes, esp. with you kids. Raising your voice is one thing, but somehow I doubt that you swear at Sara & tell her to open the f*cking door & throw things around the house when you lose patience, Maria. That's what this chick was doing.

I'm seriously worried for this woman & her kids. It seemed like she was just about to give up - or snap. I hope not, I hope Jojo helped them enough, and I hope they have some sort of support system.