'Supernanny' Recap: Potter Family
[Season 7 Episode 11 – Potter Family]
Jo visited Rochester, New York and was introduced to the Potter family: Chris, Joy and their four children, Noah (10), Ryan (7), Jake (5) and Alexa (4). After several shots of kids being uncontrollable and Chris being an overpowering disciplinarian, screaming at the children, Jo was shocked. The most intense footage involved Chris dragging his son up the stairs, while Joy considered divorce.
As Jo arrived for her observation, she shook the hands of the parents and children and for a split second they looked like a normal suburban family. Quickly the issues arose, Joy tried to stop Ryan playing video games, Ryan screamed at his mother telling her it wasn’t her “job”; she immediately caved and didn’t follow through. After Joy left for work, Chris screamed at Noah for not picking up his Legos. While I’m not on Noah’s side, it’s not like it was sprawled in a public area, it was in his bedroom and if he wanted to step on his own Legos, that’s his prerogative. After Noah ran down the stairs, Jo found Noah inside the ottoman. Not only was Noah crouched inside the ottoman, Jake and Alexa sat on the ottoman in such a way that they wanted to protect their brother. Chris was back down screaming at Noah while Noah pretended to shoot his father with a Nerf gun. If Jo never showed up, there could have been disaster in the future. Chris proceeds to drag Noah up the stairs just like the footage previously. Jo decided to talk to Noah and truthfully, her warm attitude calmed Noah down almost instantly.
After Joy arrived, Jo had a one-on-one with Chris. Chris believes that Noah is overreacting and Joy isn’t being supportive enough. In his family, his mother never said anything while his father took total control. Joy talked to Jo and she talked about divorcing Chris if things don’t change. Surprisingly, the show never used the word “divorce.”
The following day Jo had her parent meeting with the Potters. She first refers to discipline; the parents need to follow through. Joy gave empty threats. Chris shouldn’t be living in the past. Joy quickly chimes in trying to emphasize “us” and Jo pointed out that Chris wasn’t even listening. In the Chris/Noah dynamic, Chris was rude to Noah and breaking his spirit. Jo is convinced that it was the family’s last chance at making everything work.
The family established their house rules. Jo pointed out that the parents had, “Treat each other with respect,” yet the parents don’t treat their children with respect. Jo pointed out stopping the fight instead of escalating. After establishing the rules, they convey the rules to the children on the steps. Ryan broke the rules, and Joy had to follow the three steps of reprimanding, putting him in time out, and explaining why he was in time out. Ryan tried his best to stand up against his mother, but she patiently put him back and reset his “time out clock.” Joy then waited for an apology, but since Ryan didn’t give one, he had more time out until he finally said he was sorry. Joy finally understood the structure and discipline he needed.
Jo decided to bring Chris to a gym to get a grip on his anger. Chris punched a bag, exerting all of that energy. The highlight to the gym scene was Jo beating him to a pulp with pink boxing gloves. While Jo should have clocked him in the face, she mentally punched him into realizing his emotionally scarring ways.
Jo made Chris and Noah work together while assembling a toy rocket. There was some genuine bonding as the three of them watched the rocket shoot high into the air. Back at home, Jo talked to the parents and Noah about making mistakes and admitting that they were wrong. Chris had a one-on-one with Noah and was choked up about his treatment. The only image that defeated the whole situation was that Chris had Silly Bandz on. Jo hugged Chris and reinforced her message.
The next evening, Noah had to put his toy rocket away and it gave Joy the opportunity to be a parent. Jo talked to Joy and reinforced her rules. Joy had to go through the steps of removing the rocket and forced Noah into bed while Chris watched. Jo gave the family a week to digest her rules.
After a commercial break, a week magically passed and Jo was wearing the same exact shirt she wore a few days back. Jo pulled her DVD player. Chris and Noah had a biking ride discussing go karts. Jo is happy. In the next scene Noah and Chris have a discussion over the stairs; Chris was matter-of-fact and didn’t yell at Noah. In the next clip, Alexa hit Ryan and Joy put her in time out; Chris got the situation wrong and tried to pacify Alexa. Jo pointed out that Chris was undermining Jo’s parenting. In the next clip, Joy completed the follow through steps correctly. Jo was happy, but she pointed out that the family had to support each other.
Jo started her reinforcement process by creating chains of progress. Noah appreciates no yelling, Chris liked having happy children. Finally, Jo made sure that Joy and Chris was still a supportive couple. Joy sat down with Chris and told him how much she appreciated the changes Chris has made. Jo was an emotional wreck when she saw that she changed this family.